Posted 17 May 2014 - 07:26 AM
It really was.
And for many of the same reasons that I liked 'Monsters.'
I've already seen some complaints that there was not enough Godzilla; but I really enjoyed the build up - it reminded me of the original King Kong, and Jaws too for that matter. (Although the wait in Jaws was more to do with technical issues, it actually made for a better film.) The build-up in Godzilla is nice because they could have gone all-out cgi from the start, but they chose not to. In fact, the cgi in the retro black and white footage works really well.
It does have it's flaws; after a strong start the cast are basically left with little to do, and Edwards tries to avoid any movie cliches, to the point where you can almost see it. But, at the same time he manages to include homage to previous flicks like Jaws, Jurassic Park, and of course the original Godzilla. You'll know 'em when you see 'em. And, while I was watching the cast take a back seat during the second half, I remembered that this film is not about them. Previous Godzilla movies had a human story to back up the monster fights, and that's essentially all this is, it's just done in a more 'convincing' way. The US army weren't (for the most part) portrayed as trigger-happy loonies (their big plan was more than a bit stupid) and although the science and monster origins were a little fuzzy the scientists themselves weren't the awful caricatures from ID4 and Pacific Rim. The downside of that, however, is that they lack any sort of character.
But hey, it was about Godzilla. It was about a reboot. It could have been called Godzilla Begins.
Best bits... classic Godzilla moves. I'm not usually prone to cheering in the cinema, but certain bits got very close to a FUCK, YEAH!
(Oh and the music score, especially towards the end, starts sounding a lot like that military march from the original movies...epic!)
So that's the story. And what was the real lesson? Don't leave things in the fridge.