The bit with the flares was an impressive section, it really highlighted how massive Godzilla was. The scale of the movie was amazing.
Yeah, that's a great moment (which is why it's in the trailer, lol). As horrifying as it is, I really like how when he comes onto land, he creates a tsunami. That's just one of the many touches I've liked in this movie.
And the atomic breath took me kinda by surprise, I was somehow under the impression that it was confirmed not to be in the film.
Why would it
not be in a Godzilla film? The atomic breath is the most iconic feature of Godzilla next to his roar, he's just not Godzilla without it. I mean, yeah, he only used it twice (or in two scenes, anyway, and those scenes were worth the wait), but I think that was more out of a "You leave me no choice" move even though in the other films, he'd use it quite a bit.
Like others have said, Godzilla's role was emphasised as very heroic and for some reason, he felt very much like 'one of the good guys', and not an animalistic force of nature as I believe was intended.
I think he's still both in this film, though Godzilla's more of an anti-hero than a hero since people
still died. (Actually, I think he's always
been an anti-hero because of that.) Now I think it's really impressive how Godzilla didn't
seem like he wanted to be destructive, like with the scene where he's at the Golden Gate Bridge. If he wanted to, he could've just plowed right through without a shrug. I mean, it's kinda what we
expect him to do, right? I actually thought it was a little amusing how when he was emerging from the water, he was doing it as slow as possible so the ships that were on top of him could be pushed aside without capsizing them (unless that still happened, but I don't recall people falling out of the ships). Of course, the military stupidly shot at him when he wasn't doing anything (but I think it's another iconic thing in a Godzilla film to have the army fire at him even though
everyone knows our weapons wouldn't scratch him), but just the way he grabbed onto the cable and tried to keep it stabilized without breaking it was really neat to see.
So he's still destructive, but for a creature his size and nature, he was making an effort to not do it on purpose. He may still be a force of nature--he always will be--but I think like Mother Earth, he makes the decision whether to be pissed off at humanity or not. I have to wonder if he understands the role of humans which is why he doesn't make a conscious effort to plow through a city like the MUTOs did. (Even though they didn't always do that, either.) It's like he forgave humans for trying to kill him in the 50s, but then again, the MUTO were being a threat, so he had to restore that balance.
You know, is it just me, or is Godzilla more of a complex character than first believed?