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Tomm Guycot

(he/him)
Trailer skews waaaay toward Kong winning, which is a huge not acceptable for me.

I know they're gonna team up when they realize they both have a friend named Mothra but... if Godzilla doesn't defeat Mecha Godzilla while wielding Kong's corpse I'm not sure I'll be satisfied.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
Trailer always lies; makes it look like Kong is the hero who is going to win just to make you think it's an underdog story where the villainous Godzilla loses.
 

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
Godzilla's "agitated", that is, he's not himself. Kong will beat him in this state, which will knock Goji back to his senses. They will both team up against Mecha, nod at one another in mutual respect, and leave any prospect of a real, fair fight, inconclusive.

Then Kong will vent on the lizards back home and Godzilla will eat more vegetables.
 

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
There was one part in particular that I really liked about the Godzilla Vs. Kong trailer, and it's the part where there's a shot where the one big monster is punching the other big monster, but they're both fully in frame and brightly lit without being obscured by smoke or mist or anything of that nature. It's the little things, y'know?

As for who wins? Trailers always lie. I'm expecting a second trailer which is more Godzilla-centric.
 

Tomm Guycot

(he/him)
Even if "Godzilla is agitated" so he drove through ONE BOAT.

Mind you, the girl never should have been on that boat. Kong should be after the people that arranged that.

After that Goji is just defending himself from an ape acting like an asshole

If this was properly conveyed in the trailer I'd be onboard
 

Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
Is this just Godzilla or can other kaiju and such ho here? Like the new Ultraman trailer?

 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
Okay... My theory.... The eco terrorist from KotM creates a false crisis using his Ghidorah noggin powered Mecha Godzilla to get Monarch to release Kong to counter it and thus trigger his much desired monsterpocalypse.
 

Purple

(She/Her)
It was always set to end at this point, Legendary only had the rights to use the characters for a couple of years; probably better that they focused on making a very small selection of movies with (hopefully) more hits than misses than trying to drag this out into an MCU endeavor.

Was it an X years deal or an X movies deal? I could have sworn I heard the latter at some point.

Trailer skews waaaay toward Kong winning, which is a huge not acceptable for me.

I know they're gonna team up when they realize they both have a friend named Mothra but... if Godzilla doesn't defeat Mecha Godzilla while wielding Kong's corpse I'm not sure I'll be satisfied.

Yeah they are really really telegraphing the Superhero crossover fight-over-a-misunderstanding-then-unite-against-the-REAL-threat thing. Which is really the only way they could go given the movies this is following up.

I've honestly seen a frustrating number of people going all "I'm Team Kong! He's smart! He uses tools!" and like, OK did you miss where this is the version of Godzilla where he...
- Lives in a dope underwater city.
- Commands the fealty of like a couple dozen other kaiju.
- Personally solved climate change and several other serious ongoing ecological concerns?

I am kinda worried though that for the sake of time and focus on those big two that we aren't going to get a proper followup on the last movie's ending though. I am totally sincere in saying we need a proper redemption for Rodan, and I'm at least like... 40% series in saying I want to see Godzilla and Mothra's wedding.

Okay... My theory.... The eco terrorist from KotM creates a false crisis using his Ghidorah noggin powered Mecha Godzilla to get Monarch to release Kong to counter it and thus trigger his much desired monsterpocalypse.

Yeah, sounds about right.
 
I thought this was very good and I don't think I liked any previous films in this lil mini-franchise. (can't remember Kong: Skull Island) Did the impossible... I was rooting for Kong.

No stinger! Should be encouraged.
 

Tomm Guycot

(he/him)
As a fan of all prior Monsterverse films (some more than others), I though this was very good. Each titular monster retains their identity and purpose from prior films (
Godzilla is not a character, he is a presence / force of nature
) and it creates its own tone to suit the needs of this film.

Plus a ton of references to the original Kong vs. Gojira. More than you'd think.
 

Bongo

excused from moderation duty
(he/him)
Staff member
I really enjoyed Godzilla Vs. Kong. Clear, legible action, true to the characters, and Kong himself is so expressively animated that they felt comfortable making him, not than the ants scurrying around beneath him, the emotional core of the story.
 
