Entertaining and good monsters, but devoid of substance

Rating: 7/10 (22 August 2014)

7.5/ for Entertainment / Monsterousity 2/10 for story / substance
First, let me start by saying I really liked it. It was cool, entertaining and, for the most part, very involved. I hadn't read the plot, only watched that popular teaser trailer, so the MUTO's were a big surprise for me - and that was pretty cool - if very reminiscent of the Cloverfield monster. (MUTO's being other Kaiju monsters)
In fact, I think Cloverfield, Pacific Rim and 2014's Godzilla, really come together as a whole and compliment each other. Perhaps in the same Kaiju universe but at different points in time - taking us from Cloverfield's first public outing of the Kaiju, through the current period of Godzilla and on to the future battlefield featured in Pacific Rim
As far as the acting goes - everyone did a convincing job. Bryan Cranston's acting was superb and his character development was great - but then it stopped. There was no character development or any other solid characters really at all. The Japanese scientist was in the film throughout but he had a total of about 3 lines, all delivered after he spent 10 minutes watching whatever TV show was on the back of his own retina's.
Cranston's son was the big protagonist in the film and yet we could have been watching anyone, he just happened to be the guy the camera followed. There was no character development at all there, we knew he had a son and with and worked with the Navy as a bomb disposal guy - that is, quite literally, the extent of his character development, unless someone noticed he had a specific College tshirt on during his 2 minute return home after 14 months in the Middle East before heading off around the world again - I know I didn't.
The story - pretty flimsy, again, we just kind of watched things as they happen, it didn't really seem to go anywhere. The was a basic premise; weird activity, monsters emerge, then Godzilla appears to eat them. He does the classic monster movie look into the eyes of "the good guy" instead of eating him, and then leaves.
The spin on the concept (assuming it wasn't covered back in the 1950's) was good. The Kaiju ruled the earth before the dinosaurs, feeding on the radioactivity of the new planet (Earth) before being forced underground and into extinction.
The CGI during the first half of the film was pretty weak, I wouldn't be surprised if the first and second acts had different CG Companies running them. Towards the start the CGI was very hazy, the luminance of the CGI didn't seem to match the real effects, almost as if they had the exposure slightly off while rendering it. In the second half. everything looked pretty sweet, Godzilla was considerably more detailed than the other Kaiju.
Godzilla himself was exactly like the originals, but he came across like a cuddly toy with a face like my cat when she looks like a little bear. But I guess when you're modelling your monster on a guy in a fluffy suit, that's to be expected. I was torn here, because I hate remakes, they ruin everything and show a complete lack of originality, but then the Godzilla design was faithful to the originals - which was the right choice but nearly didn't work because he was too toy like. That said, by the end I really did like him. The Japanese complained that he was overweight, the Americans, obsessed with weight and political correctness, brought about a tirade of "it's OK to be fat". But when you watch it, it's something you do notice, he is very over weight.
Oh and the monster attacks - fantastic. If I read that on paper, I would have whinged my head off, but that was really really good and echo'd the Kaiju from (the badly acted) Pacific Rim, with the EMP's and the plasma breath. It really added a great dimension to the film, the creatures and the genre itself. I don't follow comics etc, but I'm believe the Godzilla of the 1950's breathed fire etc. It sounds cheesy, monsters firing off EMP's and blue plasma breath, but the execution was spot on.
All in all, a good film. The monsters stole the show - perhaps the goal of the director, but, unfortunately at the expense of neglecting the human characters.
Worth a cinema ticket, probably wouldn't buy it.