Didn't think I'd be prioritizing Rocketman this weekend. Oh well.

May not be everyone's cuppa, but I enjoyed it overall. Getting the guy who directed Krampus to do this was a weird move. This was missing Edwards' defter hand.

Weird to see the criticism of this film's story, because there at least was a story in this one and the human element was at least mildly interesting by the second act.

I mean, you watch these films for the monster vs. monster stuff, so the human stuff doesn't really matter, you just need to see people reacting to things. The family drama is also like at least intertwined with the monster story this time unlike 2014.

This commits more to the B-movie stuff than 2014 Godzilla did. In that way, its tone is like a middle-ground between Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island.

Monster action itself was fantastic, loved every second of it. Worth seeing for that, IMO.

I'm way less positive than Cil or Ant.

it's the Batman V Superman of kaiju movies. Big, bold thematic and visual ideas, executed horribly. it's mostly a complete mess, and the majority of the action is poorly blocked and frustratingly obscured in weather effects. Some of it is genuinely amazing, but that's all too brief. Most of the action in the third act is terrific, however.

It has a lovely emotional metaphor as the central conceit of the piece--two parents struggling to find a fresh start in different ways--but the execution of the script is a complete, nonsensical mess. It's not that it's stupid, plenty of great monster or action movies thrive in stupidity, but that it breaks its own poorly laid out rules constantly and hopes you won't notice or care.

I noticed and cared, I guess. I'd give it a D+ or C- if I was feeling very generous.


-Vader

So me and gf dumped this last minute for a good meal couple of joints near the theatre. No regrets so far judging by your comments guys.

As a huge fan of Kaiju and the Godzilla franchise specifically (both the more serious original intent of the concept and the fun goofy monster vs monster action of many of the follow ups) I found this to be some pretty awesome fan service towards the latter.

It's a mixed bag that absolutely nails the spectacle of the Kaiju battles while mostly failing the attempted human drama. Most of the dialogue is people yelling, confusing and unconvincing exposition, constant arguing, and bad jokes/puns that succeed about 25% of the time.

If you want to see King Ghidorah, Rodan, Mothra, and Godzilla battling while demolishing skyscrapers this movie is well worth the watch and captures that spectacle better than anything I've seen on the screen. It truly nails that aspect.

I was a big fan of the 2014 film and still see it as the best representation of Kaiju movies in American cinema. As a standalone movie that focuses on great Kaiju battles it's a good enough movie with some subpar B movie plotting and acting. As a sequel to the 2014 movie it feels tonally disjointed and lesser.

Overall I'd give King of the Monsters a C+

I really wish I agreed. The weather effects "paint over" the action scenes to the point many of them are hard to follow, and the actual choreography of them isn't great.

The overall splendor of the creatures and colors is amazing though.


-Vader

Vader182 wrote: ↑

May 31st, 2019, 6:47 pm

I really wish I agreed. The weather effects "paint over" the action scenes to the point many of them are hard to follow, and the actual choreography of them isn't great.

The overall splendor of the creatures and colors is amazing though.


-Vader

I don't necessarily disagree with that complaint actually. The part the film really nails is the actual creation of these classic creatures and bringing them to life on the screen. That aspect along with the "paint over" really gives an interesting and engrossing mood to the film when we have the Kaiju in play. However, it does take away from some of the action and some of the decisions in how the battles occur do leave some more interesting action scenarios off the table. I personally found the glory of seeing these monsters on the screen in such compelling fashion enough to bring me through the film with a mostly positive reaction.

The part that really bothers me about King of the Monsters though is how they treat Godzilla as a concept. Godzilla is most interesting to me when he is simply a radical force of nature that is outside of human will and control. A representation of something that is neither good nor evil but is simply an overwhelming phenomena that can bring utter catastrophe that can be helpful to humanity in the face of other equally catastrophic forces but leave horrific devastation in his wake.

The direction the franchise is taking the films though is more in the way of making Godzilla (as well as King Kong) a more heroic force that is closer to many of the Toho sequels. The 2014 film did such a great job of framing Godzilla as a motiveless force of nature. A more tonally expansive sequel to 2014 could've really made a great movie. I'm close to satisfied with King of the Monsters but there is a much more interesting Godzilla film to be made than the one setting up this shared universe.

My thoughts. The set up and the First half of the film was a bit of a mess, interesting ideas and themes on paper but poorly executed. Missed a bit of a deft touch and they needed to trust the audience way more. The story got into its stride more in the second half of the film. Spectacular Kaiju action which was frustratingly hindered at times by the bad weather and poor choices but at times breathtaking visually and action wise, which ultimately is what a Kaiju film is all about. Overall a mixed bag but enjoyable for the spectacle alone.

Makes you realise just how good a Kaiju film 2014 Godzilla really is after seeing this. That film still holds up as one of the best cinematic experiences I've had. King of the Monsters missed that deft touch that someone like Edwards brought to 2014 Godzilla.

This was a disappointment. These grand, epic moments of spectacle that we wait for are there, but they're either fleeting moments or they are framed too tightly and showered in visual effects debris that makes it hard to follow. There is a story that carries the movie, but it is such a simple plot that is executed with such needless complexity. And not to mention the mountain of mythology building, majority of which does not really amount that much to the movie's narrative. It made me miss Gareth Edwards' beautiful direction where he allowed the visuals to motivate the narrative and you were able to follow what was going on.

That Blue Oyster Cult “Godzilla” cover at the end was pretty amazingly over the top hilarious and awesome though