Godzilla's arrival in Antarctica was fantastic, but somehow I enjoyed it more in the HBO preview. I don't get it. Maybe, it was the background tracks. Something about the HBO preview had more weight and presence to it. The silence of it at Godzilla's arrival, the ice breaking under his massive feet, a feeling reminiscent of the airport scene in 2014, and the face off. The preview made me think that the tone was more akin to the previous movie. Bear McCreary's score was great, but it's the pacing of this movie and sound mixing that takes away from it. It was out of place, sort of. I still got excited for it.
I liked the Antarctica fight before Vivienne Graham died. That tore it apart for me. I was a little bit weirded out by the classic sound effects from Godzilla, too. I just think that the classic roars don't fit with the movie or his design. The original Legendary roars are tailored for him, and it commands presence like no other in theaters. Godzilla is larger than he was in the last movie, but he felt smaller because of the sound design.
Rodan was the highlight of the movie for me, despite the fact that we saw most of the sequence in the trailers, which disappointed me. There was so much done right with it. Rodan looked great, coming from the volcano. Unfortunately, the perspective shots didn't give him a true sense of scale. Either way, this was really the main scene where we got to see pure destruction of cities and panic from civilians. I wish it had been longer. We didn't get that anywhere else in the movie.
Ghidorah was amazing in his/their (there's three heads, is it his or their?) initial emergence from the ice. It really took away from his immediate threat to see the heads bickering with each other like the Three Stooges right after he took over the scene, however. I do enjoy the personality, but I don't know. I'm conflicted, because I see him as
King Ghidorah. He is a grand, powerful, prideful, but chaotic force in my mind. I see the gold and think of something great and flawless. He was too direct with his movements and snake-like when moving. Well, it's alright.
Mothra was great for the time where she was on screen and alive (her death and Godzilla's power up were the lowest points for her). The hatching scene in the beginning was sort of like the male MUTO scene, and it was great. Mothra did some cool stuff in this movie, like holding her own again Rodan, which again, we didn't see enough of. The two of them were really good in this movie, but the least attended to.