Godzilla (2014)

candy-gal1

Really hope this is as good as the trailers make out, planning to see it next week in IMAX, looks like a much darker/less comical version to the 2001 version which I loved at the time!

TheDoc

Bit weird reading people getting ancy over "spoilers".

Sorry its a thread about Godzilla, and I'd be disappointed if the thread wasn't containing footage and trailers etc.

Call me daft, but I'm not entirely happy in the last few years forking out €25+ everytime I go to the cinema and end up watching trash. More trailers the better.

This looks excellent, cannot wait at this stage

5uspect

TheDoc wrote: »

Bit weird reading people getting ancy over "spoilers".

Sorry its a thread about Godzilla, and I'd be disappointed if the thread wasn't containing footage and trailers etc.

Call me daft, but I'm not entirely happy in the last few years forking out €25+ everytime I go to the cinema and end up watching trash. More trailers the better.

This looks excellent, cannot wait at this stage

Not when the trailers show a good chunk of the actual movie, which is becoming a worrying trend, TDKR being a typical example. There is never a guarantee that a movie will be any good based on trailers, look at Prometheus.

If you're worried about bad movies wait for reviews. I'm growing weary of paying to see the extended trailer.

thegreengoblin

Saw the premiere last night. Overall I was quite impressed. It's a very enjoyable monster/disaster movie, which at times manages to portray a sense of real menace but ultimately the cheese element simply cancels it out. It is Godzilla after all. Gareth Edwards pays serious homage to the B-movies of old and the film is all the better for it.

Thankfully my expectation levels were not too high. I think if you're expecting to be blown away you might be disappointed. Some of the acting is way over the top, and Bryan Cranston is particularly guilty of this. Some of Ken Watanabe's lines drew a fair bit of laughter from the audience and I'm not too sure that was the intention!

It takes the 1998 version, chews it up and spits it out...and that's enough for me.

P.S. The opening credits sequence is one of the best I've ever seen.

Falthyron

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Saw the premiere last night. Overall I was quite impressed. It's a very enjoyable monster/disaster movie, which at times manages to portray a sense of real menace but ultimately the cheese element simply cancels it out. It is Godzilla after all. Gareth Edwards pays serious homage to the B-movies of old and the film is all the better for it.

Thankfully my expectation levels were not too high. I think if you're expecting to be blown away you might be disappointed. Some of the acting is way over the top, and Bryan Cranston is particularly guilty of this. Some of Ken Watanabe's lines drew a fair bit of laughter from the audience and I'm not too sure that was the intention!

It takes the 1998 version, chews it up and spits it out...and that's enough for me.

P.S. The opening credits sequence is one of the best I've ever seen.

The most important question of all: was Nolan's Interstellar shown during the trailers!?

thegreengoblin

No, it wasn't on! Maybe it's just being shown from the general release date.

doubledown

Saw it tonight and it's pretty awful. Wasted cast. Underwritten characters. Dull lead. Very little monster screen time. Massive lapses in logic. Zero humour. Effects are good and terrible in equal measure. But overall - avoid.

Two word review - Monster Trash

johnny_ultimate

A valiant effort that sadly misses its mark.

Things start off promisingly with a grounded first half that aims for the earnestly allegorical tone of the original movie. It's a bit muddled, but it works well enough in its straight-faced way. Bryan Cranston helps: he's no Takashi Shimura, but is established as a passionate, troubled and engaging hero - someone whose fate we might actually be interested in as **** hits the fan. The general build-up is slow, and the film is in no rush to make its big reveals, to its credit.

We'll never know whose idea it was to instead shift focus to the charisma vacuum that is Aaron-Taylor Johnston, but it's a big mistake. The second half of the film transforms into as familiar a military vs giant monster movie as one could imagine. Edwards teases us with better actors that are all sadly wasted in ultimately thankless roles: Cranston, Binoche (who gets maybe five lines), Olsen (reduced to the 'endangered wife looking skywards in shocked awe' role), Hawkins (why would you hire an actress of that calibre for such a nothing part?). That the filmmakers hired such a talented ensemble only highlights how limited the film's characters are, and how baffling it is that they focused on the least interesting of the bunch. Added to that a strict focus on the military goings-on, and you have a film that teases it was about to offer more involved stories and depth (not exactly subtle depth, but depth nonetheless). Sadly, things must go boom while ill-defined men in military uniforms stand nearby. So it goes.

There's a few positives. One or two setpieces work quite well: the halo drop sequence is strangely, beautifully haunting (liberally taking inspiration from the 2001 Monolith music probably helps), and the belated appearance of

Godzilla's fire breath

doesn't disappoint visually speaking. Edwards shows himself capable of some restraint, such as a witty jump cut when one of the big brawls is about to kick off - in fact, most of the major showdowns take place off-screen, which is quite an interesting choice. And ultimately its portrayal of the big guy himself is a notch more considered and affectionate than the raging, rabid monster of 1998: far more in line with the 'king of the monsters' idea followed in many of the Japanese films. But these are only fleeting moments in a film that's too rote and conservative to pack much of an impact, and that finds it impossible to escape the clichéd demands of Hollywood. Which is an extra shame because there's times Godzilla 2014 hints it could have been so much better if it simply followed up on some of its earlier ideas.

