Godzilla, a conservative 7/10.
I absolutely loved it, but being critical I can't really push my score much higher.
Bryan Cranston did a fantastic job as always, but everyone else in the movie could have been replaced & they wouldn't have been missed.
Naturally spending so much time watching Millitary stuff is a little frustrating, but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. I actually felt like the focus, even during many of the Military scenes with Ford, was still always on the Monsters. For example the Hawaii sequence, you've got the Military going to check out the Sub & Ford with Short Round, but whenever the Monsters come back into shot, they instantly steal the show & those Monsters are always in the back of your mind.
Dialogue was a bit weak at times (Plenty of military 'Hoo-Rah' stuff) & they probably could have shortened or done away with a few of the 'Human Drama' shots.
Some people were frustrated with the way they 'Cut Away' from the first couple of Monster fights, frankly I think it kept the pacing & really made that final battle one hell of a pay-off. Plus there was plenty of MUTO destruction which kept you satisfied.
Some really, really good shots & cinematography, sometimes though it was just plain lame (The HALO jump sequence was incredible, I'm kinda sad that got spoiled in the Trailers).
Music was fitting, but nothing overly special.
CGI was solid, at least the Monsters looked amazing (Water could have used a bit of work).
I really despise people who clap & cheer at the Cinemas, but this is the first time in a long time that I came very close myself & honestly wouldn't have minded if people did. The moment when the music goes to a whisper & you see the blue hue coming from the smoke & Godzilla turns around and blasts his Atomic Breath at the MUTO (And the subsequent shot later down the Female's Throat), fuck, my eyes were wide & I had a fucking huge grin on my face. It was one of those kind of "moments" in Movies that come around once in a blue moon, like the T-Rex in Jurassic Park or Theoden's Speech in ROTK etc.
I gotta say, if Pacific Rim was the first return of Kaiju films, then this is the next one, I'd just absolutely love to see more. Obviously I don't want us to start getting Kaiju movies at a rate like Capeshit happens, but I'd be happy with a new one every couple of years. Hollywood is proving they've got the potential to do these Monster movies, just needs a really solid script.