I’ll stand by my belief that the dark serious movies like Shin and Minus One and the goofy monster battles of the Monsterverse can coexist and go hand in hand because of the versatility of the character
@@BigActionBill in the fandom I mean. People unfortunately are still comparing the monsterverse to -1 which I believe is an unfair comparison considering how different they are
Absolutely. We all like the first film and the serious and not so serious entries over the years. He's still here 70s years on, as is King Kong 01 years on.
What's ironic is how the toho godzilla movies originally ended with the goofy godzilla final wars, and then came back with the super serious 2014 godzilla. With that movie getting praise for bringing back the king of the monsters to a new audience and with such respect and uniqueness. Now the roles are reversed. That same serious godzilla from 2014 is now in a goofy silly show style movie with king Kong. While Toho came back with the super serious minus one Godzilla. With that movie getting praise for bringing back the king of the monsters to a new audience and with such respect and uniqueness.
@@demspookz8732and they’re perfectly entitled to make that comparison as long as they recognize the innate differences. The world isn’t going to blow up just because one set of fans hates a type of Godzilla movie and another loves all of them, it’s fun learning why people hate this type of movie or why they don’t like Minus One, etc. As long as people aren’t assholes about it, I don’t see the issue.
Saw this movie today in the theater with my dad and a couple friends. While Minus One had me almost pissing myself in fear, New Empire had me almost pissing myself with laughter. It was a great experience that I recommend for anyone to watch with some buddies.
I interviewed Ray Harryhausen back in 2012, shortly before he passed away. I assure you he HATED Godzilla for the reasons you mention in the video. And yes, I'm sure that Shimo's design is inspired by the Rhedosaurus. I was surprised when people compared her to Anguirus.
@@BigActionBill Thank you! To elaborate, he said that Warner Bros should have sued back in the day. Anyway, he never was a big fan of the "rampage" movie genre. He always prefered his fantasy-adventure flicks.
Which is a shame because Harryhausen and Tsuburaya were masters of their respective craft and utilized them both to tell some the best stories ever told.
It would make sense if this movie was dumb. But it is perfectly in line with Japanese Godzilla films prior to Minus One. It is very smartly written if you remember that it was written for Godzilla fans. It’s not fair to call the movie dumb just because you aren’t personally a fan of Godzilla.
1. Dumb is dumb regardless who it is written for. 2. This movie has a similar tone to some showa era movies. You’re omitting like 25 other Godzilla movies that don’t have this dumb or silly style. 3. Don’t tell people they aren’t a fan of a franchise just because they don’t like this soulless slop.
@@ayjay579I’m a huge Godzilla fan who even liked GxK and can easily admit it’s a dumb movie. Stop with the cope my dude, you can like stuff that’s dumb.
@@brandonhickman394 And I do like stuff that is dumb. This movie just doesn’t qualify since it was clearly well thought out and crafted to fit the vibe of Japanese Godzilla films. You can’t pretend you didn’t notice how much work went into making this as close to a Japanese Godzilla film as possible. Adam Wingard is clearly a fan of the franchise and knew what he was doing with this movie. There’s nothing dumb about that
I honestly think if Shimo was just as cruel as Scar King then she would have undermined him. Scar King ends up sticking out better as a more effective villain. The idea that he's able to enslave a Titan stronger than him is what makes him dangerous. His intelligence and cruelty.
I agree I also agree with Bill that perhaps Skar should have gotten to the earth proper sooner and perhaps more of the earths climate could have been effected? Wouldn't have been too hard to have some news anchor talk about plants dying around the world and oxygen levels dropping dangerously
@@BigActionBill I do get ya. I avoided spoilers and thought she was gonna be some beast. Thank you for continuously making thorough videos! Love the channel.
Wym Godzilla got a lot of screen time though, from fighting syclla to fighting that other monster in the ocean to fighting kong and even sleeping 2 times 😂
i feel this should ahve been a two parter, first part introducing the bad guys and having both Kong and Godzilla trying and failing to stop them by themselves leading to the next where Kong gets his Power Glove and Godzilla gets juiced and then they team up.
As someone who had a blast with the film, I also never really bought the threat of Scar King or Shimo. Like in their first fight Kong beats Scar King and he has to cheat with Shimo. Yet I knew in the final fight Shimo would be fighting Godzilla who was juicing the whole time! It never really seemed like they had a chance. Ghidorah had a real air of menace about him
Yeah well I'm not going to see it then. Marvel sucks and comic books suck in general. Sad to see American Godzilla go down the path of crummy Marvel movies. Sad but entirely predictable.
This is my favorite RUclipsr review so far. Thank you for sharing your unfiltered opinion! I'm a little sad that Godzilla feels like an underwritten character. I'm just glad he finally has a bed. :)
Very well said. I remember sitting in a theater in 1998 and even at that young age, I had the thought that this might be the only time in my lifetime I get to watch a Godzilla movie and a movie theater - so I will never complain about more Godzilla content That being said, I loved the tone of something like Godzilla 2014, the Monarch show, or especially KOTM. I know Wingard is a big fan like us, but I personally hope they let another Director have a go at the Monsterverse.
I really enjoyed this film but once again like GvK Godzilla didn’t have enough screen time, they focus way too much on Kong and Godzilla feels like a secondary character in his own movie, basically he only appears when needed and I don’t like that, I’d like to see Godzilla in his down time too not just Kong’s
Ya know, Shimo did remind me of Titanosaurus but I'm glad she got to live and this movie was both fun and interesting to see the humans were lively without being annoying. Hell, even Jia's scene with Andrew's towards the end almost had me tearing up, so this was a banger of a Kaiju movie to me.
In regards to the "It's supposed to be dumb and fun" crowd, I have a feeling most of them don't have a lot of familiarity with Godzilla outside of the goofy memes and the MST3K episode of Godzilla vs. Megalon. That, and some of the Showa era went from being the pulpy sci-fi of the time (watch old episodes of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, or Lost in Space, shows that were seriously written but the sensibilities didn't always age to match the modern sensibilities) to being written for children. In other words, there's a lack of knowledge of the era, and a lack of knowledge of the history. But the Heisei era was definitely interested in telling more human-focused stories, and I feel like flicks like Godzilla vs. Biollante were the pinnacle of achieving that. It's a shame and frustrating, but I do think there's a lot of people that just don't have that familiarity with the series that are involved in the conversation.
You have the best take when it comes to the “fans vs critics” thing that’s been going on with this movie. It’s been frustrating seeing how fans react to the critical reception. I just think everyone needs to calm down and I like how you see the poor defenses of the movie. Very nuanced perspective.
In his fight with Kong, he doesn’t really get knocked out. He’s stunned for a moment, like how Kong got dazed after the suplex. Even if he was knocked out, I don’t know if Kong could’ve done enough damage to kill him before he woke up. When you think of all the punishment Godzilla took from MG and survived with pretty much no permanent damage. I think the pink form is fine looking, but nothing they did made it feel more powerful. All his breath did was simply push Shimo.
I agree I don’t think godzilla was knocked out, I think when kong hit godzilla with the fully loaded axe did more damage than the gauntlet barrage. I also agree I don’t think kong could have killed godzilla if he keep going or was” serious “ people seem to forget that 1. godzilla takes nukes to the head and survives 2. Godzilla got dropped from the stratosphere and survived 3. He survived the fully loaded axe and 4 he survived the beating he took by mecha G so saying kong could have killed the big G if he really wanted to is none sense.. with the axe maybe but I didn’t see anything that would make me think the gauntlet is more powerful than the axe.. still enjoyed the fight ! Seeing Kong drag godzilla by the tail was great ! I also loved seeing Godzilla suplex kong was great too.
I heard somewhere that pink is the highest color in the radiation spectrum and that was the justification. I don’t mind it, it kinda grew on me after a while, but I would like them to go back to the classic blue while keeping the extra spikes they added (the stegosaurus spikes added to Godzilla’s tail was an addition I didn’t know I wanted and I’d like to see that come back again).
@@Noneofyourbusiness2000 Appreciate the clarification. I think Violet would’ve been a better choice in this regard. Afraid I don’t recall ever once hearing the Roy g biv song, no. But I get what you’re talking about
@@alexkogan9755 Really? I think that's like middle school science class. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. It wasn't a song, just a pneumonic device.
I was fine with this movie being more about Kong than Godzilla. Big G rarely cares about anything more than fucking shit up or fighting. My boy is a force of nature and I love him for it.
