JAPfeif

Well, I was all set to write a review on the movie defending it from all the negative flack it gets and I admittedly assumed that when I logged on here all I would see were negative comments. Actually, I scrolled through two pages and found not one negative review, all positives, so I guess no defending is necessary! So I just want to add that this movie in NO WAY deserves all the criticism it gets. I am an avid fan of the original Godzilla series and have a subscription to G-Fan, so I totally appreciate most of J.D. Lees's comments and opinions. I just do not get the backlash against this movie, except for probably ONE reason. The name.

I think most folks were expecting basically a remake of the original Godzilla, same look, same mannerisms, same often-times hokey behavior, and when they didn't get that, they complain and moan. I agree with a previous poster here....if Roland et. al. HAD done that, made a creature that was just like the original in THIS day and age, the movie really WOULD have gotten lambasted and shot down. Besides, they already TRIED that once, remember? (anyone recall GODZILLA 1985??.....practically a carbon-copy of the look of the original monster and if I recall, it wasn't exactly a blockbuster!). So the film makers tried something new, totally updated effects (and no one can deny that they were excellent), an interesting plot, a new twist on the original, a cast of likable characters...and it gets totally ripped apart.

Which brings me to my original point I wanted to make. The name. I honestly believe that if the film (and monster) had NOT been called "Godzilla", just called "Monstersaurus" or something, and not been made to appear as the iconic monster from our childhood, the movie would have done great in more people's eyes (well, at least on the level as other similarly-themed films like INDEPENDENCE DAY, TWISTER, and such). The kiss of death for many people was that they felt the movie was trying to "pass off" this monster as "Godzilla". And they didn't like that.......they didn't like the idea of totally changing the look and actions of a very iconic pop culture figure.

So yeah.....had the movie been called something else and not associated with Godzilla in any way, I think the outcome would have been way different. Because, there sure wasn't much else to complain about in this movie! It was great!! Just my two pennies!

In reply to the quote "I don't know whether Hanna/Barbera acknowledged this problem in this kids' film, but this is pretty shocking to me. Nobody really don't die in these films unless were talking about Itchy and Scratchy, and even if they do, we're shown how their souls leave their body and ascend/descend to heaven/hell in some amusing way, but at least they're back in the next film." Well, not exactly. In "The Two Mouseketeers", Tom actually gets BEHEADED in the finale! There was one other one that no one actually died but had some rather sinister implications. I can't recall the episode title but it was on the beach I think, and it was one with Jerry & (I think) that little yellow duck. At the end, Tom has them cornered under a beach umbrella & the final shot shows Tom covering Jerry & the "camera" (and hence, the audience's view) with the umbrella with some appropriately ominous-sounding music playing. It is left to our imagination as to what happens to Jerry & the duck by Tom.