Godzilla 2014: Finally saw this.
This movie is too serious, grim dark, focuses on destruction, tries evoke imagery of real life destruction, and isn't campy at all! This is an outrage! Godzilla has never been like this, it's always been about silly campy fun!
...except, you know, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, aka Gojira, aka the ORIGINAL GODZILLA MOVIE MADE IN 1954. Which is to say, no, this is actually very appropriate; it's a movie that goes back to the roots of the franchise, and I mean all the way back. There are even subtle nods of this like referencing Hiroshima, the event that actually inspired the original movie, showing some scenes that were clear homages to the original (like humans actually watching the tail drag by), and it's also the first movie since 1954 to focus on the aftermath, having actual scenes of nothing but wide scale destruction. Basically, it feels just like the original movie updated to 1954, albeit a little more 9/11 inspired than Atomic Bomb, but if you're using a disaster to inspire your movie, you need something audiences can relate to. Also the destruction feels appropriate beyond "blow things up because awesome!"; I say this as someone who enjoyed Man of Steel on that "turn your brain off level", but movie was definitely destruction for sake of destruction. Plotwise, there's no reason Superman couldn't have diverted the fight with Zod to a less populated area.
This movie? They're giant monsters, they don't think, they just act in instinct. When several hundred feet tall monsters fight, destruction is inevitable. That said, Godzilla caused less destruction than Superman, so I think we know who is the savior we can trust! More seriously, I like how they handled the "Godzilla Threshold" in this movie, albeit from the other angle than most, aka why relying on a giant monster to destroy other monsters is not ideal. It's also nice to see the movie acknowledge "the military really can't do crap about giant monster."
Godzilla's design is pretty good in this; its different from before, but still resembling the original enough that it's convincingly him. He does look a bit chubby, but I guess that helps sell the "this guy is a freaking tank." MUTOs I'm less than fond of; they're just kind of boring in design. I mean, at least they're legitimate opponents so we had a major monster smack down, and having two helps establish that yes, he's clearly way stronger than they are individually, not compromising the whole "King of the Monsters" deal. I do like the EMP touch, giving the monsters an actual power that completely screws with humans and forces them to have to come up with other ideas.
So yeah, I liked this movie. Slow moving but then if you've ever watched any of the Godzilla movies (...besides Final Wars), that's kind of how they work, and shows that yes, things can be enjoyable with a slow build up and huge pay off, not just relying on instant gratification. The sequel is suppose to have Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah in it...
I have conflicted opinions on that. On one hand, feels like they're jumping the gun immediately. Anyone of them individually would be hyped, but going in with all 3 at once? Feels rushing things.
ON THE OTHERHAND, holy shit! A modern remake of Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster, which was basically the Kaiju Avengers before the Avengers were a thing! HELL YES!!!
