Most of the movie was so dark, I couldn't see what was happening. At times the screen was black with a few moving white dots. Hate that.
shareI agree. I barely remember any action scenes from this film. It was a huge disappointment for me.
shareThe missing element from the film is fun. It's all so dark, dreary, low key, dull and just plain boring. There's absolutely no comic relief as well. I wonder were all the action scenes at night for the usual reason of not wanting to make the CGI look terrible?
Where's all the colour? I have to say I enjoyed Kong Skull Island much more. I re-watched this afterwards and it's too concerned with being arty in my opinion.
You can say the posters for Godzilla 2014 (which were pretty dark) did the movie justice. If I must be frank though, the posters are quite nice. The film itself? It needed work.
I admire how they set out to make something different that was, in its own way, grounded in reality. But obviously, the direction they took with this movie didn’t completely pay off. That said, I do appreciate it.
Yes, this was definitely a problem. Even though I love "dark" movies, I don't mean I want "dark" as in I can't see what the hell is going on!
sharePlenty of films are made with big explosions and brightly lit, exciting fast battles and fights that appeal to an audience seeking simple, easy-to-grasp thrills. Pacific Rim comes to mind. I dislike that sort of action action action bright lights big bangs all there for you spoon-feeding you thrills kinds of movies, so something like Godzilla that was simultaneously grand and subtle, and that demanded an audience pay attention to get all the reward, was very enjoyable to me.
I loved the build-up to seeing Godzilla. The "missing" comic relief mentioned by a previous poster was in that build-up. We see Godzilla and Muto about to engage in battle in Hawaii then suddenly we see what looks to be an amazing, epic fight, but on a small TV that is quickly out of frame. That got a big laugh on opening night, and served to whet the appetite for what was to come. When the monsters finally did meet, the darkness gave the fight an ominous overtone. And it served to accentuate the highlight of the entire film-- when Godzilla finally used his breath weapon. I've never in my life felt a palpable sense of anticipation in a crowded theater as that moment. As the blue glow gradually filled the screen, and that subtle "powering up" noise grew-- even remembering it now gives me chills, and it's one of a few in-a-cinema moments I'll never forget.
I went back to see the film twice more during its theatrical run, and the night battle offered payoff each time, as new details popped out. Had it been a brightly lit scene it would have lost much of its magic, and one wouldn't have been as rewarded for paying attention to small details.
Don't get me wrong. I love movies that are "dark" in tone and even those that are set at night (Blade Runner is one of my favorites). The way Godzilla appeared in the trailers for this movie got me especially excited (the scene with the paratroopers). My complaint and the complaint of the OP is that the night battles were poorly shot because they were too dark, literally - to the point where you couldn't see anything. That's different from calling for the movie to be brightly lit or take place during daytime.
shareI never felt I was unable to see or follow the action.
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