Godzilla Thread

[Trisdino]

Guys, no, it is thankfully not worse then that THING, which you should be ashamed of mentioning, but it is pretty close, and honestly, considering how much potential it had, and its false advertising, I hate it more.

The first 40 minutes are soooo good... then something happens, something the trailers actively tried to hide, and... well, I would say see for yourselves, but just don't.

[tyrantqueen]

Guys, no, it is thankfully not worse then that THING, which you should be ashamed of mentioning, but it is pretty close, and honestly, considering how much potential it had, and its false advertising, I hate it more.

The first 40 minutes are soooo good... then something happens, something the trailers actively tried to hide, and... well, I would say see for yourselves, but just don't.

At least they got Godzilla's design right this time, so that is one advantage it has over Emmerich's film.

I'll probably go and see it with low expectations.

[Trisdino]

This is gonna sound weird, but in certain scenes, he kinda looks like jack black from kungfu panda. No, really. I guess its the stubby feat, and position of the eyes, but whatever the case, I had a couple moments where I was like "that... looks kinda like jack black... weird". Other then that, the design is pretty fine.

[tyrantqueen]

Ironically, I remember there were some Japanese fans complaining that he was too "fat". I guess you can't please everyone, no matter what you do

[Trisdino]

I did not mind his "fatness" at all, it was not that bad, the whole kungfu panda thing really came for the face. It was, again, the placing of the eyes, combined with the skin folds, and overall animation style.

[SpartanSquat]

I watched 2 days ago and I was very happy with all: Godzilla, Mutos, the fights, the atomic breath aka Kiss of Death. The only problem I found is the humans characters arent enought except Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe. Godzilla in my opinion looked like an antiheroe, similar to heisei movies. He is a creature that need to kill mutos, only for his survival. The Mutos that are parasite and Mutos like trisdino said, are animals that are trying to survive. Both want to survive. Other thing I really dont like is that they didnt used Akira Ifukube theme, that is simply epic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7fymA8Nojg

BTW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vEBRZIo-y8#t=33

[Trisdino]

You liked it? good for you. I suppose I should list why I hated it.

- false advertising

- constant teasing of action

- terrible characters

- an utter lack of godzilla

- a total lack of empathy with the MUTO's

- More american flags than I can count

- Godzilla as a hero

- contrived plot

- numerous inconsistency

[brandem]

I like watanabe's character but they wrote him very oddly, he sort of waffles between saying godzilla will come after the mutos because he is a predator, and then that he is coming to restore balance and somehow he can feel godzila coming? Is he going crazy throughout the movie or did he have an epiphany that godzilla is more than just an animal? These art plot points we will never know because he gets 20 some lines.

[brandem]

do you guys think a Godzilla/PR crossover is possible/sensible/not far-fetched?

I read somewhere that the director said that it's two different worlds but pacific rim is all about monsters crossing from one world into another, so maybe a comic with that theme wouldn't be far fetched.

[SpartanSquat]

You liked it? good for you. I suppose I should list why I hated it.

- false advertising

- constant teasing of action

- terrible characters

- an utter lack of godzilla

- a total lack of empathy with the MUTO's

- More american flags than I can count

- Godzilla as a hero

- contrived plot

- numerous inconsistency

I agree with you with humans...but who cares with them when there are monsters? The only good human characters for me are Serizawa and Joe Brody.
Godzilla as a hero, it could divide people, but I saw him like in heisei movies, as an antiheroe.
Also a thing I dont like its the cutting of battles. But I really enjoyed. I hope if there will be a sequel, they could resolve the bad things to make a better movie, look the dark knight, much better than batman begins.