The facial expressions of the Kaiju are amazing. They are real characters. Everything seems a little bit rushed, though, even the fights. It feels like a good chunk have been left in the cutting room floor. However, I would be lying if I didn't say that I had a blast. I would say this is the most enjoyable Monsterverse movie by far (and I'm one of those people who loved KOTM and was heavily dissapointed by GvK).
I felt that this curbstomped GvK. This was fun from the go and the human story was more than tolerable. Jia and Kong's connection was a delight as was seeing Kong find his people and liberate them. He is now truly King Kong. Godzilla's story in this was good. While he was an antagonistic force like in GvK, he wasn't a smug asshole about it. He was just doing what he had to do in order to get ready for Shimo and the Scar King. I absolutely adored seeing him nap in the Colosseum before and after. Seeing him and Kong's teamwork during the last fight was great. Him jumping off the Rock of Gibraltar was so over the top I couldn't help but be slack jawed. As of now, my ranking for the Monsterverse is: 2019, GxK, Skull Island, 2014, GvK.
@@iap7597 The second she came out of her lair to challenge Godzilla, her entire body was glowing for a few seconds, sort like how Manda's body was in flames from the magma just like in Final Wars.
My main complaints with this film: There was too many conveniences, like the beast glove that just happened to be 5 minutes away and also happening to have frostbite serum that can cure him just made me groan. There is waaay too many instances of characters explaining things that are happening on screen, and it takes away from the spectacle. For example, I remember Mothra swooped in to help, and Bernie was like "Yeah! she's protecting the portals!" while she was doing so on screen. My dad leaned over to me and whispered, "no shit." He said that a lot during the movie. Like, "Godzilla's charging up on radiation." - "No shit!" That arm looks bad "no shit!" Speaking of Bernie, I never was a fan of him in Godzilla vs Kong, but he just got worse in this movie, at least for me, his jokes felt extremely forced. There was also plot conveniences that were extremely jarring, like the beast glove that just happened to be 5 minutes away and also happening to have frostbite serum is just made me groan. The soundtrack was mediocre as well, it felt too artificial. I know it's supposed to sound synthwave-y and 80s inspired, but the parts that were supposed to very climactic and orchestral sounded hollow and soulless, they need to get a real orchestra. I think Tom Holkenberg/Junkie XL shouldn't make any more of the Monsterverse soundtracks. The themes for each of the returning Kaiju just sound like Walmart brand ripoff versions of their classic themes that change a few notes, at least go with something creative and not so generically mcu sounding. Also, I think for the next Monsterverse movie we need a new director. I think I've seen enough of Wingard's directing and want a fresh, new visual style and color pallete. Thats about all I had a problem with, besides Shimo coming in too late and Godzilla feeling like a side character. My least favorite of the Monsterverse, but I still enjoyed it.
Even thought it’s clearly a Kong film with a bit of Godzilla fan service thrown in I still loved it. They really heard all the criticism people had about GvsK and then improved on every aspect that worked. The human plot was the best in the MV maybe aside from Kong: Skull Island, it did a good job at guiding the audience into what the world is at this point, then followed the plot without ever taking away from the real stars of the show. I still have to wait to let it sink in, but at the moment I’m really happy with the movie.
There’s nothing wrong with comparing them. I did it in this video. Both Godzilla were based off cats. See? We’re still here, the world didn’t blow up. In my history videos I compare plenty of movies that are different. Hell I compared a serious drama(shoplifters) to this movie despite them being tonal opposites because they shared a theme. As long as you acknowledge the innate differences or what each movie was going for, I don’t see an issue. Sometimes you don’t even need to that because it’s so obvious you’re talking about very different movies.
The movie feels like it was gonna be a standalone Kong movie that had the Godzilla stuff bolted on later in the writing process. Really needed to open on a prologue sequence to set up Scar King and Shimo. Maybe have them killing one of the ancient Godzillas, something.
Kong did not knock out Godzilla. As soon as Kong stopped punching Godzilla, Kong grabbed Godzilla's tail. But Godzilla's tail began to light up. He begins firing his beam at Kong while he ran behind the pyramids.
Thank you for this review. I enjoy all your content, and I agree with you the fun part of these movies is the comparing and contrasting of the different styles of how one way worked while another way didn't. Thank you and keep up the awesome work sir.
Hey Bill! Can’t speak for everyone but I genuinely value your opinion when it comes to anything related to our beloved Goji. I was actually looking forward to this vid since midnight Friday lol. But seriously, considering the lengths you’ve gone to making all your ‘history of’ videos I respect your analysis on these films and find them pleasantly honest and objective. Thanks as always for the content sir. See u in the next one.
When you look at 2014 its hard to think that these two films are in the same canon. Everything that 2014 has going for it, this movie doesnt. The careful dedication to scale and the effect on humans is completely absent. Physics be damned, the monsters in GxK will do whatever the script wants them to do. That being said, for anyone who thinks it can only be one way or the other, I think the first Pacific Rim is a great example of a monster film that has everything 2014 has (scale, physics, human element/effect) but also is more silly/fun tone and action heavy. You can do both.
I absolutely loved this film, easily my all time favorite giant monster movie. I love the goofy tone, the monsters all being super expressive/anthropomorphic, the late Showa vibe combined with an 80s B-movie, etc. It was the perfect package for me, and I had an absolute blast watching this in the theater. For Minus One I had been satisfied while watching the film for sure, but man with this film, I was basically bouncing my leg up and down the whole time out of excitement XD I also wanted to say, it’s interesting that early in the video you had mentioned how you had already gotten what you wanted out of the Monsterverse, and this was just seeing what else they’ve doing. For me it was opposite, I hadn’t been truly satisfied by anything the Monsterverse had done so far. I thought 2014 was boring and heavily lacked the monsters, K:SI was solid, I genuinely dislike KOTM, and GvK felt like the first step in what for me personally was the right direction. GxK felt like the home run that I had wanted, and I’m happy to finally see that.
King Ghidorah did give a hint that there COULD be other titans from outer space, so that would be a nice way to continue the Monsterverse in terms of having another movie. Heck the Oxygen Destroyer prototype failing to kill Ghidorah but came close to killing Godzilla would be a good way to end the Monsterverse with Destoroyah. That's personally what I'd like to see.
The 2019 oxygen destroyer was different from the original. In the original movie, Godzilla completely disintegrated. But with the 2019, it just made Godzilla weak. So clearly the 2019 canister was completely different from the original canister.
@@briandecarlo1847 I'm aware of that. I was only talking about the prototype Oxygen Destroyer in the Monsterverse. Also if the prototype made Godzilla pretty weak, I'd imagine that the real deal could've killed him.
Whenever they make another monsterverse movie, because of course they will, Godzilla’s next upgrade should be better eyesight. His aim with his atomic breath is like an old man in a bathroom. Super frustrating seeing him get all powered up just to destroy everything but the titan he’s fighting
I do like how you've mentioned that the movie is compared to a "video game" for certain points because it felt like Godzilla himself was basically spending most of his scenes level grinding where he's defeating enemies in his path left and right, getting stronger, and gains a MacGuffin-esque power-up (his metamorphosis) in an RPG before facing off against the most powerful and difficult boss.
To quote my 4yr old son “this was the best movie ever” The IMAX theater we saw the movie was mixed of adult and children and they were all glued to the film especially with the fights. Say what you want “dumb fun” or whatever this is the start of a young generation of Godzilla/Kaiju fans.
I get appreciating the more serious tones Godzilla can bring - hell, Minus One is going to go down as one of my favorite movies ever - but I think people saying there was "no story" or "no character arcs" in this movie aren't giving due credit to the script. Beyond just Gia and Kong finding family, you have Gia and her adoptive mother choosing found family over cultural heritage. By contrast, Kong chooses to become a leader among his own culture and sort of adopts Suko, too. Gia stays with what she knows, Kong goes into a bold new role as a leader versus a loner. As more of a Godzilla fan, yeah, I wish Godzilla did more and had a larger impact. I can agree with that criticism. But I don't think that it's fair to ignore the Kong storyline and contrast just because the Godzilla portion could have been executed better. Comparatively to even G vs K, where the humans were comically evil, this film did have a heart and message via Gia and Kong. Monsters in these movies can be the heart of things too, and I think Wingard finally got that down via Kong this time.
