Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) - Part 1

[Another_Fool]

I have yet to see the new Ultraman on Netflix (or the Godzilla animes....I really have to get on those). But absolutely agree on the original King Kong and Gamera. The Heisei Gamera films are wonderful and when it comes to Kong, they have not touched on the magic of the original. The 70s remake is just not that good (and it's sequel is super awful) and the Peter Jackson movie for me is just way too bloated and needlessly long. But the original King Kong is arguably one of the most important films ever. SFX would not be what they are today without it.

Yea the Heisei Gamera films are the rare kaiju films that elevate beyond what we expect from the genre while also still maintaining some of the silly charming aspects of it. Even the human characters in them are great. Until Shin, they were the top kaiju films in my personal rankings, even above Gojira.

 

[The Big G]

Godzilla started in 1954 as a giant monster that wrecked everything around it. In his fourth film, Godzilla faced off against Mothra, Mothra being the heroic monster of the movie. Mothra, if you ask anyone in the Kaiju fandom, is one of the most benevolent, mainstream Toho monsters. In the original Ghidorah film, she is the only one who wants to fight Ghidorah, Godzilla and Rodan both seeing no reason to stick their necks out for humanity, but are eventually convinced to team up anyway. As more movies were made, Godzilla became more heroic and began to battle monsters of his own volition. And now the Legendary films Godzilla is outright protecting humanity and they named Mothra “Queen of the Monsters”

What I’m saying is, the Godzilla films are canonically a 35~ chapter, enemies-to-lovers slowburn.

this was Honda's plan all along

 

[Binker]

I've been thinking back to KOTM and I see more issues than I did, though not ruining the movie for me, though the reactions and BO and WB's recent news on GvK have dimmed my excitement since seeing it.

I feel the movie has some issues with existing characters that really didn't need to be there, from Charles Dance' character to even Rodan; to questionable choices, like the death of Mothra for example.

The thing about Dougherty, from movies like Krampus to Trick r Treat, is that he kinda talks a big game but doesn't deliver. And while we could apply that to this, its actually more of here's a movie that needed the K.I.S.S. rule/criticism more than anything. And what does K.I.S.S. stand for? Keep It Simple Stupid. And let's face it, given what this movie had in its dense plotline, wouldn't it have been for the better if the main plot was the battle between the Alphas, between Godzilla and Ghidorah, for the King of the Monsters. NOTHING ELSE FROM THE HUMANS except for what the bad place is going on and what they could do save the Big G, and the finale with Godzilla's win setting up the Alpha in the next film: Godzilla vs Kong. Wouldn't that make more sense?

 

[TheVileOne]

They definitely didn't need Thomas Middleditch's character ALONG with the Bradley Whitford character.

Sally Hawkins character didn't need to be there either.

 

[The Big G]

 

[TheVileOne]

The original King Kong too. Gamera I think the new trilogy is the best of its series. And the new Ultraman on Netflix is an absolute masterpiece

How is that new Ultraman anime a masterpiece?

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Finally got around to seeing this given the way it's been received and... I enjoyed it. A lot.

But the final product delivered could have been better and I think it's the way the potential of the film was not reached that's caused most of the feelings towards it. I too was hoping the human characters would be richer and more engaging. As it was, they were serviceable. Now, they weren't bad either, and I don't get the complaints of "stupid" actions or that the plot was hard to follow. But there was a bit too much blandness all around. You never connected with the cast. I didn't have an issue with any characters' motivations or what they did. It all tracked for me (I mean... I don't get complaining about Vera's character's motivations when we live in a real world where there were and are people seriously going "Now... Thanos had a point...") and the film proceeds from actions taken from the convictions of the characters in this fantasy setting. But yes, there was an issue in that none of this really grabbed you. The tug of war between the two parents isn't really developed all that well and the Brown's character needed a lot more focusing on. I think it might have suited the film a lot more if they had maybe not had the Chandler father character at all. Then more time could have been spent on Brown and Vera having a clash that would be meatier and with more threat to both characters being in the hands of the eco-terrorists.

Now that said... This was a beautiful film and the monster sequences were outstanding. And thankfully the impact of the Kaiju on the world was a factor in the overall story.The world seems to have been changed by their existence and actions. I also rather liked the idea of Monarch in this film as compared to the other times we've seen it onscreen. It seems a more fully formed entity and while I didn't think things were as developed as they could be I didn't hate the characters either. If anything I wanted to know more about them.

And even with the flaws... I still would recommend the movie as it does have some great moments with the monsters and is a blast when you get them in their full glory. I think that if the cast had been paired down a bit with more focus on say, Dance and Watanabe having a Prof. X/Magneto thing, Vera and Brown's conflict as mother and daughter with the idea of the dilemma of destroying (and even if they could) or coexisting with the Titans as the big issue it would be smoother.

But as is I wasn't bored, just underwhelmed at the human element.

 

[Stark Bauer]

I have yet to see the new Ultraman on Netflix (or the Godzilla animes....I really have to get on those). But absolutely agree on the original King Kong and Gamera. The Heisei Gamera films are wonderful and when it comes to Kong, they have not touched on the magic of the original. The 70s remake is just not that good (and it's sequel is super awful) and the Peter Jackson movie for me is just way too bloated and needlessly long. But the original King Kong is arguably one of the most important films ever. SFX would not be what they are today without it.

I made the mistake of watching the first Ultraman episode to see what the show was like...I binged watched it in practically one sitting. And I am not one to binge watch any show.

 

[Stark Bauer]

How is that new Ultraman anime a masterpiece?

That’s my personal opinion as a long time fan of Ultraman. It took the series and made it something greater - adding some Guyverish elements and a story that was sort of 24 esque

Back on topic Godzilla is set to break the $100 million mark and surpass the original Pacific Rim! Small victories!