[Paleogene Pals]

I'm getting the vibe of a very sticky moral quandary with the Mutos. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I get the impression they are just creatures trying to survive but get in the way of what humans want. Godzilla, in effect, is a another instrument for humans to impose their will over other creatures, which I strongly dislike. It's like the people who move into the Black Hills and yet want all the mountain lions killed because they are a threat. No, you MOVED into THEIR domain. If anything, YOU are the threat. Guy did not like that when I said it, truth hurts.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think it was really close to the same theme from previous Godzilla films. Godzilla saves us from ourselves...maybe inadvertently but he does.  Recall the same director , Mr. Banno who did Godzilla VS Hedorah had influence on this film. Hedorah was never shown to be anything but a monster. The MUTOs were creatures that were not supposed to exist due to evolution and would their survival/breeding would through the eco-system off ( once the humans were gone there wouldn't be enough radiation to feed them and Godzilla was their only predator left )  and Godzilla was nature's weapon to restore the balance.  I also think everyone pretty much accepted these creatures were cannon fodder for Godzilla.   You could tell he was the hero, he stopped before wrecking ships, carefully moving among them, he goes through the part of the bridge that is empty, never blasted the military despite their attacks, that sort of thing.

SPOILERS


I am a little confused as to the backstory/history given.  It said part of an ancient race, is this a reference to Godzilla's  species or the MUTOs ? It didn't seem like Godzilla needed radiation the way they did. Maybe he's the pinnacle of the evolution that created them ? 

Was it a Godzilla skeleton that Serizawa was walking through in the beginning or a MUTO?  I had the feeling they were going to be after him for his nuclear powered body to use to gestate their eggs...but that didn't happen.

[Trisdino]

I'm getting the vibe of a very sticky moral quandary with the Mutos. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I get the impression they are just creatures trying to survive but get in the way of what humans want. Godzilla, in effect, is a another instrument for humans to impose their will over other creatures, which I strongly dislike. It's like the people who move into the Black Hills and yet want all the mountain lions killed because they are a threat. No, you MOVED into THEIR domain. If anything, YOU are the threat. Guy did not like that when I said it, truth hurts.

You are sadly mostly right. The MUTO's are bad godzilla villains because they are... well, not villains, or at least, they should not be. This is the main problem with the movie, it clearly shows that they are just animals, albeit rather smart ones, probably at around the same level as chimps, yet when
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
The humans, namely the "protagonist" blows up their eggs, and the mother creature is shown grieving, she then tries to kill the protagonist for... well, murdering her babies, but godzilla then comes along, impales her mate on the remains of a building, and shoots atomic breath(a scene which is only fanservice), right into her mouth, before ripping of her head. We then get triumphant music, and everybody celebrates

SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END

The main problem, to me at least, is that the movie seems to basically say "yeah sure, we drove a species to extinction, and murdered a mothers babies before her eyes, but hey, they were just bugs, no biggy". And if that is still not a good enough reason not to see the movie, well, it is bad anyway.                                                 

[SpartanSquat]

I think it was really close to the same theme from previous Godzilla films. Godzilla saves us from ourselves...maybe inadvertently but he does.  Recall the same director , Mr. Banno who did Godzilla VS Hedorah had influence on this film. Hedorah was never shown to be anything but a monster. The MUTOs were creatures that were not supposed to exist due to evolution and would their survival/breeding would through the eco-system off ( once the humans were gone there wouldn't be enough radiation to feed them and Godzilla was their only predator left )  and Godzilla was nature's weapon to restore the balance.  I also think everyone pretty much accepted these creatures were cannon fodder for Godzilla.   You could tell he was the hero, he stopped before wrecking ships, carefully moving among them, he goes through the part of the bridge that is empty, never blasted the military despite their attacks, that sort of thing.

SPOILERS


I am a little confused as to the backstory/history given.  It said part of an ancient race, is this a reference to Godzilla's  species or the MUTOs ? It didn't seem like Godzilla needed radiation the way they did. Maybe he's the pinnacle of the evolution that created them ? 

Was it a Godzilla skeleton that Serizawa was walking through in the beginning or a MUTO?  I had the feeling they were going to be after him for his nuclear powered body to use to gestate their eggs...but that didn't happen.

