This has already been mentioned, but it is by far the biggest problem people have with the way Gareth Edwards structured the film. He loves teasing the audience; engaging in what he has called "cinematic foreplay." The problem with Godzilla is that he goes a little overboard with this. The first hour has a nice sense of building up to something grand, which culminates in the masterful reveal of Godzilla in all his glory as he is about to engage with the MUTO. However, instead of seeing the fight, we are teased with glimpses of it on the news as Ford Brody's son watches on tv. We cut back and Honolulu is devastated by a battle we never got to see. While this was a clever sight gag, it comes at the expense of proper release. It's like if Spielberg cut away from the T-rex after he broke out of the fence. Edwards excels at building the tension, but stumbles at releasing it in a satisfying way. And this continues on for quite some time, which frustrates the audience. This is why some praise Edwards' restraint while others condemn it. Eventually he delivers the fight we've been waiting for, but some audience members get teased to the point of apathy, which makes the climax fall flat. If you build up that much, you better deliver, and some people feel like it didn't. For the sequel, Edwards needs to stop teasing and deliver right out of the gate. Now this doesn't mean he needs to fill the film with monster action from beginning to end. But it does mean that when it happens he needs to stick with it. We know what Godzilla looks like in action, so keeping the audience from seeing what they've already seen would be a terrible move. The sequel should definitely keep the suspense, but make sure to deliver the goods and release that built up tension in a satisfying way every time. Which means...