Yeti Beast

Disappointing then. Still, it's at least better than the '98 abomination....... isn't it? *nervous glances*

doubledown

Dair. wrote: »

Disappointing then. Still, it's at least better than the '98 abomination....... isn't it? *nervous glances*

I'd argue that the 1998 film was a lot more fun...and that's saying something.

Yeti Beast

doubledown wrote: »

I'd argue that the 1998 film was a lot more fun...and that's saying something.

Ugh, I hated that movie. I can only watch it if I don't think of it as a Godzilla film. I'm now sad.

johnny_ultimate

It's better in some respects, but it's also not exactly the definitive, no reservations improvement I'm sure many expected. A darker, more muted colour palette aside (and yeah, pretty much every set piece takes place at night, which is a shame as it was in Pacific Rim, although it suits the overall tone here far better) there are some parts that would fit fairly snugly into the 1998 version with only the most minor of adjustments. They even recycle the

eggs

subplot,

just with a different monster

Tusky

I was at the screening earlier and I would have to disagree with johnny_ultimate - although I do agree with some of his individual points. I loved it. For a start, it's visually stunning. I can't recall how many times I thought "that's an amazing shot". Edwards has learned from the best (Jaws, Jurassic Park) and restricts the monsters screen time to great effect. It's always a treat when they are on screen but the camera never lingers too long. Sometimes less is more (take note Synder).

I don't want to say too much, but I will say that the music is fantastic and the opening credits are great. It is a pity that some of the main characters aren't fleshed out a bit more, and Elizabeth Olsen is completely underused. But overall it's a sold high budget b-movie.

Ryaller

Worst. Porno. Ever.

Warper

I havnt seen it yet but was a bit worried about the lack of screen time of Godzilla, it looked that way in the trailer, flashing tail here and there. That said i was looking forward to this, ah well just have to go in and expect nothing like the Robocop reboot and be pleasantly surprised.

pixelburp

The biggest red flag for me so far has been the insinuation that Adam Taylor-Johnson is the film's main focus and human lead. Cannot abide that actor and find him an utterly charmless charisma vacuum. If he's the one getting in the way of the Godzilla or Bryan Cranston action, I guess I'll be walking from the cinema disappointed.

ancapailldorcha

I'd assumed Bryan Cranston was the lead. How disappointing.

Yeti Beast

Dair. wrote: »

Disappointing then. Still, it's at least better than the '98 abomination....... isn't it? *nervous glances*

Actually, I should have asked if it's better than Pacific Rim? I had really high hopes for that given the pedigree involved, but let's be honest, it was fairly crap. I'm getting a sense of déja vu with Godzilla.

Oh and I agree with pixelburp - not a fan of Taylor-Johnson.

Duggy747

This is pretty much how I see Johnson in anything

johnny_ultimate

I preferred it to Pacific Rim, although I thought that film was perilously close to being a complete turd. I think Edward's has more control over the film's mood and knows the power of restraint, and the opening half means it isn't quite as brain dead as Rim's aggressive stupidity. Still suffers from similar issues overall, though, and more besides.

Yes, Taylor Johnston is about as charismatic as a plank, but it is extra obvious thanks to the people surrounding him. If you hire excellent actors to play his father, mother and wife, you're asking for trouble when you opt to focus on the worst of the lot. Seems to indicate how worried Hollywood is of having anything other than a young male protagonist in films like this - heck, the 1998 version gave more material to its ensemble than this does :pac:

MisterAnarchy

pixelburp wrote: »

The biggest red flag for me so far has been the insinuation that Adam Taylor-Johnson is the film's main focus and human lead. Cannot abide that actor and find him an utterly charmless charisma vacuum.

I watched Savages last night and himself ,Taylor Kitsch and Blake Lively were the most wooden and loathsome characters I have seen in a long time.
I was rooting for the bad guys to mutilate them .

Seems to indicate how worries Hollywood is of having anything other than a young male protagonist in film's like this

Not only that but these young male actors all seem to be metrosexual and wouldn't beat their way out of a paper bag.

TheDoc

Thankfully only three reports, one bad one good one meh.

Going to have to stay away from this thread until I see it for myself.

Although with my horribly biased favoritism from childhood, I'll probably love this regardless.

Yeti Beast

It's bagoomeh!

Liam McPoyle

A guy I know in Canada saw this last night.

He said its fantastic, he and I have similar tastes so Im looking forward to it now.

I was a massive Godzilla fan when I was a chung fella so Im pretty excited.

StaticAge11

Seeing it tonight, cannot wait!

Kunkka

Seeing it Saturday, looking forward to it.

ancapailldorcha

Would it be worth waiting to see in IMAX does anyone think?

The bad press here is a bit depressing but I think it's one of those films I just have to see.

StaticAge11

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Would it be worth waiting to see in IMAX does anyone think?

The bad press here is a bit depressing but I think it's one of those films I just have to see.

My screening later is in IMAX so ill let you know how it fares

johnny_ultimate

Proper IMAX or Cineworld "IMAX"? I saw it in Cineworld's screen and it added nothing whatsoever to the film, really (better sound system aside), so I'd recommend just watching it wherever in 2D.

ancapailldorcha

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Proper IMAX or Cineworld "IMAX"? I saw it in Cineworld's screen and it added nothing whatsoever to the film, really (better sound system aside), so I'd recommend just watching it wherever in 2D.

I'm going to see family in London next weekend hopefully so I'd hope that they a proper IMAX.