A grand and worthy addition to Godzilla's longtime legacy.

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2014)

Godzilla. I will approach this objectively now. This will be a long review since it's a movie I've anticipated so heavily:
Was it worth all of the anticipation and hype? In short, YES. Is it a perfect movie? NO. I'm not going to sit here and sing its praises as if it there's nothing wrong. So let's get what's wrong out of the way first:
The script (while sometimes smart) REALLY bogs the movie down during its middle act. Some cheesy lines (that were fun but clashed with the overall serious tones) here and there, and don't get me started on the military incompetence clichés that run rampant through the middle act. Yes, I will say it now that it would have been nicer to have more Godzilla. I'll get to that later though. The music was a little dodgy and I would have preferred something moodier. The soundtrack aimed to echo the works of Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube, but unfortunately it fails and doesn't elevate the film (except for some moments). Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance was serviceable at best in my opinion. Some of the incredible talent in the cast is wasted but I can't say much without spoiling. Basically it makes the film feel like it is separated into acts. Overall the biggest drawback here isn't the human characters so much as the script. There's a lot to nitpick about.
As for what's good about it Well, there's much to say here. Bryan Cranston is awesome in the movie. Ken Watanabe was pretty good and probably my favorite character. The cinematography... I'm in love. When I heard they were going to get the same guy who was the DP on The Avengers, I thought this movie would fall into generic visual territory but my goodness was this movie a visual treat. Even the more intimate character moments were enhanced by the camera-work. It's a beautiful marriage of steady wide-shots, POVs, and smart use of hand-held camera-work. The CGI is top-shelf. The monsters move around with a good presence.
There isn't as much Godzilla in this movie as you'd probably expect, and that is the most interesting aspect about this film. There's plenty of screen time for the monsters in general and there is a lot of action, but not so much Godzilla in his full glory. There is a strong human focus. You're introduced to his opponent first, and you see Godzilla when he shows up to set things straight. If this structure doesn't sound familiar to you, then you mustn't have seen many Godzilla movies at all. After seeing the film again, without any bias, I can say that it's much harder for me to relate to the complaints about the title monster not being in the film enough. To me, this slow burn was just a little exaggerated and actually works given how stunning the final climax of the film is. Seriously, probably the greatest monster throw-down I've ever seen. It's a payoff that wouldn't excite audiences as much as it did in both screenings I've attended if it was milked throughout the film (seriously, people were cheering and clapping when Godzilla showed up). When you see Godzilla in this film, he's glorious, and it's because of that slow buildup. Unfortunately now I have a strange assumption that modern audiences get bored too easily. This is what made movies like Jurassic Park and Alien so great.
The bottom line is that they got Godzilla right this time. The movie is a throwback to all the great monster movies of the 70's and 80's, but with some gritty Nolan attitude added in there. Most importantly, this movie was made for the fans, as it feels like a genuine Toho film. Perhaps it caters a bit more to the fans than it should (the script really is poor on multiple levels, bringing to mind B-Movie level cheese and stupid plot points on occasion), but ultimately Godzilla delivers the most exciting spectacle I've seen all year (Halo jump sequence, I'm pointing at you) and I can't be happier with how the film turned out. I'd highly recommend you see it on the biggest screen possible. There's a lot to commend about what Gareth Edwards has pulled off here, despite some shortcomings. 8.5/10