Godzilla (2014)

[Noelle Shadow Kick]

THEY CAN HAVE ALL OF MY MONEY

http://www.fangoria.com/new/other-kaiju-take-flight-in-new-godzilla-trailer/

EDIT: By the way for those not wanting to know who else is in the new movie, stay away! (But not really, watch and then geek out with me about it!)

[Secret Executioner]

THEY CAN HAVE ALL OF MY MONEY

http://www.fangoria.com/new/other-kaiju-take-flight-in-new-godzilla-trailer/

EDIT: By the way for those not wanting to know who else is in the new movie, stay away! (But not really, watch and then geek out with me about it!)

Read more detailed summaries of the film, and it seems Godzilla is supposed to be fighting monsters threatening mankind. Except with the annoying humans we've seen in previous trailers, I'll have to root for the other monsters.

[Gwai LO]

Holly shit! I had no idea this movie was going to be about Godzilla fighting other monsters! This just got me pumped up to see this! I will be seeing this in the cinemas!

[Secret Executioner]

Holly shit! I had no idea this movie was going to be about Godzilla fighting other monsters! This just got me pumped up to see this! I will be seeing this in the cinemas!

Yup, it sure is some good news - although I have doubts on this: I find his role as an Earth protector (and especially as a protector of mankind) in this film could also be good for Mothra (isn't Mothra more of a protector of mankind than Godzilla originally ?).

[KUNG FU BOB]

Tomorrow my son and I will be seeing a special 60th Anniversary theatrical screening of the original Godzilla film GOJIRA (1956) via a restored 35mm print! He's never seen it before, so what better way to first view it? He wanted to check it out before we see the new one next week, and my friend called me up to say he had grabbed tickets for us to see this with him. I'm pretty stoked about it.

My wife is a second grade teacher, and she said that all of her students are excited about the new film and talking about it. I love hearing this! A whole new generation of little rug-rats getting into the same thing that we/I was enjoying at their age. They were surprised that their teacher knew all about Godzilla, and she informed them that she owns all of the films (Hmph! You mean me? ) and that her husband had drawn pictures for the official Godzilla cards released a few years back. She said she's going to blow their little minds tomorrow by wearing one of my Godzilla shirts and taking in my drawings of the Big G for them to see.

Since she was having a "kaiju moment" I jumped on the chance and suggested she see the new film with us. I think I may have snagged her. I have a "definite maybe" commitment from her.

[Secret Executioner]

That's great, Bob. I had hoped there would be some kind of retrospective in theaters with screenings of some previous Godzilla movies over here too, but nothing so far...

It's great your wife gets so into this and can have moments like these with her students. What were your Godzilla artworks used for ? I'm sure they look great, like your MA cinema artworks do.

[KUNG FU BOB]

That's great, Bob. I had hoped there would be some kind of retrospective in theaters with screenings of some previous Godzilla movies over here too, but nothing so far...

Yes, it was marvelous! I was a little nervous my son might be bored, but he loved it. The audience was wonderful and mostly appreciative (though there were some titters over some of the special effects), with lots of parent/teenage kid pairings, dozens of cool t-shirts (including a few people wearing my old design!), and even a guy dressed in a dinosaur costume. Within the first five minutes two people were told politely but sternly to turn off their phones, and that was that for that type of bullshit. G-Fans don't fuck around.

The restored film looked incredible! Such a joy seeing it this way, and a surprisingly good turnout for a 60 year old Japanese monster movie playing in a quiet little town in Pennsylvania. Probably filled to about 80% capacity. The guys that put on the screening seemed impressed with the turnout as well, and I will be contacting them and asking them to consider screening a few of the other older Godzilla films.

Afterward we talked movies out front of the theater (it was a beautiful, cool spring night) with a few old, and new friends for a looong time. By the time we realized we should have gone to a diner for a nightcap we were all already tired. LOL

It would be cool if the new film caused a revival and they started showing the old classics theatrically around the world. Fingers crossed.

It's great your wife gets so into this and can have moments like these with her students. What were your Godzilla artworks used for ? I'm sure they look great, like your MA cinema artworks do.

