Godzilla stomping back to theaters

[Tribal Warfare]

Godzilla stomping back to theaters via Legendary

By Ace Fernandez
Well, well, well ... look who's getting back in fighting shape.

Everyone's favorite gigantic, havoc-wreaking lizard, Godzilla, is on his way back to the big screen via Legendary Pictures, which has acquired the rights to develop and produce a new feature based on the iconic Toho Co. character. Warner Bros. will co-produce, co-finance and distribute through its deal with Legendary, and Toho will roll out the film in Japan.

Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Brian Rogers are also producing; Yoshimitsu Banno, Kenji Okuhira and Doug Davison will be executive producers on the project.

The last major Godzilla outing, an American, New York-set version from Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, grossed $376 million worldwide in 1998 despite fielding equally major criticism. Toho quickly produced "Godzilla 2000," in which the big beast took on an evil UFO, the following year.

But the Godzilla franchise juggernaut has survived decades of permutations (he first appeared in 1954), dozens of films, books, video games and merchandising tie-ins and seems perpetually ready to rear up again for new audiences.

The new film is shooting for a 2012 release.

"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise," said Thomas Tull, chairman and CEO of Legendary. "Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop culturally relevant for as long as it has."

Added Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, "Godzilla is emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which Warner Bros. and our partners at Legendary are best known."

The two companies have partnered on such global properties as "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," "Superman Returns" and "The Hangover," which have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide. Together, they have a remake of "Clash of the Titans" stomping into theaters Friday.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Inmem58

You don't like 3D?

Heh, no my hatred of it is well documented around here.
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[Fish]

Alamo Draft House is by far my favorite place to see a show in KC.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Fish

Alamo Draft House is by far my favorite place to see a show in KC.

Do they show the funny little snippets before the show? What's cool is, they are themed to whatever movie you are going to watch. Spiderman, Captain America, whatever.....
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[Fish]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Do they show the funny little snippets before the show? What's cool is, they are themed to whatever movie you are going to watch. Spiderman, Captain America, whatever.....
Posted via Mobile Device

Yeah. I went to Capt. America, and they actually showed an old Capt. America TV episode. Some of it is really interesting and/or funny.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Fish

Yeah. I went to Capt. America, and they actually showed an old Capt. America TV episode. Some of it is really interesting and/or funny.

Yea, same down here in Texas. That was hilarious.

Before Spiderman they showed these Spiderman clips from Japan and Turkey. Had me rolling.
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[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Would love to see this in IMAX. Unfortunately my theater here is only offering IMAX 3D.

Oh well, Alamo Drafthouse for me. My son has grown to love the little snippets that play before the films. It makes it fun to show up early.
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I've heard this is solid in 3d

[Fish]

[In58men]

I liked it quite a bit, great 3D experience. Godzilla is still a beast.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Heh, no my hatred of it is well documented around here.
Posted via Mobile Device

I dunno if you've seen it in many years, but I will say that I USED to hate 3d, but the latest generation of it is quite good. Once you learn to sit reasonably straight up and not watch the screen at a bad angle, headache issues (which I used to have and have heard about others having) seem to resolve themselves as well.

I'm a fan of it now.

[KC_Lee]

If Q...don't qare.

[Pushead2]

It was fantastic in IMAX 3D

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

I've heard this is solid in 3d

It is. The cgi is believable and very well done and the 3D added and didn't distract from the film. After a while you just get use to it and kind of forget it's in 3D.

Comments without any spoilers:

1) The reason people's comments are short is mostly due to the fact you just can't talk about hardly anything without spoiling something. For the most part the surprises that come are positives.

2) This movie is not slow to start - there's action from start to end - it's just not always giant monsters dominating the scene. As the film goes on the action increases and becomes more and more intense. This "slow build" is not something that would irritate adult viewers but younger kids (12 or younger) might get impatient waiting for longer monster/fight/destruction scenes.

I think the descriptions that monster action doesn't happen until the end/2nd half isn't entirely honest. It's more like a small leak that gradually grows and grows and grows until the pipes burst.

3) Some reviews stated that there were comedic moments that just missed and weren't funny. I never got the impression there were any comedic moments. This movie takes itself very seriously. These were simply misunderstood scenes/moments were things were implied but IMO not made obvious enough.

This film does not beat you over the head with commentary or a singular message - it's understated. At times too understated.

4) This is such a departure in tone from other Godzilla films I'd compare it to the difference between the last Batman trilogy and any other Batman film. It's that different.

5) There a at least two tips of the hat to his previous film Monsters, many to previous Toho Godzilla films/moments, and what appeared to me to be a big **** you to the 98 American film.

6) This movie shows - it doesn't tell. The scenes tell the story and not a bunch of lengthy exposition. You'll gather meaning from a collection of scenes and how the story unfolds or you won't.

[BWillie]

This movie really can't be good, can it? I mean it's freaking Godzilla. The corniest movie franchise in the history of the world. And, I'm going to be pissed if I see it, and there isn't little Chinese people dialogue that doesn't match their lips

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by BWillie

This movie really can't be good, can it? I mean it's freaking Godzilla. The corniest movie franchise in the history of the world. And, I'm going to be pissed if I see it, and there isn't little Chinese people dialogue that doesn't match their lips

There is some high praise already out...

Warning: if you click on the whole review there are some big spoilers...

The sheer filmmaking craft on display here shames almost any comparably budgeted superhero picture you can name. The movie borrows from Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "War of the Worlds," as well as from earlier popcorn classics that shaped Spielberg. (The Cranston/Binoche/Taylor-Johnson family has the surname Brody, like the family in "Jaws," and Cranston's traumatized seeker is basically Roy Neary from "Close Encounters.") "Godzilla" doesn't just show, it unveils. It builds sequences gradually, withholding important information until the end of a scene or sequence. It's so confident that it tosses off shots that lesser films would save for their climaxes or showcase on their posters.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/godzilla-2014

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Rausch

2) This movie is not slow to start - there's action from start to end - it's just not always giant monsters dominating the scene. As the film goes on the action increases and becomes more and more intense. This "slow build" is not something that would irritate adult viewers but younger kids (12 or younger) might get impatient waiting for longer monster/fight/destruction scenes.

I think the descriptions that monster action doesn't happen until the end/2nd half isn't entirely honest. It's more like a small leak that gradually grows and grows and grows until the pipes burst.

.

Just saw it. This is pretty much spot on. I didnt think it was slow at all. There is an action scene about 40 minutes in, and another about 50 minutes in, after that its pretty much non-stop. My 9 year old son loved it. He was never bored.

Great flick. They totally got "Godzilla". Im not gonna spoil anything here yet until most have seen it. Its full of small surprises.

Loved the look and scale of this thing. Lots of long shots to give you that epic scale. oh...and very little of that shaky closeup cam stuff. The design of the MUTOs and Godzilla himself was pure awesome.