The one thing Godzilla 2014 mastered.

The characters were realistic but not very interesting. You were able to care for them but killing off Bryan Cranston and making Brody the main character was the wrong choice in my opinion. Brody also has serious plot armor

Completely agree, HinikunaGoji.

The movie opened with Joe's tragedy and it was his determination/heartbreak from loss that led him and Ford to the containment facility. Killing off Joe killed off the character the audience had the strongest connection with.

Now I don't dislike Brody, especially in comparison to characters in the sequel, but he's left with very little to grow from. He's also isolated from other supporting characters which leaves him with very little to communicate with. I enjoy the journey-man story he has going on that parallels Godzilla's trek--The idea of two worn, soldiers trying to complete their mission intersects when he makes eye contact with Godzilla. I loved that.

But overall his journey is not one of exploration, but literal destination. With his lack of dialogue or interesting internal arc, his character just comes down to a man trying to get home.

Which is why i mainly focused on his wife. XD I agree, though, that Bryan Cranstons performance is what got the movie through the first 30 min. I was just acknowledging a character that, as I said, often is overlooked/underrated, ie Fords' wife.

I mean sure, its nice to see a realistic response to kaiju attacks, but the realistic aprouch was just SO     BORING.    give us some shabaz in the human plotline like final wars did.

My opinion is definitely in line with the general consensus that Joe Brody is the strongest character of G14 (perhaps of the entire Monsterverse), and my biggest disappointment with that film easily was the writers' decision to kill him off. In doing so, they also killed the heart of the film, which is why the second act is a bit harder to get through.

The most realistic kaiju defense I’ve seen in a Godzilla movie is in Shin Godzilla.

Sure that movie had ond the most realistic military responses. But when It comes to capturing the P.O.V. of the average person....

Oh yes Shin Godzilla, stuff full of Japanese bureaucracy and heavy focus on characters that would normally be  background characters.

I mean the stratagem against Shin Godzilla. It had well thought out defenses and phases

Y'know... thinking back on it--As much as I love Elizabeth Olson as an actress and appreciate the nuance she gave Elle, the character really had nothing to do, but be a worry wart the entire film.

Honestly, I do have to say Madison Russell in KOTM kinda faded into the background in the third act.

and about G'14, I would watch it if I could actually see it (you know what I mean).

@Sonic

I rewatched the film many times with the darkness. It is an issue and probably the biggest one. But for me it doesn’t really impact the viewing experience. I tend to make these problems seem bigger than they actually are, so not watching a movie based on someone else’s judgement isn’t very smart. I’m saying don’t say you can’t see, if you haven’t seen the movie

@Gman

Thats true.

At least Marvel has given Olsen her big break...