The Godzilla Thread - Plus other giant monsters, no matter how popular or obscure

[Cubanodun]

I just saw it with my wife today. I loved it, but I cannot ignore some of the plotholes or seemingly missing plotpoints. I will pontificate in a spoiler.

Spoiler: GvK Questions

1. How did tech dude get the Ghidora skull? Did he take it from the Ecoterrorists? Did one of the heads not get completely vaporized in the final confrontation between Big G and Ghidorah?
2. Where did that Serizawa kid come from? What was his motivation to kill G?
3. The Kong throne scene. Yeah it was cool, but how did he know how to do all the things he did?
4. Was Mecha G working under Ghidorah's influence or did it's programming just go haywire?

Overall, despite potholes and some minor "Ugh" moments with some of the human cast moments, I dare say that GvK was my favorite Monsterverse film so far.

Spoiler: Sperging

1) Probably got it by recovery crews or i would not left out bribing guys on Monarch for it
2) He is the son of the science guy of the first legend Movie, probably he wanted revenge because his dad decide to sacrifice himself to revive the big guy
3) they pulled off a assassin creed on that
4) Yes, is a nod to the Kiryu only that one was using the skeleton of the Showa Godzilla instead of Ghidorah

Also barring the netflix version of Mechagodzilla (that was never activated but implied to be super strong) this Mechagodzilla has been the one more close to kill not 1 but 2 kaijus and only plot armor prevented him to do so

Edit: someday i hope America get ballzy and adapt a entire army of Mechagodzillas btfo everything

 

[RumblyTumbly]

I saw it yesterday and it was a blast! Perfect popcorn flick all around and both title monsters were given the spotlight in a huge way.

 

[feral cat #6385]

I was quite impressed by the way that all the characters in this film were able to look at any event or situation, no matter how bizarre or nonsensical, and instantly understand what the hell was going on and deliver exposition about it,

As for the title bout and the winner, what can I say?

Spoiler

I'm glad that King Kong definitively won, as in the original. The early scene aboard the aircraft carrier in which Godzilla narrowly stalemates Kong and they cut the engines to trick him into leaving brilliantly foreshadows the later scene where Kong pretends to lose and slows his heartbeat down to fake his own death. After Mechagodzilla wastes all of his ammo on Godzilla, Kong comes back to easily defeat him and prove that he is the strongest of all monsters. The last scene where Kong puts down the axe but Godzilla is still too afraid to face him again really drives the point home.

Probably good that they made it that subtle, because I couldn't take all the fanboy cope and delusion if Kong had straight-up beaten Godzilla down with his superior primate intellect the way he logically should have. I mean, Godzilla is a cool character too, it's good that he wasn't totally overshadowed.

Spoiler

Kong Didn't win. Godzilla went crocodile mode on his ass and gave him a heart attack. If the humans didn't intervene Kong would have died. Was nice they gave Kong the kill against Mecha Godzilla. Kong was definitely the protagonist of the movie and it was nice seeing him chilling in the hollow earth after all the crap he had been though.

 

[draggs]

I was quite impressed by the way that all the characters in this film were able to look at any event or situation, no matter how bizarre or nonsensical, and instantly understand what the hell was going on and deliver exposition about it,

As for the title bout and the winner, what can I say?

Spoiler

I'm glad that King Kong definitively won, as in the original. The early scene aboard the aircraft carrier in which Godzilla narrowly stalemates Kong and they cut the engines to trick him into leaving brilliantly foreshadows the later scene where Kong pretends to lose and slows his heartbeat down to fake his own death. After Mechagodzilla wastes all of his ammo on Godzilla, Kong comes back to easily defeat him and prove that he is the strongest of all monsters. The last scene where Kong puts down the axe but Godzilla is still too afraid to face him again really drives the point home.

Probably good that they made it that subtle, because I couldn't take all the fanboy cope and delusion if Kong had straight-up beaten Godzilla down with his superior primate intellect the way he logically should have. I mean, Godzilla is a cool character too, it's good that he wasn't totally overshadowed.

