Hits all the right marks except the one where you actually care

Rating: 6/10 (26 August 2014)

A huge amount of Movies flicker before the eye. Big names, Big special effects but with no substance. A huge amount of movies bring in millions at the box office, hit the top ten and are forgotten within days by the viewing public.
I watched this movie with no anticipation of something different. Huge movie, massive special effects but really, really nothing. Nothing to remember, nothing to look on and say "I really enjoyed that movie" It's the new fast food but in entertainment form.
The thing that really disappointed me was that after, when I looked back on the script and the stylization and everything else I realized that I should have enjoyed the movie.
Script-wise:
A father sends his wife down to check out the reactor they are investigating. There is a melt down. The wife dies. It's his birthday. He spends the rest of his life trying to investigate the "real" cause. Their son looses both parents that day. That son grows up, a soldier, comes back from a year and a half duty. Hasn't seen his family that whole time and is instantly called away.
It's tear jerking. the script is fantastic. It's got all the emotional blackmail it needs.
Style:
I love the way they kept Godzilla in the Japanese style. I love the old footage. I love the way that Godzilla was not the "Monster" but the Balancing force. I love that look or recognition that the main character and Godzilla gave each other towards the end.
I should have loved this movie. This movie should be in my all time top 10. But I didn't. The script was run through as though it was simply a script. There was no emotion. They felt like they were touching on significant emotional points merely because they had to, because they were in the script.
An example of this is when the mother puts her child on the bus and stays behind. Really should have been a lot more tears between the two, a lot more crying. They may never see each other again. But no, apparently we're like cold heartless insects. (would have helped if the kid was cuter as well)
In the end something that should have been brilliant lacked any depth that it should have. I watched it and just did not care at all.
Also as an afterthought- there are all these scenes with soldiers investigating, searching through rooms. Invariably they come across the room they're searching for, open the door and half the room is gone. A big crater or something outside with helicopters flying around etc. Why the hell are they searching from room to room looking for something that they can quite obviously see before they even enter the building.
I normally would overlook this. But this movie really ticked me off. Something that had so much potential just flushed down the toilet. We have a lot of crap, lifeless movies out there.
This could have been great and all it needed was a little bit of effort. Instead the decided to waste the opportunity to make just another crap, lifeless movie.