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Slashdot Asks: Does Anyone Still Like Godzilla? (rogerebert.com) 231

Posted by EditorDavid from the long-live-the-king dept.
There's now a new $175 million remake of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. I loved it, Msmash walked out of it, and BeauHD didn't bother to go see it. The movie performed poorly at the box office, but I'm not the only person who still likes Godzilla. There's also a new anime version on Netflix. And critic Matt Zoller Seitz (once a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism) is calling the new film "a frequently astounding movie... its imperfections are compensated by magnificence."

For all its crash-and-bash action, this is a real science fiction movie that goes to the trouble of not merely creating a world, but thinking about the implications of its images and predicaments. It cares what the people in it must feel and think about their situation, and how it might weigh on them every day even when they aren't talking about it amongst themselves. It's also suffused with a spiritual or theological awareness, and takes it all as seriously as recent DC films took their comparisons of caped wonders to figures from the Old Testament and ancient mythology...

[A]t the level of image, sound and music, "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" is a frequently brilliant film that earnestly grapples with the material it presents... It deploys state-of-the-art moviemaking tools to try to return audiences to a stage of childlike terror and delight. Arthur C. Clarke famously observed that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. This movie is magic.
No expense was spared. For fans of the franchise there was even a quick Easter egg about what happened to the Mothra twins when they grew up. And of course the film-makers included Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla" song in the closing credits -- an over-the-top remake featuring a chanting Japanese taiko drum group, members of the band Dethklok from Metalocalypse, and heavy-metal drumming legend Gene Hoglan. The film's composer called it "perhaps the most audacious piece of music I have ever produced, jammed to the breaking point...It is complete musical madness."

But what it all for nothing? Leave your own thoughts in the comments.

Does anyone still like Godzilla?
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Slashdot Asks: Does Anyone Still Like Godzilla? More

Slashdot Asks: Does Anyone Still Like Godzilla?

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  • Depends (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @02:42AM (#58774356)

    Japanese? Absolutely. American? Forget it.

    Godzilla is a great example of how someone who doesn't understand the underlying culture cannot copy something without making it utter trash. And that's saying something, considering the original Godzilla movies were B-Movie trash.

    Saying Godzilla is just some huge monster that trashes cities is like saying the Superbowl is just grown up men slamming into each other while trying to move some egg-shaped thing. There's a culture and history around it that you'd have to know and understand (!) to do it justice.

    • Re: Depends (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 17, 2019 @02:56AM (#58774386)

      Godzilla culture? Really? It's not hard to figure out it was anti-nuclear propaganda. What's hard to figure is how American Godzilla got so fat. What a lard ass monster!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ed1park ( 100777 )

        Good point. I am a huge fan of the old Godzilla movies. But this new one has him looking like a giant pregnant/fat dinosaur version. The old one I grew up on was badass, but was likeable and could be friendly looking. He had character. "Someone" I could root for. I get no such vibe from the new trailer. So no interest, especially as I've been let down by all the movies from recent decades. sigh.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Livius ( 318358 )

        how American Godzilla got so fat.

        I'm guessing the "American" part.

    • Re:Depends (Score:5, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @03:02AM (#58774406) Homepage Journal

      Shin Gojira, the latest live action Japanese movie, is a genuine great film. But, you need to understand Japanese culture to appreciate it, or at least have it explained to you.

      Great in-depth review here: https://youtu.be/-vGdxpO-y3M [youtu.be]

      It's not really a monster movie, it's about Japan and how it deals with disasters like Fukushima, for which it is unprepared. It's about how the Japanese people are capable of coming together to solve problems. It's about Japan's relationship with America. It's about nuclear power. It's about bureaucracy and people being unwilling to admit they are out of their depth.

      • Shin Gojira, the latest live action Japanese movie, is a genuine great film. But, you need to understand Japanese culture to appreciate it, or at least have it explained to you.

        Great in-depth review here: https://youtu.be/-vGdxpO-y3M [youtu.be]

        It's not really a monster movie, it's about Japan and how it deals with disasters like Fukushima, for which it is unprepared. It's about how the Japanese people are capable of coming together to solve problems. It's about Japan's relationship with America. It's about nuclear power. It's about bureaucracy and people being unwilling to admit they are out of their depth.

