I just dont see what the big deal about Cranston was. He was attached to the film yes. But it was clearly obvious from the 2nd trailer onward he wouldn't be the main character or focus of the film. He was barely shown in anything past the initial teaser trailers. He was never purported to be the "hero" of the film. He and his dead wife in the film served as devices to set up Ford as our protagonist, I think they served they purpose accurately and enjoyably.

The problem is that he was a much more interesting character then Ford. I wouldn't say it was "clearly obvious" either because his conspiracy dialogue was featured on (unless I'm mistaken) every single trailer and definitely one the most common one which shows up on TV and Youtube commercials. Ford in comparison was barely in any of the trailers. Hell, did he even speak a line in a single trailer?

Why? What is so great about him? He would have had nothing to do had he not died.

I really don't get what the big deal is. Nobody complained before about an actor dying but suddenly "OH NO HOW DARE YOU KILL CRANSTON!!" is posted all over the internet. I'm sure he was a good actor in that Breaking Bad show, but people are treating him like he should be invincible. Plus, I was thankful to finally have a movie that was not abridged in the trailer like nearly every movie I have seen this year has been. Both Transcendence and Spider-Man had their entire movie told to us in a 2 minute trailer. Godzilla did not.

I have not ever seen Breaking Bad and I still can see the problem with killing off the movie's most interesting character in the first Act, especially when the movie then proceeded then on with an incredibly dull main protagonist.

I felt with Ford it was less the acting and more what he was given to work with. I think if he was more central to the story it might mean more. For the most part he seems relegated to the role of observer, which might not be bad in the context of the movie, but makes for a less interesting character (in my opinion).

Bryan Cranston is a great actor and alot of people fell in love with him after Breaking Bad. So knowing he would be in this movie and the trailers having his monologue all over them gave them the assumption he would be in this movie alot longer than he actually was. I´m one of those people that were fooled by the first trailers in thinking that and when he died I was pretty surprised.

But I gotta say I was suprised in a good way by Bryan Cranstons character dying. Now I knew that all bets were off and that the movie most definitely wouldnt turn out what I imagined it to be. The same goes for everything else the trailers "promised" that wasnt in the movie. I really appreciate a marketing campaign that doesnt spoil the entire movie before you even sat down and watched the damn thing :lol

I believe the problem with Ford was that he was paired up with Cranston in the beginning. Cranston is no doubt a better actor than Johnston and his character was written really well so you got attached to him and his situation. People got invested in Joe Ford and when he died they were just left with his son Ford. And the thing with Ford was that he really wasnt as involved with the actual story than Joe was. Joe actually researched the Kaiju activities and tried to uncover the secret behind it all and Ford just wanted to get home to his family.

That said I still think Ford was sympathetic enough so you could care about him. He was pretty much thrusted into the same situation his father was in fifteen years prior. He now knew what they were up against and what danger his own family had to face. If there is one thing he wanted was his family to be safe and his own Son to grow up with both his parents still being there for him.

Bingo, not only is he a great actor with enough popularity to sell tickets but he was the character shown the most in trailers, leading most to believe he was in fact the protagonist, his death was a genuine shock for most people.

But I liked the twist, and felt his son was strong enough to lead the movie even if the progression felt kinda dsiconnected at times.

Its pretty much the same situation with Godzilla. People thought going in they would get more Godzilla and less MUTOs. Some didnt even know they were MUTOs in the movie. So when they didnt get that they were disappointed. And to be honest that is not an invalid complaint. A marketing campaign like that is a double edged sword. There are those in the audience that appreciate this (like myself) and those that dont.

I know I got impatient halfway through the movie because I had completely different expectations about what it was going to be. I thought it was all Godzilla, and the relative lack of him made me say "about time" when he finally appeared in full. I did realize what they were going for, and let myself enjoy it, but like you said, it was dangerous marketing it that way.

Of course, with such a lovely final act, all is forgiven. :D

As soon as the airport scene happened I knew what I was in for the rest of the movie :lol

I gotta say what I think made the whole thing work was the way the Kaiju were presented. They just seemed so bigger than life and it always felt like they gave you just enough of them to be satisfied and yet sitting there wanting more.