The King of all Monsters is back.

Rating: 9/10 (16 May 2014)

In advance: I am one of the people who think Emmerichs movie was very bad.
When the first trailer was revealed, we (2) monster movie and Godzilla fans had no doubt this will be the most important film for us in 2014. This is one of the very few films which do live up to their hype - and even surpass it in some scenes.
Everyone worrying about the new Godzilla, can calm down and watch this film. It let's you forget about what Emmerich did to Godzilla 16 years ago.
The cast is great and I would say even better than in many of the Toho originals. Every actor transports the size and drama of the circumstances and events in a very believable way. Bryan Cranston plays his part with such a power and presence, you can only love his character. Ken Watanabe, although playing with a rather stiff facial expression, is believable and likable as the sometimes surprised, sometimes shocked scientist. And Kick-Ass... well he does a good job in playing the running man as well.
The plot is what you can expect from a monster movie like this. Humans cause trouble, Godzilla arrives, big monster fight scenes. However, what Edwards and his writer make out of this formula is far better than average. The characters are not too stereotype. The reason why Godzilla appears and why the plot evolves how it evolves is explained in a rather believable way.
The filmmakers made a good job in throwing all kinds of different scenes at you. Character drama, intense suspense (I just say railroad bridge), action, battles. Adding the well paced suspense curve, especially in the second half of the film, this film never gets boring.
The production design and the scale of the devastation is often caught in big aerial images. Thankfully, Edwards and his cinematographer avoided the use of shaky cam shot expect in 1st person or very close range shots. The big, calm images of Godzilla, the chaos and the destroyed cities transport a very realistic tone.
Thanks to the perfect sound design, the audience can feel the strength and the scale of Godzilla and [...] (No Spoilers, right? ;) ) and the devastation. His scream, every step, every crashing building is perfectly sounded. The bass is so intense, it pushes you in your seat. The seats were shaking. Go watch this film in a cinema with a very good and bass-y sound system. You won't regret it.
The CGI effects, and now we come to the master himself, are outstanding and simply perfect. If the Academy were open to this kind of film, I'd say we got our CGI Oscar winner here. Godzilla himself looks breathtaking, even with his gained mid-life-crisis pounds. His presence alone are great scenes and his fight with [...] are the icing on the cake. Those scenes are so good, I wish they had more screen time. Which is my only complaint worth mentioning for this film.
Godzilla himself gets two, three very strong scenes in this new film. I'd even say some are the best ever in the series. His full size reveal is an outstanding scene and made the audience cheer in my screening. Those scenes truly are "HE IS BACK, B*TCHES!" moments.
In my opinion, every scene in this film destroys the complete Emmerich film. Even better, in some scenes, it seems to make fun of the 98 film.
For me (us 3) as monster movie fans, this film is one of the best Godzilla movies to date, one of the best monster movies in years and it does not need to hide behind the Toho originals (as they were involved in some basic decisions).
9 / 10