Godzilla 2014: The New Beginning -- a perspective into the new film

I've been fighting a bad headache most of the day, but i'll try to keep this review on point.
please be aware that i'll be throwing out spoilers throughout the review, as well as my personal views about the movie.

SPOILER ALERTS (there, on to the bulk of the review)

we went into the movie theater today, knowing a lot about the general components of the movie, but personally i wasn't expecting a lot out of this film. i at least knew that we weren't going to end up with a godzilla 98 fiasco.

the events of the movie start in 1999 (effectively erasing 1998) with a quick setup of finding something that ends up screwing up another thing, a japanese power plant. obviously, this is the origin of the MUTO creature (Massive Unknown Terrestrial Organism).

now, in our Clash of the Kaiju facebook page, i had speculated that MUTO had developed a seismic/ tremor power. I was close.

when MUTO strikes with his first EMP attack, i almost smacked my forehead. similar, but just didn't see it i guess.

anyway, i was under the impression that Bryan Cranston was the main character in the movie. word of advice: Don't get too attached to him. his death seems a bit forced, like the movie needed a martyr, his 15 year crusade cut short.

Muto tears through Honolulu, where the first shots of G surface, but we only see a short battle via TV. another MUTO shows up in Vegas, and we barely see this monster tear up the city. we see it in review footage on a navy vessel.

OK. Question. if this is the same group of people who were responsible for PACIFIC RIM (Legendary and WB), the where the hell are the monster battles? i'll get back to this.

Godzilla and the MUTOs finally make landfall in San Francisco, but again we wait for the big fight, which we get as the final military mission begins. it really starts out lukewarm. appearing as two wrestlers pushing each other around, not really damaging anything or each other. plus, it's smokey, so you don't get good glimpses until later. finally the battle gets going as G takes on both monsters at the same time, and the MUTOs fight dirty. i saw one fish-hook G's jaw and pull him down as the other jumped on his back. looked a bit like a schoolyard beatdown.

in the end, G storms back, swatting one of the monster's like a fly into a building. he uses his atomic breath twice in the battle, hitting the larger female MUTO and eventually takes it down.

after the human element of the story wraps up, the film effectively pulls off the whole "Godzilla returns to the sea" scene.

Things i noticed:

easter eggs: as i watched as Ford and the Father (Cranston) return to the quarantine zone, they return home. in Ford's old room ,there is a old aquarium. there are two pieces of tape that line up perfectly, and though it's obvoiusly supposed to be two different words, the tape together reads "MothRa". when i saw that, i said it aloud, but my daughter was three seats away from me, so i had to keep it to myself. they also reference some kaiju culture with a few posters here and there in the setup parts of the movie. later, they reference a dragon like creature in a pooling puddle of gasoline which many say is Ghidorah, but it could be Manda as well.

Tease: the build up for the throwdown of godzilla was ridiculous. 
he's the star, but there wasn't enough time spent with him. the human element has always been key in the g movies in japan, but there's still plenty of G in their movies. this was way overboard on the human aspect, and i agree with friends that say "Godzilla 2014 needed more Godzilla in it."

the scale: godzilla is fat in this one. he needs to lay off the "quarter ton-ers". despite this, he is the most realistic looking Godzilla to date. everything about his appearance makes him alive and believable . He sneers, snarls, and always looks pissed before he unleashes his roar.

the best moment: godzilla gets pretty beat up, and the female MUTO turns her back on him. as she is distracted, a faint glow appears behind her in the smoke clouds. it grows and snakes up what we know to be godzilla's tail, which seems to emit some sort of sound as it crawls up his back. godzilla looks pissed as ever, striking a snarl that says "Aw, you done fxcked up now!". every muscle fiber ripples in his face and chest in the milliseconds before he blasts the hell out of the MUTO, which severely injures the creature but not enough to kill it. a few minutes later, it becomes a one on one match, with G sneaking behind the Lady MUTO. prying her jaws open, and making her swallow down a helping of atomic blast which ends up burning her head clean off.  unorthodox for G, but still effective.

the Verdict: the MUTOs are interesting, but really fail to stand out on their own. the battles act as a palate cleanser to Godzilla 98, but too much of a tease for too little content. Godzilla 2014 is not Toho's vision, but its a fresh start. it has that feeling of potential, that more could come from it. it gets a solid A for effort, but maybe a B for total overall experience. i would give it more money to see it again, which i may to better analyze next weekend.

