TALKBACK #28: Godzilla Final Wars

[Dr Kain]

Battle Royale was not Kitamura.

And Kitamura does not suck. I would rather watch Azumi, Versus, Skyhigh, and Aragami over pretty much any action movie Japan has given us in the last 10 years sans The Returner. The man knows how to do style. He is the Robert Rodriguez of Japan.

[DannyBeane]

[Dr Kain]

[Inui Takumi]

[jellydonut25]

[Hybrid Gojira]

Just watched this film for the first time in a long time.

It sucks.

My wife saw a few brief moments of it and used the word "Matrix" as a way of comparison.

Exactly.

That's why this movie is so bad - even insulting - because it was supposed to be an Anniversary film. Instead, we got loads of unnecessary (over the top) fighting, motorcycles, and one of the worst soundtracks for a Godzilla film. No amount of Don Frye's impeccable mustache can redeem this film, and it also has the absolute WORST "Ghidorah" of all time. Actually, most of the monster designs suck or are poorly realized (not all - Mothra is amazingly well done).

Now...there are some good ideas in this film. Paying homage to previous Toho movies and amalgamating some of their ideas works to a point, but there's too much going on to be a cohesive movie.

Oh...and the SPFX are wildly inconsistent. The wirework sucks, the props are lifeless, and the CGI is atrocious. GFW simply lacks the soul and charm that most Godzilla movies have because it's barely a Godzilla film to begin with, and it's sad that THIS pile of garbage is what Toho had as a send off for their prize character.

[Dr Kain]

Yeah, definitely have to disagree with you on most of those. Over the top fighting is Kitamura's style. That is who he is.

The Godzilla battle music is awesome.

The wirework is awesome as are the camera angles.

The CGI is awful in every Godzilla movie Toho has done, so this shouldn't truly count against it because this is standard.

The thing that makes this movie better than say SpaceGodzilla is that it is a fun movie. I can sit down and watch it at any given time. I can show it to friends who aren't Godzilla fans and they will find something in it to enjoy. It's just that it makes a better action movie than a Godzilla movie.

[Jorzilla]

Non-fans who like Final Wars enjoy it because it validates what they know about Godzilla. Bad special effects, pointless action, and a stupid story without redeeming qualities. It's a film that you laugh at. It's why I refuse to show it to my friends.

[Hybrid Gojira]

[Dr Kain]

Oh, when you said wire work, I thought you mean the wire work between the fights of the human characters, not the monsters. For the monsters, I'll agree.

Zilla was done in all CG on purpose. That sad thing is, the CG for him here looks way better than it does in the 98 film.

You're right about Kitamura should not have been picked for this movie, and I agree. However, he was, so I look at this as a more of a Kitamura movie than a Godzilla movie.

[XvGojira]

[Hybrid Gojira]

[Legion]

I hate this movie.

[jellydonut25]

[Jorzilla]

Final Wars biggest merit is setting the bar extremely low for the rest of the franchise.

[walshiam]

That's the point. The film was deliberately intended to be a rip off of other popular sci-fi films. It was not intended to out do them.

[MekaGojira3k]

I don't hate it, but I feel like I don't enjoy it as much as I used to. It and Destroy All Monsters are neck and neck in my list. It really depends on my mood on which I consider better. Both suffer from being somewhat sluggish at times. The weaknesses are definitely in the human scenes.

I feel like Final Wars would be something I love if it'd just be a bit more insane...like...just go Fury Road insane with it.

[Dr Kain]

[Jared]

This film's boundless energy works both for and against it. On one hand, it's completely childish and obnoxious, but it also makes it a blast to watch if I'm in the right mood.

[Hybrid Gojira]

[jellydonut25]

I remember this image popping up before the film came out:

Or at least, something very similar, along with the promotional images that showed Monster X at the South Pole with Godzilla and Gigan, and all that made me think "Monster X is gonna slowly mutate into Ghidorah over the course of the film. That's actually a pretty cool concept."
And then that didn't happen. At all.

[Specium Ray]

Kaiser Gidorah was actually my favorite part! Aside from Don Frye, of course.

[Benjamin Haines]

I remember seeing that exact same image in summer 2004, jelly. There was another Photoshopped take on Anguirus (very Showa-esque) floating around before the suits were revealed.

Following the development of this movie was so much fun.

[Psycho Soldier]

[Benjamin Haines]

That's the one.