Yes, it's a blast. I think she's definitely one of the world's coolest and greatest teachers, and if more kids had people like her in their lives the world would be a better place.

http://www.diamondcomics.com/Home/1/1/3/5?articleID=26159

Back in 2006 Comic Images asked me (and several other artists, including the fantastic Godzilla artist Bob Eggleton) if I'd like to create some art for their new Godzilla trading card set. That query was met with a resounding YES! I created 300 original "sketch cards" that depicted Godzilla and all his friends and foes, and the hand drawn originals were randomly inserted into the card packs. Before I sent them in to the company I made copies of all of them, and created a binder for myself as a keepsake (which my wife showed her students). Creating officially licensed Godzilla merchandise was a dream come true, and I've even had a few people contact me over the years to excitedly say "I got one of your sketch cards!"

The year that I did these cards my wife told her students and they all got really excited about it, so we formed a plan. As the school year was ending she asked each student to choose a color from a list of bright primary colors, and I printed up a t-shirt for each student from my hand-cut Godzilla silk-screen design. The missus gave them out as a surprise to all the students during the last week of school. The principal made an exception, and allowed them to wear these instead of their school uniform tops for the day (cheers for that wonderful, now-retired gentleman), and my wife and her entire class posed together while wearing their Godzilla shirts (wish I could share these photos with you all). She recently had a student, now in High School, come by to visit her, and he said "I still have the Godzilla shirt that you gave me in 2nd grade."

[Secret Executioner]

Damn, KFB. Those ARE some WONDERFUL stories you have here.

The atmosphere at that screening seemed awesome, but I guess that's what you get when you show movies like that in a theater - you get the fans and they may go wild. (BTW, was it the original Japanese Gojira from 1954 or the American edit from 1956 known as Godzilla, King Of Monsters ?)

Considering the new film draws inspiration from the Japanese franchise (the look is said to be inspired by the previous looks of big G, he fights other monsters and I think the Japanese characters for Gojira appear on the poster), it would make sense (re)showing some of the old films in theaters - maybe the ones that most heavily influenced the 2014 movie ?

I'm not into card collecting, but that set of cards looks worth it. I guess it must have been a blast for you.

And the extra story on your wife "promoting" these cards and the two of you having that surprise for her students... Something mighty awesome - a big change from teachers who act like dickheads (sadly, I've known way too many of these).

[KUNG FU BOB]

Damn, KFB. Those ARE some WONDERFUL stories you have here.

Thanks man. Glad you enjoyed them.

The atmosphere at that screening seemed awesome, but I guess that's what you get when you show movies like that in a theater - you get the fans and they may go wild. (BTW, was it the original Japanese Gojira from 1954 or the American edit from 1956 known as Godzilla, King Of Monsters ?)

It was GOJIRA, the original uncut film. But they were calling it something like GODZILLA: THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE VERSION instead of GOJIRA just to avoid confusion for the general public. That print made it look like the film had been made this year. Gorgeous black and white photography too.

For those people reading this that haven't seen the original, it is a completely serious "disaster/horror" movie. There aren't any scenes of monsters jumping for joy or high-fiving during battles in this one. This was made only 9 years after Japan was hit with atomic bombs, when people were still reeling from the aftermath, and is very much about nuclear terror. As opposed to later Godzilla entries that were often aimed at a younger audience, this film was strictly made for adults only. For instance, during Godzilla's rampage through the city there is a scene where a woman, surrounded by buildings in flames, collapses down onto the sidewalk clutching her three children and says to them "Soon we'll be with Daddy again." seconds before the entire burning building crushes them!

Considering the new film draws inspiration from the Japanese franchise (the look is said to be inspired by the previous looks of big G, he fights other monsters and I think the Japanese characters for Gojira appear on the poster), it would make sense (re)showing some of the old films in theaters - maybe the ones that most heavily influenced the 2014 movie ?

Personally, I'd go to see any Japanese Godzilla film they show in a theater (even English dubbed versions).

I'm not into card collecting, but that set of cards looks worth it. I guess it must have been a blast for you.

I haven't collected cards since I was a little kid. Back then I had STAR WARS, MARS ATTACKS (my most cherished collections), and some other monster related stuff.

Yes, it was definitely one of the most fun jobs I've ever had. My parents thought it was incredible and said "You've been drawing Godzilla since you were little, and now you're getting paid for it? You certainly got in the practice you needed." LOL

And the extra story on your wife "promoting" these cards and the two of you having that surprise for her students... Something mighty awesome - a big change from teachers who act like dickheads (sadly, I've known way too many of these).