        I say this as a person who has been to Japan and has a very positive view of Japan and its people. I'm not an expert on Japanese culture. But I didn't like the film. It's exactly what you say, but I'd say the film has "too much talking, not enough action". I was very disappointed with it.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          It certainly wasn't a big action film. But that's probably a good thing, given the budget they had. All out action would have ended up looking bad.

          • The original Godzilla also seemed to have a lot more talking and non-action than action.

            The original was a good movie, and I also loved Mothra (and the twins), and had a great time watching Godzilla va Hedora with a few beers, but overall I wasn't such a fan that I enjoyed the others (and some were outright silly).

      • Shin Gojira, the latest live action Japanese movie, is a genuine great film. But, you need to understand Japanese culture to appreciate it, or at least have it explained to you.

        Great in-depth review here: https://youtu.be/-vGdxpO-y3M [youtu.be]

        It's not really a monster movie, it's about Japan and how it deals with disasters like Fukushima, for which it is unprepared. It's about how the Japanese people are capable of coming together to solve problems. It's about Japan's relationship with America. It's about nuclear power. It's about bureaucracy and people being unwilling to admit they are out of their depth.

        Yes. Even when I saw Godzilla as a Child, it was obvious that there was a hellava lot more going on than just a monster movie. I liked Godzilla, He could make me laugh as well as scare me. Later I figured out the social commentary aspect, and I liked the movies even more. Rather than a dopey old Horror or Monster film, it was great commentary. Even the really silly stuff like Son of Godzilla had wisdom for those who searched for it.

    • Godzilla is a great example of how someone who doesn't understand the underlying culture cannot copy something without making it utter trash.

      Same can be said of the much advertised (right there in the summary) cover of Blue Oyster Cult's 1977 classic "Godzilla".

      System of a Down singer Serj Tankian's bombastic cover of the Blue Oyster Cult's 1977 classic "Godzilla."...
      The track is an all-star affair, featuring not only Tankian on vocals, but also a Japanese taiko group, members of the band Dethklok from the animated series Metalocalypse, including Brendon Small, and heavy-metal drumming legend Gene Hoglan.
      If that wasn't enough, the film's composer Bear McCreary orchestrated the music.

      That description sounds like a fucking satire of a recipe for creating overproduced garbage.
      And amazingly - it created exactly that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      And that's saying something, considering the original Godzilla movies were B-Movie trash.

      Came here to say this.

      Its not just that the original Godzilla was B-grade trash, but it was meant to be. They made an entire series by deliberately making B-grade monster films, some would even go as far as defining the entire B-grade monster film genre.

      American movie film produces just don't have that special kind of introspection that allows them to be non-serious. They simply cant make a film a parody of itself, definitely not with a straight face. Sure, they can do monster films well (Jaws was Ame

      • There is a difference between bad acting and bad actors. The former is funny. The latter more cringeworthy.

      • The typical Summer Blockbuster movie types definitely can't pull it off. I think someone like Lord and Miller (Lego Movie) could pull off self-parody while keeping a real heart in the movie. They probably aren't the first people Hollywood thinks of for a monster movie though.

        And now I want to see Lego Godzilla.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        "Its not just that the original Godzilla was B-grade trash"

        no, it wasn't.

        If you want it's impact, read about the post Hiroshima horrors, then go see the movie. It's brilliant.

      • Its not just that the original Godzilla was B-grade trash, but it was meant to be. They made an entire series by deliberately making B-grade monster films, some would even go as far as defining the entire B-grade monster film genre.

        American movie film produces just don't have that special kind of introspection that allows them to be non-serious. They simply cant make a film a parody of itself, definitely not with a straight face. Sure, they can do monster films well (Jaws was American) but you have to be serious about it. Godzilla has an expectation of being a bit of a parody of itself.

        You need upvoted to 5 insightful right now.

    • Saying Godzilla is just some huge monster that trashes cities is like saying the Superbowl is just grown up men slamming into each other while trying to move some egg-shaped thing.