I'm just gonna say this, the reason why most fans say you can enjoy both is to shut down those newcomer people that just praise godzilla minus one and shit on the monsterverse now not releasing godzilla can be both things. and its not fun to compare both movies because you can't, it would like comparing apples to oranges. both movies are great in their own ways and everyone is going to their preference on which movie they like better.
THANK YOU!! So glad that I’m not the only one who thought about a lot of what you said! Everything about your thoughts on Shimo, Skar King, and Godzilla treatment! I’d love to see Godzilla in the Monsterverse get real justice and respect like he did in KOTM without Kong!
I loved the movie for what it was: dumb fun. Godzilla suplexing Kong off a Pyramid after diving off of a mountain was just wild. It could have benefitted from 15-20 more minutes to give the action sequences more breathing room. Especially the final fight, which was way too short for this supposedly existential threat to the titans and mankind. You could almost get whiplash from the way we tear through the story. Every Godzilla seemed to only last 30 seconds or so. Also, a lot of the scenes would have looked way better at night (see mkst kf the earlier movies). Gman vs Scylla just looked it could have used another month or so of work on the finer details, which would have been well hidden by the darkness of night. But my main gripe was something you mentioned as well. The lack of scale. I miss the human shots from G14 and KotM, just as much as I miss the weight in their movement. After this i am ready for a new director and a new approach. Something more akin to what G14 looked like. Godzilla should be a force of nature, a "god for all intents and purposes" (G14), not whatever this was. I know it sounds like i diskliked the movie, but i still found myself enjoying it a lot, despite some glaring problems.
I like that Monsterverse doesn't feel embarrassed about it's origins. This movie especially feels like it wouldn't be out of place in the late Showa era. Godzilla himself is arguably the most versatile actor (i don't know if that fits lol), he can either be something deep, thematic, and tragic. Yet at the same time, he can also be goofy, fun, and energetic. Both spectrum are really entertaining. Can't wait for the future installments of Godzilla
One of my earliest fondest memories as a three year old in the 70s, I remember thinking that the T-Rex skeleton at the museum and Godzilla were the same thing. A giant monster that fights other monsters. I’ve been a fan ever since.
My son and I watched the movie and he absolutely loved it! We also did a reaction/ SPOILER review if you can give us a view we’d really appreciate it 💙
Thank you bill, i have watched the film twice. Enjoyed it both times. But i do agree with allot of your points. I wanted more out of the film even though i enjoyed what we got. The way i see it, Godzilla has something for everyone. I enjoy both the silly and the serious aspects of godzilla.
My only problem with this film was the fact Godzilla was once against put to the side mostly, but hopefully we'll be getting a Godzilla 3 soon. As for the silly tone, I love it because it doesn't go down to stupid levels like Godzilla Vs Gigan or. . . . Godzilla's revenge (YUCK!). After seeing Godzilla in a serious tone once more with Minus one (which I wanted for years), it was good to see his silly side still alive with this film.
I got what I wanted out of it - honestly, it felt to me just like an old Showa film, even if there were a few clunky moments and heavy exposition dumps. Was really happy that they brought back Mothra. Hopefully that means the Monsterverse are considering licensing more Toho monsters down the line, though tbh I actually really dug the Scar King and Shimo. Scar King was one sadistic motherfucker while Shimo was cool (heh) and looked like something which could have easily been designed by Toho. Excited to see where they try and take things from here.
Thank you for the review. I haven't seen it yet, but I really wanted to hear your take on the movie. Whole different topic here, how do we get The Criterion Collection to do another set of Godzilla, like the Heisi era? Any ideas? I really liked most all of Godzilla movies, but each for a different reason. I love to discuss Godzilla with my friends. I got Steve Ryfle's book on Godzilla and it was interesting. Thanks for that idea.
Thanks for the review bill, now let me say this, I was having so much fun with this movie. Couldn’t stop smiling, Mithras return awesome! Now is it dumb, really dumb yes but it was fun so thumbs up cause I had a good time
Hey Bill, saw this in Westbury again and while I agree with your critique, I still think it’s a matter of taste, and bottom line is we should all be happy that we have a character that we all love that is very versatile, because there is not just one kind of Godzilla movie it really does broaden the whole spectrum on what they could do with him as a character. My two cents and please keep them videos coming.
3:55 - Hey, you're right! Thanks for pointing that out, I felt vaguely nostalgic about the Titan, Shemo, but didn't know why. Something "Mighty Mightor" from a 60's cartoon (Korgg in Mojo-Jojo face riding a Dinosaur) is what I was thinking, especially Scar King riding Shemo into battle. Also, Kong's 'Tarzan' vibes, and "Lil' Kong" having some Teenager/Gollum energy going on as well kind of made me reminisce about my childhood entertainments. This is as good as those Saturday Morning Cartoons were back in the day. A very worthy addition to the overall Godzilla AND Kong Franchises. I Loved it!
I know personally that this movie a bit of a disappointment. That first trailer with Scar King on the throne with skulls representing Godzilla and Kong’s respective species made him seem an enemy that would be testing G and K to their limits. Then the promos hinting that he was so strong that Godzilla had to power up. So I was expecting an adversary on the lines like Destroyah….not someone who only lasted a few minutes into a fight. So Disappointing.
Big Action Bill I got a 2 parter for ya. 1. Do you think Minus One’s durability is any less than Showa G’s or do you think he is the same and Minus One just uses the pre established lore to find a unique way of taking Godzilla down? 2. Do you think MV Goji is just as strong as Heisei and this is just an updated version of him or is Heisei Goji physically stronger due to the way he threw MG2? Or is the way he threw MG2 just a limitation of the suitmation?
Great first review Bill and I agree. I thought Godzilla would get beat by Shimo at first and be villainous, totally wasn't expecting her to be peaceful. I thought the human characters were handled much better than GvK and the kaiju character moments were great too. The threats in this installment definitely could have been executed as well as having a better soundtrack but I still enjoyed it. I'd put it at number 3 with GvK and Kotm at 1 and 2
Bill, I do wanna correct something that you keep saying. "Godzilla sensed scar king" That is incorrect. It is explained towards the end that the signal that gia is receiving is a signal that the ewi are sending to Godzilla to request help because they know scarking is coming. hearing that signal sends Godzilla on a powerup rampage in which he is preparing for war.
But then there is the question why and how godzilla knew how powerful the threat was. They told that Godzilla put Scar King into Hollow Earth by his own, so even if the Iwi signal meant specifically that threat, there is no reason for Godzilla to act that way. As Bill said, if there was an initial confrontation which Godzilla barely lost, then it would make more sense.
I agree that this is probably my least favorite of the Monsterverse movies. It had some good moments that I enjoyed, especially Kong using the Baby Kong as a weapon that was incredible. But over all I also didn't have real high expectations and I wasn't surprised in watching the movie. It was fine. It also really felt like a Kong movie with Godzilla being more of a cameo.
Feel like the movie would’ve been better if it was just Kong and Mothra without constantly cutting back to Goji powering up constantly. Would have been more climatic
I really don't like the "no one cares about humans" sentiment from the modern Godzilla fandom. Tokusatsu or monster movies are at it's best when it does social or human condition commentary through the lens of fantasy or science fiction. It doesn't have to be "grim and dark" but look to something like Ultraseven, Ultraman Tiga or even GMK on how to do this right.
I feel like im on the same boat as you lol. The monsterverse already gave me my fixes ( especially with KOTM and GVK) not to mention Shin and MInus one, I was all set. So I basically saw this film as a dessert to a nice satisfying meal. Like you said its really fun to talk about these kinds of movies and compare but the problem at least to me is people are expecting another minus one which this movie clearly isnt . And also the fact that people will not shut up blindly praise the movie is hypocritical, this movie is not perfect. Like Im fine I like both silly and serious goji thats just a me thing and I was surprise my girlfriend ended up liking both Minus one and GXK as well lol . Yeah but anyways always a treat to watch a new Godzilla movie and Big Action Bill vid on the same day.
Your thoughts are VERY similar to mine: the first half was decently engaging, but the back half was pretty underwhelming and unimpactful. Nice to see at least one Godzilla RUclipsr that isn’t doing the whole ‘shut your brain off’ thing. Nothing wrong with criticizing the film, especially cause for a ‘big dumb turn your brain off’ movie, the final battle wasn’t very gripping. Really hope they switch directors for the next film, cause Wingard’s style just ain’t it for me
13:32 the Godzilla that ate a star and imprisoned scar King. Is not “our” Godzilla. That is a past Godzilla from his species. At least that’s how I understood it.
