I watched it. It does have a more serious tone that the usual monster blockbuster, and the first 45 minutes or so are pretty well paced in line with a mystery thriller, with some neat buildup I thought. Once the first MUTO is revealed though they should have simply made it more direct, more conventional and just went with wanton destruction and the whole shebang instead of still trying to pace the film like the first 40 minutes. To me this middle section was perhaps the weakest. Thankfully there were a few intermittent scenes of destruction to liven the mood. I was also not entirely satisfied with the grand finale. All this while I've been reading about the last 30 minutes being chokefull of Godzilla action. This is not true. The final battle between Godzilla and the MUTOs probably last about 5 minutes, 10 at most. The battle was entertaining enough, but pales when compared in recent memory to the 20-minute Hong Kong sequence from Pacific Rim. I also thought the sense of size and scale was done better in Pacific Rim.

I did like the various nods to Jurassic Park though. The opening is reminiscent of the beginning of Jurassic Park, and the first MUTO breakout reminded me of the T-rex's first appearance. There was even a scene where a bus driver wipes the condensation off his windshield just like what Malcolm does in the T-rex sequence.

Oh and the score was solid too. Just lacked some thematic material.

I'm sorry but I have to say it. Bryan Cranston wasn't that good. He was fine, but nothing special. In fact he had a couple of moments of overacting...

This was an okay movie for what it's worth. But the 2014 movie was immeasurably better, in all ways except one - Godzilla screentime, if that's what you're looking for (although I don't think this one had THAT much more Godzilla to be frank).

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Jun 1 2019, 09:48 PM

The 2014 knew how to build towards a scene, how to stage it, so that when the WHAM! moment happens, you feel the impact. Take the bridge attack scene. The movie knew that anticipation was key and that's how they mounted the sequence. So when Godzilla did finally appear, you could feel the scale and presence of him. And you could feel the might of Godzilla when he simply walks through the bridge like it wasn't there. The impact of the scene doesn't come just from the moment when he crashes his quads into the bridge, but mostly from the build up.

Another great example is the first MUTO escape. 80% of it was build up and staging -- the EMP shocks that occur with greater frequency, the creeping dread, effective editing. So when the MUTO breaks out and you see it's crab-like feet hover above the containment cables, you get a tingle in you. That's impact. It's the on sequence that reminds me most of the Jurassic Park T-Rex escape.

One other difference, among many others, between this new movie and the 2014 one is how the monsters move. In the first movie, they mostly lumbered around, which lent an enormous amount of weight and scale to these CGI creations. The MUTOs were also terrifically designed, part organic, part industrial. So when they fought with Godzilla, each attack landing carried weight to it.

None of these are present in the latest movie, which is 100% muscle on muscle brawn mode. No ingenuity to be seen in the staging of action scenes, no build up, no proper or suitable backdrop for the action. The action is entertaining, but is not half of what Gareth Edwards accomplished in Godzilla 2014. Nothing in the new one beats the final smackdown in the 2014 movie.

80% build up and 20% payoff is actually a damn good ratio. Many classic movies have a similar ratio. Take Alien (1979). Almost all build up with escalating tension. It's a masterpiece.

The third act fight in 2014 was dark and dusty? That applies more to KotM mate. All the fights here are equally shrouded in darkness and dust and blizzard, if not more so. Gareth Edwards made the smart move of not including too many monsters, and as a result the 2014 movie was perfectly balanced. Anymore and the movie would have been dumbed down. The story or plot may not be intelligent, but the mounting and execution certainly were.

If Avatar is your chosen benchmark for careful build up it's clear we are referring to differing qualities...

But I can surmise as follows:
If you want a wonderfully rounded and paced action blockbuster that's very smart about how it surrounds its action set-pieces and is not afraid of refraining from showing its namesake character needlessly, then Gozilla (2014) is your movie.

If you want a dumb no holds barred, full-on monster mayhem bash em up with no sense of sophistication whatsoever, but yet is fun when the action happens, then KotM is your choice.

If you want craft, go for the former; if all you want is brawn, go for the latter.

PS: I really like Avatar.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Jun 5 2019, 08:46 PM

What's your thoughts on the 2014 movie?