A Monster of a Birthday

it's no secret that my oldest daughter, now 15, is a huge godzilla fan. it only seems fitting that for her 15th birthday, she has Godzilla 2014 to look forward to.

so the idea is this: tomorrow is a small party for her, which her present consists of everything Godzilla 2014 related, as well a new kaiju T-shirt (the Visit Monster Island shirt from Teefury a few weeks back). i know she will be thrilled about it, i even asked her if it was ok if she got toys, and she nodded, but i know her birthday isnt complete until she sees the movie...in 3D...with extreme sound...etc.

so i'm looking forward to it too. i love seeing her smile. can't wait to see it with her.

MK

Dissection of the MUTO

as a fan of godzilla, and a father of someone more fanatical than i, i'm looking forward to the release of Godzilla 2014 by legendary pictures. Big G has never looked better, despite the fact that he looks like he needs to lay off the quarter-ton burgers, but still it's true to form and not the oversized iguana from the 1998 film.

but i still have a problem, there is a flaw with the monster set to fight Godzilla. I know him as MUTO.

I posted this meme of MUTO and his parts in my facebook Clash of the Kaiju page, and i'll share it here.

now i'll explain the sum of his parts.

Maximillian (The Black Hole): this psychotic robot most recently jumped out at me as some possible source material in the creation of this creature. you don't see it in the picture, but his legs are long past the knee joints and taper down. his multi-faceted arms and red visor are reminiscent of the general design and posture of MUTO. it might be a bit of a stretch, and i'm willing to concede to that, but something about that picture jumped out at me today, and i can't deny it.

Cloverfield (Cloverfield): look at the posture and design...really? can this be a coincidence? ok, let's go a bit deeper here. let's sat that legendary pictures and the group behind Godzilla 2014 needed a monster to go up against Big G, so they brainstorm but really can't come up with a interesting design, so maybe someone realizes that Paramount Pictures/ Bad Robot/ the guys that made cloverfield are sitting on a program that mapped out "Clover's" movements and decided to buy it from them, as a means of recycling current technology and cutting down costs. they wireframe a creature around the cloverfield movements and this is what comes up as the design. to me there is nothing really outstanding about the creature, and looking at MUTO as just a stand in for a real monster, this argument becomes a little more interesting. the main difference is that MUTO has one more set of arms. which seem to be joined to the next large set that he has. so is it coincidence?

Arachnid (Starship Troopers): i look at that menacing head and jaws of the arachnid, and then i look at MUTO's dome, and the two look very similar to me. now i know that MUTO has arachnid like origins, but that weird angular head is a strange case. if you shortened the jaws of the arachnid, and then slid them more like a human jaw into the remainder of the head could in not be a suitable replacement for an already similar head. let's not even mention color scheme or primitive spike-like design of the frontmost arms as similar as well, or did i speak too much already?

anyway, just some observations, and you're welcome to have/add your own.

MK

02/03/2014 A Window into my Mind

My Dreams are back in full force, often throwing me for a loop here and there.

i often dream of some specific things.

Nature: i have segments of dreams of large open planes, grassy areas, surrounded by lush, dense trees. other times, i could be around stones or mountains that are impossibly high. now, mind you, i'm not really an outdoorsman though i do love camping. just some odd circumstances

Work: i dream of work, but it's always wrong, like my brain takes elements of the job, but twist it in such a way to make it unusual. the most recent one was that my company was trying to make the large storage racks earthquake prook, by rigging a machine to them to shake the hell out of them, just to see their tolerances. needless to say, stuff went flying everywhere on a very low setting.

