The new Godzilla movie is a rip-off

[Johnny Novgorod]

The main thing I didn't like was;

Spoiler

That they killed off Bryan Cranston's character (in an unspectacular way, a crane or something fell on the walkway he was on) about half an hour in and he was the best character in the movie. The rest focused on Aaron Taylor-Johnson who had vacant stares most of the movie like he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing.

Godzilla being in only 30 minutes didn't bother me much but my mates didn't like it at all. I will admit, there were a lot of fake-outs where you see Godzilla and the MUTO about to fight and then it goes to another scene and we don't see Godzilla fight until the end of the movie. Kind of a cop-out in a way.

Yeah Taylor Johnson seems to be doing a Mark Wahlberg impression - constantly caught between being mildly annoyed and mildly angry. He doesn't even lose that vacant stare when he's with his wife having sexy times. What's up with the guy?

Is it a spoiler if I tell you Godzilla is barely in his own movie? The movie lasts 123 minutes and Godzilla shows up for the final 30, maybe 35 minutes. Like, properly show up. There're some seconds of "fake stock footage" in the intro, and then he spends the majority of the movie underwater, swimming uneventfully towards the plot for 90 minutes. I'm not even kidding. The real conflict comes from the destruction two other kaiju wreak during the movie. Godzilla is a freaking deus ex machina in his own movie.

Is it a spoiler if I'm denouncing false advertising? I don't think so. I'm not asking anyone to boycott the movie or anything silly like that, but just so you know, Godzilla's barely in it. He's awesome and yadda yadda, but I still feel ripped off. There's no good reason for doing this other than somehow filling out a two hour long movie.

Do you honestly believe that was 35 minutes?!

What I meant was he shows up at the 90 minute mark or so. He's obviously not constantly on screen for the remainder of the movie. He has what, 10 minutes of screen time? 15?

 

[MrBaskerville]

I'm paying to see monsters smashing things and possibly an enviromental or anti-nuke message hidden somewhere in there and from the reviews i've read it seems like it delivers. I'm pretty excited that it features two giant praying mantises, i hadn't expected that! I think i will like that it apparently takes some time to get going, if that means it makes an effort to build some characters and some atmosphere.

Though it is probably worth noting that the original Godzilla is the only one i've enjoyed so far.Therefore not really a fan and probably a bit more open to changes, but i can understand if a fan is dissapointed.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm paying to see monsters smashing things and possibly an enviromental or anti-nuke message hidden somewhere in there and from the reviews i've read it seems like it delivers. I'm pretty excited that it features two giant praying mantises, i hadn't expected that! I think i will like that it apparently takes some time to get going, if that means it makes an effort to build some characters and some atmosphere.

If you keep reading those reviews further you'll notice everybody agrees that the movie doesn't build a single interesting character.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I'm paying to see monsters smashing things and possibly an enviromental or anti-nuke message hidden somewhere in there and from the reviews i've read it seems like it delivers. I'm pretty excited that it features two giant praying mantises, i hadn't expected that! I think i will like that it apparently takes some time to get going, if that means it makes an effort to build some characters and some atmosphere.

If you keep reading those reviews further you'll notice everybody agrees that the movie doesn't build a single interesting character.

I have read that, i'm just hoping that they atleast establish some slightly memorable or likeable characters like Pacific Rim manages to even though they are still wafer thin. If not it might turn out to be a very boring endeavor.

Btw, next time they should get the guy who made The Host, now that was a kickass monster movie that managed to build an interesting story around the whole disaster.

 

[Almack]

Just saw it. You clearly have awful, awful taste in film. To anyone who wants to see a good flick, I'd suggest actually paying the money to see this in theaters.

And... wow. Sorry, I'm just stunned by this guy's bad taste. Are you the reason we have Transformers? Because if so, can you please never watch a movie again? That would super helpful to all the rest of us. Pretty please?

I just got back from seeing Godzilla and pretty much this post right here.

I am currently in a state of complete satisfactory bliss. AMAZING.

 

[BillyBlackSheep]

Just saw it. You clearly have awful, awful taste in film. To anyone who wants to see a good flick, I'd suggest actually paying the money to see this in theaters.

And... wow. Sorry, I'm just stunned by this guy's bad taste. Are you the reason we have Transformers? Because if so, can you please never watch a movie again? That would super helpful to all the rest of us. Pretty please?

I just got back from seeing Godzilla and pretty much this post right here.

I am currently in a state of complete satisfactory bliss. AMAZING.

I know, right!? That first time with the atomic breath and you just see the tail and then -- oh, man! And holy crap, the cinematography! I can't think of another film on this scale that was shot and edited this well. Perfect film. Pure awesomeness.

