We’re back in the car talking the latest film from the king of monsters, Godzilla! How does Tokyo’s Bane fare in this reboot? Just how effective is the U.S. military? Does atomic-fire taste anything like habanero peppers? The Breakdown is rolling out!
Ian – Alexander Arts here from EBA:
I just posted a LOOOONG comment and it didn’t go through… damn..
I’ll try to re-type it and be more concise.
The human characters in most Gozilla movies are boring or unlikable but this movie managed to create some interesting characters who you enjoy following around.
I also agree with Brent that the lack of monster fights probably had to do with budget but they could have dropped some MUTO scenes and Godzilla swimming for more Godzilla walking around and fighting.
I think they missed an opportunity for some powerful imagery in Hawaii. They had those Japanese tourists and the American trying to take care of the Japanese kid. That airport is right next door to Pearl Harbor, they could have had a crazy scene of MUTO destroying the USS Missouri. I think WWII had a big part to play in Godzilla’s creation so it would be cool to have Americans and Japanese working together as they flee these giant monsters while they destroy the reminders of the war that started the Atomic Era and created these creatures.
I pretty much agreed with everything you said on this episode. All in all, it was an enjoyable, albeit not great, movie with too few Godzilla battle scenes and a main plot that was not bad, just not all that compelling.
It had some great scenes, though. I had to keep myself from screaming “YEAH!” when the King of Monsters used the atomic fire; So cool!
The bottom line is, I was satisfied with the movie and I think it was well worth the money.
Oh and I think that USS Missouri is an interesting idea, Ian.
First of all I have to say Brent and tiny for an awesome podcast love hearing your commentary; especially your take on Godzilla 1998 which is very painful to watch.
To start off I really enjoy this new Godzilla movie, it was awesome. I totally agree with what you guys said about Godzilla not having enough screen time; due to a tight budget. I do wish we could have seen more fights between the other two creatures but overall I enjoy it. The kid in me almost jump out of my seat when I saw Godzilla’s tail light up to deliver some atomic fire. I have to say, that this new Godzilla film made the 11 year old me really happy. fRom the classic tail swipe to having been recognize by the people as their savior and “king of monsters” . On a side note I can’t wait to hear what you guys have to say about x-men days of future past.
Oh, one more thing: What are your thoughts on having Godzilla 2014’s director at the helm of one of the Star Wars spin-off movies?
Finally got to see this movie this past Saturday in IMAX, and I can see why a lot of people are feeling a bit lukewarm. The Human characters and storyline are nothing special and it’s hard to really care about any of them. The only character I honestly liked was the Bus Driver who just plows through the Military and Police stockades to get the bus full of kids off the bridge.
That being said, the human characters and storyline in this film are LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than the humans and storylines present in most of the more classic Godzilla films that I have loved for over two decades of my life. So critiquing the movie for not delivering Oscar-worthy performances feels irrelevant to me personally. I do realize that’s not going to be everyone’s take-away from the movie though …
I loved this movie. It’s not the best movie ever, and probably not the best movie released this month, but it’s a damn good GODZILLA movie.
Godzilla himself is perfect in this movie and for me that was well worth the price of admission. I really wanna see more films be made, obviously with greater focus on the creature and action.
The moment his tail started glowing, I swear to you that two thirds of the audience were all bouncing in their seats. I haven’t had that much fun watching a movie in a theater in such a long time. Keyword: FUN.
I also watched “Monsters” on netflix, a film from the same director. I really like his style and that movie had some great ideas. The ‘writing’ and characters in it are pretty bland, though according to the Interwebs the majority of that film was relatively unscripted and most of the people onscreen at any given moment were simply locals that happened to be there during shooting. All that to say that I’m really interested to see what kind of Star Wars movie we get from this director.
(I’m really hoping to see a battle between a Rancor and a Krayt Dragon through the streets of Mos Eisley with lots of Jawas underfoot)
I may be the black sheep when it comes to this movie (which is fine; personal opinions and all that).
To begin with, I’m happy to admit that there were some great scenes that had me at the edge of my seat in excitement and actively “woop”ing for Godzilla. The Atomic Breath finisher? Classic.
That said, I hated this movie. I’ll try not to sound like too much of a culture-snob (which is a tough sentiment to follow in general), but the whole backstory of Godzilla in this movie was too much of a departure from the original that I grew up in Japan with, and the entirety of the human interaction was so pointless it felt like I was watching some other movie. My understanding of the character is that not only was he a direct result of dangerous industrialization, but he also personified the Shinto spirituality of Japan (a spirit resides in all things living and dead, so you should always be respectful to all things around you ESPECIALLY if you can’t anticipate the consequence of your actions) and how humanity came together to learn its lessons and grew as a whole. The “monsters fighting monsters” thing didn’t really start until the first sequel, at which point I assume the producers boxed away cultural relevance for blockbuster spectacles (which is fine; those movies were fun) so I’m not a very big fan of the “Godzilla 2014 is a great throwback to the original!” analysis, because it’s not. I like to joke that the “Godzilla” character in the remake could be changed to “Lord Stanky Dickfart,” or literally anything else, and it wouldn’t have changed what movie you were watching. Aaaaaaaaand rant over.
I love these podcasts! Can’t wait to get home and listen to the X-Men one. You guys are great! xoxo