      So ... "accurate" ;)

  • As a movie, it had some problems with it's storytelling.

    Still, it didn't compromise the film THAT badly.

    I think we're just looking at a side-effect of the post-TVTropes movie culture.
    Stuff like Godzilla has been documented and spelunked and brainstormed and "What If?"ed to death.

    So yeah. A bunch of angry, wannabe directorial wonks are gonna hate the hell out of it.
    And a bunch of anal, jaded basement dwellers are going to hate it.
    Because hating is KEWL!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      Well said.

  • We're best buddies. Just had him over for tea the other day. Regardless what people say, Godzilla is a cool dude and that whole "leveled Tokyo city" thing is totally blown out of proportion by sensationalist media. As usual.

    Bottom line: Godzilla is awesome. Leave him alone and let him do his thing. Besides: Godzilla going ape-shit once in a while is way more fun than those boring financial crisis'. Admit it!

  • The reason why many movies... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by blahplusplus ( 757119 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @03:14AM (#58774422)

    ... fail is because talented people are not interested in those movies. AKA the directors and writers attract only amateur or low quality directors and staff.

    Some peoples success is merely being in the rignt place and the right time. Most succesful works involve lots of anonymous faces, aka "star wars" the original trilogy was as good as it was because of the original people involved at the time of making them. When lucas came back to make Star wars again, we see his ego couldn't be checked by the more talented people around him.

    It takes a lot of analysis to understand what an audience or fans enjoy about a piece of work, whether that be a movie or a game. It doesn't just happen to movies. Finding talent people to execute consistently is a hard problem especially given most CEO's are slash and burn layoff types. No one wants to build a talented workforce that might cost a pretty penny. See what happened to Deadspace and many other properties at electronic arts for instance.

    • Some peoples success is merely being in the rignt place and the right time.

      The right person in the right place at the right time.*

      (Where person might be taken to mean any of a variety of things; in a certain sense, who we are changes from time to time.)

      * I wonder who said that first. No immediate answer in the googles.

    • for that last Fantastic Four movie they hired a director that made a very specific kind of money, told him he could make his movie and then didn't let him make the movie. The result was a mess.

      Or the money ran out. The Masters of the Universe movie has an incredible start and then goes to hell fast because Orion thought they had twice as much money to spend then they did.

  • in about 1955, when it was fresh and new.
    But Rock Songs have been made about him since then.
    You see, the moviegoing public has this notion that for $175e6 they're entitled to something new, that hasn't been done before. Silly of them, I know.

    • in about 1955, when it was fresh and new. But Rock Songs have been made about him since then. You see, the moviegoing public has this notion that for $175e6 they're entitled to something new, that hasn't been done before. Silly of them, I know.

      And the Movigoing public has been treated to...... remake after remake after remake. Even movies that are bad get remade, and some movies are remade to invoke social justice demands (like Ghostbusters or Ocean's XX)

      Originality and something new is anathema in today's Hollywood.

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @03:50AM (#58774510)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      " The monsters are great but all the human parts are horrendous,"

      The human parts were some of the best in a Godzilla movie in a long time. Probably ever.

  • A real garbage pile of "stuff" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sqreater ( 895148 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @03:58AM (#58774528)
    When they feel they have to throw in the kitchen sink, the plumbing out to the street and the neighbor's sink too, you know the story is bankrupt psychologically. "Godzilla: came from the devastation visited on Japanese cities by American bombers during WW2. The Japanese film "Godzilla" was an abstraction of the trauma of smashed cities by a "monster" that came from the East (United States.) There isn't even a shred of that psychological trauma left, so there is no psychological base for the movie now. It was part of a healing process that is no longer needed. Let it die.

    • Re:A real garbage pile of "stuff" (Score:4, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @07:45AM (#58775016) Homepage Journal

      That is an accurate description of the original movie. Godzilla represents the threat of atomic weapons, and the visuals in the movie were influenced by the memory of what happened during the war. Not blaming the Americans for it, just reminding people of the reality of atomic warfare. It was released at a time when people were still looking at nuclear war as a real possibility and military planning involved the loss of entire cities and populations, necessitating the invention of terms like "megadeath".

