Let them fight

It has been a little while since I saw a movie on the opening weekend and it showed because I made a rookie move. I went to see Godzilla showing up at the theatre 20mins before showtime and expected to get a seat. What is wrong with me? Well it was the final episode of Battle of the Decades on Jeopardy with a million dollars at risk. I know I am a giant nerd for admitting this but it was so worth it! Such an intense game! It was Brad Rutter (a guy who has never lost a game except to WATSON the IBM computer), Ken Jennings (Most game won consecutively in the show’s history and Brad’s other competitor against WATSON), and Roger Craig (with the one day winnings record). It was crazy! Roger totally had a chance but he really screwed himself with 2 very risky decisions that failed both times. I was rooting for him too. But Brad won. I don’t know how someone can retain that about of information and recall it with that kind of speed.

Anyways, on my second attempt I did get a ticket, a good seat, and let the story unfold.

I wasn’t expecting an Oscar winning film, this is a movie about giant monsters fighting after all but I did expect more than this. It wasn’t that the movie was bad but it just did not meet my expectations because of some of the choices that were made by the film makers.

I was expecting this to be on the same line as Pacific Rim some good cheesy bits and a hell of a lot of fighting monsters. You are introduced to the monsters early on but the action you want (aka Godzilla fighting) doesn’t happen for a long time. Overall you don’t get a lot of Godzilla at all. When you are finally introduced to Godzilla himself it is…humourous. I full on started laughing. They did this slow pan up his leg that reminded me of a romcom sequence.

The story focuses way too much on the human element. Yeah, yeah, you’re sad cuz you can’t find your family and you’re worried and stuff but I paid to see monsters fight and that is what I expect to see. You do see them fight but the action is interspersed with people reaction shots and chatter taking you out of the action. They even completely cut away from a fight scene when the action finally ramps up! WHAT?! Follow the monsters at that point NOT the people! It is so frustrating! UGH!

Also, I am trying not to give anything away here, but the whole cause of everything that happens in the movie makes no sense! That is all I have to say cuz if I explain I will have to give away too much.

Then there was the acting. Bryan Cranston is so wasted. He brings such gravitas to everything he does that you missed him when he wasn’t on screen and he wasn’t on screen much making everyone else’s performance pale in comparison. Ken Watanabe is closest in comparison but they are no match. The main focus is Aaron Taylor-Johnson and he could not carry a film of this magnitude. Yes he has been the focus in the Kick Ass movies but he does not work here. He seemed doe-eyed and out of place the whole time. I just got bored whenever he was on screen and that was a lot.

Godzilla isn’t all bad, there is some cool stuff in the movie. I know this may sound lame but this movie has one of the best opening credit sequences. It sets up the upcoming story perfectly and relates previous historical events to the events that are about to happen. I thought it was very cool. When you do finally see some action they managed to incorporate the action style of the classic Godzilla movies adding some fun to the overall experience. Sure it looks a bit cheesy but it works. The monster design is great too. They introduce a new type of monster that is very cool and the updated look of Godzilla works.

This is a movie to be seen on the big screen, it is Godzilla after all, everything about it is big and it is better than the Mathew Broderick fiasco from 1998. But I would skip the AVX, 3D, V.I.P (that shit is $25, forget that!), and just see it regular, on cheap Tuesdays. But you never know this could be just your thing. As one of my friends texted me, and I quote, “OMG OMG OMG, did you see Godzilla?!?! I fucking jizzed myself.” Followed by “P.S. Jizzing is a good thing.” That means she liked it.

Tra