LOL I hadn't thought of it as "promoting" the cards, as those kids weren't going to be collecting the cards or anything. But they just thought that it was "neat".

Me too. I hated school with a passion. I could not wait to get out of there. On the last day of high school I flew like a bat out of hell down those halls and out the front doors, cheering about my new found freedom! I thought I'd never ever willingly enter another school again for the rest of my life. Then a decade later- and the irony was not lost on me (nor on everyone that knows me)- I'm "hot for teacher". Who'd have ever thought it? Me dating a teacher?! Soon after meeting my lady, much to my surprise, I was making regular visits to her school to help out, chaperone on school trips to the circus, zoo, plays, drawing pictures on the chalkboards for the kids, and even doing martial arts demos! Yup, she tamed (for the most part ) the wild beast known as "Kung Fu Bob". LOL

[Secret Executioner]

One thing I found striking with the original movie (both in its original version and in the recut americanized version) is the treatment given to the destruction of Tokyo: you see the victims being taken care of, you have people crying, a victim account (also seen in Godzilla vs The Smog Monster as Hedorah is wreaking havoc on Japan), the media accounts - hell, it looks as though Japan had ACTUALLY been wreaked, that realism makes the movie hard to watch at times. Also, you have hints of radiation levels while interestingly, I don't recall any reference to radiations in other movies, except for the scene where Godzilla bursts out of the ground in Godzilla vs Mothra - people spot radiations and BAM, Godzilla appears right after that in one of his most epic entrances.

I too would go for any of the Japanese films, no matter the cut or the language.

[KUNG FU BOB]

One thing I found striking with the original movie (both in its original version and in the recut americanized version) is the treatment given to the destruction of Tokyo: you see the victims being taken care of, you have people crying, a victim account (also seen in Godzilla vs The Smog Monster as Hedorah is wreaking havoc on Japan), the media accounts - hell, it looks as though Japan had ACTUALLY been wreaked, that realism makes the movie hard to watch at times. Also, you have hints of radiation levels while interestingly, I don't recall any reference to radiations in other movies, except for the scene where Godzilla bursts out of the ground in Godzilla vs Mothra - people spot radiations and BAM, Godzilla appears right after that in one of his most epic entrances.

Hmmm... good point. Even in the first one I expected them to talk about radiation burns on the victims, but they didn't. They may have started downplaying Godzilla as such a blatant allegory to the nuclear holocaust as a result of public outcry. When the first film came out there were many Japanese people that publicly took the film and it's makers to task for being insensitive. They felt it was "too soon" to be thrusting this subject into people's faces.

On a less somber note... I guess this is a good place to let people know that this month has seen the Blu-ray releases of 11 Godzilla films!

Kraken Releasing has put out three of the old school classics (from the Showa Series 1954-1975) for $10 bucks each:

GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER (1971, aka. Godzilla vs Hedorah)

GODZILLA VS THE SEA MONSTER (1966, aka. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep)

GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND (1972, Godzilla vs Gigan)

And Sony Pictures has released 4 double bills of the later releases (titles from The Heisei Series 1984-1995, and the Millennial Series 1999-2004) for $13 bucks each and include:

GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH (1991) with GODZILLA VS MOTHRA (1992, aka. Godzilla And Mothra: Battle For Earth)

GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA II (1993) with GODZILLA VS SPACE GODZILLA (1994)

GODZILLA VS DESTROYAH (1995) with GODZILLA VS MEGAGUIRUS (2000)

GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S. (2003) with GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2004)

All 11 releases feature both the original Japanese audio with optional subs, the English dubs, and anamorphic widescreen. My buddy has picked them all up already and gave them the thumb's up for good quality and picture.

[Lionclaw]

Is it bad that the only godzilla film I've ever seen was Godzilla Final Wars? And that was only because I'm a fan of Kane Kosugi.

[RogueWarrior]

Hmmm... good point. Even in the first one I expected them to talk about radiation burns on the victims, but they didn't. They may have started downplaying Godzilla as such a blatant allegory to the nuclear holocaust as a result of public outcry. When the first film came out there were many Japanese people that publicly took the film and it's makers to task for being insensitive. They felt it was "too soon" to be thrusting this subject into people's faces.