I watched this movie. The action scenes were great. The movie overall was a train wreck. The funniest thing to me was the film going out of its way to show a pilot safely ejecting from his plane when it was snatched out of the sky, while showing immense scenes of wanton destruction where millions would have been killed during the fight in Hong Kong.
 

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
I really enjoyed Godzilla Vs. Kong. Clear, legible action, true to the characters, and Kong himself is so expressively animated that they felt comfortable making him, not than the ants scurrying around beneath him, the emotional core of the story.

So very much this. Loved how hard the movie worked to make us sympathize with Kong, from his morning routine, to his expressions of sadness and contentment, to him getting PO'd at Godzilla wrecking his nice new apartment. He feels powerful and weighty but also tired and heavy, in a way previous Kongs (or, Hulks) haven't.

However, I did feel disappointed that he didn't actually find any more of his kind. As above ground as below it, he's always the last surviving member of his family, even if he has a whole world to roam around in rather than a small, dying island.

The funniest thing to me was the film going out of its way to show a pilot safely ejecting from his plane when it was snatched out of the sky, while showing immense scenes of wanton destruction where millions would have been killed during the fight in Hong Kong.

Especially since that pilot would've been killed right away by the depth charge blasts, or by falling into flaming wreckage, or simply by being stranded when the surviving fleet shut down to make G go away. And the entire crews of, what, four, five destroyers? And a whole aircraft carrier? Were just wiped out in instants.

They did mention a cursory "The city's being evacuated" right before the battle, presumably in a "The island in BvS is uninhabited" kind of offhand justification, but that doesn't work when you have lots of followup scenes where the streets are still filled with people fleeing the disaster.


I did enjoy the movie, though! It went utterly bonkers sci-fi/fantasy, was happy that they actually noticed and at least tried to solve the issue of gravity inversion that most "hollow Earth" fiction just sidesteps, and was giddy at how Legendary Mechagodzilla combined traits from the Showa, Heisei, and Millennium MGs. I'm deeply intrigued by the ancient connection between the original underground ape kingdom and Godzilla, to the point they had a whole circle of axes specifically tied to G's power. What are they made of? Do they summon him, or does he wake them up? Were they created from an older, even greater Godzilla? I just love how many storytelling possibilities they open when their plot purpose was just "give Kong a weapon so he doesn't die instantly from Goji's atomic breath."

As underdeveloped as the human cast was, Kong's escorts didn't bother me too much, and they served the simple purposes they were meant to. But whenever we cut to Madison and Bernie and the other kid, I just groaned. That other kid was intensely annoying and his only purpose was to wreck the computer at the end, which Madison or Bernie himself could have figured out just as easily (and would have fulfilled that arc of Bernie's character.) I'm also always deeply uncomfortable when conspiracy theorists are made heroic figures, because they always, always, pepper their legitimate plot-related conspiracies with real-life ones in a way that gives them equal credence.

I actually didn't know Demian Bichir was in this so I laughed with surprise at his inclusion. Glad to see him eat the set with as much gusto as Kong slurping down flying snakes. I would have liked a little more thematic or narrative connection between Ren Serizawa and his father, though. On the one hand, giving the appropriate level of depth to that relationship would've taken time away from either the monster fisticuffs or the exposition from Madison's squad (not altogether a bad thing, mind) but on the other, if you're going to make the anti-G villain the son of the man who sacrificed himself for G, at least make a note of it. Also not exactly a good look to have the only Asian character in the film cast as a duplicitous villain with barely any lines until his brain gets fried by Ghidorah's.

Also, did the ending feel a bit too abrupt to anyone? I was expecting the usual news clippings and "where are they now" teases from previous Monsterverse films, but it was just a very janky cut-to-black and rolling credits.

I neglected to mention the best part of the film--Kaylee Hottle (Jia) is the best actor these movies have had and she deserves an award.
 
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Tomm Guycot

(he/him)
Thanks Zef, I keep seeing so many "what a trash fire" reviews online and your take matches up with mine. Phew.