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Just got out of this, I actually liked more than a lot of critics did it seems, I enjoyed this a good bit. I do get some of the criticisms though, other than Madison, her Dad and Sirazowa (sp?), the human characters were pretty boring and just there for exposition. Madisons mum deserved her ending despite her heel turn at the end, but yeah, on the whole the boring scenes in the movie happened when it was just the humans on the screen.

Thankfully, the monsters made up for that, Ghidorah was, well, a beast, I loved Mothra in this and Rodan had a slyness about him. The Big G himself was awesome, every time he entered a battle it was a ‘holy shirt’ moment for me, and I got worried whenever he was getting a beating, which was a few times in this movie. I did love Sirazowa’s final scene with Godzilla also, quite poetic considering his role in the franchise so far. The movie had some great money shots, with the last scene being a great one. So yeah, this had flaws, but plenty of good stuff as well which I genuinely enjoyed, and the final battle was great. 7/10 for me.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Finally got around to seeing this given the way it's been received and... I enjoyed it. A lot.

But the final product delivered could have been better and I think it's the way the potential of the film was not reached that's caused most of the feelings towards it. I too was hoping the human characters would be richer and more engaging. As it was, they were serviceable. Now, they weren't bad either, and I don't get the complaints of "stupid" actions or that the plot was hard to follow. But there was a bit too much blandness all around. You never connected with the cast. I didn't have an issue with any characters' motivations or what they did. It all tracked for me (I mean... I don't get complaining about Vera's character's motivations when we live in a real world where there were and are people seriously going "Now... Thanos had a point...") and the film proceeds from actions taken from the convictions of the characters in this fantasy setting. But yes, there was an issue in that none of this really grabbed you. The tug of war between the two parents isn't really developed all that well and the Brown's character needed a lot more focusing on. I think it might have suited the film a lot more if they had maybe not had the Chandler father character at all. Then more time could have been spent on Brown and Vera having a clash that would be meatier and with more threat to both characters being in the hands of the eco-terrorists.

Now that said... This was a beautiful film and the monster sequences were outstanding. And thankfully the impact of the Kaiju on the world was a factor in the overall story.The world seems to have been changed by their existence and actions. I also rather liked the idea of Monarch in this film as compared to the other times we've seen it onscreen. It seems a more fully formed entity and while I didn't think things were as developed as they could be I didn't hate the characters either. If anything I wanted to know more about them.

And even with the flaws... I still would recommend the movie as it does have some great moments with the monsters and is a blast when you get them in their full glory. I think that if the cast had been paired down a bit with more focus on say, Dance and Watanabe having a Prof. X/Magneto thing, Vera and Brown's conflict as mother and daughter with the idea of the dilemma of destroying (and even if they could) or coexisting with the Titans as the big issue it would be smoother.

But as is I wasn't bored, just underwhelmed at the human element.

They are bad and super dumb. The plot is not hard to follow. What is amazing is how baffling dumb it all is. The movie is a very good example of things happening because the movie needs them to happen, and thus the characters and plot act accordingly.

 

[Roose Bolton]

Vera and Millie let me down big time in this film....but that said, this film has the best female character of the year.

Sarah Connor, Carol Danvers, Rey, Jessica Jones, Arya and Sansa Stark....you can all take a seat. The North only knows one Queen and her name is MOTHRA.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I will say also after seeing this yesterday I think it will look incredible in 4K, looking forward to watching it again in that format.

 

[AverageMan]

Has had a good little bump this week, up to $366m ww. Will hit $400m in the next few weeks. Any chance of it getting to $450m?

 

[Arachnerd]

Not hopeful about it, but at least I'm glad it's not an outright flop now.

 

[a user]

Can we hope that GvK can save this franchise, or is it pretty much GvK and then done?

 

[KaijuDude1992]

Can we hope that GvK can save this franchise, or is it pretty much GvK and then done?

If it makes a killing at the BO sure, but as of right now it's honestly looking pretty dire for this franchise which is shame since I actually do want way more Godzilla, Kong and Toho monster films, especially on the scale and budget we have been seeing so far.

 

[a user]

If it makes a killing at the BO sure, but as of right now it's honestly looking pretty dire for this franchise which is shame since I actually do want way more Godzilla, Kong and Toho monster films, especially on the scale and budget we have been seeing so far.

At least we'll have Toho's MonsterVerse coming after 2020. Shin Gojira is the only movie in that series by far.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Yeah that’s would have been nice to get a Kong sequel and maybe even a Godzilla solo trilogy, but unless GvK does a billion or more, think that will be the end of the current franchise unfortunately.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

At least we'll have Toho's MonsterVerse coming after 2020. Shin Gojira is the only movie in that series by far.

What movies can we expect from the Toho's MonsterVerse?

 

[Arachnerd]

At least we'll have Toho's MonsterVerse coming after 2020. Shin Gojira is the only movie in that series by far.

Uh, hate to break it to you, man, but Shin Goji isn't part of that upcoming series. They were originally going to make a sequel to it, but they canned it and eventually decided on the cinematic universe idea instead.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Uh, hate to break it to you, man, but Shin Goji isn't part of that upcoming series. They were originally going to make a sequel to it, but they canned it and eventually decided on the cinematic universe idea instead.

The truth sadly hurts

 

[a user]

Uh, hate to break it to you, man, but Shin Goji isn't part of that upcoming series. They were originally going to make a sequel to it, but they canned it and eventually decided on the cinematic universe idea instead.

I've read they weren't planning on a sequel; but even without Gojira, that doesn't make me look forward any less to what they have up their sleeve.

 

[a user]

What movies can we expect from the Toho's MonsterVerse?

No idea at the moment.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

I would love to see Gamera on the big screen.