On a less somber note... I guess this is a good place to let people know that this month has seen the Blu-ray releases of 11 Godzilla films!

Kraken Releasing has put out three of the old school classics (from the Showa Series 1954-1975) for $10 bucks each:

GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER (1971, aka. Godzilla vs Hedorah)

GODZILLA VS THE SEA MONSTER (1966, aka. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep)

GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND (1972, Godzilla vs Gigan)

And Sony Pictures has released 4 double bills of the later releases (titles from The Heisei Series 1984-1995, and the Millennial Series 1999-2004) for $13 bucks each and include:

GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH (1991) with GODZILLA VS MOTHRA (1992, aka. Godzilla And Mothra: Battle For Earth)

GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA II (1993) with GODZILLA VS SPACE GODZILLA (1994)

GODZILLA VS DESTROYAH (1995) with GODZILLA VS MEGAGUIRUS (2000)

GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S. (2003) with GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2004)

All 11 releases feature both the original Japanese audio with optional subs, the English dubs, and anamorphic widescreen. My buddy has picked them all up already and gave them the thumb's up for good quality and picture.

Dont forget Godzilla vs King Kong on BD as well as King King Escapes on BD!!!

[KUNG FU BOB]

Is it bad that the only godzilla film I've ever seen was Godzilla Final Wars? And that was only because I'm a fan of Kane Kosugi.

Yes, it's a terrible tragedy.

Dont forget Godzilla vs King Kong on BD as well as King King Escapes on BD!!!

How could I forget?!

[Tosh]

I got a kick out of reading this thread:tongue:

Have to say I'm cautiously optimistic about a American Godzilla movie, but I have to say it's looking pretty good that I'm actually getting my hopes up now.

I'll going to see this in the theater wearing the one and only KungFuGodzillaBob's shirt he made for me!!! Here's a pic of it with the Mecha Kong I picked up in Tokyo last year!

[Secret Executioner]

I got a kick out of reading this thread:tongue:

Have to say I'm cautiously optimistic about a American Godzilla movie, but I have to say it's looking pretty good that I'm actually getting my hopes up now.

I'll going to see this in the theater wearing the one and only KungFuGodzillaBob's shirt he made for me!!! Here's a pic of it with the Mecha Kong I picked up in Tokyo last year!

Really nice shirt. The Mecha Kong looks cute too.

BTW, is that a Gibson Firebird I see in the background ? That too is really nice stuff.

[Tosh]

Really nice shirt. The Mecha Kong looks cute too.

BTW, is that a Gibson Firebird I see in the background ? That too is really nice stuff.

It's a 76' Gibson Thunderbird bass, it's one piece of Mahogany wood neck through, it's the bass I learned on, not the easiest bass to play lol

Bob and a couple others in the KF memorabilia thread was also the inspiration on me tracking down a Kaiju shop in Akihabara and buying that Mecha Kong.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Love that you dig the shirt Tosh! There were two people wearing this shirt at the GOJIRA screening too.

Of all the kaiju figures I own- and it's more than you can shake a stick at (because I don't allow stick shaking near my figures )- that is one that I don't have. I love Mecha-Kong and drew him a lot as a kid. I was so excited when you told me about your visit to Japan and to that toy shop in particular.

Wish we were seeing the new Godzilla film together man.

[Secret Executioner]

It's a 76' Gibson Thunderbird bass, it's one piece of Mahogany wood neck through, it's the bass I learned on, not the easiest bass to play lol

Still looks like one fine instrument.

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

On Yahoo today:

http://www.godzilla-movies.com/news/654

https://movies.yahoo.com/news/godzilla-review-case-waiting-godzilla-050000931.html

‘Godzilla’ Review: Or, in This Case, ‘Waiting for Godzilla’

The Wrap

By Alonso Duralde May 11, 2014 1:00 AM

‘Godzilla’ Review: Or, in This Case, ‘Waiting for Godzilla’

.

View photo

‘Godzilla’ Review: Or, in This Case, ‘Waiting for Godzilla’

What do Godzilla and Esther Williams have in common? They both became famous for doing one specific thing: smashing cities and battling other giant monsters, and swimming and diving in complexly choreographed musical numbers, respectively.