Not gonna lie I was half expecting Antonio to show up in the Iwi crystal lair shouting "Wake up! Megalon!" Probably would've made me like the movie a bit more too.
Some scenes needed to be a bit longer, the scene where Godzilla reunited with Mothra and suddenly his beef with Kong is gone, they showed us the titans can basically talk and understand one another, so that scene should have been longer of Godzilla and Kong bantering slightly before putting their differences aside, also the ending, would have loved to see Mothra joining Godzilla in the surface and cuddling up on him using her wings like a blanket, skar king needed a bit more to him, like he’s evil, but why, what made him like that, a fully animated scene of him finding the crystal and waging his war on Godzilla’s species could have added at least 20 minutes to the run time and would have been great
From what I’ve heard there’s a theory that shimo and scar king aren’t the big threat Godzilla was prepping for, he’s supposedly prepping for an even bigger that’s supposed to be in a future film. Not sure how much weight that holds (if any) but it makes the movie make more sense to me
I saw the movie on Thursday & I thought it was good...ish. I was hoping for more Godzilla & when they mentioned waking Mothra, I was expecting a US version of the Shobijin. I think this film will go well with the kids though.
My biggest gripe with the film was the pacing. It felt like everything happened a bit too fast, especially the ending after the final battle. It was as if they just wanted to tell their story but didn't really have the time to do so. The movie might have needed an extra 30 min to an hour to pace things out a bit better. Also, Godzilla's fights versus Scylla and Tiamat were so short. Meanwhile, when Kong was facing the Lake Serpent they did a 2014: cut away and ended the battle off-screen with him suddenly having won. At least the human characters felt better written in this movie than in the last, but still with an odd ending. As for the main kaiju: *Kong:* I like what they did with it, but I don't care for Kong as a main character. I watch a Godzilla movie for Godzilla. It is him and his tale I wish to follow. But none the less, you could clearly tell what Kong was thinking or saying thanks to his body language, which is probably one reasons why they chose the great big ape as he is closer to humans, which makes it easier to get an emotional attachment to the character. *Godzilla:* At first, when the first trailers came out, I was not a fan of his new design. Now, knowing how he reached it, I actually like it. The only thing I dislike is that the glow is pure pink. If anything it should have been purple like Shin Godzilla's, since then it would have been a true combination of Godzilla's power with Tiamat's. I have to ask though... who thought it would be a good idea to have Godzilla jump of a cliff into the sea? Especially a part of the sea that clearly was not deep enough for him? *Skar King:* Never liked the name, never liked the design, but as a villain, god is he not likable. He is just a straight up a**hole. I would also have liked to learn more as to why he was so obsessed with taking over the surface. But as a villain, he fit the bill for what he was. *Shimo:* We needed to learn more of this creature. And yeah, it being evil would probably have put more stakes into it, being able to cause an Ice Age and all. An early fight with Godzilla wouldn't really work here though, unless you made a flashback to a point in time where they did fight eachother for one reason or another. Design wise, this white, icy land-shark could have been more interesting. *Suko? Mini Kong:* Poor guy, but eh. *Mothra:* So... apparently Mothra can just be energized into existence using some weird gravity powers... So yeah, there is that. Otherwise, Mothra doing Mothra things. Tis good. No Shobijin though, which I half expected to see.
I didn't mind the power ups and what not. My issue was how fast they move. They do not look like giant monsters. Ironically, they felt move like regular sized actors on a miniature set than the situation movies did.
I had a lot of fun with this movie. One thing I'd be interested in seeing are potential prequels that show Godzilla's initial rivalry with Ghidorah and what leads to him buried in the ice. I'd also love to see Godzilla's initial war with Skar King
Just finished godzillaxkong, and it was the best thing I've seen since -1, characters are okay, but everything else was fucking epic. It has dethroned KOTM as my favorite Monsterverse film!
Don’t worry, it’s now been confirmed that Evolved Godzilla is temporary as well. Also, the reason why the monsters move very fast is because it’s from their point of view. I do like the idea of Godzilla getting a bit slimmer.
Having just seen the movie last night, iirc they do mention Godzilla stopped Scar King and cast him down/out, but it took nearly everything he had to do it so him doing it alone this time probably would have been too much? But yeah considering he and Shimo combined didn't end up being THAT big a threat, it felt like a bit of a let down. I'm one of the fans who also enjoy the sillier movies myself (well, enjoy is a strong word Godzilla vs Megalon holds a special place in my heart because it was my introduction to Godzilla, something like that haha) so I enjoyed this one as silly as it is, but to be fair I wasn't expecting anything super deep. I could understand why some folks wouldn't jive with this one to be fair, there are aspects to it I wish were better as well tbh and you've pointed them out rather well I think :>
One small detail I noticed with godzilla: the more he used his atomic breath throughout after being super charged, the more blue it had. It seemed like he slowly started to use up all of the energy he got from tiamat.
Loved the movie. It was a big step up from the others. It was wild and unhinged and a lot of fun. You set out wanting to hate it and you did, what a surprise. Jesus Christ have fun once in a while
The best part of the Monsterverse is that you could always feel just how huge and heavy these creatures were. Unfortunately in GxK, the Hollow Earth backdrop just made them feel smaller and less imposing.
Thor Ragnarok is an interesting example, but more topically I always point to Pacific Rim and Shin Ultraman as movies that can be campy romps without insulting your intelligence like the past two Monsterverse movies. But I agree, can we please kill this "the human characters are always trash, and should never strive to be anything more than packing peanuts for these monster fight vehicles" argument.
Развлечения
When asked to put over Shimo early in the film, Godzilla said, "That don't work for me Brother"
😂😂😂
Guessing you’re a deadlock fan too? 😂
😂😂😂😂
Godzilla: I can't tap out. My mom would be angry at me.
Godzilla has creative control
Kong using Suko as a bat to body those other apes is absolutely gold and based.
“Have you ever been so angry you beat a mf with another mf?”
I fuckin DIED lol
That moment alone had me internally screaming "no way they're going with the Son of Kong with this, oh they did"
It's cute to know that both movie directors base Godzilla's personality on their cats. But now I want to see who the cats in question are.
Godzilla should always be based on some mannerisms of real life animals.
I’ll stand by my belief that the dark serious movies like Shin and Minus One and the goofy monster battles of the Monsterverse can coexist and go hand in hand because of the versatility of the character
They literally do coexist lol
@@BigActionBill in the fandom I mean. People unfortunately are still comparing the monsterverse to -1 which I believe is an unfair comparison considering how different they are
Absolutely. We all like the first film and the serious and not so serious entries over the years. He's still here 70s years on, as is King Kong 01 years on.
What's ironic is how the toho godzilla movies originally ended with the goofy godzilla final wars, and then came back with the super serious 2014 godzilla. With that movie getting praise for bringing back the king of the monsters to a new audience and with such respect and uniqueness.
Now the roles are reversed. That same serious godzilla from 2014 is now in a goofy silly show style movie with king Kong. While Toho came back with the super serious minus one Godzilla. With that movie getting praise for bringing back the king of the monsters to a new audience and with such respect and uniqueness.
@@demspookz8732and they’re perfectly entitled to make that comparison as long as they recognize the innate differences. The world isn’t going to blow up just because one set of fans hates a type of Godzilla movie and another loves all of them, it’s fun learning why people hate this type of movie or why they don’t like Minus One, etc. As long as people aren’t assholes about it, I don’t see the issue.
Saw this movie today in the theater with my dad and a couple friends. While Minus One had me almost pissing myself in fear, New Empire had me almost pissing myself with laughter. It was a great experience that I recommend for anyone to watch with some buddies.
Yep, mad as a box of frogs. Great night out.
Uh, either you have a small bladder or you need to see a doctor my friend.
I interviewed Ray Harryhausen back in 2012, shortly before he passed away. I assure you he HATED Godzilla for the reasons you mention in the video. And yes, I'm sure that Shimo's design is inspired by the Rhedosaurus. I was surprised when people compared her to Anguirus.
Whaaaat, that’s incredible. It’s such an interesting history.
@@BigActionBill Thank you! To elaborate, he said that Warner Bros should have sued back in the day. Anyway, he never was a big fan of the "rampage" movie genre. He always prefered his fantasy-adventure flicks.
Which is a shame because Harryhausen and Tsuburaya were masters of their respective craft and utilized them both to tell some the best stories ever told.
Why I have zero respect for harryhausen and dont watch his films.