Places of Business: i'll dream about amusement parks with impossible rides (rollercoasters in water, broken down spinning rides, etc) just weird things. last night i had one about shopping mall (another frequent thing) and two new stores that opened that were like a really cheaply made Big Lots. other times it's at a shopping complex after hours, in the dark and cold, where no one is there and i'm all alone. those are the ones that slightly freak me out  bit.

Full Bladder: when i have to go to the bathroom, my mind throws me a signal. i'll dream of trying to go to the bathroom, but there's always something wrong. an example of this: i had to go to the bathroom, but the urinals were all filled with people, there was a table where people were sitting and chatting away, the stalls and their walls were too low, and therefore no privacy, other times the stalls were a maze, but i get to the toilet, and it's overflowed, broken, or filled with refuse/garbage, or completely blocked off by iron bars. once i found a urinal, it was too short so i was backing up to take the shot so to speak, and my co worker strolled in front of ,me and prevented to flow from escaping. that's usually when i get up to relieve myself.

me an my mind, what a pair!

things to always remember

remember your worth: know what your strengths are and what things you do well. never let anyone else try to break you down and tell you that you're less than what you are.

words can be hurtful, but only if you let them hurt you. know that if people yell at you, they are only increasing their volume level.

be nice to other people and hold yourself to a high standard, but try not to expect people to reciprocate your behavior. it will hurt if you do.

never ignore the thoughts in your head that keep pestering you. deal with them, for sometimes those ideas are the best that life have to offer.

listen to your heart, but also your head. the two are connected despite considerable distance.

friends come and go, because its the nature of the human condition. we grow, and as such we grow apart.

its easy to forgive people, but hard to forget. know the difference and which one is important to you.

attempt to understand that there are always going to be people in the world who are always out to get ahead of other people, who are only out for themselves. give them room, but give them no additional consideration. they'll do fine on their own.

genuinely care about what you do, not trudge through it just to get a paycheck or a reward. it's all the better that the journey is just as fulfilling as the end result.

don't be afraid to grow, to take chances now and then. sometimes the unfamiliar can become a good thing.

never be afraid to walk away from a bad situation, even if you were told that you have gold in your hand when really your holding a pile of dung. instincts and gut feelings are rarely wrong because they ensure our survival as a species.

love and lust are two entirely different things, but find the one person you can share both with.

have passion for things, and love them dearly, but never let them overtake your life. small doses with occasional binges is fine. it keeps up alive and ready for the everyday grind.

don't be afraid to smile. to laugh. to be yourself. share it with someone. you might create a new connection.

MK

Tiny Victories

i've managed to get through my 90 days at Exel, and all my hard work began to pay dividends. i've passed my math tests, my personality test, drug test and background check.

last tuesday, i was granted my swipe card for the time clock, and filled out w-4s and i-9s. still have another 90 to go before its complete. no time for a victory dance, at least not yet.

tiny victories, my friends. tiny victories.

MK

06-14-13 Refocused

well, it's been over two months since i began this new job, working as a parts picker for an EOP (extension of plant) for Chrysler.

everything has been good up to this point. i have some fantastic co-workers. i handle all of my job duties as well as i can. a ten-hour day is over in a blink of an eye, and i don't mind going in day after day.

we mostly handle small lot parts for the JK (what you know as the Wrangler) line, but that is not our bread and butter. that's only a tiny bit of what we're going to do. the majority of the facility will be housing 88% of the new KL (Cherokee) line. as far as i can tell, this job isn't going anywhere for a while.

now, the question is this: will i officially get into this place and become a full-time member as opposed to a temp? i know this. june 19 is my 90th day. it's fast approaching. and at that time the company has to decide whether or not i'm worthy to be one of them. if they decide to take me on, i get another 90 day period.

so i'm not quite halfway there. i haven't screwed up yet. i think i do my job pretty well. but, nothing is ever for certain. we'll have to see how this all plays out. 

until next time.

MK