So we went and saw the new Godzilla today and I would like to write down my thoughts on it, and I would love to hear yours as well! Note that this journal will NOT be spoiler free, if you do not want spoilers then don't read this.

First of all, I would like to say that it is completely possible to enjoy something while still being critical of what it did wrong. I did enjoy the movie, but I am also going to be critical of what I did not like about it. Just because I'm going to talk about those flaws does not mean I did not enjoy the movie overall.

I would also like to point out that while I watched giant monster movies on and off as a kid, the movie that got me hooked was the 1998 Godzilla movie. Give me a little slack here, I was 11, and really all I cared about was the giant dinosaur going around stomping things and ruining cities. It was this movie that caught me onto the giant monster genre, and through it I watched and fell in love with the rest of the Godzilla films... yes, even the bad ones. I love cheese, even as a kid I loved cheese, and being introduced through the bad 1998 Godzilla granted me a unique position: I was lenient on how Godzilla was treated. To me, as long as he was a giant monster that smashed shit and fought things (monsters or humans) I was happy! I went into this film with that mind set, and I always will with giant monsters.

The biggest problem for me with the movie was the human side of things. Yeah, okay, so usually the human side is boring and we all just want to get to the giant monster battle, I know, I know. However, I often get invested in the old Godzilla human stories, yeah they can be boring and cheesy, but that's half the fun! In this movie the cheese is gone, leaving just this boring and very forced story. Gaps in history feel unneeded and forced, zero effort was made to choose actors whom looked like each other for family, and all the forced "look at the poor kid it might die!" crap just made me wish for the scene to be over with faster. I feel like they shoehorned in the lead character just so they could push the army aspect, but the story would have been a lot better if it had been the father and kid together without the 15 years later and the forced family with zero investment. I cared more about his parents in five minutes then I did about him or his family throughout the movie. The lead just wasn't a good actor and certainly wasn't interesting, and in the end it just served to bring the entire movie down. Even the monster fight is less interesting when it keeps switching from the fight to his stone expression. Have you seen a movie with a guy who's in the military? Then congratulations, you've already seen this character exactly. The other character I had a big problem with was Dr. Ichiro. What was up with that guy? All he did, the entire film, was look really confused and say his lines very slowly. Remind you of anyone? YUP! Bella from Twilight, his character was BELLA FROM TWLIGHT! His explanations were either nothing or he randomly knew information about things he shouldn't. He kept trying to get the military to let the monster's fight but wouldn't offer up a good way to do it (Hey, maybe we should let the monsters fight. Oh, they're heading to a densely populated area? Okay lets do the lure plan expect instead of dangerously leaving the bomb lying about for the monsters to fly around with, we lure them to an isolated place, hang around with the bomb, and then take the fuck off when Godzilla appears. Wow, I'm so damn smart!)

The other big problem with the human aspect is forcing it into America. Yeah okay, it's an American film and they wanted it to happen in America, I get that, but why start in Japan? It makes ZERO sense, and it so damn forced that I kept loosing my investment. They find the creature in Japan, it stays in Japan for 15 years, and then it flies to America to eat radiation (ignoring all the other plants in Japan) because???? Then they have another pod, and instead of opening the damn thing up and analyzing it they throw it out... and they don't just throw it out anywhere they throw it out at a nuclear waste dump in Nevada because?????? The American army gets involved but literally no one else in the world cares because?!?!?!?!?! It makes no sense! Are the Monsters attracted to the smell of fat and hamburgers? Did the rest of the world sit around with their thumbs up their collective asses?

Okay, I better stop with the human side before I cause myself to have an anger seizure.

For the monster side, I was impressed. I didn't expect to like the CG, I'm a practical effects guy through and through! However, the monsters were not only convincing but well designed. I like how they tried to keep Godzilla's design old school but also updated it and played around with it. I can't say I liked everything about the design, but I liked it well enough. The other two monsters were super cool. I kinda wish they had gone with an established rival of Godzilla's, but I actually really liked these guys. I'm hoping that if they do another movie that they pick an existing rival, and Mazz and I were talking about how we really hope Mothra makes an appearance!

Finally, Godzilla is a EARTH DEFENDER in this movie. He does not attack or try to destroy anything but the monsters. Although I am OKAY with this choice, I'm also really disappointed. To me Godzilla is at his best when he hates humanity, when he's fighting monsters only to prove that he is top monster. I prefer Godzilla to be the product of vague nuclear radiation, like in the last reboot. To me this is Godzilla at his best, with a reason to hate humanity, a super cool reason to have nuclear breath, and the assumption of a greater understanding. I'm not really faulting the movie for this as it's my personal preference, but it's something I wanted to make note of.

So what are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? What did you like and dislike?