@@kaijucifer3544yeah honestly it is really disappointing to see him take that stance.
19:50 "Fun and not dumb, fun and well written that's an option too"
SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!!!
Stfu its dumb af
It would make sense if this movie was dumb. But it is perfectly in line with Japanese Godzilla films prior to Minus One. It is very smartly written if you remember that it was written for Godzilla fans. It’s not fair to call the movie dumb just because you aren’t personally a fan of Godzilla.
1. Dumb is dumb regardless who it is written for.
2. This movie has a similar tone to some showa era movies. You’re omitting like 25 other Godzilla movies that don’t have this dumb or silly style.
3. Don’t tell people they aren’t a fan of a franchise just because they don’t like this soulless slop.
@@ayjay579I’m a huge Godzilla fan who even liked GxK and can easily admit it’s a dumb movie. Stop with the cope my dude, you can like stuff that’s dumb.
@@brandonhickman394 And I do like stuff that is dumb. This movie just doesn’t qualify since it was clearly well thought out and crafted to fit the vibe of Japanese Godzilla films. You can’t pretend you didn’t notice how much work went into making this as close to a Japanese Godzilla film as possible. Adam Wingard is clearly a fan of the franchise and knew what he was doing with this movie. There’s nothing dumb about that
I honestly think if Shimo was just as cruel as Scar King then she would have undermined him. Scar King ends up sticking out better as a more effective villain. The idea that he's able to enslave a Titan stronger than him is what makes him dangerous. His intelligence and cruelty.
I agree I also agree with Bill that perhaps Skar should have gotten to the earth proper sooner and perhaps more of the earths climate could have been effected? Wouldn't have been too hard to have some news anchor talk about plants dying around the world and oxygen levels dropping dangerously
true! I would still like if Shimo was just an evil or at least sort of mindless beast. Love the design regardless, looks sick.
@@BigActionBill I do get ya. I avoided spoilers and thought she was gonna be some beast.
Thank you for continuously making thorough videos! Love the channel.
He definitely tricked Shimo into serving him, before resorting to mind control.
Kong pulling out the ol' pocket sand had me rolling
Godzilla needed a little more screen time. However, the body and facial language the monsters had told the story perfectly.
Wym Godzilla got a lot of screen time though, from fighting syclla to fighting that other monster in the ocean to fighting kong and even sleeping 2 times 😂
@@jakellwaites king got way more screen time. He got more screen time in the last movie. I’m a Godzilla fan.
Quality over quantity, we got some fantastic godzilla scenes
@@Godzilla00X KOTM was a better film
Godzilla’s mood was “I’m too old for this shit and I won’t take any more BS from anyone”.
I liked that Tiamat appeared but then she was sushied
And then Scylla was turned into prawn seafood
Lowkey kinda hate that they got treated as fodder
@@bakl3467 now they are gone forever
i feel this should ahve been a two parter, first part introducing the bad guys and having both Kong and Godzilla trying and failing to stop them by themselves leading to the next where Kong gets his Power Glove and Godzilla gets juiced and then they team up.
This movie just cemented the idea that Godzilla is too strong for his own universe. That's why he's barely in it.
As someone who had a blast with the film, I also never really bought the threat of Scar King or Shimo. Like in their first fight Kong beats Scar King and he has to cheat with Shimo. Yet I knew in the final fight Shimo would be fighting Godzilla who was juicing the whole time! It never really seemed like they had a chance. Ghidorah had a real air of menace about him
Adam wingard right now looks like he's been in hollow earth too long and looking like a king kong himself 🦍
"Felt like a MCU film"
Those are words I hoped to NEVER hear about a Godzilla movie.
Yeah well I'm not going to see it then. Marvel sucks and comic books suck in general. Sad to see American Godzilla go down the path of crummy Marvel movies. Sad but entirely predictable.
What? Monster verse definitely hopped that wagon, just look at those post credit scenes
Precisely what I knew was going to happen. This is why the US shouldn't handle Godzilla
@@m.valdivia8048Hmm…that’s something that Doctor Skipper would say.
@@m.valdivia8048 do you think godzilla is public domain in the us? Are you dr skipper? lol jk
This is my favorite RUclipsr review so far. Thank you for sharing your unfiltered opinion!
I'm a little sad that Godzilla feels like an underwritten character. I'm just glad he finally has a bed. :)
Very well said. I remember sitting in a theater in 1998 and even at that young age, I had the thought that this might be the only time in my lifetime I get to watch a Godzilla movie and a movie theater - so I will never complain about more Godzilla content
That being said, I loved the tone of something like Godzilla 2014, the Monarch show, or especially KOTM. I know Wingard is a big fan like us, but I personally hope they let another Director have a go at the Monsterverse.
I really enjoyed this film but once again like GvK Godzilla didn’t have enough screen time, they focus way too much on Kong and Godzilla feels like a secondary character in his own movie, basically he only appears when needed and I don’t like that, I’d like to see Godzilla in his down time too not just Kong’s
A titan being cast into Hollow Earth by Godzilla and being The Devil to his God.
That was the perfect setup for Destoroyah.
Ya know, Shimo did remind me of Titanosaurus but I'm glad she got to live and this movie was both fun and interesting to see the humans were lively without being annoying. Hell, even Jia's scene with Andrew's towards the end almost had me tearing up, so this was a banger of a Kaiju movie to me.
In regards to the "It's supposed to be dumb and fun" crowd, I have a feeling most of them don't have a lot of familiarity with Godzilla outside of the goofy memes and the MST3K episode of Godzilla vs. Megalon. That, and some of the Showa era went from being the pulpy sci-fi of the time (watch old episodes of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, or Lost in Space, shows that were seriously written but the sensibilities didn't always age to match the modern sensibilities) to being written for children. In other words, there's a lack of knowledge of the era, and a lack of knowledge of the history.
But the Heisei era was definitely interested in telling more human-focused stories, and I feel like flicks like Godzilla vs. Biollante were the pinnacle of achieving that.
It's a shame and frustrating, but I do think there's a lot of people that just don't have that familiarity with the series that are involved in the conversation.
You have the best take when it comes to the “fans vs critics” thing that’s been going on with this movie. It’s been frustrating seeing how fans react to the critical reception. I just think everyone needs to calm down and I like how you see the poor defenses of the movie. Very nuanced perspective.
In his fight with Kong, he doesn’t really get knocked out. He’s stunned for a moment, like how Kong got dazed after the suplex. Even if he was knocked out, I don’t know if Kong could’ve done enough damage to kill him before he woke up. When you think of all the punishment Godzilla took from MG and survived with pretty much no permanent damage.
I think the pink form is fine looking, but nothing they did made it feel more powerful. All his breath did was simply push Shimo.
I agree I don’t think godzilla was knocked out, I think when kong hit godzilla with the fully loaded axe did more damage than the gauntlet barrage. I also agree I don’t think kong could have killed godzilla if he keep going or was” serious “ people seem to forget that 1. godzilla takes nukes to the head and survives 2. Godzilla got dropped from the stratosphere and survived 3. He survived the fully loaded axe and 4 he survived the beating he took by mecha G so saying kong could have killed the big G if he really wanted to is none sense.. with the axe maybe but I didn’t see anything that would make me think the gauntlet is more powerful than the axe.. still enjoyed the fight ! Seeing Kong drag godzilla by the tail was great ! I also loved seeing Godzilla suplex kong was great too.
As much as I liked his Evolved Form, it was a letdown that he didn't use any new powers for it other than changing the color of his Atomic Breath.
I heard somewhere that pink is the highest color in the radiation spectrum and that was the justification. I don’t mind it, it kinda grew on me after a while, but I would like them to go back to the classic blue while keeping the extra spikes they added (the stegosaurus spikes added to Godzilla’s tail was an addition I didn’t know I wanted and I’d like to see that come back again).
Violet has the highest frequency on the electromagnetic spectrum. Pink is just a combination of violet and red. Remember ROY G BIV?
@@Noneofyourbusiness2000 Appreciate the clarification. I think Violet would’ve been a better choice in this regard. Afraid I don’t recall ever once hearing the Roy g biv song, no. But I get what you’re talking about
@@alexkogan9755 Really? I think that's like middle school science class. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. It wasn't a song, just a pneumonic device.
Actually, Wingard said it was just because pink was his favorite color.
@@kcewing1 Huh… well okay.
I was fine with this movie being more about Kong than Godzilla. Big G rarely cares about anything more than fucking shit up or fighting. My boy is a force of nature and I love him for it.