      One of the things that makes the new Japanese Godzilla movie great is that it brings back that feeling of dread. He's a force of nature that we thought we could control, but then there is this terrible moment when we realize we were wrong. I remember feeling something similar when reports of the tsunami and Fukushima disaster started to come in. Japan did so much to prepare, and then none of it seemed to matter.

      The later movies got silly, and although they tried to make it more serious towards the end of the classic era it was still basically a kid's movie.

      I haven't seen the latest US movie. The previous one wasn't bad as an action/monster movie, but there wasn't much substance to it. I'd still have liked to see a decent sequel but the trailers for this one looked bad.

      • One of the things that makes the new Japanese Godzilla movie great is that it brings back that feeling of dread. He's a force of nature that we thought we could control, but then there is this terrible moment when we realize we were wrong. I remember feeling something similar when reports of the tsunami and Fukushima disaster started to come in. Japan did so much to prepare, and then none of it seemed to matter.

        The preparation made a huge difference. The tsunami that hit Japan [wikipedia.org] was bigger than the 2004 Ind [wikipedia.org]

    • The Japanese film "Godzilla" was an abstraction of the trauma of smashed cities by a "monster" that came from the East (United States.)

      Which is pretty ironic, when you think about it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      That's true of the first.

      Not true of every movie after.

      This movie dealt with a modern day global horror, loss, growth of a child, separation.

  • I saw Godzilla the weekend it came out. I couldn't tell you why anyone in the movie did anything they did. The only motivation the characters seemed to have for their actions was, "That's what it says for me to do in the plot." A point that stands out is when the scientists, with literally no evidence whatsoever all simultaneously jump to the conclusion that Ghidora is from space. Did they see him come from space? No. Is his DNA found to be extraterrestrial? No. He just heals really fast and that power is a

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by rworne ( 538610 )

      THEY FIND ATLANTIS, NUKE IT, AND NEVER COMMENT ON IT WHEN THEY FIND IT OR AFTERWARDS.

      More than that. [SPOILERS FOLLOW]

      Atlantis also had a Godzilla painted on a wall in the ruins. Next to this image was a series of three characters. Each of which were katakana, and are pronounced as "GO-JI-RA". I never knew the Japanese got around so much back then - especially since in these types of movies the Japanese usually refer to Mu instead of Atlantis.

      For all the messages of the Japanese original, they just flippantly set off a nuclear bomb to heal the creature. No real discussion about it other

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        The twins were original not "Japanese", but Indonesian. The reason the extremely fine distinction needs to be made because the song is first sung in Bahasa Indonesian.

        The have also done thing from the Indian(Dharmic) culture.

        FYI: The monsters aren't "Japanese" or even Asian. Since this culture didn't exist when the roamed the earth.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        " I never knew the Japanese got around so much back then"

        Which is a mystery they talk about in the film you claimed to have watched.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      "NEVER COMMENT ON IT "

      When? There wasn't much time.

      BTW, you need a new key boards, you caps lock comes on at weird time.

      "Much like the first movie in the series, the parts with just the Kaiju were great. The parts with humans were noticeably less so."

      Like every single Godzilla after the first?

  • Why did Msmash walk out? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Headw1nd ( 829599 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @05:23AM (#58774672)
    Wait why would you walk out on a Godzilla movie? Surely you know what you are going to expect going in?

    • For the same reason the quality of front page posts has been steadily going down. A shitty opinion.

    • Re:Why did Msmash walk out? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 17, 2019 @07:24AM (#58774980)
      He was out of milk duds.

    • Wait why would you walk out on a Godzilla movie? Surely you know what you are going to expect going in?

      Maybe he's one of those people who doesn't watch trailers. You know trailers invoke emotions and create expectations for a film. I saw the trailer for Avengers and nearly peed with excitement. I saw the trailer for Godzilla: King of the Giants and nearly choked on my own vomit.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      Because they want to show everyone how smart they are.

