One of the best movies I've seen

Rating: 10/10 (9 May 2014)

This isn't a typical "military VS monster" movie. I believe it's the first western-made film to break out of that mold. If you think this is another Pacific Rim or Cloverfield, you're wrong. If you go in expecting an absolutely flawless version of either of those two movies, you might be disappointed.
It starts out a bit slow, and some of the characters are a little flat. None of the leads are flat. Bryan Cranston's acting in particular is fantastic. That's the only negative thing I can say about this movie. The monsters? The visual effects? The story? Spot on. The rest of the movie was incredible, and I can only wish I could experience what it was like to see it for the first time again. I considered giving it a 9 just because the acting wasn't always perfect, but I came away so exhilarated that anything less than a 10 didn't feel right.
I do get the feeling that a couple of the cynical reviews seen so far are from people who have no idea who Godzilla is. For example, one complains about Godzilla not having fire breath, but Godzilla has never had fire breath (it's nuclear).
I feel that moviegoers who are completely unfamiliar with Godzilla might not enjoy this movie as much as those of us who've seen at least the 50's classic, "Gojira." (The 1998 reboot attempt doesn't count and is completely unrelated to this movie.)