Think about it....

^And it's a good point. Edwards assumption was that simply showing Godzilla is enough. It is not. He needs to do more. And although the actions the title character takes in the film are a lot of fun, it still could've been so much more.

And even with the screen time and actions Godzilla takes in this film, it would have felt more earned if Ford were a better developed character-- Among others.

I think another important aspect is how interesting the human protagonists are. After all, the majority of the movie will be supported by them in Godzilla's absence so their development is important. Gojira and Astro Monster both had really great human characters, in my opinion. That makes up for the lack of Godzilla because like all of these movies, the plot relies on good human characters to connect with the audience and to move the story forward.

I honestly don't think people would be complaining so much about the lack of Godzilla in the new film if Bryan Cranston's character hadn't have died so early in the film; or maybe at least if Aaron Johnson's character was more developed. Again, this is just my opinion, but I think Joe Brody was easily the best character in that movie. I really liked Serizawa too, but I think for the most part after Joe died, the focus shifted mostly to his son, who wasn't as interesting as Serizawa was. Johnson's character was fine for a smaller role, but to be given such a large part with not that much developement up to that point might've been a mistake.

This was really rambly but the point I'm trying to make is that I don't think Joe should've been killed as early as he was because it kind of made the loads of development given to him earlier in the movie pointless. The audience was so use to him at that point that trying to shove a new and less interesting protagonist onto the screen after he leaves was kind of inconsistent. So I don't think it was necessarily the lack of Godzilla that upset people, but more of the fact that the primary lead(Ford) wasn't as good as he could've been. 

GMAN2887 - Do you believe that viewers would have been happier with Edwards' Godzilla if the battle between Godzilla and the male MUTO at the Hawaii airport had been shown in greater detail? I've often wondered if that simple alteration would have yielded more favorable reactions on the whole. :)

^Maybe. I know it's a polarizing decision, but I actually like the restraint there. It's different, it's fresh and it goes against the grain of what's expected from Hollywood blockbusters. I like that.
Cutting from Godzilla so many times after that scene is what bothers me and makes it less unique. Serizawa's final line in the film is, "Let them fight." And after he says it we cut to Godzilla and the MUTO engaging in battle. We needed a little more from that for the line to have a satisfying payoff. Instead they literally shut the doors on the audience for the genesis of that confrontation.
I don't think much needs to be tweeked for Godzilla's screentime to be more universally satisfying, but little things make the biggest differences.

GMAN2887 - I whole-heartedly understand and respect your thoughts on the premise. Indeed, even the smallest aspect changes can have incredible effects upon a film! :)

Good god, the official novelization is packed with more exciting things then what the movie delievered. So many things were left out like the fight scene at the airport. The book says that there was indeed an atomic breath attack and the airport was.....destroyed! I sincerly hope that godzilla 2 is somewhere near as good as pacific rim or even gamera 3 is.

^I've basically resigned myself to believing we'll never get another kaiju film that hits the quality of Gamera 3...

Well... I don't know. "Never" is pretty damning. If any studio has a shot I think it's Tsuburaya and one of their Ultraman movies. But they have got to cut out this Ginga nonesense if that's to happen.

I don't think the fact that this was an atypical summer blockbuster necessarily makes it good. In fact, for me it was just the opposite. There was very little payoff in this movie, and some of that could/should have come in the form of a good old fashioned summer blockbuster. It's Godzilla for God's sake, not Merchant Ivory! Some movies I loved this summer, Capt. America, Dawn of the POTA, Guardians, all followed formula to some degree and they were awesome movies, IMO. I didn't feel cheated with any of them.

I hated the cutaway scenes. I didn't find them clever. I found them infuriating and insulting. The thing with the airport scene is going in I already knew he was cutting away; I had read about it, but it still bugged the crap out of me. You make me wait four years for your movie to come out, then you make me wait an hour to show me what I came to see, then you play peek-a-boo the rest of the movie, and I'm supposed to be happy??

^Haha, calm down a little koldwarkid. I understand though, what makes me mad is the fact that they teased it like it was going to be a dark and serious godzilla movie. Talk about bait and switch. What we got was a more kid friendly type of godzilla movie that i find ok because kids would want to see it regardless, i have nothing against a company that makes movies like godzilla suitable for children, but i was hoping for a godzilla movie that could relate to 54 film.

Dang shame, hopefully when toho gets going again with their godzilla movies, we can get that more serious godzilla film.

Thanks for talking me off the ledge, Triple B! ;)

What got me railing again was I just watched it recently as part of my 60th tribute, and I swear, the more I watch it the less I'm liking it, and that's a shame. That SDCC 2012 teaser; oh man, that's the movie I want to see. It's still out there somewhere. That thing gave me goosebumps. I watched it over and over. Him rising and roaring from under the smoke and debris, awesome.

I didn't have a huge problem with Godzilla being a "good guy." Just give us something to sink our teeth into, some cool Godzilla stuff. This movie just fell short in that dept. for me, and I think a lot of people. I never read the novel. By your account and others I've read, it's the movie we should have had.

Be good, my friend. I did see your PM. Haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I will.

I understand the first cutaway is still polarizing, but polarizing makes movies more interesting to me. Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy may be more straight forward summer blockbuster entertainment. And they may have been more satisfying. But they were also less interesting to me because they didn't do anything daring. (As films go anyway.) To me they'll be lost in the troves of summer action movies that all look alike. I may watch them again once each in the next three years. (I put Dawn of the Planet of the Apes way, way, way above any of the movies we're directly talking about in this thread though. That movie was daring.)

Godzilla tried some things differently and the result was polarization amongst fans and audiences. So did it work? Clearly, not for everyone. No. But I applaud and reward ambitious efforts to be different over the run-of-the-mill.

That being said, the cutaways later in the movie bother me far more. Doing it once is fine. But twice, three times, four times... That's getting beyond silly.

@Koldwarkid62,

I completely agree man. If G14 lived up to the hype and to what they teased it to be, then i think it could have been one awesome godzilla film, and like you said it fell short.

Also, i know you are busy but, when you do get the time of day to read the novel, i am really looking foward to hearing what you have to say.

Take care, and so much more.

Oops, double post.

But since it exsists, gman2887, i also agree my friend, all of those other cut scenes really put a hurting on the film.

@MMG, It would count since you see both of them fight(fyi tv screen in brody family house)    

I thought the screentime and shots of the monsters were great and that theres alot more to the movie then some think or suggest. This is just my opinion and I don't care what others have to say  something that counters my view.

   No offense  GMAN and BEN but you guys are not always right.