Fine addition to the franchise

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2014)

It's hard to believe but Hollywood may have finally gotten it right. Cultural continuity within the genera is a must. Of course the wealth of Japanese and other Asian actors as well as typical Japanese home, street & cityscape scenes lent much to this film's Japanese feel. Something Hollywood missed in previous attempts at kaiju eiga.
Godzilla was faithfully reproduced in all his splendor, scales and ear shattering roar with only minor variances that can be found throughout the Japanese based films. Thank heaven the film makers didn't try to re-invent the basic concept of what constitutes Godzilla. While I do miss the original Godzilla roar this version is satisfying enough.
The conflicts of interest as illustrated within the movie between monster VS monster, monster VS humans, human VS human and human VS force of nature all mesh with the Japanese naturalist philosophy and in doing so add to the sense of continuity with the Japanese produced body of kaiju films.
I didn't find the strictly contemporary US cultural aspects of the film very beneficial to its atmosphere, more of a clash of venue or even a distraction than a cultural expansion. Perhaps the kaiju eiga venue is too deeply rooted in Japanese mythos & culture to permit too many non-Japanese cultural aspects without adulterating the basic concept too much.
The story is action packed, suspenseful, exciting, full of plot twists and aligned with basic Godzilla canon. The male protagonist's ongoing "nine-lives" survival of multiple disasters does wear a bit thin but is also consistent with Godzilla lore.
All in all a satisfying addition to the franchise with future potential. I look forward to adding it to my collection when released on disk.