My rant on why I think this version is better than the 2014 version

I posted this on the Godzilla 2014 boards, but it seems more appropriate here.

Both films are flawed, but in my opinion the only significant flaws with the '98 film are the bad casting of the two leads and the cheesy attempts at humour. I know a lot of people hated it because they changed the design of Godzilla an took away his atomic breath, and while I respect that opinion, I defend their decision to do that. The '98 film was clearly going for something unique and a bit more original than a standard Godzilla flick. I actually loved that they made it comparatively more realistic, it being a giant mutated iguana created by the radiation from nuclear fallout. This also draws a closer link to the theme in the original film about man causing their own destruction. Beyond that, there are a lot of things in the '98 film that I feel are sadly overlooked because people can't get over the change in creature design. I love the build-up to Zilla's reveal, and how we gradually discover along with the characters what is causing all this destruction, and how big it really is, instead of them already knowing about its existence like in the '14 film. The scene of the cargo ship and the fishing boats being attacked are very chilling and well-shot. The first scene of Zilla attacking New York is very well-done, and the cinematography is amazing. We get a great sense of scale with the way things are shot, always looking up, and I like how they don't clearly show it in its entirety despite all the destruction. The music is also much better in the '98 film in my opinion. Overall, the '98 film gives me a much greater feeling of awe then the '14 film does.

The '14 film was underwhelming to me in comparison. While the characters in the '98 film were annoying at times, they at least were distinctive and had personalities, and they tie in well to the story. The characters in the '14 film are as bland and forgettable as they come,, and it felt like they were included just because the plot needed human characters, but they seemed kind of out of place in the story. The MUTO monsters were also very bland and forgettable, like a poor-man's Cloverfield monster. And I find it lame and underwhelming that the film just begins with the characters already knowing about Godzilla's existence, without much explanation. There is no dramatic build up to his reveal, we are just meant to accept that he already exists. It's very underwhelming. Moreover, not only is he absent for most of the film, but there's no real payoff when he does showup. What exactly does he do in this film? He swims around for a bit, he destroys the Golden Gate bridge and then he fights the MUTO, but the fight is relegated to the background to put the human action up front. While a lot of people are just happy to see Godzilla go up against another giant monster, I don't personally see much difference between two giant monsters fighting and two regular monsters fighting. in the end, they are both the same size as each other, so what difference does it make? I find it much more exciting and thrilling to see a giant monster cause destruction and battle the military, which the '98 film delivers and the '14 film does not. Even when the '14 film has an opportunity to show this, it cuts away to a NEWS broadcast, which is incredibly annoying and lazy and a slap in the face to the viewers.

The main thing that makes me prefer the '98 film to the '14 film though, is that it actually centers on Godzilla like it should. The '14 film centers around the MUTO's and the lame human drama, and only has Godzilla come in at the end as a Deus-ex-Machina. It almost feels like they were trying to make a Clovefield sequel, and just decided to throw in Godzilla at the last second to draw in the audience.