The GODZILLA thread

[E. Shaw]

Hmmm...still no dropping of the review embargo despite the pending release of GodzillaxKong? Usually if review embargoes are only dropped right before the release of a movie, that's a bad sign that the movie won't be good. I hope this is not the case with GodzillaXKong. I mean yes, as a blockbuster type movie with a reasonably large following, it should be more resistant to bad reviews. Still, I will be lying if I said I am not worried any bad reviews will have impact on the box office or the future of the monsterverse...

I'd not worry too much. Versus /crossover films are never the greatest, but are fun. I apply different expectations to these type movies. 

[nanison]

Of course it is not going to be a good movie    You need to lower expectations, I mean we've all seen the goofy best buds running together and even hopping each others back.

The last 2 were pretty bad already so it can only get worse from here.

Maybe it is just me but I want monster to be scary or at least intimidating, not cuddly like in the monster verse (bar the G. Edwards one, that was a fantastic film imo).

[E. Shaw]

Of course it is not going to be a good movie    You need to lower expectations, I mean we've all seen the goofy best buds running together and even hopping each others back.

The last 2 were pretty bad already so it can only get worse from here.

Maybe it is just me but I want monster to be scary or at least intimidating, not cuddly like in the monster verse (bar the G. Edwards one, that was a fantastic film imo).

Shin Godzilla was my favorite. Lovecraftian Gojira is what we need:

[Immortan Jonesy]

https://twitter.com/THR/status/1772807737237205015

[Cougerboy]

Of course it is not going to be a good movie    You need to lower expectations, I mean we've all seen the goofy best buds running together and even hopping each others back.

The last 2 were pretty bad already so it can only get worse from here.

Maybe it is just me but I want monster to be scary or at least intimidating, not cuddly like in the monster verse (bar the G. Edwards one, that was a fantastic film imo).

No...GvsK actually has majority good reviews. A film can have a lighter tone and still be good. It all comes down to the story and execution.

[Master Chief]

If they would've removed Josh and Madison, the movie would've been a lot better. Pointless characters. Bernie could've still been used for Team Godzilla as a disgruntled employee to help expose Apex and their dirty secrets.

[KiramidHead]

The previous Monsterverse films all feel like the creative teams barely spoke to each other.

[Nightmare Asylum]

I honestly kind of find the whiplash tones/styles and the "yes and"/anything goes mentality of the MonsterVerse pretty refreshing, as far as "Cinematic Universes" go right now, in light of how bogged down and impenetrable certain elements of the MCU have become over the last couple years.

[Cosmic Incubation]

Yeah I'm totally fine with getting goofy fun monster movies with the MonsterVerse, seeing as we still get more serious and high-quality Godzilla films from Japan. The two can co-exist and I'm looking forward to GxK!

[Thatguy2068]

Yeah I'm totally fine with getting goofy fun monster movies with the MonsterVerse, seeing as we still get more serious and high-quality Godzilla films from Japan. The two can co-exist and I'm looking forward to GxK!

I am pretty much with this opinion. It's the best of both worlds.

[nanison]

Where would you guys place Monarch: Legacy of Monsters in the monsterverse in terms of goofyness?
I have not seen it yet (bar the first episode which was free) I had the feeling it was much more serious and comparable to 2014's Godzilla and not the 2 followups.

[Nightmare Asylum]

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters definitely skews closest to Gareth Edwards' Godzilla in tone overall for most of its run, though in the back half of the season it definitely starts leaning into concepts and a bit of the tone of the more recent entries of the series. Never quite as goofy as Wingard's entries, but more straddling the line like Kong: Skull Island and King of the Monsters often do.

[Nightmare Asylum]

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire plays like a Jun Fukuda Kong movie that happens to guest star Godzilla (in roughly the capacity that Godzilla vs Megalon did ). If the clashing tones and wildly all over the place bits of lore/creature origins that feel at odds with one another all in the same movie (think, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla having both aliens bringing their mech down from space AND an ancient dog/lion monster needing to be summoned via magic and song) is something that appeals to you, then GxK definitely hits that sweet spot. Now mind you, I say that endearingly. The movie's kind of a clunky mess and it's all over the place with really wonky pacing and a structure that doesn't quite work (I think Godzilla's awkward placement in the story is a big part of what contributes to that overall feeling), but it really does have the zany energy of a 60s/70s Fukuda Godzilla movie in a way that none of the other ones really did (KotM and GvK felt like they were more so trying to emulate the earlier Honda entries to me). Kong's the real main character of the movie here, more so than Godzilla or any of the humans, and pretty significant chunks of the film are spent with him just doing his thing. If this sounds like something that'll appeal to you and you already like the MonsterVerse, then despite the movie's clunkiness, you'll probably have a fun time here. If what I wrote sounds absolutely dire and makes your brain ooze out of your eyes just going over my paragraph, then steer clear 'cause the movie will absolutely make you feel that way as well. I'm not one to usually really throw around a "this one's for the fans" label with movies (usually when people are saying that, it's a way of trying to compensate for what's overall a bad movie in general - which very well might just be what I'm doing here, so guilty as charged!), but, this really does feel like it was made for a very specific type of Godzilla fan that's really into the Showa era but, dialing in even more specifically, the 60s/70s entries in particular. I happen to be very into those entries, and that affection carried over into GxK for me.

Also, I don't know if Skar King was mo-capped or more traditionally animated, but all the credit in the world to whoever was responsible for his posture and body language.

[nanison]

Also, I don't know if Skar King was mo-capped or more traditionally animated, but all the credit in the world to whoever was responsible for his posture and body language.

This is interesting. I have not seen the film but personally I find creature films where these techniques are used usually a let down because it humanizes the monster too much. I prefer a monster to not show human emotions and behavior. It was a big gripe I had with the planet of the apes movies. The apes could have been replaced by another group of humans as the apes just acted like humans anyway.

Take the terminator. In the first film Arnold behaves how we all imagine a robot to behave, he is scary and emotionless but in T2 they give him a bit of human emotions and it takes me out if it.

[Nightmare Asylum]

If you don't want humanized monsters, then stay far, far, FAR away from Godzilla x Kong.

But also, the whole deal with the Planet of the Apes movies (be it the old series or the current ongoing one) is that the apes are essentially human in all but name. They aren't "monsters" and were never intended to be.