I've liked all 4 of these movies "for what they are" and have incredible respect that each movie was allowed to have its own tone and pace, suited to the director's vision. Took Marvel a while to clue into that with Guardians and Ragnarok, even.

My favorite will probably be 2014 Goji. I even like King of Monsters for its "big things hitting each other" but GvK is so much more fun and breezy about it. I'm just glad my fears from the trailer were unfounded.

It's just a big dumb monster movie - but it's okay to be a big dumb monster movie sometimes.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
I loved it, and thought it was a great capper to this series. Making Kong the protagonist and heart of the film was a good decision, especially since he’s the underdog in the titular fight by a wide margin. I’m also extremely glad they didn’t go with a dumb “it’s a draw” thing where the fight is interrupted, but decidedly gave the win to Godzilla.

Side note, it’s a little annoying that ASL often makes its way into movies because monkeys are involved. And it’s very annoying when they cut away in the middle of a sentence so you’re forced to rely on the subtitles. At one point subtitles are the only indication that someone is talking because the camera is too far away.
 
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My first thought wasn't other monkey/ape movies, (though I can remember some now) but several other recentish genre movies (A Quiet Place, Resident Evil: Retribution) with young deaf protagonists, probably also with mixed execution in terms of presenting sign language on screen accessibly, though I haven't them watched recently. Wait, the little girl in RE:R was also the other, non-evil little girl in Orphan. Must rewatch.
 

Sprite

(He/Him/His)
I edited “only” to “often,” clearly there are movies I haven’t watched which feature no monkeys. Oops!
 

John

(he/him)
I'd somehow gone my whole life without seeing any of the old Godzilla movies, and a bunch were added to HBO Max, so I decided to rectify that.

Godzilla (1954) - I can see why this is a classic. A somber allegory on man's folly with Atomics, I was surprised that they had quite a lot of silent shots as the humans are trying to parse the horror.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters - I only clicked on this for curiosity sake, to see what the Americanized version turned into. Remove most of the criticism of nuclear weapon use, and oh, the guy who would eventually play Perry Mason was also there. Didn't watch this the whole way, just enough to see it's not necessary.

Godzilla Raids Again - Same movie as Godzilla, but replace most of the Atomic Weapon criticism with a light rebuke of capitalism (that darn lizard's impacting our fishing company's bottom line). Throw in a fun Ankylosaurus for Godzilla to fight, and now you've got a formula. Godzilla gets buried in hotel ice machine ice.

Mothra vs. Godzilla - I haven't seen the first Mothra movie, but this one was silly fun. I loved the twin faerie girls, and the big bad corporation that gets swindled by the even bigger big bad corporation (more light Capitalism jabs). Some genuinely funny lines, like "Are you saying you have power of attorney from Mothra?" The little Mothra caterpillers were adorable in a tardigrade way.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster -The human part of the story shifts more into the fantastical, as the princess of a fake country gets inhabited by the ghost of a being from Venus, whose civilization was destroyed 5000 years ago by the titular monster. This one was more dumb than fun, which was a shame.

Invasion of Astro-Monster - Now we're getting back to equal parts dumb and fun. Tone gets shifted again into a pulp sci-fi story, with silly aliens from Planet X using the monsters against us. They really bumped up the mobility of the Godzilla suit, he's doing dances now, hopping around like a boxer. I think this is the first one with an American actor besides the inserted ones in KotM. The HBO Max version was the Dub, which probably has its own nostalgia, but it didn't sound right to me (aside from the one American guy speaking English the whole time). I signed up for the Criterion Channel trial and watched it in the OG language instead.

Only one I haven't seen so far is the first King Kong vs. Godzilla, because it's not on any legit streaming or digital platforms. I did find the dubbed version on a dodge streaming site, but I'd rather find the subtitled version. I would've thought Warner/Toho could've worked out a deal for this one to tie into the new movie, but it's only available on the Criterion box set.

I'm going to keep going until I get burned out on silliness. I like the human portions of the movies more than the end final battles, which just turn into miniature destruction. It's fun to see the tech improve with each movie, but giant rubber suits fighting for 30 minutes gets old.
 
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