When you think back on Williams’ lavish musicals for MGM, however, you'll be hard-pressed to remember a single moment that doesn't take place in or under the water. Similarly, affectionate recollections of the Japanese Godzilla films have more to do with screeching and stomping and showdowns with Mothra and Hedorah than they do with those interminable scenes of concerned scientists and distraught moms.

See video: ‘Godzilla’ Isn't Alone in New Trailer Packed With Monsters

All that padding was a necessity of budget: neither building a miniature Tokyo nor putting a guy in a rubber suit to step on it comes cheap, so you've got to fill the rest of the film with relatively inexpensive scenes of guys in lab coats anxiously staring at radar screens. Now that a big Hollywood studio like Warner Bros. is making its own “Godzilla,” of course, you would imagine that they could go wild with the special effects and give us scene after scene of Godzilla inflicting property damage and saving humanity from scaly, slimy leviathans, right? Apparently not, if this new movie is any indication.

When Godzilla all too infrequently gets to be on screen to do his thing, “Godzilla” hits that monster-movie sweet spot with the kind of action that kaiju fans have come to crave. Most of the time, however, this feels like a retread of “World War Z,” with a handsome American trotting the globe in the hopes of quelling an international crisis. The handsome American this time is soldier Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson); we learn in flashbacks that he spent his childhood in Japan, where his nuclear engineer parents Joe (Bryan Cranston) and Sandra (Juliette Binoche) worked on a reactor until an underground earthquake caused a catastrophe that killed several people and closed down the entire area due to supposed radioactivity.

See video: How the U.S. Air Force Would Fight Godzilla, for Real

Over the years, Joe has become a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist, convinced that there was more to the earthquake than the government would admit, and it turns out he's right. The reactor awakened two flying monstrous creatures (their flat heads make them resemble Gyaos, from the Gamera movies, but they aren't Mothra, despite early internet reports) on different continents; these hideous beasts will travel the world toward each other, leaving destruction in their wake, in the hopes of mating.

And while the U.S. military (led by David Strathairn) insists on trying to use force to keep them apart — never mind that these monsters literally eat nukes for breakfast — scientist Ichiro (Ken Watanabe) and his sidekick Vivienne (Sally Hawkins) know that mother nature has provided a creature to restore balance. Cue the Big G's theme music. (Actually, don't; Alexandre Desplat provides an often-rousing score, but he's chosen not to reference the familiar Akira Ifukube theme from the original Godzilla epics.)

Also read: ‘Godzilla: The Japanese Original’ Stomps Into Limited Release

Director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters”) gets the money shots right, but neither he nor screenwriter Max Borenstein (working from a story by David Callaham) makes the human characters interesting enough to get us through two mostly Godzilla-free acts. Three of the best actresses in contemporary cinema — Binoche, Hawkins and Elizabeth Olsen (as Ford's wife) – are reduced mostly to set dressing, while Watanabe, Cranston and Strathairn get one note to play over and over.

As for Taylor-Johnson, he's a very pretty blank here. While “Godzilla” stages many of its battles at night or in the rain, at least cinematographer Seamus MacGarvey (“The Avengers”) keeps things visible, unlike many of the murkier moments of “Pacific Rim.” IMAX audiences won't be disappointed with the clarity of the action, even when it unfolds in foggy San Francisco. (To be fair, yes, this version is a marked improvement over the disastrous 1998 “Godzilla” from director Roland Emmerich. But that's like saying the recent “Robocop” remake is better than food poisoning.)

See photo: ‘Godzilla’ Draws Fire in New IMAX Poster

Is it too much to ask that a “Godzilla” movie feature more Godzilla than, say, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” features Hamlet? Sixty years after debuting on the big screen, Godzilla is still a global superstar; if Americans are going to build big-budget movies around him, they could at least give this legend more screen time. Esther Williams, after all, could be counted on to hit the pool within the first 10 minutes.

The post ‘Godzilla’ Review: Or, in This Case, ‘Waiting for Godzilla’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Related stories from TheWrap:

'Godzilla' Trailer Gets the Requisite 'Barney' Recut, Courtesy of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' (Video)

'Godzilla' Freaks Out Bryan Cranston in New Japanese Trailer (Video)

New 'Godzilla' TV Spot Reveals First Good Look at Monster (Video)

http://www.thewrap.com/godzilla-new-tv-spot-look-at-monster-video

GD Y-Y

[KUNG FU BOB]

Gaaaaaaaarrrrrnnnnnhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG]

Gaaaaaaaarrrrrnnnnnhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you make that a little louder PLEASE....................I can't hear you!

