^I don't really agree with a lot of this. I felt like Godzilla's presence was more god-like due to the long build up given to him and Serizawa's pandering. It was as if his absense dictated something too good to exploit and the MUTO's involvement were underminded by how often we saw them. A sort of backwards psycology.
I also think defeating the MUTOs "quickly" and shifting the film to the military fighting Godzilla would result in an anti-climactic third act; much in the vein of Godzilla Raids Again which falls flat on its face as soon as Anguirus is defeated.
And, personally, some of my favorite and arguably Godzilla movies are the ones with Godzilla as a background plot device. Monster Zero and Terror of MechaGodzilla utilize Godzilla as either a tool or an excuse to give protagonists a fighting chance. I don't think the new film works it out nearly as well as those two, but I don't think Godzilla being front and center is a necessity at all times.
I agree the movie had a plethora of issues, but I can't say anything you mentioned there were of the more glaring problems. Nor do I agree those are the ways to fix them.
"'Nostalgic' does not equal 'good,' and 'standards' does not equal 'elitism.'" "Being offended is inevitable. Living offended is your choice."