Godzilla '14 Retrospect - Three Years Later

I saw it once and have no desire to see it again. I believe, like Pacific Rim, the film chose the wrong character as the protagonist. 

Man, sucks that the source coding messed that original attempt to post it so badly. All fixed now.

I like it, monster action could have been better tho.

Liked it, still do

I have very similar opinions on the film, G. H. (Gman).

However, my biggest complaint is that the climax at the end is way too dim! I hope they bring back the broad daylight kaiju fight scenes from the Godzilla Versus series back in the 1990s.

Nevertheless, well-written review! Upvoted!

^Even though six out of seven of the 80s/90s movies included climaxes that took place at night. ;)

Admittedly, I had an easier time watching the climax of the movie since I found a worthwhile video setting. Still, it otherwise wasn't a very exciting experience due to the reasons I specified above.

Facehuggers I liked the dim lighting. Makes scenes more dramatic.

I think they should have made the scene brighter.

The lighting issue is largely just a problem with the Blu-ray. It didn't look that dark in theaters and the Toho Blu-ray is brighter as well.

I think a few watches ago the movie kind of leveled out for me. It's still ok but mostly due to the strong first act.

It will probably sit in the lower middle area for me in terms of g movies. 

I tried to watch this film last week and actually fell asleep on it. Watched it today and nothing has changed.

I appreciate the film for bringing Godzilla back but, the film is so boring. Max Borenstein can not write characters worth anything. Aaron Taylor Johnson's character is one that I can not feel anything for. He tries to incorporate a character that has no emotion but "hide my inner emotions."

I know the main criticism of the film is "there's not enough Godzilla screen time" but, it's not really the screen time that counts. It's what you do with it. 

The story is more bland than anything. Two of the greatest actors were killed off way too early and brought down the film. The build up was seemingly great in the first viewing but, it becomes less dramatic. 

2014 is surely a middle of the road film at best. The characters had nothing to really connect with other than Bryan Cranston. 

While the monster fighting was decent, the climax was nothing too spectacular. Sure, it's a nice monster finish but, Godzilla vs Biollante and Godzilla 2000 incorporated that finish long before 2014 with the "kiss of death" that's highly overpraised.

All in all, 2014 is a bit better than some films, but compared to what Ishiro Honda has done along with Shusuke Kaneko and Hideaki Anno, the film falls short. 

I'm glad we have it but, it's not my go to film. Hopefully Mike Dougherty makes a film a lot more promising. 

I like it, but I do admit that the character development was mediocre, Cranston dying 40 minutes into the film was ridiculous seeing as how he was marketed as being the lead, and those cutaways were frustrating; I have NO CLUE what Edwards was thinking there. I have a feeling that this movie will level off over time as far as people who like it and dislike it. As for me I liked it May 16, 2014 and I still like it now even though there are things in it that could've been done better.

There's nothing I can say about the movie that hasn't already been said. I was very stoked on it after it came out, and I still hold some deal of admiration for it for being the end of the 10-year drought and helping to reinvigorate the franchise. I like the film, and I doubt that will ever change, but my enthusiasm for it has waned upon repeated viewings. There are a few great standout moments in the film, and even its weaker aspects are handled better than what some of Hollywood has to offer, but with Shin Godzilla and the promise of many more upcoming films, Godzilla '14 is becoming more and more of an afterthought in my mind.

I do like the film, and I do appreciate its place as the first successful American Godzilla film, but I'm much more interested in the upcoming sequel, which I hope is a noticeable improvement in many aspects, and in Toho's upcoming offerings, namely the anime trilogy. Not to mention I still find a great deal of enjoyment in the rest of Toho's Godzilla library, and am more likely to go back and rewatch any of those films than G14.

I agree, I think the biggest claim to fame Godzilla 2014 will have is that it brought the franchise back, not necessarily being a great entry in the franchise though. It's like that line from Prometheus, "Big things have small beginnings." Godzilla 2014 is the start of an era of Godzilla films, one where both America and Japan are able to reach the farthest reaches of the fan base as well as attract new fans to the franchise and possibly make this time the largest growth in popularity for Godzilla yet. Godzilla 2014 did what it had to do, plant the seed and bring the franchise into its next evolution, even if there were some growing pains. 

Even though my thoughts on this film decreased slightly, I still love it. Though I do agree it has some big flaws (Not a lot of Godzilla, ATJ is mediocre at best, slow 2nd act, killing off Bryan Cranston), but the good far outweighs the bad (Awesome music, visuals, cinematography, Cranston's performance, final battle, creature designs, 1st act). I still hold a lot of respect for it for revitalizing Godzilla after a decade of nothing, and I think it's a good start to the Monsterverse. 

Heavily agreed, if Cranston was the main character then the whole thing would of panned out a lot better. It says something when I find GMK more exciting and entertaining then a movie that came out 3 years ago.

^I don't think it says that much--GMK is head and shoulders a better movie and widely agreed as such. I think it says more that I find movies from 40-50 years ago to be more engaging and worth my time.

In terms of a retrospective, coming from me who was a massive G 14 supporter in 2014 when it came out--I do have to admit it doesn't hold up well. The actors cast beside Bryan Cranston aren't given good roles, or positions for the film. And the 2 hours of dialogue diminish the final battle's effectiveness to draw your attention. G 14 just doesn't hold up well to me anymore.

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Well I don't like it as much as I used to. It doesn't hold up as well as something like the original '54 film.

Gman- Yeah I kinda realized that early today, I posted that late last night, I was tired. But I do agree with how the old Godzilla's, which are from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, are more exciting and interesting then one made a few years ago. 

     Cranston should have been the main character of that movie, and should still be the main human character of the Monsterverse. He's freakin Heisenberg. It failed on Godzilla action, Godzilla fainted like a big ole wussy, and it was so damn boring. I blame Gareth Edwards.

Power Rangers, Pacific Rim, and Kong were all better movies. I expect KOTM to top them all though.