The facial expressions of the Kaiju are amazing. They are real characters. Everything seems a little bit rushed, though, even the fights. It feels like a good chunk have been left in the cutting room floor. However, I would be lying if I didn't say that I had a blast. I would say this is the most enjoyable Monsterverse movie by far (and I'm one of those people who loved KOTM and was heavily dissapointed by GvK).
I felt that this curbstomped GvK. This was fun from the go and the human story was more than tolerable. Jia and Kong's connection was a delight as was seeing Kong find his people and liberate them. He is now truly King Kong.
Godzilla's story in this was good. While he was an antagonistic force like in GvK, he wasn't a smug asshole about it. He was just doing what he had to do in order to get ready for Shimo and the Scar King. I absolutely adored seeing him nap in the Colosseum before and after. Seeing him and Kong's teamwork during the last fight was great. Him jumping off the Rock of Gibraltar was so over the top I couldn't help but be slack jawed.
As of now, my ranking for the Monsterverse is: 2019, GxK, Skull Island, 2014, GvK.
ngl i confused tiamat (the eel like kaiju godzilla fights in the arctic) for manda, i thought it was a callback to godzilla final wars
Tiamat is basically just Monsterverse Manda, and the filmmakers knew it, as the submarine scene felt like a clear homage to Manda vs the Gotengo.
Manda lol
@@iap7597 The second she came out of her lair to challenge Godzilla, her entire body was glowing for a few seconds, sort like how Manda's body was in flames from the magma just like in Final Wars.
My main complaints with this film: There was too many conveniences, like the beast glove that just happened to be 5 minutes away and also happening to have frostbite serum that can cure him just made me groan. There is waaay too many instances of characters explaining things that are happening on screen, and it takes away from the spectacle. For example, I remember Mothra swooped in to help, and Bernie was like "Yeah! she's protecting the portals!" while she was doing so on screen. My dad leaned over to me and whispered, "no shit." He said that a lot during the movie. Like, "Godzilla's charging up on radiation." - "No shit!" That arm looks bad "no shit!" Speaking of Bernie, I never was a fan of him in Godzilla vs Kong, but he just got worse in this movie, at least for me, his jokes felt extremely forced. There was also plot conveniences that were extremely jarring, like the beast glove that just happened to be 5 minutes away and also happening to have frostbite serum is just made me groan. The soundtrack was mediocre as well, it felt too artificial. I know it's supposed to sound synthwave-y and 80s inspired, but the parts that were supposed to very climactic and orchestral sounded hollow and soulless, they need to get a real orchestra. I think Tom Holkenberg/Junkie XL shouldn't make any more of the Monsterverse soundtracks. The themes for each of the returning Kaiju just sound like Walmart brand ripoff versions of their classic themes that change a few notes, at least go with something creative and not so generically mcu sounding. Also, I think for the next Monsterverse movie we need a new director. I think I've seen enough of Wingard's directing and want a fresh, new visual style and color pallete. Thats about all I had a problem with, besides Shimo coming in too late and Godzilla feeling like a side character. My least favorite of the Monsterverse, but I still enjoyed it.
Even thought it’s clearly a Kong film with a bit of Godzilla fan service thrown in I still loved it. They really heard all the criticism people had about GvsK and then improved on every aspect that worked.
The human plot was the best in the MV maybe aside from Kong: Skull Island, it did a good job at guiding the audience into what the world is at this point, then followed the plot without ever taking away from the real stars of the show.
I still have to wait to let it sink in, but at the moment I’m really happy with the movie.
I can respect your opinions here except the fact that I do not think Minus One and GXK can be compared and anyone doing so is being disingenuous
There’s nothing wrong with comparing them. I did it in this video. Both Godzilla were based off cats. See? We’re still here, the world didn’t blow up. In my history videos I compare plenty of movies that are different. Hell I compared a serious drama(shoplifters) to this movie despite them being tonal opposites because they shared a theme. As long as you acknowledge the innate differences or what each movie was going for, I don’t see an issue. Sometimes you don’t even need to that because it’s so obvious you’re talking about very different movies.
The movie feels like it was gonna be a standalone Kong movie that had the Godzilla stuff bolted on later in the writing process. Really needed to open on a prologue sequence to set up Scar King and Shimo. Maybe have them killing one of the ancient Godzillas, something.
Kong did not knock out Godzilla. As soon as Kong stopped punching Godzilla, Kong grabbed Godzilla's tail. But Godzilla's tail began to light up. He begins firing his beam at Kong while he ran behind the pyramids.
Thank you for this review. I enjoy all your content, and I agree with you the fun part of these movies is the comparing and contrasting of the different styles of how one way worked while another way didn't. Thank you and keep up the awesome work sir.
Hey Bill!
Can’t speak for everyone but I genuinely value your opinion when it comes to anything related to our beloved Goji. I was actually looking forward to this vid since midnight Friday lol. But seriously, considering the lengths you’ve gone to making all your ‘history of’ videos I respect your analysis on these films and find them pleasantly honest and objective. Thanks as always for the content sir. See u in the next one.
When you look at 2014 its hard to think that these two films are in the same canon. Everything that 2014 has going for it, this movie doesnt. The careful dedication to scale and the effect on humans is completely absent. Physics be damned, the monsters in GxK will do whatever the script wants them to do.
That being said, for anyone who thinks it can only be one way or the other, I think the first Pacific Rim is a great example of a monster film that has everything 2014 has (scale, physics, human element/effect) but also is more silly/fun tone and action heavy.
You can do both.
I absolutely loved this film, easily my all time favorite giant monster movie. I love the goofy tone, the monsters all being super expressive/anthropomorphic, the late Showa vibe combined with an 80s B-movie, etc. It was the perfect package for me, and I had an absolute blast watching this in the theater. For Minus One I had been satisfied while watching the film for sure, but man with this film, I was basically bouncing my leg up and down the whole time out of excitement XD
I also wanted to say, it’s interesting that early in the video you had mentioned how you had already gotten what you wanted out of the Monsterverse, and this was just seeing what else they’ve doing. For me it was opposite, I hadn’t been truly satisfied by anything the Monsterverse had done so far. I thought 2014 was boring and heavily lacked the monsters, K:SI was solid, I genuinely dislike KOTM, and GvK felt like the first step in what for me personally was the right direction. GxK felt like the home run that I had wanted, and I’m happy to finally see that.
King Ghidorah did give a hint that there COULD be other titans from outer space, so that would be a nice way to continue the Monsterverse in terms of having another movie. Heck the Oxygen Destroyer prototype failing to kill Ghidorah but came close to killing Godzilla would be a good way to end the Monsterverse with Destoroyah.
That's personally what I'd like to see.
The 2019 oxygen destroyer was different from the original. In the original movie, Godzilla completely disintegrated. But with the 2019, it just made Godzilla weak. So clearly the 2019 canister was completely different from the original canister.
@@briandecarlo1847 I'm aware of that. I was only talking about the prototype Oxygen Destroyer in the Monsterverse. Also if the prototype made Godzilla pretty weak, I'd imagine that the real deal could've killed him.
@@briandecarlo1847 It's a narrative device, it doesn't have to be the same.
God bless you too sir! And Happy Easter!Loved the review!
I desperately hope that we get a solo Godzilla movie with another Toho monster, I was left starving with the amount of screentime Goji had here lol
Whenever they make another monsterverse movie, because of course they will, Godzilla’s next upgrade should be better eyesight. His aim with his atomic breath is like an old man in a bathroom.
Super frustrating seeing him get all powered up just to destroy everything but the titan he’s fighting
Big Action Bill you are truly the king of Godzilla, Dman1954 doesn't have anything on you.
I do like how you've mentioned that the movie is compared to a "video game" for certain points because it felt like Godzilla himself was basically spending most of his scenes level grinding where he's defeating enemies in his path left and right, getting stronger, and gains a MacGuffin-esque power-up (his metamorphosis) in an RPG before facing off against the most powerful and difficult boss.
To quote my 4yr old son “this was the best movie ever”
The IMAX theater we saw the movie was mixed of adult and children and they were all glued to the film especially with the fights. Say what you want “dumb fun” or whatever this is the start of a young generation of Godzilla/Kaiju fans.
I get appreciating the more serious tones Godzilla can bring - hell, Minus One is going to go down as one of my favorite movies ever - but I think people saying there was "no story" or "no character arcs" in this movie aren't giving due credit to the script.
