Dustin: 3.5 of 5 stars Nick: 4 of 5 stars Average: 3.75 of 5 stars (Live canary)
Dustin: God’s Not Dead is a religious movie in theaters now starring some actors, including Dean “Cain” Tanaka and a guy from Duck Dynasty, about a Christian college student who proves to a smug philosophy professor, a stand-in for all educators teaching anything other than Creationism, that God, in fact, is not dead.
Dustin: God’s Not Dead is a religious movie in theaters now starring some actors, including Dean “Cain” Tanaka and a guy from Duck Dynasty, about a Christian college student who proves to a smug philosophy professor, a stand-in for all educators teaching anything other than Creationism, that God, in fact, is not dead.
Nick: Uhm, Dustin, we’re supposed to be reviewing GodZILLA, not God’S NOT DEAD. No offense, but you are a fucking moron.
Dustin: Oh, I must’ve misheard you when you said which movie you wanted to review this week. I guess it’s a good thing, because I didn’t actually see God’s Not Dead (currently 17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). I tried to purchase a ticket for God’s Not Dead at the window, but they gave me a ticket for Godzilla, probably figuring I must’ve been mistaken in which movie I meant to ask for.
Dustin: Oh, I must’ve misheard you when you said which movie you wanted to review this week. I guess it’s a good thing, because I didn’t actually see God’s Not Dead (currently 17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes). I tried to purchase a ticket for God’s Not Dead at the window, but they gave me a ticket for Godzilla, probably figuring I must’ve been mistaken in which movie I meant to ask for.
Dustin: Godzilla (2014) is the 30th movie featuring Toho’s amphibious dinosaur. This time Godzilla is awakened to save San Francisco from a couple of kaiju “parasites,” nicknamed MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism), who will destroy humankind as the giant monster insect things breed and hatch their young under the city and feed on nuclear power.
What did you think of Godzilla (2014), Nick?
Nick: First explain why you keep putting 2014 behind Godzilla. Is it so people don’t confuse this review with the amazing Matthew Broderick film from 1998?
Dustin: Or the Haruo Nakajima film of 1954. Or Godzilla 1985 or Godzilla 2000.
Nick: According to IMDb, Godzilla 2000 came out in 1999. Godzilla (2014) was fantastic. It reminded me of anime in that it was mostly “fan-service.” People in the audience were clapping and roaring throughout the film. I wasn’t one of them, but I felt their exuberance.
Dustin: The audience I saw it with also clapped throughout, especially when the American hero breathed blue fire onto the MUTO. They were probably more emotionally invested in the title character’s struggle than I was, but I certainly enjoyed it for the most part. I feel like the trailer promised it would be more dramatic and epic than it actually was. This seemed like another silly Godzilla movie to me, which is fine, because the whole series is silly, but I was a little let down because it didn’t really live up to the trailer for me.
Nick: You certainly have to be able to enjoy the silliness of Godzilla in order to fully enjoy the movie. Every time Ken Watanabe (Dr. Serizawa) had something drastically important to say it was said with a grin and a nod to the series of old to where it would make the audience chuckle.
This was the first movie where a giant is crushing a city and I actually felt extremely small and scared that I would more likely be randomly crushed by falling buildings than a “god” smiting an ant.
Dustin: The audience I was with also laughed every time Ken Watanabe delivered a line. I’m not sure that was the filmmakers’ intended reaction, but even I had to chuckle when he was like, “Let them fight!”
Nick: It was Gareth Edwards’s intention. Monster movies are what he grew up on, and he delivered the fan service while making something truly respectable. His low budget film, aptly named Monsters is on Netflix. Check that shit out!
Dustin: This was definitely the best-made Godzilla movie. The series is famous for its low production value, but this film has state-of-the-art special effects. (The original Godzilla of 1954 wasn’t even state of the art for 1933.)
What did you think of Godzilla (2014), Nick?
