After watching Godzilla I can’t help but feel I got suckered with a bait-n-switch. The trailers depicted horrific imagery of fear, destruction and despair. Ominous Gregorian chants, people running in the streets, and the Glasglow smiling roar of a giant creature as the doors closed the shot- were no where to be found. what we got instead was some really incredibly tedious exposition by actors who were seemingly phoning it in from the beginning. What’s worse , the almost hour and a half of explanatory buildup had nothing to do with Godzilla.

A lot of what made Godzilla not work for me have a lot to do with the actual story.  Something the trailers attempted to keep covered since many of those memorable trailer shots are completely different from the final movie.. So take this as a heads up. I will be spoiling aspects of the movie that basically ruined it for me… so consider this a warning!

The movie attempts to create a strong sense of tension and build up for the eventual monster reveal. On many occasions it tries to extend that tension with plenty of false reveals, that don’t work. Y’know kinda how in a horror movie there will be a  loud musical chord sound, and a screech, only to reveal it was just some frightened cat? Well this movie attempts to do this for the first hour and a half. Ultimately though, the flat dialogue, and uninspired acting only further frustrated me as I sat there uncomfortably in my seat. Also doesn’t help that the movie hops through characters for that  first hour and a half, so you as the viewer never have anyone to relate to or care about. Its just sequences, of scientists  saying “something is out there!” but none of his family believes him,-of generals looking at maps in control rooms, -army platoons scurrying between positions with guns drawn, (how that would help them against a 600 foot monster is beyond me.) -Nurses trying to care for their patients and frantically calling their boyfriends.. And close tight shots of children looking deadpanningly out towards danger while adults run around with their heads cut off. Good god that must’ve happened like 3 times in this movie. All with children who weren’t even part of the main cast. Are we supposed to feel something? Is this a powerful shot, when the characters are just throw aways? Steven Spielberg does shots like these in his movies, but it usually a pivotal moment when a MAIN character has discovered something. These days its as if directors just grab these iconic shots just for the sake of emotional buildup without realizing, YOU STILL NEED TO DEVELOP THAT CHARACTER for that buildup to have any meaning….

So we have all these characters with no development time. Then we have the monsters…. not godzilla, but bug-like creatures straight out of  a ‘Gears of War’  game, with smooth dolphin like skin and LED lit eyes.. Extremely plain and derivative looking bugs, that come from the planets core to feed on nuclear missiles,  mate and breed.Its only then that Godzilla has picked up their mating calls and comes out of the watery depths to kick their ass.. So in comes Godzilla – fashionably 2 acts late, with his entourage of battleships .. Its around this time when the Japanese scientist huddles all the military fools together to give them a quick history on “Gojira”..Thats right, no mention of Godzilla until he shows up, and then we get a rushed history lesson on how he was last seen in the 50s when they attempted to bomb him to hell.. So not only is this really not a reboot/remake  what have you, but its really a sequel of the original.. From this point on, this japanese scientist, insist that Godzilla is here to restore the balance of nature, not to interfere with his mission and “let them fight”…. So after being  blueballed for almost 2 hours, this movie  isn’t even about Godzilla, and to top it off, it isn’t the vengeful Godzilla that was portrayed in the trailers… Totally got suckered… “Godzilla 2014″  is a sad and confused movie, that wants to tell a meaningful story about a Corny giant monster, but regrettably fails…. So really its Star Ship troopers, mixed with Independence day, guest staring Godzilla… No thanks.

To the credit of  the CG director and all the amazing artists involved in those last 20 minutes,..  While the bugs were terrible, -Godzilla himself was incredibly detailed, moved with real weight and his atomic Breath and dorsal fin light up details were visually arresting.. Not to mention that breath taking roar.. it is some of the most amazing visuals of Godzilla you’ll see, at least till the inevitable sequel.I just wished they couldve made this first one about.. you know.. Godzilla.

Just when you’d think one would be suffering from movie hero fatigue, in comes the Amazing Spider-man2 swinging his way in from the skyline, and webbing away those dark notions that superhero movies have lost their way from being actual movies with character, emotion, empathy, and you know story. I had zero intention on seeing this movie. The first one was abosultely terrible. It was janky, and awkward with sometimes weird scene and character transitions that gave Peter Parker the unintended douche vibes. Aside from the redesigned suit, which I liked a lot, and the great 90s style cinematography. The first amazing Spider-man, was just bad.

The good news is, just like those clumsy early teen years, the amazing Spider-man 2 moves pasts its origin story, finds itself  and just goes straight into a more mature look into Spider-man’s very complex and dangerous life.
A complicated life of love, lies, and loss. Its wonderfully visualized in this gritty and violent new york city. Ol Spidey definitely has some fun with that PG-13 rating a few times. Playing around that level like a game of double-dutch. That’s where the campy humor really comes in and elevates the movie even further. Spider-man’s quips and playful demeanor really gives you the breathing room to elevate yourself from some of the heavy moments.. Its here when YOU feel NOW you know why Spider-man is the way he is. His humor is a release from his complex and sometimes heavy life. Its reflected in the movie, and thus reflected on to the audience. That’s freaking brilliant.. Comic relief, used as its intended.. Go figure right?

I won’t go too much into the actual visuals of it other than to say, this is the most realistic looking spider-man I’ve seen in action. There is actual weight to his movements ,not always landing so effortlessly as hes done in previous versions.  The camera choices during these moments are exhilarating to watch. Almost made me wish I had seen it in 3D.. The live action segments are shot with the same kind of  passion and sophistication thankfully. (Easily one of my biggest grips of the first 3 spidermans were that the dynamic CG shots seem to differ from the more straightforward live action shots. The transitions between the two would make it feel as if I was watching a movie, then watching a video game.. )

The movie does have a few hiccups though. For starters, Electro played by Jamie Foxx, was a very interesting character, and I really would’ve loved it if he was given more time to develop. His moments are silly, then powerful, and sadly fleeting. Harry Osborne (peters old friend) suffers even a worse fate with even less time, and a rushed transformation into his final character. Ultimately though, this is a movie about spider-man , and his life. A lot of questions about Peter and his past get answered, making you even more emphatic with the hero. So it worked out. Besides Director Webb, handles those slivers of  villain development time as impact-fully and as elegantly as he could have.. I guess the best way would be to compare it to Tim Burton’s Batman Returns.  Penguin was the main villain, Catwoman kinda got shafted with screen-time, but we all got what we needed because her scenes were crafted so well.  One of these elements is  the music. The introduction of Electro had some very unnerving music and whispers that added to the character’s sense of paranoia and islolation. Its also some of the best use of dubstep in a soundtrack so far. Wholly appropriate for a super-being with Electrical powers.

I’m not gonna lie. It was the dubstep in this trailer that gave me the final push to see the movie. I wanted to see if it was used as effectively as it was in this trailer. FUCK YAH IT WAS BOYYEEEE..

The music in general was excellent, grandiose and appropriately melodramatic. Other times it was very synthy and understated. Every character seemingly had their own melody, including the city itself which had plenty of moments to shine. Thankfully the director showed less known locations of NYC,which added  tons of personality. I left the theater and bought the soundtrack in my car.

The other hiccup is the dialogue can get a bit hammy and hard to chew on. Even with the camera swinging skills the director was showing off, and the cast of amazing actors at his disposal, some of the high-school fan-fic dialogue just didnt roll off the tongue.. so one quick look on IDMB and yup sure enough…. The two biggest writing quacks in the biz had put their dirty Sanchez’s  all over the face of this story. It won’t matter. because none of those moments will kill the power and ambiance of the film.

Go see this shit please.