Fantastic Atmosphere, Breathtaking Scale, Serious Tone

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 2014)

I am not generally a fan of Godzilla films. The sort of popcorn entertainment that most of them have been just does not appeal much to me. I went to see this film on a bit of a whim. And I do not regret it. I'll get to the point -- the monster(s) in this film are incredible in execution. Incredible.
This Godzilla has fantastic atmosphere. It's played very seriously and with great restraint, so that when crazy things do start happening, they are playing on significant built-up tension. That's the way that I like films, and in a lot of ways, this one shares qualities with horror and/or psychological thrillers, more than 'monster' movies.
Do the human characters seem a bit one-dimensional? Sure, but although this story is told from their points of view, it is clearly not about them. For me, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and so forth work fine as supporting players, because they do not distract, and indeed feed into, the 'bigger' picture, if you will.
It bears remembering that this story is based on highly-improbable, sensationalized fantasy. If you break it down that way, no, it's not realistic. However, and in this case it is a huge however, the scale, sense of size and realism in this film is breathtaking. I can't imagine that the visual/visceral execution could have been any better, given the subject matter. Things get insane, but never in a cheap way.
Overall, you should see this version of Godzilla if you appreciate foreboding and less-is-more cinematography in your monster movies. This is not a free-for-all action onslaught, although it does have incredible action. Nor is it really 'fun.' But it is serious, skillful and awe- inspiring, the latter to a degree that I have rarely experienced before.