Nick: First explain why you keep putting 2014 behind Godzilla. Is it so people don’t confuse this review with the amazing Matthew Broderick film from 1998?
Dustin: Or the Haruo Nakajima film of 1954. Or Godzilla 1985 or Godzilla 2000.
Nick: According to IMDb, Godzilla 2000 came out in 1999. Godzilla (2014) was fantastic. It reminded me of anime in that it was mostly “fan-service.” People in the audience were clapping and roaring throughout the film. I wasn’t one of them, but I felt their exuberance.
Dustin: The audience I saw it with also clapped throughout, especially when the American hero breathed blue fire onto the MUTO. They were probably more emotionally invested in the title character’s struggle than I was, but I certainly enjoyed it for the most part. I feel like the trailer promised it would be more dramatic and epic than it actually was. This seemed like another silly Godzilla movie to me, which is fine, because the whole series is silly, but I was a little let down because it didn’t really live up to the trailer for me.
Nick: You certainly have to be able to enjoy the silliness of Godzilla in order to fully enjoy the movie. Every time Ken Watanabe (Dr. Serizawa) had something drastically important to say it was said with a grin and a nod to the series of old to where it would make the audience chuckle.
This was the first movie where a giant is crushing a city and I actually felt extremely small and scared that I would more likely be randomly crushed by falling buildings than a “god” smiting an ant.
Dustin: The audience I was with also laughed every time Ken Watanabe delivered a line. I’m not sure that was the filmmakers’ intended reaction, but even I had to chuckle when he was like, “Let them fight!”
Nick: It was Gareth Edwards’s intention. Monster movies are what he grew up on, and he delivered the fan service while making something truly respectable. His low budget film, aptly named Monsters is on Netflix. Check that shit out!
Dustin: This was definitely the best-made Godzilla movie. The series is famous for its low production value, but this film has state-of-the-art special effects. (The original Godzilla of 1954 wasn’t even state of the art for 1933.)
King Kong (1933) clip
Godzilla (1954) trailer
Dustin: One of my complaints about Pacific Rim, which was also a great kaiju film and from a narrative standpoint, superior to this film, was that it didn’t linger enough on the monsters. This film develops the monsters slowly, as a classic monster film should, but doesn’t disappoint when we see the full effect. We see the monsters up close plenty of times and they look great.
Nick: Though it’s not just the monsters that are well done. The buildings shown after the MUTO rampaged by were creatively destroyed and very realistic. All those scenes were hazy and dirty, while the top edges of random buildings where the MUTO stood atop were damaged.
The narrative of which you speak is the weakness of the movie, but what could the storyline have been in order to make it better? My brother’s issue was that the main character’s motive was to get back to his family. This didn’t bother me because it didn’t bring it up constantly. You know it’s what he wanted, but he was doing other important things that he hoped would protect his family more than him being in close proximity to them.
Dustin: I think simple motivations are the best, and more believable. A well-developed character usually has a conscious and subconscious motivation. The conscious motivation for Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kick-Ass 2), was to return to his family. This was a manifestation of his subconscious desire to have a family that’s whole, which we can infer from his mother dying in a kaiju-related accident at the beginning of the film and his being estranged from his father (Bryan Cranston), who he considers to be crazy.
The narrative was good, but I think the characters got lost in all the over-the-top action, and a lot of it was silly, which deprived weight from the emotional elements, and they consciously made Godzilla a hero, as some of the Toho films do, which is also preposterous.
Nick: Godzilla is silly, but that’s why going into the film knowing that will make it all the more great. I’m quite ecstatic that they didn’t try to make it to serious because that’s not what Godzilla is in our culture. While it might have been Toho’s original idea for Godzilla to be frightening, it ended up being a film that people love watching to see the human in a costume destroying prop buildings. The 2014 film did a great job of, once again, delivering a little seriousness for newbies while throwing in winks to the people who consider the whole series an enjoyable joke. I like Godzilla as not serious, Cloverfield and whatever monster movies Hollywood comes up with can make new serious monster movies and I’ll probably, hopefully, enjoy those as well.
