by XvGojira » Thu Aug 29, 2019 10:49 pm
This movie conflicts me. On one hand I'm super entertained by it and it is totally the kind of monster slobber knocker movie that I love on a very surface level. The majority of the characters are fine (the two that could have been elevated in this sequel are killed to make room for more generic fair and Chinese pandering) and more entertaining to watch than ATJ in G'14. The monster scenes are dope and one of the few complaints with them is that I want more (especially Mothra and Rodan, but I'd be nice to see a bit more of the new monsters).
But on the other hand the shift from attempting to be grounded in reality in G14 to the over the top comic-bookie "world of Titans" of GKotM is jarring. Monarch seemed like a small agency. They were begging for funding in the 70s and in 2014 they didn't seem like they were big enough to be or have a PMC. Kind of thinking about it, it's the militarization of Monarch that's the biggest issue. In G'14 they just seemed like a group of scientists with the same goals but in GKotM'19 they have a fleet of aircraft, heavily armed G-Team, and a giant flying mobile base that's more like the USS Enterprise (the bridge, the massive hallways that totally wouldn't be in any aircraft, rooms for personnel to stay in) than an actual aircraft.
While I understand some people's contention with the "Titan radiation good for the planet" aspect, the fact it comes in out of nowhere is what gets me. Both this and G'14 kind of go in the opposite direction of Godzilla's typical message on nuclear weapons, but it doesn't surprise me that that point got missed. Batman killed constantly in '89 but people got up in arms about Batfleck doing the same thing (okay, Batfleck never smiled at strapping a bomb to a dude and tossing down a sewer). And the nuclear message has been downplayed or forgotten enough in other films, that this variation doesn't bother me. But I understand why it raise some people's hackles. Much like how people say Shin has right-wing, nationalistic, leanings; I don't have enough knowledge on the subject to personally say it does or not but enough people who do say it does, so I can't and won't contest that point. That doesn't stop me from enjoying the movie (so far anyways). And I wouldn't say that the nuclear message in this is dangerous, that's giving this movie more power than it has. If the movie was a runaway success and there was some sort of radioactive "tide pod challenge" or it is used as an example/reason why we should stockpile more nukes/use them (god forbid), then I'd agree that it's dangerous. As it is, it was a flop and the biggest impact I've seen is a coin toss between Ghidorah's Kevin head meme and shipping Godzilla and Mothra, which is still relegated to mostly this fandom and not the general public.
If the "good radiation" idea was introduced at the beginning of the movie, and there are several places it could have been brought up and explained early on (like it could be on of the points monarch brings up for not killing the titans during the senate) it might have landed better for me. Bringing it up after the only real plot twist the movie has feels like the writers needed a reason for her to turn to the bad guys and this was the first thing off the top of their head. Honestly, I'd almost like it better if Emma went full villain and wished the death of all humanity for waking up the Titans and killing her son. No need for magical "good" radiation, just a woman so heart broken that she went mad and wants the world to suffer the same pain she did (although that sounds juicy enough that I say remove Mark altogether and make Vera the protagonist and let Charles Dance chew the scenery as the scorned parent, or grand parent instead of doing basically nothing). Sure the couple wouldn't make amends, but it means you could have Millie Bobby Brown helping her dad fix the orca instead of being a damsel in distress. That sounds simpler and better than the "good radiation" take, in my opinion.
Also Sam and Dr Stanton could have been one character. Sam felt superfluous. And I enjoyed Stanton's humor because I like Bradley Whitford and I grew up enjoying Private Dr Pepper from G'85, so I see his jokes no worse than that or any image where some one MS-painted "Zilla" after the word God.
Although I have yet to buy the movie. I'm short on both cash and hours at my job so I'm waiting for the inevitable price drop or better hours at work, whichever comes first.