Better than '98, Worse than '54

Rating: 7/10 (1 December 2014)

**This review may contain spoilers**
This new take on Godzilla is not a bad one, but it's not really the best either. I can get all kinds of technical about why it is that I think this movie is a B rather than an A, but honestly when it comes to blockbusters it's all about how they make you feel, since the focus is rarely ever on intelligence over explosions.
The problem with Godzilla is it's decision to focus the greater part of it's narrative on people and the Godzilla mythology rather than just Godzilla himself. Godzilla is present for hardly any of the movie outside of the last 45 minutes, and it's not really even clear as to whether or not he's a good guy till practically the end. They attempt to give the movie a humanity angle by throwing us several formulaic characters with the typical loss of a loved one cliché, and then proceed to dance around showing us any monsters for quite some time.
Not to sound like a die hard, but when I think Godzilla I think the ridiculous monster movies that I grew up watching, or hell even the 1998 adaptation which was all kinds of horrible, but at least that movie had it's focus on the spectacle that was Godzilla. Despite my harsh opinions towards this film, the things it does do right it does right without compromise, and the last 45 minutes makes up for the majority of the movies failures.
Pacific Rim is honestly a much better choice if you're looking for some supreme monster beat 'em up moments.