Dustin: At least this film didn’t ruin an iconic character and a classic Led Zeppelin song at the same time *cough* Godzilla (1998) *cough*.
Nick: Though it’s not just the monsters that are well done. The buildings shown after the MUTO rampaged by were creatively destroyed and very realistic. All those scenes were hazy and dirty, while the top edges of random buildings where the MUTO stood atop were damaged.
The narrative of which you speak is the weakness of the movie, but what could the storyline have been in order to make it better? My brother’s issue was that the main character’s motive was to get back to his family. This didn’t bother me because it didn’t bring it up constantly. You know it’s what he wanted, but he was doing other important things that he hoped would protect his family more than him being in close proximity to them.
Dustin: I think simple motivations are the best, and more believable. A well-developed character usually has a conscious and subconscious motivation. The conscious motivation for Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kick-Ass 2), was to return to his family. This was a manifestation of his subconscious desire to have a family that’s whole, which we can infer from his mother dying in a kaiju-related accident at the beginning of the film and his being estranged from his father (Bryan Cranston), who he considers to be crazy.
The narrative was good, but I think the characters got lost in all the over-the-top action, and a lot of it was silly, which deprived weight from the emotional elements, and they consciously made Godzilla a hero, as some of the Toho films do, which is also preposterous.
Nick: Godzilla is silly, but that’s why going into the film knowing that will make it all the more great. I’m quite ecstatic that they didn’t try to make it to serious because that’s not what Godzilla is in our culture. While it might have been Toho’s original idea for Godzilla to be frightening, it ended up being a film that people love watching to see the human in a costume destroying prop buildings. The 2014 film did a great job of, once again, delivering a little seriousness for newbies while throwing in winks to the people who consider the whole series an enjoyable joke. I like Godzilla as not serious, Cloverfield and whatever monster movies Hollywood comes up with can make new serious monster movies and I’ll probably, hopefully, enjoy those as well.
Dustin: At least this film didn’t ruin an iconic character and a classic Led Zeppelin song at the same time *cough* Godzilla (1998) *cough*.
Nick: Roland Emmerich’s version is the antithesis to Godzilla (2014). Everything that is done well in the new film was done poorly in the 1998 version. Though to be honest I somewhat enjoy the complete idiocy of the earlier film. It’s extremely horrible in a horrible way, but it makes me laugh.
Dustin: Roland Emmerich shouldn’t be allowed near a camera any more.
Nick: His movies are more enjoyable than Michael Bay’s films. Not counting The Rock.
Dustin: I wonder if the inevitable sequel will have the Peanuts summoning Mothra to assist Godzilla defending the earth from its next monster calamity.
Dustin: Roland Emmerich shouldn’t be allowed near a camera any more.
Nick: His movies are more enjoyable than Michael Bay’s films. Not counting The Rock.
Dustin: I wonder if the inevitable sequel will have the Peanuts summoning Mothra to assist Godzilla defending the earth from its next monster calamity.
Dustin: Anything else to add about Godzilla (2014)?
Nick: RWAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dustin: I think that was the actual line in the screenplay for the part when Godzilla literally roared for 90 seconds.
Nick: RWAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dustin: I think that was the actual line in the screenplay for the part when Godzilla literally roared for 90 seconds.
I don't hate Roland Emmerich that much, but I agree that his Godzilla was probably the worst movie he's ever made. At least 2012 (from what clips Nostalgia Chick has shown) at least had visual variety. The only colors I remember is black and grey and rain. It was both boring to look at AND still is stupid.
ReplyDeleteAt least I don't find him to be a cynical asshole like Michael Bay, who has absolutely no understanding of plot or people.
If you think Godzilla (1998) was Ronald Emmerich's worst film, you obviously haven't seen 10,000 BC. Seriously, that was one of the dumbest films I've ever seen. - Dustin
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