      Probably left to go rant on why Rick and Morty fans are smarter then everyone else.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Enjoyed the 2014 film (Score:4, Interesting)

    by indytx ( 825419 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @05:33AM (#58774694)

    I enjoyed the 2014 film after I got over [spoiler alert] the fact that every trailer was heavy on Bryan Cranston who did not make it to the end of the film . . . or the half-way mark. It was surprisingly good for what it was--a monster movie. Eagerly awaiting this one as a rental.

    • Really?! A prehistoric bat monster who's primary weapon in an EMP?
      Now I'm no evolutionary biologist, but such a useless self defense weapon from a time when there no electronics made me turn off the telly and wonder why Cranston would be in such a shit show!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        "but such a useless self defense weapon"

        Why would that be useless in a world with monsters who primary attack is electrical based?

        "Now I'm no evolutionary biologist"

        Obviously. Had you been your question would have been "What does that tell my about the environment the creature was from, instead of use it to hate a movie that has a multi story lizard monster?"

        You don't like sci-fi, fine. Don't use it to make excuses that literally make no sense.

      • When you think about it it wasn't that much of a stretch. The MUTOs used EM pulses to communicate with each other over long distance, that it to also evolved into a defensive ability isn't too big a stretch.given the environment they originally evolved in. There were probably a lot of other creatures at the time that used EM pulses for communications, detecting prey, plus defense and offense ability. So evolving the ability to disrupt/jam other creatures would make sense. Just look at how modern dolphin

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      "It was surprisingly good for what it was--a monster movie."

      Apparently everyone expect it to be Citizen Kane.

      I don't go to the cinema anywhere near like I use to, but I was glad I saw this one in the Cinema. I will be getting it on 4k, and it will be in our Christmas monster movie rotation.

  • This is the first positive review i have read on the new Godzilla movie, even Gozilla fans have trashed the movie.
    The netflix show does get positive reviews, so i think the problem is that the movie is just bad.
    Nothing wrong with the Godzilla fanbase itself.

    • The netflix show does get positive reviews,

      I didn’t think anyone paid attention to Netflix reviews anymore. I learned years ago that you can’t trust reviews or ratings for anything Netflix has self-produced.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      "even Gozilla fans have trashed the movie."

      No. People who think they should be a Godzilla fan don't like it.

      When all the complaint are classic Godzilla Tropes, they don't like Godzilla movie.

      Like claiming to like James Bond movies and complaining he wears suits all the time, drinks Martini's, and has sex with a beautiful person.
      Clearly, that don't actually like James Bond movies.

      I saw it in a full theater, a week after it had been out, and the audience loved it. So much energy after the show.

      We live i a ti

  • Well, maybe not the worst(that usually involves someone dying in real life), but the moment I read this title, I sighed and clicked on my rss feed. Sure enough, the most immature, insulting, snide, holier-than-thou and arrogant posts I can imagine on this topic - a frickin' Godzilla movie.. People make remarks about reddit being a bastion of nazis and assholes, but /. has changed from what used to be a nerdy place to talk turkey to a race to see who can post insulting, dismissive insults with the key mess

  • "members of the band Dethklok from Metalocalypse, and heavy-metal drumming legend Gene Hoglan"

    Hoglan is also the drummer for Dethklok. Should have been written, "members of the band Dethklok from Metalocalypse including heavy-metal drumming legend Gene Hoglan"

  • Late night Godzilla (Score:3)

    by tannhaus ( 152710 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @07:23AM (#58774976) Homepage Journal

    The thing about liking Godzilla for most people:

    It was a late night thing. You stayed up as a teen until the butt crack hours of the morning....and watched Godzilla on TV. The whole experience was interwoven together. They can't capture that by showing a Godzilla movie at the theater. You're looking for an experience. They're selling a lizard movie.

    • They're selling a lizard movie.

      They are selling something. But nothing that is worth the title "movie".