Beyond just Gia and Kong finding family, you have Gia and her adoptive mother choosing found family over cultural heritage. By contrast, Kong chooses to become a leader among his own culture and sort of adopts Suko, too. Gia stays with what she knows, Kong goes into a bold new role as a leader versus a loner.
As more of a Godzilla fan, yeah, I wish Godzilla did more and had a larger impact. I can agree with that criticism. But I don't think that it's fair to ignore the Kong storyline and contrast just because the Godzilla portion could have been executed better. Comparatively to even G vs K, where the humans were comically evil, this film did have a heart and message via Gia and Kong. Monsters in these movies can be the heart of things too, and I think Wingard finally got that down via Kong this time.
I'm just gonna say this, the reason why most fans say you can enjoy both is to shut down those newcomer people that just praise godzilla minus one and shit on the monsterverse now not releasing godzilla can be both things. and its not fun to compare both movies because you can't, it would like comparing apples to oranges. both movies are great in their own ways and everyone is going to their preference on which movie they like better.
THANK YOU!! So glad that I’m not the only one who thought about a lot of what you said! Everything about your thoughts on Shimo, Skar King, and Godzilla treatment!
I’d love to see Godzilla in the Monsterverse get real justice and respect like he did in KOTM without Kong!
I loved the movie for what it was: dumb fun. Godzilla suplexing Kong off a Pyramid after diving off of a mountain was just wild.
It could have benefitted from 15-20 more minutes to give the action sequences more breathing room. Especially the final fight, which was way too short for this supposedly existential threat to the titans and mankind. You could almost get whiplash from the way we tear through the story. Every Godzilla seemed to only last 30 seconds or so.
Also, a lot of the scenes would have looked way better at night (see mkst kf the earlier movies). Gman vs Scylla just looked it could have used another month or so of work on the finer details, which would have been well hidden by the darkness of night.
But my main gripe was something you mentioned as well. The lack of scale. I miss the human shots from G14 and KotM, just as much as I miss the weight in their movement.
After this i am ready for a new director and a new approach. Something more akin to what G14 looked like. Godzilla should be a force of nature, a "god for all intents and purposes" (G14), not whatever this was.
I know it sounds like i diskliked the movie, but i still found myself enjoying it a lot, despite some glaring problems.
I like that Monsterverse doesn't feel embarrassed about it's origins. This movie especially feels like it wouldn't be out of place in the late Showa era. Godzilla himself is arguably the most versatile actor (i don't know if that fits lol), he can either be something deep, thematic, and tragic. Yet at the same time, he can also be goofy, fun, and energetic. Both spectrum are really entertaining. Can't wait for the future installments of Godzilla
I sometimes forget I started subbing to you because of Jets videos , love the Godzilla videos though
One of my earliest fondest memories as a three year old in the 70s, I remember thinking that the T-Rex skeleton at the museum and Godzilla were the same thing. A giant monster that fights other monsters. I’ve been a fan ever since.
I really liked the smug swagger of scar king in the first scene with him, I do think he was under used though
That final rant was greatly needed, well done.
My son and I watched the movie and he absolutely loved it! We also did a reaction/ SPOILER review if you can give us a view we’d really appreciate it 💙
@@SammysCamera Good luck, but don't spam the comments section.
Thank you bill, i have watched the film twice. Enjoyed it both times. But i do agree with allot of your points. I wanted more out of the film even though i enjoyed what we got. The way i see it, Godzilla has something for everyone. I enjoy both the silly and the serious aspects of godzilla.
My only problem with this film was the fact Godzilla was once against put to the side mostly, but hopefully we'll be getting a Godzilla 3 soon. As for the silly tone, I love it because it doesn't go down to stupid levels like Godzilla Vs Gigan or. . . . Godzilla's revenge (YUCK!). After seeing Godzilla in a serious tone once more with Minus one (which I wanted for years), it was good to see his silly side still alive with this film.
I got what I wanted out of it - honestly, it felt to me just like an old Showa film, even if there were a few clunky moments and heavy exposition dumps. Was really happy that they brought back Mothra. Hopefully that means the Monsterverse are considering licensing more Toho monsters down the line, though tbh I actually really dug the Scar King and Shimo. Scar King was one sadistic motherfucker while Shimo was cool (heh) and looked like something which could have easily been designed by Toho. Excited to see where they try and take things from here.
Seeing it in a few hours, I can’t wait!!!! Gonna come right back here when I’m done
Thank you for the review. I haven't seen it yet, but I really wanted to hear your take on the movie. Whole different topic here, how do we get The Criterion Collection to do another set of Godzilla, like the Heisi era? Any ideas? I really liked most all of Godzilla movies, but each for a different reason. I love to discuss Godzilla with my friends. I got Steve Ryfle's book on Godzilla and it was interesting. Thanks for that idea.
Thanks for the review bill, now let me say this, I was having so much fun with this movie. Couldn’t stop smiling, Mithras return awesome! Now is it dumb, really dumb yes but it was fun so thumbs up cause I had a good time
Hey Bill, saw this in Westbury again and while I agree with your critique, I still think it’s a matter of taste, and bottom line is we should all be happy that we have a character that we all love that is very versatile, because there is not just one kind of Godzilla movie it really does broaden the whole spectrum on what they could do with him as a character. My two cents and please keep them videos coming.
Yo bro when you first went to see the movie did you manage to get one of the cup toppers those things are really hard to get online.
Nice. Solid arguments all around. It dose take all godzilla fans to come together and support our giant lizard. I'm glad we have channels like these.
As soon as you said why is he pink....SS Rose' came to my mind. As I was about to say it, you did.
3:55 - Hey, you're right! Thanks for pointing that out, I felt vaguely nostalgic about the Titan, Shemo, but didn't know why. Something "Mighty Mightor" from a 60's cartoon (Korgg in Mojo-Jojo face riding a Dinosaur) is what I was thinking, especially Scar King riding Shemo into battle. Also, Kong's 'Tarzan' vibes, and "Lil' Kong" having some Teenager/Gollum energy going on as well kind of made me reminisce about my childhood entertainments. This is as good as those Saturday Morning Cartoons were back in the day. A very worthy addition to the overall Godzilla AND Kong Franchises. I Loved it!
I know personally that this movie a bit of a disappointment. That first trailer with Scar King on the throne with skulls representing Godzilla and Kong’s respective species made him seem an enemy that would be testing G and K to their limits. Then the promos hinting that he was so strong that Godzilla had to power up. So I was expecting an adversary on the lines like Destroyah….not someone who only lasted a few minutes into a fight. So Disappointing.
Big Action Bill I got a 2 parter for ya.
1. Do you think Minus One’s durability is any less than Showa G’s or do you think he is the same and Minus One just uses the pre established lore to find a unique way of taking Godzilla down?
2. Do you think MV Goji is just as strong as Heisei and this is just an updated version of him or is Heisei Goji physically stronger due to the way he threw MG2? Or is the way he threw MG2 just a limitation of the suitmation?
I really wished Rodan at least show an attempt to make it to the final epic battle to decide the fate of our world y'know?
Great first review Bill and I agree. I thought Godzilla would get beat by Shimo at first and be villainous, totally wasn't expecting her to be peaceful. I thought the human characters were handled much better than GvK and the kaiju character moments were great too. The threats in this installment definitely could have been executed as well as having a better soundtrack but I still enjoyed it. I'd put it at number 3 with GvK and Kotm at 1 and 2
Bill, I do wanna correct something that you keep saying.
"Godzilla sensed scar king"
That is incorrect. It is explained towards the end that the signal that gia is receiving is a signal that the ewi are sending to Godzilla to request help because they know scarking is coming. hearing that signal sends Godzilla on a powerup rampage in which he is preparing for war.
Mhm I’m literally going off the top of my head, this isn’t meant to be a documentary lol
@@BigActionBill oh I wasn't meaning to come across as that..... I apologize if I did.
I just wanted to remind you of that bit.
But then there is the question why and how godzilla knew how powerful the threat was.
They told that Godzilla put Scar King into Hollow Earth by his own, so even if the Iwi signal meant specifically that threat, there is no reason for Godzilla to act that way.
As Bill said, if there was an initial confrontation which Godzilla barely lost, then it would make more sense.