Lol!

The model they used.

http://www.comicvine.com/images/1300-3182962

http://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/godzilla-2014-the-new-godzilla-and-other-fun-pictu-1478900/

It was a calm and beautiful morning at the lake when I looked behind me feeling a presence and saw......OMG!

GD Y-Y

[Secret Executioner]

(To be fair, yes, this version is a marked improvement over the disastrous 1998 “Godzilla” from director Roland Emmerich. But that's like saying the recent “Robocop” remake is better than food poisoning.)

Would "this is still gonna be a piece of crap anyways" be a good translation ?

The summary in this review sounds like they mashed the origin of Rodan, every other American blockbuster's useless side-characters (who keep talking and do nothing except waste screen-time) and the lack of Batman in The Dark Knight Rises... I'm HYPED !!!

[wongfeihung62]

Review from "Aint it Cool News".

The short version: they got the monsters right. Hoo boy, did they get the monsters right. Godzilla himself is treated with the awe he deserves. All aspects of his design (look and sound) are perfect and Gareth Edwards teases him so hardcore that when the big payoff happens it's epic and crazy and fun.

The humans faired a little worse, sadly. The most interesting and invested character is Bryan Cranston's Joe Brody, but he's not the lead of the movie. You wouldn't be able to tell that from the trailers, which are centered pretty solidly on him and Big G. His son, Ford, played by Kick-Ass's Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the lead and we spend most of the movie with him.

That's not a bad thing. Taylor-Johnson is a great young actor who can say a lot without saying a lot if you know what I mean. The problem is that we're told what's interesting about his character, not really ever shown it. We're told he's a bomb disarming expert (which you know is going to come into play later), but we're never really shown that. We're told he was in the armed services, but his adult arc starts with him leaving them to go home and see his wife and kid. We're told a lot about him, but what is shown is just a guy trying to find his way home.

We know he's nice, we know he's brave, we know he loves his family. The problem is by necessity of the enormity that surrounds him he's always a passive part of the story. It's not a bad choice for the pesky humans to have little to no real impact on the monsters, but it does create an uphill battle to make their involvement in the story worthwhile.

Take Elizabeth Olsen's Elle Brody, for instance. I have no earthly idea why she's in the movie other than to give Taylor-Johnson someone to get back to. She's very underwritten to the point that it just feels weird to keep cutting back to her as the main story progresses.

The rest of the cast are filled with character types and not characters. David Strathairn is Admiral Exposition, for instance. He could be the stern army guy in any random disaster movie. Ken Watanabe is probably served the best of the supporting cast, but he's role still boils down to “stare in awe and say some cryptic shit.”

In a movie like this you could fumble the human characters as long as you get the monsters right and I don't think anybody would deny that Edwards knocked it out of the park as far as Big G and Muto are concerned.

I mentioned above that Edwards teases Godzilla and I think he does it so much and so well I can easily see him catching shit from fans for cutting away from the action too much. If you've seen Monsters you know that Edwards' strong suit is putting something big and epic into a real human context and he does that a lot here. So much so that it almost feels like he's fucking with us on purpose when he cuts from a big action build up moment to seeing most of it play out on a TV somewhere in the background.

The more distance I get from the movie, the more I respect that choice and admire what it does in setting up a truly epic final act, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little annoyed while watching that the action kept happening off camera.

Ultimately, it's not a mistake. Without a doubt it was a creative choice that gets you so wound up and wanting some real payoff that when it comes it's the most awesome thing ever. By the way, I tried so hard not to make that last point not sound sexual, but it's pretty goddamn impossible even though I deleted words like “climax” and “foreplay.”

Visually, Edwards pulls off some amazing tricks. There's some ridiculously beautiful shots, especially when the HALO jump happens. You know they figured out it was awesome when they made the red flare stuff central to the poster campaign.

You can also tell that Edwards is incredibly influenced by Spielberg. There's the obvious nods like the main family being named Brody (and for extra Jaws nerd points the wife is named Elle Brody (Chiefy's wife's name was Ellen, of course), and Taylor-Johnson's son is named Sam, which is Quint's first name), but visually there's a whole lot of Spielberg going on.

