A colossal letdown not Godzilla's fault

Rating: 4/10 (6 November 2014)

Considering what the filmmakers had to work with this movie is a major failure. The special effects are first rate and the visualization of Godzilla is great. Unfortunately you hardly ever get a chance to see him, as he is a minor character in his own movie. Worse yet, almost the entire movie is shot at night in deep shadow. So we don't really get to see the fight scenes between Godzilla and the other creatures. Mostly you see just quick glimpses of these massive things in the dark. So as a creature feature the movie is unimpressive.
Added to that the plot is inane, with the usual stupid behavior of our military "brain trust" depicted at every turn. Obviously the filmmakers assumed viewers would check their intelligence at the front door of the theater, so no need to care about logic or realism.
The acting is second rate so that doesn't help the movie's entertainment value either. The lead actor is totally forgettable.
Finally, and worst of all, there is no viewer emotional involvement with the characters or the creatures. We should care for Godzilla, and he could have been portrayed as a hero in this film, but since he is a bit player for most of the movie we just don't care. In the climactic ending we get our first impressive views of what Godzilla looks like and his impressive powers, but it is too little too late.
BTW, when watching the special features I became even more disappointed as you get some views of what the movie could have at least looked like. Here you get to see the creatures fighting in the light without all of the murky filtering applied. Too bad. Someone needs to follow up this movie with a sequel to cleanse the bad taste it leaves for lovers of Godzilla.