  • I wanted to like the new movie, (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Only Time Will Tell ( 5213883 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @08:45AM (#58775230)
    I really did, but it just felt hollow and soulless to me. There wasn't a bigger message, or great human stories, or really great acting. It was just a rogue scientist turns into a Bond villain and tries to destroy the world through giant monsters. They tried to toss in every monster, which made them individually feel less relevant. I didn't know the name of several they showed after the movie. My takeaway from the movie was it was a CGI destruction-fest that had a pasted on story about a family causing and then trying to fix the problem. The whole Godzilla-as-Jesus was also weird (he died for our sins only to be resurrected). If it included a better story or deeper meaning, I would have perhaps liked it.
    • but one of the Japanese Godzilla movies ends with the main character musing that there might be a little Godzilla in us all... while Godzilla destroys Tokyo in the background. I haven't tracked own the original Japanese to see if the script matches, but that didn't seem an appropriate monologue.

      It's tough to do a movie around giant monsters. I mean, try too hard and you get Shia Labouf. And ain't nobody want that.
  • Gamera is friend to all children in the world.

  • The man in the rubber suit (Score:3)

    by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @09:01AM (#58775272)
    Gojira, who we'll now call Godzilla, needs certain aspects to be a proper Godzilla movie. It's a whole genre onto itself.

    One of the first things is that man in a rubber suit thing. That is the look and the type of movement needed.

    Next up is that there must be a certain amount of humor needed. Ya gotta have it.

    Then there is the outrage that Gojira has to express on occasion. This can tie into the humor part.

    And finally, Godzilla morphed into a loved character. Resulting in strange and silly but fun movies like Son of Godzilla.

    After the first movie, the makers of the original Godzilla movies realized the camp value. The recent remakes would be okay if they weren't marketed and named as Godzilla. I think I'm gonna watch Mothra tonight.

  • Being a fan of Godzilla doesn't save this movie (Score:5, Interesting)

    by timholman ( 71886 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @09:11AM (#58775306)

    As a nerd child who grew up in the seventies, I'm a fan of Godzilla. But I'm not a fan of overdone Hollywood special effects summer movies, and G:KotM was definitely one of those in spades.

    Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the 2014 Godzilla film. Gareth Edwards knew enough to stay away from the more fanciful Japanese tropes of the Godzilla franchise (which would mean nothing to the average non-Japanese viewer), and keep it more like a sci-fi horror film. My wife and I decided to take a chance on G:KotM before it vanished from the theaters, hoping that it would have some redeeming qualities despite the bad reviews. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't just bad .... it was painfully bad.

    Take every characteristic of bad Hollywood blockbuster films from the past 30 years, mix them together, and you have G:KotM in a nutshell.

    (1) Actual scriptwriting and character development replaced with multiple stereotypical actors screaming inanely bad lines of dialog at each other, and doing one stupid thing after nothing with no other motivation than to advance a bad plot.

    (2) A character who responds to the death of her child by cold-bloodedly orchestrating the deaths of the millions of innocent people, including her own co-workers at close range - and yet by the end of the movie we're supposed to somehow feel sympathetic towards a woman who made Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot look like rank amateurs at the art of genocide.

    (3) A laughably silly MacGuffin (a magic electronic box) that several characters spend most of the movie chasing, and that gets smashed to bits, yet is miraculously repaired in the middle of a radioactive hurricane by a mother, father, and daughter working together because .... you know, family.

    (4) The shoehorning of multiple tropes from the Japanese franchise into the plot with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Oxygen destroyer? Mothra, the friend of children? Mother sacrificing herself, and then transferring her dying energy into Godzilla? It became too much like a bad fantasy movie.

    (5) Characters who inexplicably survive one horrendous crash, explosion, gun battle, and firestorm after another without so much as a scratch.

    (6) Last but not least, the heavy-handed moralizing about how humanity is destroying the earth (complete with a short documentary film shown by the evil mother while she matter-of-factly explains to her family why she's going to kill a couple of billion of people, but hey, it's okay because ... "Mother Gaia"). This moral lesson, of course, provided by movie makers who live in a world of luxury, excess, and resource consumption that would boggle the minds of most normal people.

    I could go on, but you get the picture. So yes, it was bad, and deserved to crash and burn. The monster battles were fun, but unfortunately couldn't begin to redeem an absolute stinker of a film.

    • " But I'm not a fan of overdone Hollywood special effects summer movies"

      What a weird thing to say, What is overdone? Special effect is Godzilla.
      The CGI was very well done and the detail as amazing to the point of realistic.

