Godzilla, Alpha Predator, or Neutered Puppy?

Rating: 3/10 (19 May 2014)

Spoilers!
I'm a huge fan of Godzilla. So you can understand my excitement was at fever pitch for this new American iteration of a beloved monster icon. Undoubtedly, I haven't been this excited to see a Godzilla film since the 1998 version, and undoubtedly, I haven't been as disappointed as I am today having watched Gareth Edwards Godzilla.
Unfortunately, the opening montage really does set the scene for this movie, but not in a good way. In the montage, there is a clip of Godzilla, rising up out of the sea, just as you are about to see the money shot, and the camera focuses in on what we paid to see, it cuts away to something far less interesting. The majority of the shots on Godzilla, what you laid out your 20 bucks for, end after 30 seconds, with instant cuts to army guys, army guys running, army guys talking, army guys looking befuddled at how in the hell they ended up getting this dire gig.....
The movie plays like a military propaganda film, with even a martial law scene in the first act. Oh look, the Americans are taking over, God(zilla) bless amurrika!
When the behemoth Godzilla finally does make his first appearance, it's the shot from the trailer, so by now, not a single person who went to see this film will have been tantalised because, well, because, we have all watched the trailer 20 times, a day, at least. so the arrival of Godzilla is the most underwhelming entrance of the big guy in all his cinematic history. I'm not being harsh, just truthful. The build up and reveal of Godzilla in the 1998 film was more satisfactory. And just as you are about to get that final, fleshed out look at Godzilla, what happens? They cut to a shot of a child eating his supper, or some other even more mundane pap. You see Godzilla a maximum of three times, the third time being a sort of extended cameo for the final scenes. The second time you see him, the Mutos is on screen too, and it looks like they are heading towards a showdown, cut to kid eating his supper, "Look mum, dinosaurs" Mum looks out of window.....Cut to static image of destroyed city, after the Non Existent Fight 1. That's how the rest of this film plays out. Every time it starts to focus on the interesting characters, the monsters themselves, they cut away to something far less interesting.
But Godzilla looks good, right? He looks like they spent 160 million dollars on him? Well, yes, sort of. And by that I mean, he looks like Godzilla, for the brief time you actually get to see him in daylight. The extended cameo scene takes place at night, obscuring most of what's going on, I know, they spent 160 million on great FX you can't actually see. Go figure. But in my opinion, there is nothing special about the Godzilla on display here. Sure they have captured his likeness, but really, it's just what you'd expect, no more. Godzilla in this film is not your charming, brimming with personality hero dinosaur from the classic films, here, he can be best described as "generic". And does he deliver in his scenes? Frankly, no. He is portrayed as a puppy dog, ally to America, wouldn't hurt a fly, never damages a building (at least on screen) the titanic saurian who is indestructible, now gets puffed out after using his mediocre looking, atomic breath. Is the old guy getting on? His iconic roar, in this Americanised Godzilla, sounds weak, by which I mean, Godzilla sounds wounded when he roars, even before any of the (off screen) fights take place. The Broderick Godzilla at least got the mighty battle cry of Godzilla, right. Which leads me to the climax of the film, a much hailed "work of art" Godzilla finally getting his hands on the enemy, and destroying the Mutos.
If you have seen the trailer.........You've seen it. Save your money. Re-watch the trailer. The final fight, as mentioned, takes place at night, interspersed with multitudes of camera cuts to Johnson, when you can see what is transpiring on screen, it's OK, but, the fight is dull. Essentially, Mutos lands a few blows, Godzilla goes for the kill shot with the atomic breath, then collapses, resting. The second Mutos rumbles over, cut to Johnson, cut back to Godzilla grabbing the final Mutos and blasting it with his atomic breath. Then cut to Johnson, laying alongside Godzilla, resting. This film is full of moments like that, humanising Godzilla, on the few moments you can actually see him.
But what about the city stomping? Surely there is some??? Well, yes, one island gets flooded, but really, all you see is Godzilla rising up, cut to tidal wave going through city, cut to mum, or army guy looking befuddled. There is hardly any disaster porn in this film, if that's what you were expecting to see. A few shots of the aftermath though, but wonder, where did they spend the 160 million dollars, because it certainly wasn't on the FX. Maybe they spent that much on retaining Bryan Cranston's services.
I think the amount of time Godzilla spends on screen in this new version have been exaggerated. Some sites are saying he's on there for 27 minutes, the same as the original, but I doubt that. It's more like 15 minutes, tops.
Bad film, worse Godzilla film.