I loved this movie, ill be rewatching this over and over for years
I agree that this is probably my least favorite of the Monsterverse movies. It had some good moments that I enjoyed, especially Kong using the Baby Kong as a weapon that was incredible. But over all I also didn't have real high expectations and I wasn't surprised in watching the movie. It was fine. It also really felt like a Kong movie with Godzilla being more of a cameo.
Feel like the movie would’ve been better if it was just Kong and Mothra without constantly cutting back to Goji powering up constantly. Would have been more climatic
I really don't like the "no one cares about humans" sentiment from the modern Godzilla fandom.
Tokusatsu or monster movies are at it's best when it does social or human condition commentary through the lens of fantasy or science fiction. It doesn't have to be "grim and dark" but look to something like Ultraseven, Ultraman Tiga or even GMK on how to do this right.
I feel like im on the same boat as you lol. The monsterverse already gave me my fixes ( especially with KOTM and GVK) not to mention Shin and MInus one, I was all set. So I basically saw this film as a dessert to a nice satisfying meal. Like you said its really fun to talk about these kinds of movies and compare but the problem at least to me is people are expecting another minus one which this movie clearly isnt . And also the fact that people will not shut up blindly praise the movie is hypocritical, this movie is not perfect. Like Im fine I like both silly and serious goji thats just a me thing and I was surprise my girlfriend ended up liking both Minus one and GXK as well lol . Yeah but anyways always a treat to watch a new Godzilla movie and Big Action Bill vid on the same day.
Oh man, it was so fun to see
Your thoughts are VERY similar to mine: the first half was decently engaging, but the back half was pretty underwhelming and unimpactful. Nice to see at least one Godzilla RUclipsr that isn’t doing the whole ‘shut your brain off’ thing. Nothing wrong with criticizing the film, especially cause for a ‘big dumb turn your brain off’ movie, the final battle wasn’t very gripping.
Really hope they switch directors for the next film, cause Wingard’s style just ain’t it for me
13:32 the Godzilla that ate a star and imprisoned scar King.
Is not “our” Godzilla. That is a past Godzilla from his species.
At least that’s how I understood it.
There were too many damn giant snakes in this. And no weight to motion. But glad Mothta is back.
Hi Bill, what kaiju game are you showing in this video? Pls help, i want to play this 😁😁😁
Godzilla ps4. You'll have to get it off ebay.
Not gonna lie I was half expecting Antonio to show up in the Iwi crystal lair shouting "Wake up! Megalon!"
Probably would've made me like the movie a bit more too.
I saw it yesterday and I was thoroughly entertained
Some scenes needed to be a bit longer, the scene where Godzilla reunited with Mothra and suddenly his beef with Kong is gone, they showed us the titans can basically talk and understand one another, so that scene should have been longer of Godzilla and Kong bantering slightly before putting their differences aside, also the ending, would have loved to see Mothra joining Godzilla in the surface and cuddling up on him using her wings like a blanket, skar king needed a bit more to him, like he’s evil, but why, what made him like that, a fully animated scene of him finding the crystal and waging his war on Godzilla’s species could have added at least 20 minutes to the run time and would have been great
Is there a Megalon in the Hollow earth or what?
I loved this movie so much! Godzilla and kong were such a badass
From what I’ve heard there’s a theory that shimo and scar king aren’t the big threat Godzilla was prepping for, he’s supposedly prepping for an even bigger that’s supposed to be in a future film. Not sure how much weight that holds (if any) but it makes the movie make more sense to me
I saw the movie on Thursday & I thought it was good...ish. I was hoping for more Godzilla & when they mentioned waking Mothra, I was expecting a US version of the Shobijin. I think this film will go well with the kids though.
My biggest gripe with the film was the pacing. It felt like everything happened a bit too fast, especially the ending after the final battle. It was as if they just wanted to tell their story but didn't really have the time to do so. The movie might have needed an extra 30 min to an hour to pace things out a bit better.
Also, Godzilla's fights versus Scylla and Tiamat were so short. Meanwhile, when Kong was facing the Lake Serpent they did a 2014: cut away and ended the battle off-screen with him suddenly having won.
At least the human characters felt better written in this movie than in the last, but still with an odd ending.
As for the main kaiju:
*Kong:* I like what they did with it, but I don't care for Kong as a main character. I watch a Godzilla movie for Godzilla. It is him and his tale I wish to follow. But none the less, you could clearly tell what Kong was thinking or saying thanks to his body language, which is probably one reasons why they chose the great big ape as he is closer to humans, which makes it easier to get an emotional attachment to the character.
*Godzilla:* At first, when the first trailers came out, I was not a fan of his new design. Now, knowing how he reached it, I actually like it. The only thing I dislike is that the glow is pure pink. If anything it should have been purple like Shin Godzilla's, since then it would have been a true combination of Godzilla's power with Tiamat's. I have to ask though... who thought it would be a good idea to have Godzilla jump of a cliff into the sea? Especially a part of the sea that clearly was not deep enough for him?
*Skar King:* Never liked the name, never liked the design, but as a villain, god is he not likable. He is just a straight up a**hole. I would also have liked to learn more as to why he was so obsessed with taking over the surface. But as a villain, he fit the bill for what he was.
*Shimo:* We needed to learn more of this creature. And yeah, it being evil would probably have put more stakes into it, being able to cause an Ice Age and all. An early fight with Godzilla wouldn't really work here though, unless you made a flashback to a point in time where they did fight eachother for one reason or another. Design wise, this white, icy land-shark could have been more interesting.
*Suko? Mini Kong:* Poor guy, but eh.
*Mothra:* So... apparently Mothra can just be energized into existence using some weird gravity powers... So yeah, there is that. Otherwise, Mothra doing Mothra things. Tis good. No Shobijin though, which I half expected to see.
I didn't mind the power ups and what not.
My issue was how fast they move. They do not look like giant monsters.
Ironically, they felt move like regular sized actors on a miniature set than the situation movies did.
I had a lot of fun with this movie. One thing I'd be interested in seeing are potential prequels that show Godzilla's initial rivalry with Ghidorah and what leads to him buried in the ice. I'd also love to see Godzilla's initial war with Skar King
Just finished godzillaxkong, and it was the best thing I've seen since -1, characters are okay, but everything else was fucking epic. It has dethroned KOTM as my favorite Monsterverse film!
could somebody who watched lmk if there is a post credit scene
Don’t worry, it’s now been confirmed that Evolved Godzilla is temporary as well. Also, the reason why the monsters move very fast is because it’s from their point of view. I do like the idea of Godzilla getting a bit slimmer.
Great day for me, I got my permit, I see Godzilla x Kong, and Bill releases a new video! This day can't get better!
Yo my Brother in Christ, "Monster" is the recent Koreeda movie, sounds like prime kaiju cinema!
Having just seen the movie last night, iirc they do mention Godzilla stopped Scar King and cast him down/out, but it took nearly everything he had to do it so him doing it alone this time probably would have been too much? But yeah considering he and Shimo combined didn't end up being THAT big a threat, it felt like a bit of a let down.
I'm one of the fans who also enjoy the sillier movies myself (well, enjoy is a strong word Godzilla vs Megalon holds a special place in my heart because it was my introduction to Godzilla, something like that haha) so I enjoyed this one as silly as it is, but to be fair I wasn't expecting anything super deep. I could understand why some folks wouldn't jive with this one to be fair, there are aspects to it I wish were better as well tbh and you've pointed them out rather well I think :>
One small detail I noticed with godzilla: the more he used his atomic breath throughout after being super charged, the more blue it had. It seemed like he slowly started to use up all of the energy he got from tiamat.
ooo yeah, and wasn't tiamat sort of pink? Good catch
@@BigActionBill she was! All the energy she gave off had that pinkish color. That was a nice touch that I very much enjoyed
I also notice that maybe the pink energy will eventually run out
Loved the movie. It was a big step up from the others. It was wild and unhinged and a lot of fun. You set out wanting to hate it and you did, what a surprise. Jesus Christ have fun once in a while
The best part of the Monsterverse is that you could always feel just how huge and heavy these creatures were. Unfortunately in GxK, the Hollow Earth backdrop just made them feel smaller and less imposing.
Thor Ragnarok is an interesting example, but more topically I always point to Pacific Rim and Shin Ultraman as movies that can be campy romps without insulting your intelligence like the past two Monsterverse movies. But I agree, can we please kill this "the human characters are always trash, and should never strive to be anything more than packing peanuts for these monster fight vehicles" argument.
Yeah I shouldn’t have used Thor as an example, I like your examples more. Pacific Rim was right on the money.