 

[Almack]

Just saw it. You clearly have awful, awful taste in film. To anyone who wants to see a good flick, I'd suggest actually paying the money to see this in theaters.

And... wow. Sorry, I'm just stunned by this guy's bad taste. Are you the reason we have Transformers? Because if so, can you please never watch a movie again? That would super helpful to all the rest of us. Pretty please?

I just got back from seeing Godzilla and pretty much this post right here.

I am currently in a state of complete satisfactory bliss. AMAZING.

I know, right!? That first time with the atomic breath and you just see the tail and then -- oh, man! And holy crap, the cinematography! I can't think of another film on this scale that was shot and edited this well. Perfect film. Pure awesomeness.

I really am having a hard time coming up with one. Also the way he kills the female muto i think myself and everyone in the audience lost there shit at how amazing that was.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Well, I just saw it, not everybody has to love it but I absolutely did.
I am perfectly fine with the amount of screen time he got, could I have done with more, maybe, but I don't really care, my heart has never beat so hard over a movie.

My only problem

Spoiler

They put *all* of Bryan Cranston's stuff in the trailers. All of it. I don't mind a good chunk being in the previews as long as you have one or two good kicks hidden for the full movie but you could take out everything Bryan did in the movie that wasn't in the trailers and not miss much.

And speaking of trailers, I like how they twisted them around so you got a taste of what the movie was about but they weren't actually in the film. I mean, they were but they were changed a little bit, I like that.

 

[Draconalis]

I'm paying to see monsters smashing things and possibly an enviromental or anti-nuke message hidden somewhere in there and from the reviews i've read it seems like it delivers. I'm pretty excited that it features two giant praying mantises, i hadn't expected that! I think i will like that it apparently takes some time to get going, if that means it makes an effort to build some characters and some atmosphere.

Though it is probably worth noting that the original Godzilla is the only one i've enjoyed so far.Therefore not really a fan and probably a bit more open to changes, but i can understand if a fan is dissapointed.

There is definitely no anti-nuke message, these creatures have always existed since ancient times. They feed on the radiation of the earth.

No one here is a mutation.

Are you the reason we have Transformers?

\

Funny you should mention Transformers because as my friend put it, "It's Transformers all over again. Too much emphasis on the humans, and bare of the title character in their own movie."

This wasn't as bad as Transformers... but it was too close for comfort.

 

[Grace_Omega]

The OP is exaggerating, he's in it plenty before the final thirty minutes. They start off giving you little glimpses and then pretty rapidly build up to larger and larger scenes.

Also, being vague to avoid spoilers but there's plenty of other things to watch on screen right from the beginning, many of which I actually found more interesting than Godzilla. If you want to see giant monsters smashing shit you will not be disappointed.

 

[Zontar]

Of course there's an anti-nuke message. The creatures evolved during a time when the planet was naturally highly radioactive, and they absorbed the radiation until there was nothing left. When the Earth's natural radiation ran out they lay dormant for millions of years and would have stayed that way if it wasn't for humans inventing nuclear bombs and energy for them to feed off of.

The movie makes a massive glaring point several times over about how the more firepower humans try to throw at Godzilla and the MUTOs, the more they ultimately doom themselves because they're literally feeding their own self-destruction. Ken Watanabe's character makes several speeches about how the MUTOs and Godzilla are nature's way of trying to right things after humans have messed up the planet.

No offence, but I'm finding it hard to see how anyone could watch this movie and miss all of that subtext.

It's that blatant eh? Is it anti-nuclear as a whole, or just anti-nuclear weapons? Because if it has a problem with nuclear power then it's another movie to put on the far too long list of "environmental movies which fail at understanding safe, clean energy".

 

[ForumSafari]

"The people going to watch Godzilla don't want to watch Godzilla very much"?

Attaching a headcam to Godzilla and watching him break stuff for two hours would be very dull. Imagine how utterly terrible Alien would be if the camera followed the alien. Plus to be completely honest Godzilla is a big-ass lizard, not really a character. Godzilla films aren't about Godzilla any more than Armageddon was about the asteroid.

 

[CGAdam]

To everyone that says a Godzilla movie only needs a little Godzilla: nope.

To expand on that, I'd call this movie cool but frustrating. There's a sequence near the start where 'Zilla stomps up on the bug, roars at him... and then we cut away to a kid sleeping on a couch. Then the kid is woken up by a news report about the fight! They even SHOW some of the fight on the TV! I feel like all the cool stuff was happening about thirty degrees outside the camera range for most of the movie. The ending payoff was pretty cool, the monsters were great, and there were a lot of really slick moments that showed how terrifying it must actually be to be face to face with something that could squash you and not even notice. But the movie felt like it should've been titled "Godzilla Adjacent".

