Usually when critics hype up a film my expectations get too high and I am mildly let down. Not so with this movie. It may be my favorite of the franchise. I loved the human characters so much in this film (Koichi, Noriko, Doc, etc.) and was very invested in their survival. (I may have shed a tear or two) I like seeing regular people trying to survive as opposed to secret super cool government agent types (like the Monarch organization stuff in the American films). Godzilla was terrifying (I saw it in Imax and the 2 uses of the classic "Godzilla theme" were intense) and the effects were amazing, surprising since the budget was so far below most American blockbusters.