SPOILER
Simply my friend, both are prehistoric creatures from permiam world or even before. This is from the prequel graphic novel. In permiam, the world more radioactive, there were more giant creatures like a parasite like invertrbrate from the book. The skeleton, its not revelaed, but maybe its from another godzilla, that the creature was the alpha predator in that time. In an old script Mutos were the predators of Godzilla. Godzilla could hunt mutos, but when Mutos are in pair, Godzilla is their prey. I think part of this was used in the final script. About skeleton, I read its from another giant beast that its not Godzilla, much older than him.
I have a theroy that Godzilla could be a creature related with Placodus. Its looks like a miniversion of Godzilla.

[Paleogene Pals]

First, I want to thank Blade for your clarification. But Trisdino, if that is the case you are describing, I have a problem with that. That would, to me, be like going to a movie to root for poachers to kill elephants. I guess I being too sensitive about giant radioactive monsters. 

However, as Godzilla has always been a hero for me, I have no problem with Big G being a hero or antihero. As for his methods, I will paraphrase the Ninth Doctor about the Gelpth, different morality, don't judge it. Still, I am conflicted.

[Trisdino]

The main problem is just that they are not good godzilla villains. They are, once again, sympathetic, and that ruins the fun. Yes, they are kinda silly giant monsters, but that does not mean that you should not feel bad for them, if only on principle. The scene was really sad, and for a brief moment the movie acknowledged it... and then forgot when godzilla came.

[brandem]

I'm not even sure why they kept saying godzilla was  "hunting" them he clearly had no intention of eating them.

SPOILERS:
Don't worry paleogene the humans are not using godzilla as a weapon, he has his own motivations one imagines and the military is just as freaked about him as they are the mutos.

The mutos, despite what I felt was a sort of boring design, acted like actual animals, they wanted to eat and breed, said eating and breeding would possibly result in humans being overthrown as dominant species, but they don't act malicious.

Godzillas motivations are harder to sus out, clearly he doesn't want to eat them, but he does want them dead.  Godzilla also has no real interest in humans or causing destruction he just sorta does his thing and goes home, and I like that.

[Trisdino]

But his thing sucks...(In my opinion). He acts like a complete hero, which brings me flashbacks to movies like "godzilla's revenge"... *shutters*

[brandem]

Yeah but he
SPOILER
Killed a lot of people in Hawaii, so he didn't exactly act heroic, he didn't care if other things died on the way to killing the mutos

[Gwangi]

I also sympathized with the MUTO but you have to keep something in mind here...they were parasites that would have destroyed life as we know it. It is very much like having an invasive species around. I hate having invasive English house sparrows around because they displace and kill native bluebirds, swallows and other cavity nesting birds. The native species just have no defense against this aggressive alien species. It's not the sparrow's fault, they're just doing what comes naturally but do I oppose killing them? Absolutely not, they are a blight on our native ecosystems, I'll kill them myself given the chance. And that is basically the deal with the MUTO, you can feel bad for them. They're just animals acting naturally but you can't abide their presence either otherwise everything will go down the crapper.
So my sympathy for them can only go so far. Godzilla in this movie has clearly been around a long time, co-existing with all the other organisms on earth and minding his own business. It is only when the MUTO show up that he feels compelled to act. Probably because he is a relic from a time these things posed a serious threat.

As for "Pacific Rim" vs "Godzilla". "Pacific Rim" had the same bland cookie cutter characters and focused waaay more on them than they should have. No different than "Godzilla" in that regard except the characters in "Pacific Rim" were also just downright annoying. I hated them all. "Godzilla" had bland characters but you didn't have a reason to either hate or like them. Does "Pacific Rim" have good re-watch value? Probably. Is it a better overall movie? No.

"Godzilla" has a lot of flaws but IMO the payoff is tremendous and the special effects spectacular. It is the familiar Godzilla we all love but in a realistic design you've never seen before. You have to see (and hear) this movie on a big screen. It might take some effort to sit through the rest but the payoff is worth it.

For anyone that has seen the movie "Monsters" which was also directed by the same guy, you're basically seeing a very similar movie in "Godzilla". Both are slow at times, focus too much on boring characters but present interesting monsters that act more naturally then in most movies of this caliber. Are the MUTO kind of generic? Yes, but they are not boring to look at, they make some really cool vocalizations too.