      "it was painfully bad."

      No, it wasn't. It was near perfect Godzilla movie.

      You just wanted to hate the movie and looked for excuses.

      "Actual scriptwriting and character development replaced with multiple stereotypical actors screaming inanely bad lines of dialog at each other, and doing one stupid thing after nothing with no other motivation than to advance a bad plot."

      No other motivation? I don't think you actually saw the movie. It was an action movie, the script writing was fine. It wasn't literally Moby Dick.

      " A character who responds to the death of her child by cold-bloodedly orchestrating the deaths of the millions of innocent people, including her own co-workers at close range - and yet by the end of the movie we're supposed to somehow feel sympathetic towards a woman who made Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot look like rank amateurs at the art of genocide."

      Really? Godwin in a Godzilla thread? Grow up. She was a movie villain, stop comparing her to reality. You do know it wasn't real, right? You where suppose to feel sympathies for her, you were suppose to feel sympathize for the character that lost a mother. A Mother who decline into grief riddle madness, and Sympathy for a man who loss of a son lead to the loss of the woman he loved.

      And again, the lesson is about loss, of a parent as you grow up and see a different view from them of the world.

      " A laughably silly MacGuffin (a magic electronic box) that several characters spend most of the movie chasing, and that gets smashed to bits, yet is miraculously repaired in the middle of a radioactive hurricane by a mother, father, and daughter working together because .... you know, family."

      Like at least 2 other Godzilla moves I can think of.

      "The shoehorning of multiple tropes from the Japanese franchise into the plot with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Oxygen destroyer? Mothra, the friend of children? Mother sacrificing herself, and then transferring her dying energy into Godzilla? It became too much like a bad fantasy movie."

      Clearly you don't actual enjoy Godzilla movies; which is fie,. Just don'y say you do, and then list all the thing they are typical of a Godzilla move as bad.

      ") Characters who inexplicably survive one horrendous crash, explosion, gun battle, and firestorm after another without so much as a scratch."

      So like every other action and sci-fi movie? Have you never even seen an action movie before? At no point did anyone go beyond the context and consistency of the world.

      "complete with a short documentary film shown by the evil mother while she matter-of-factly explains to her family why she's going to kill a couple of billion of people, but hey, it's okay because ... "Mother Gaia""

      And there it is. Apparently you need thing spoon fed to you.
      She was a broken woman who lost her mind with grief. She wasn't rational. She was irrational to the point she endangered her other child.
      It was about a child moving away from needing her parents. Did you even notice the fact the mother was the villain? and if it was her as the "mother gaia" then they wouldn't have defeated her? She came to the conclusion she was wrong. HTF can you miss that?

      The "mother gaia" person was the father.

      "As a nerd child who grew up in the seventies, I'm a fan of Godzilla. But I'm not a fan of overdone Hollywood special effects summer movies, and G:KotM was definitely one of those in spades."

      I guess we we should ignore everything before the but in this case?

      You're not another person who like to jump on the band wagons of hate in order to make up for the fact that you have no impact or value in life.

      I really think the culture is full of people who feel like that should like a thing, but don't actually like that thing.

      • I really think the culture is full of people who feel like that should like a thing, but don't actually like that thing.

        Kind of like the people who uncritically declare that unless you love everything dished out with a label like "Godzilla", or "Star Trek", or "Star Wars" attached to it, no matter how bad it is, then you must not be a fan.

        I am a fan of Godzilla. I am not a fan of a badly made Hollywood movie that is special effects, explosions, and not much else. In other words, I am not an uncritical fan

        • Hey mate, some people are just simple and as long as the special effects aren't bad, they just shrug off any bad plot as "well it's sci-fi duhh".

          The mark of a good sci-fi story, to me, is one that intertwines reality with what *could be* possible, or at least explained through modern day knowledge. Something completely made up that has no grasp of reality just isn't interesting. It isn't real enough to spark anything in my brain.

          I'm on your side. You can't make up for bad storytelling with excellent CGI. Yo

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by WallyL ( 4154209 )

      I really enjoyed the 2014 Godzilla movie as well. I thought the solemn sense of duty displayed by the soldiers was apropos. The main characters were believable to me.

