Godzilla (2014 film)

2014 American Godzilla film.
==First watch (17th May 2014)==
===Format===
In 2D at Sheffield Cineworld.
===Journal===
I really liked the 1998 American Godzilla but since everyone else hated it I had to wait a while until 'Hollywood' had another crack at Godzilla.
The advertising for this film was really good and I was looking forward to seeing it, if only for the nice visuals I expected would be there whatever the quality of the film as a whole. After it came out and reddit seemed to be pretty excited about it, I went to see it on Saturday the 17th of May 2014.
It was okay, definitely had those good visuals, and it far from suffered from the sorts of debilitating conditions that so many Hollywood blockbusters do, but I have several not-insignificant complaints nonetheless. Too many coincidences allowing the main characters to be constantly at the scene of the action, though the overall quality of the film made this less annoying than Man of Steel. But still, it ran the gamut from having the monsters constantly appear at or converge on the main character's current whereabouts globally to having both Godzilla and the baddie monster get an up-close eye contact moment with him. The Godzilla one was totally unnecessary and bizarre.
Maybe I just didn't like the main character enough to forgive him for getting in on all the action. That was probably it, to be honest. I don't even know his name and I didn't like him or anything. He wasn't annoying, just totally bland.
I did like how they kept the view of the monsters brief and partial most of the time. It did seem a bit forced, with 'humorous' cuts just as the fights began to people watching it on TV or something, and copious amounts of cloud and smoke and dust blocking all long-distance vision until the gratuitous 'smoke clears briefly allowing a wide-angle shot of the giant creature'. But I knew how important it was that they did this, so I unconditionally forgave them every time, and enjoyed the build up to the payoffs when they came.
I liked Godzilla's facial expressions. Despite being huge and monstrous and animalistic, his face was engaging and gave an inkling of some intelligence of some kind, a bit like a Disney monster. I liked that.
I also liked the idea that the monsters fed on radiation, attracting them to technologically advanced cities and giving them a source for their raw power. They were like nuclear elementals, which has a primal and frightening ring to it, and could be portrayed believably.
I was constantly wishing there was more emphasis on scientists acting like scientists though, as usual. Scientists were throwing out guesses that hit the mark every time (maybe it's a male and a female) and not questioning things that should have raised an eyebrow or commenting on the significance of things in the wider context of our scientific understanding of the world. Needed more Carl Sagan.
On the whole, it was good but not great.
===Rating===
1
Category:Films watched in 2014
Category:Films with 1 rating
Category:Science fiction films
Category:Monster films
Category:Godzilla films