 

[Vern5]

It's that blatant eh? Is it anti-nuclear as a whole, or just anti-nuclear weapons? Because if it has a problem with nuclear power then it's another movie to put on the far too long list of "environmental movies which fail at understanding safe, clean energy".

Godzilla is more about putting too much faith in nuclear power and the incredible power of nature to balance out the planet. Nobody in the film explicitly says that nuclear power is a bad thing. There are no anti-nuclear energy characters in the entire film. However, the MUTOs are constantly attracted to nuclear energy and kill everything that gets in the way of them finding and eating that energy. An unfortunate coincidence.

The real message of the movie comes home when the military enacts their plan to arm one nuke to attract all of the monsters out into the ocean. The plan sounds good on paper but it causes a lot of unnecessary deaths when they put it into practice and it nearly destroys San Fransisco. Again, nobody ever says that nuclear energy is a bad thing, but the military decided to trust the bomb (Nuclear power) rather than put a little faith in nature (Godzilla) to solve its problems.

 

[SleepyHellkite]

I actually got bored watching the movie.

Spoiler

The high moment for me was the atomic breath!! that was fun, and the overall look of Godzilla and the MUTOs too. Really hated the parts when they cut from the monsters starting to fight to the humans (I saw the film yesterday and I can't remember the names of the characters, because they were forgetful to me)

Hated the "human looking in the eye of the monster omg so deep this moment, the feels...". The emotional part of the movie was too manipulative for me to care... I just wanted to see some epic monster fight and more Bryan Cranston.

AAhhh and the MUTOs meeting with all the noises and clicks, and giant rubbing, that was more heartwarming for me than the human family plot

 

[Ishal]

The thing is the "main" monster doesn't feel main at all. And it's not really a horror movie, it's a disaster movie occasionally trying to pass for horror in some very implausible scenes in which people somehow manage to miss the 300 foot tall monster just around the corner.

One thing I've been hearing from a couple of my friends and a few people on twitter is that there is a lot of military propaganda in the film. Not legit propaganda, mind. They level the same criticisms as you, except they claim there is a lot of military porn (almost) on the level of a Bay movie.

Is this true?

 

[CGAdam]

Sorta but no. In Bay movies, the military actually does some damage. In this, they just get thwarted a lot.

On reflection, I actually think this new Godzilla movie is kind of the personification of a line from Pacific Rim, they one about getting out of the way of a force of nature. People can't stop the MUTOs, and they can't stop 'Zilla. All they can do is get out of the way, and aside from one single act, humans don't really do much to affect the monsters.

 

[Gxas]

I feel like this is gonna be a fairly common reaction among G fans who see this movie in that they love godzilla and they just want more of him Kristian Harloff from schmoes know had a similar complaint with the movie and hes is a big godzilla fan. Mind you in the original he has at total of 17 minutes of screen time that that movie is 98 minutes long so 30 minutes for about a 2 hour movie doesn't seem all that unreasonable to me and I'm a massive fan of godzilla having watched every movie minimum 3 times.

I'm not a Godzilla fan and until very recently didn't realize he had any. All I know is that the trailers and the ads and all things marketing point to one thing, and the movie delivers another very different thing.

The problem here - and forgive me if this has been answered in the next two pages already - is that this is a Godzilla movie made in the style of previous Toho and Showa era Godzilla films. This is not Michael Bay making Transformers and having nonstop action the entire time. This is a director desiring to try his hand at a very established franchise, using the traditional setups and ideas used in every other Godzilla film from Japan.

And most people who aren't fans of Godzilla are going to hate it for that. For this exact reason you're mad about now. If you didn't even know that there were 30 or so other Godzilla films before this, then you have no idea that this movie does everything right, in terms of emulating the other films.

I understand why you're mad, but this movie was made for Godzilla fans. Not for general audiences.

Not that surprising...This film is what happens when a US film company takes a film franchise from overseas and messes it up completely... it happens all the time so is anyone really surprised... i'm not ,this happens all the time here in the US.. our movies studios are really skilled at destroying properties from other counties.. like the dragon ball z film, or the girl with the dragon tattoo.. or that stupid film pacific rim.. was which basically a badly done live action version of Neon Genesis Evangelion, mixed with Godzilla and Gundam..

so many things in the last half of this post make me wanna take the bait but I wont

Ohhhh man I almost took the bait as well.