  • Godzilla Fan Boy (Score:4, Interesting)

    by omfglearntoplay ( 1163771 ) on Monday June 17, 2019 @09:17AM (#58775328)

    If you grew up with Godzilla, you are always going to like the guy. Was the movie perfect? No? Enjoyable, sure it was. And I for one was glad they threw in all the extra monsters towards the end, perhaps even more so that it was more of a sneak peak at possible future movies. There are a lot of cool factoids people dug up... original art for the new Kaiju, names, etc.

    A few links to get the fanboy in you started:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/GODZI... [reddit.com]
    https://i.imgur.com/ujhARwj.pn... [imgur.com]
    https://www.newsweek.com/godzi... [newsweek.com]

    A couple of requests from me to those making the next movie: Give us a few more clear shots of big-G and pals. I feel like Ghidorah was always hard to see clearly in this last movie, for instance. And I know it's the trend to slap a color filter on huge portions of movies and miniseries now... but kindly reconsider doing it across the board.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      Damn enjoyable.

      The number of people who say "I like Godzilla, but ..." and then list typical Godzilla tropes as 'bad' is astounding.

      I have 1 request for the next movie: Xtians. Who really should have been in this one manipulating the mother.

      • Oh yeah, the Xians. Those original dudes practically invented some of the 1980s styles with those crazy cyclops glasses. They got cooler in future iterations, fun stuff.

        One more URL to post... this has amazing details you will struggle to find anywhere else regarding this Godzilla movie:

        https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pm... [tvtropes.org]

  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a good Godzilla movie. You didn't care about any of the human characters, the dialog consisted entirely of cliches, but they got the monsters right.

    That's what you go to a Godzilla film for.

  • Never have, never will.

  • "For all its crash-and-bash action, this is a real science fiction movie that goes to the trouble of not merely creating a world, but thinking about the implications of its images and predicaments"

    Yeah, that's why it did poorly. People who go to see a Godzilla movie want to see a Godzilla movie, which includes none of that crap.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      All of that is part of the Godzilla universe, and has been since the second Godzilla movie. I just wish it had the XTians.

      "thinking about the implications"

      That is core to all Godzilla movies, including the first one.

  • Great Godzilla movie, and epic battle.

    If you walked out on the movie either you are doing it to be counter, or have no clue what a Kaiju movie is.

  • Between all the CGI, blow-em-up, remakes, reboots, parts 4,5,6...overpriced tickets, overpriced concessions, parking and on and on, not to mention the mental instability of Hollyweird....I just grab them at redbox or stream them from "sources". It's just not worth it anymore.
  • I'm quite surprised at the commenters here faulting the American interpretations of Godzilla based on an inability to appreciate / understand the cultural underpinnings of the original.

    Ever since WW2, our two countries have been passing cultural totems back and forth for interpretation and reinterpretation with great effect. Consider:
    • Japanese bands like Guitar Wolf are scholars of American Rock and Roll and have proven that 11 is not the highest number available on an amplifier knob. They aren't just i

  • Objoke (Score:3)

    by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday June 17, 2019 @11:21AM (#58776028)

    "And of course the film-makers included Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla" song in the closing credits"

    It needs more cowbell.

  • Hell yeah. American Godzillas tend to suck- haven't seen this one but I want to. The Japanese Godzillas have been hit or miss, with Shin Godzilla in recent memory being absolutely amazing.
  • History shows again and again, how nature points out the folly of man. Godzilla.

  • Bring on the terrors of the outer dark!

  • I watched the original Godzilla movies because it was just hilarious seeing this guy in a terrible dinosaur suit kicking over cardboard-box buildings and plastic tanks. The awful dubbing of the original actors was also hilarious. It was one of those things where it was watchable BECAUSE it was so bad.

    Take that away - and you have a really crappy premise for a movie where a lot of stuff gets destroyed - and that REALLY gets old, fast.

    So, no - modern Godzilla movies - be they additions to the genre or r

  • Japanese and over 60? Here's a film for you!

  • The creature is egotistic, stupid, murderous and chaotic.

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