Could have been a contender...

Rating: 3/10 (30 January 2016)

So I just watched this movie for the second time, and had to review it.
I've seen various complaints about this film, and although I tend to agree with a number of them, as a G-fan, I can accept most of the shortcomings.
"He's too fat." - Godzilla's weight has fluctuated dramatically over the last 60 years and 28 movies, and although he is chubbier in this than any other suit, I can go with it. Mostly because I really, REALLY like the head sculpt (I know its CGI, but its CGI designed to look like a guy in a rubber suit).
"He was only in 20 minutes of the movie." - Yep. Should have been more Godzilla in a Godzilla movie. But part of that, I think, is the fact that it was just too damn long. Way too much peripheral crap that didn't really add much. However, I understand that's Edwards' thing (highlighting the human drama and using the creatures as background), and again, I can accept that.
"The MUTOs were lame/stupid/unimaginative." - Meh. Can't really say they were any lamer than Baragon or King Caesar, and Mothra really wasn't the height of imagination either. Still, these are antagonists that we love. So I can easily accept the MUTOs into the pantheon of Godzilla foes, though they should have had names instead of acronyms.
"The story was crap/The characters were one-dimensional/I can pick out xxx things that were ridiculous." - yeah, there were a lot of dumb things in the story. No point in going through them all, I don't have space. But again, it's a Godzilla movie. No one should be going to see this for anything other than the title character. Anyone who wants to nitpick this obviously hasn't watched 'Godzilla vs. Megalon' in its full glory.
"Its way better than the 1998 version." - Duh. That wasn't a Godzilla movie, that was a monster movie. Hell, other than his uncharacteristic luck with Stargate, anything with Roland Emmerich involved is probably going to be pretty stupid anyway.
"It had an Olsen sister and the Kick-Ass guy in it." - yeah, it did. Certainly not a big enough issue to pan the film, at least for me.
Anyway, those are the biggies, and if they were all, I could easily have given this movie a 7 - it WAS entertaining after all. Unfortunately, my biggest issue is one that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere (though I could have just missed it): Legendary/WB/Edwards didn't use Godzilla's roar. Let me say that again... THEY DIDN'T USE THE ROAR. One of the most iconic sound effects in movie history, and they failed to use it. Unforgivable, and a game-changer, at least for me.
It may seem like a small detail, but think about the reaction to a Star Wars movie that had Darth Vader without James Earl Jones' voice. Total fail. And that's exactly what happened here.