tristenjones-74208 Now, coming from a lifelong Godzilla fan, this film still kind of shocks me. Now when I first watched this film, and saw Zilla for the first time, I thought that Godzilla would show up later and would fight the monster. However toward the end of the film when I found out that was actually supposed to be Godzilla. I was in complete shock. I had no words. For one, the monster looks nothing like him, and his personality was nothing like Godzilla's. Godzilla's common personality was to go through and destroy everything in sight, this one, it just walks through New York not destroying anything. I mean, most of the destruction came from the military. And most damage Godzilla, sorry ZILLA created, was toward the end when he was going to die. Also, don't even get me started on the baby Zilla's. They look like the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park, and although the scenes don't look half bad, it's just to more of an Alien/Mutated version of the Jurassic Park raptors scene.Although you try to not focus on humans in Godzilla movies, the humans are just unbearable in the film. Being the most bland characters you can see in a movie. The only character that's actually interesting is Jean Reno. Matthew Broderick and Maria Pitillo just want to make you fall asleep. While the others can be viewed as just completely annoying.Now this movie wasn't all bad, I was definitely entertained by it in some scenes, however I just don't see it as a Godzilla film, because it really isn't. Even calling it Zilla is being nice, because I can't see it being remotely near Godzilla. I mean you don't see a movie of a Barbie Doll coming to life and then call it "Childs Play." No, this movie isn't bad, but it's not a Godzilla film in my mind. 4/10 stars below average.

CurrentMood Sure there are some campy moments especially during the first hour, but stick with it! It's actually a decent movie and really delivers with the suspense. I felt that the chase scenes were great, I was on the edge of my seat. The tackiness was forgiven by the end of the movie.

JLRVancouver Many Godzilla purists rejected this CGI-based reinterpretation of the story (#23 in the series) but it is not a bad kaiju outing in its own right. The Toho release (Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, 1995) preceding Emmerich's version continued the trend toward improbable monsters, new-age subplots, and self-righteous greenery and I found the US version to be a refreshing return to the original concept: humanity vs. a single, destructive monster born of radiation. Typical of Emmerich's unsubtle style, everything is very big (Godzilla) or very numerous (e.g. helicopters) and the human drama of the 1954 original, which treats the monster's destructive rampage more as a tragedy than an adventure, is replaced by light-weight shtick, primarily revolving around the Roger Ebert-lookalike mayor (apparently an Emmerich in-joke). Godzilla itself is (IMO) quite well done with a very different look from the original (reflecting 'iguana' rather than 'dinosaur' origins) and the production has fun with the sheer scale of the monster. The opening credit scenes, which establish Godzilla's genesis, are extremely good and the film builds well from there to the arrival of the monster on the shores of Manhattan Island. The cast is fine: Mathew Broderick's playing the scientist who seems to always guess correctly and Maria Pitillo and Hank Azaria as intrepid reporters (both tropes familiar to anyone who has watched the Japanese films). Jean Reno is great as the French secret-service agent trying to ensure that the role France's nuclear tests in creating the current disaster remains unknown and he (and his team) have best lines in the film, riffing on both Gallic unflappability and the challenges of running a clandestine operation in America. Within the context of the film, a general plausibility is maintained (other than reconciling Godzilla's size and its ability to fit in the New York subway system) until the 'third act', an overdone and ridiculous chase scene that is by far the weakest part of the film. Future Japanese entries in the Godzilla franchise make the occasional amusing dig at Emmerich's fish-eating version of the iconic kaiju, but overall, I thought that the film was a worthy effort at 'Americanising' Toho's famous monster and liked the film more than most viewers (based on IMDB) and certainly more than most Godzilla-philes.

lar_lef Follows more or less traditional pattern of monster movie. Enbjoyable even though you know the good guys (we humans) will win out in the end, and the romantic aspect will be resolved suitably. Good-natured poking fun at a lost of familiar targets. A bit too long, in my opinion, but not for fans of the genre. Last scene with new monster being hatched there, i suppose, to allow for sequel, but still a kind of he (it)-who- laughs last laughs.