There are shots that reminded me of Jurassic Park (not even big reptile stuff, either... simple helicopter landing shots that had me flashing to JP), Jaws (Godzilla's back plates cut through the water like a shark fin for a good deal of his travel) and some of the disaster imagery from War of the Worlds.

I don't mean to imply Edwards rips off Spielberg wholesale. Not at all. He understands visual storytelling in much the same way Spielberg does. Tone, pace and even the tease feel very much like he's trying his hand at the same tools Spielberg uses.

So despite some of my complaints with the writing of the human characters, I want to be clear that this isn't just some big effects extravaganza... I mean, it is that, but there's a visual storytelling element that is very specific and guided by a singular voice. This isn't Emmerich's Godzilla just trying to give the audience spectacle. The human characters aren't goofy and stupid like in the '98 film, they're just not as fleshed out as they could have been.

If they were handled better then this movie could very well have been a kind of modern Jaws. You get the feeling with both films that the human characters are just holding on for dear life as nature has its way with them.

And have their way nature does. Godzilla looks outstanding. I've read criticism that he looks “fat” but in the movie he just looks like something you don't fuck with. He very much looks the part of nature's weapon to maintain balance. He's solid, he's pissed off and boy does he hate other Kaiju. He could give a shit about humans and that's just the way I like it. He's just on a mission to ruin the Muto's day.

Speaking of, all the monsters in the movie are treated with care, not just the title character. The bad guys come across as sympathetic, just animals trying to stay alive, which is a touch I loved. If Godzilla is the homeowner that'd scoop up the spider and put it gently outside, the Mutos are the ones that whip out the can of Raid and lay down the law Apocalypse Now napalm style. Neither one considers humans a real threat, but the Mutos are annoyed with them and don't step with care, if you catch my drift.

They're just dickish enough for us to root for Godzilla, but sympathetic enough to give them a little extra flavor than just being the punching bags during the big fight scenes.

Godzilla gets a hell of a reintroduction here. I would say it's the best he's been treated by America thus far, but that's kind of a low bar, isn't it? The trailer for this Godzilla is better than the whole of the '98 film. I can see Edwards returning for a sequel that goes a bit Destroy All Monsters and if he does that I'm going to lose my shit a little bit. All I ask is they figure out their human characters a little more. I know it's kind of tradition for Godzilla's human characters to be exposition machines, but I think that's something you could stray from a bit and not piss off too many people.

If you don't think I'm trustworthy enough to vouch for Godzilla being treated right, let me end this with a little anecdote from the after party.

I ended up talking with producer Thomas Tull and while I was thanking him for helping me out with the tickets a Japanese man came up and Tull immediately looked nervous. “So, what did you think?” The man answered that he and his colleagues were amazed with the movie and couldn't believe how perfectly Godzilla was captured. “This is the Godzilla from my childhood.” He said this with a hand over his heart, I swear to God. Tull looked taken aback, both relieved and amazed at the same time. After the man left, Tull leaned over to me and said, “He's the head of Toho.”

Premiere after parties are always a place of much pleasantry, but you could tell both the Toho guy and Tull were really emotional about the experience and that moment was something special to witness firsthand, let me tell you.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the flick. I'm excited to check it out again soon, if only to be with some friends and hear their reactions when Godzilla really turns shit up to 11.

[Secret Executioner]

Godzilla being a force of nature and trying not to hurt the humans sound off IMO. When I think of a monster acting this way, Mothra comes to mind - actually, the "monsters destroying mankind vs the monsters fighting to preserve peace" thing sounds a lot like the 1992 movie Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle For Earth with Godzilla, Mothra and Battra (haven't seen this one yet, guess I could check it out before I see the new one).

Anyway, if the sequel that's mentionned happens (hopefully it will), it may be a good opportunity to introduce other Japanese monsters from the Toho universe - for some reason, I think Mothra would work in an American movie (or maybe Hedorah as another thread nature's champion must overcome).

I must say the little story with the head of Toho himself appreciating the film is a real surprise - the 1998 film infuriated them, to the point they relaunched a series the following year (while 1995 Godzilla vs Destoroyah was to be the last Godzilla film).