Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Nice

Good Let's hope for the best. The internet has ruined some movies before they have a chance.

I just got back from seeing this (2D IMAX). If someone watched Godzilla 2014 and KotM back-to-back, I think they'd get whiplash from how different the designing principle of the two movies is, despite the continuity of one picking up directly from the end of the other. G2014's concept: what might happen if giant monsters appeared in the real world. KotM's concept: if it looks cool, screw logic and just do it.



What this approach also gives us is a movie that revels in the history of the series in a way I never thought I'd see in a Hollywood adaptation.



KotM is also the opposite of G2014 in structure. The Spielberg-style slow burn is replaced with a more typical modern blockbuster pacing. The cold open shows that we won't have to wait to see Godzilla, kaiju appear in practically every alternating scene throughout, and you only have to wait half an hour for the first kaiju fight. I'm actually not sure if Godzilla himself has more screen time in this one than he did in 2014, but his appearances are more evenly spread out, so he feels more present.

The movie prioritises action and fast pacing over character drama, which was clearly intentional and is fine. The human side of the story is just about good enough to keep the movie rolling along, though all the characters are rather thinly drawn. The Charles Dance character feels especially insubstantial, and it's never really clear who he is or what motivates him. And the less said about the few attempts at humour the better; even the actors seemed to be inwardly cringing at those lines.



Honestly, I'm not sure what I think of this movie after the first viewing. I enjoyed it, and the Toho-esque way it's not afraid to go bonkers with its kaiju action is great fun, but I was disappointed by the limited amount of city destruction (something I always look forward to, but maybe that's just me), and the kaiju scenes are all hidden in darkness and bad weather again. In terms of the US Godzilla movies, it's easily the most flat-out entertaining on the action front. It's a movie I could see sitting alongside Godzilla X Mechagodzilla as one of my go-to kaiju movies for when I want something that zips through its runtime without ever getting boring. It lacks the thematic ambition of G2014, but that's not really a failure, because that's not what KotM is trying to be. It aims to be a fast-paced, action-packed thrill ride, and by that measure it succeeds, even if it doesn't manage to be the king of the kaiju movies.

Very fair assessment.

Especially with regards to Charles Dance.

I'm just happy we get any new Godzilla. I expected an A-B plot, nothing fancy, just bridges to monster fights. There is only 1 critic that matters to me...and it's me.

We walk an interesting line with these movies, too deep, too much people stuff, not enough monster fights, not deep enough, the list goes on. Not sure I will be able to carve out time to see it tomorrow....may have to wait till Monday. No matter, it will be good for me to take my kids out and chew some popcorn and share more monster battles.

As for the atmosphere (rain, snow, dust) it's also tricky....on one hand this movie does espouse elemental nature of the creatures, on the other hand it causes irritation to some viewers. My take is this: If they showed the battles without any atmosphere it would look really odd (I confess I'd like a full daylight battle but even in TOHO films they look smaller than night time) In reality if these massive creatures did battle, the amount of dust and debris would obscure much of the battle. Think and I say this with respect, the Twin Towers. The amount of lingering dust was incredible. More relevant the proof of concept for 2014, we see the silhouette of Godzilla through the dust.

I also don't get too deep into movies. If it's fun, I like them. I'm a complex person living a stressful life so when I want to have popcorn and a soda, i want the movie to help me forget all the bullshit I have to deal with.

The only time I really didn't enjoy a movie and fell asleep was Alice in Wonderland....that was a good nap right there.

A pretty funny, body-positive article about the chunkiness of KotM's Godzilla: http://collider.com/why-godzilla-should-be-fat/#poster

The Godzilla movie we've all been waiting for.

I'm only slightly disappointed that the titans besides the big 4 were an afterthought.

I already have the Godzilla movies I've been waiting for. They were made in 1954, 1964 and 1989.

So, maybe I wasn't ever "waiting" for them, but for me, nothing can ever reasonably top them, and at this point in the franchise (hell, in a post-DAM world, quite honestly) everything the franchise ever produces is just gravy....and that's from someone who hates Shin Godzilla so much I find parts of it actively revolting, and thinks the anime trilogy is three of the worst THINGS I've ever watched...oh well though...35 movies (an argument could be made for 40 if you consider all the different American versions of 54, GRA, KKvG, G85 and G2K). The world and the franchise move on.

Every fan is different. Admittedly it would be better if he said *film he was waiting for*. I'll take honestly *almost* anything with Godzilla. Being different is ok, but being too silly (like preschool silly), or out in left field like the Netflix series is where I lose interest. I guess if I were going to use the term *waiting for* which I really am not waiting for anything. it would be an honest-to-goodness remake of Destroy All Monsters. But KotM was (more or less) a re imagining of GTTHM with some obvious tweaks. It was great, I loved it.