That wasnt very cash money of you

 

[Dark Edea]

I was cheering for Godzilla.

Well I mean there was no other option seeing as Gamera isn't around. Gamera would beat them all with one jet engine tied behind his shell.

 

[feral cat #6385]

I was cheering for Godzilla.

Well I mean there was no other option seeing as Gamera isn't around. Gamera would beat them all with one jet engine tied behind his shell.

Kong was a very likeable protagonist. After watching the movie I can appreciate the brutality the black community faces on a daily basis. Taken from his home. Forced to live in captivity. Minding his business, not doing anything and then some powerful authority figure comes and beats him up for no reason. All Kong wanted to do was live life free on his term but the man is always fucking with him. At the end Kong breaks the cycle of violence by refusing to fight the man and gets to go live in his natural habitat.

 

[Dark Edea]

Kong was a very likeable protagonist. After watching the movie I can appreciate the brutality the black community faces on a daily basis. Taken from his home. Forced to live in captivity. Minding his business, not doing anything and then some powerful authority figure comes and beats him up for no reason. All Kong wanted to do was live life free on his term but the man is always fucking with him. At the end Kong breaks the cycle of violence by refusing to fight the man and gets to go live in his natural habitat.

*with 25 hour surveillance and foreigners

 

[Starscreams Cape]

Kong was a very likeable protagonist. After watching the movie I can appreciate the brutality the black community faces on a daily basis. Taken from his home. Forced to live in captivity. Minding his business, not doing anything and then some powerful authority figure comes and beats him up for no reason. All Kong wanted to do was live life free on his term but the man is always fucking with him. At the end Kong breaks the cycle of violence by refusing to fight the man and gets to go live in his natural habitat.

And just as a surprising number of people think these days, it takes a white, female savior to help sooth the savage beast.

 

[feral cat #6385]

And just as a surprising number of people think these days, it takes a white, female savior to help sooth the savage beast.

Kong proved himself to be a man of taste by going for the young Asian(ish) girl. Kong knows to avoid white thots. Kong ain't no simp.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

So I just remembered that Alex Jones had done a review of KOTM saying it's secretly a Christian right-wing movie and I think it's pretty funny enough to share (c'mon, it's Alex Jones), albeit I find it interesting he came to that conclusion.

"I don't know how they got this movie out. Because if you know what you're watching, it's a very Christian movie, extremely anti-Satan. But that's only part of it."

 

[Calandrino]

Kong was a very likeable protagonist. After watching the movie I can appreciate the brutality the black community faces on a daily basis. Taken from his home. Forced to live in captivity. Minding his business, not doing anything and then some powerful authority figure comes and beats him up for no reason. All Kong wanted to do was live life free on his term but the man is always fucking with him. At the end Kong breaks the cycle of violence by refusing to fight the man and gets to go live in his natural habitat.

King Kong (1933) is a metaphor for the King Kong franchise. The original is one of the greatest films there ever was. Kong was perfectly fine living and dying in it, his tragic tale complete. However, the assorted Carl Denhams of the world keep dragging him out of his natural environment and into sequels, remakes, TV shows and crossovers to make a quick buck.

 

[Swiss46]

Fights were fun. There was no monke flip. 7/10 needs more monke flip.

 

[Urbanmech]

only issue I got with the movie is MechaG's design seems off putting. It just looks more like a toy than a giant robot and that's not even when comparing it to Kiryu.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Awwww yeaaaah the prequel comics have come in. Gonna read them right now, will update my thoughts when I'm done.

 

[Akumaten]

I initially went in wanting Godzilla to win. While Godzilla obviously won the battle, King Kong won hearts.
I thought Kong was going to his home to get an Super Saiyan powerup, but got a Dramon killer.
I liked the Kong side humans than the Godzilla side.

 

[Kari Kamiya]

Alright, my thoughts on the comics, starting with Kingdom Kong.

First off, I'm actually mad I had to wait a week for these comics to be shipped to me, because this one actually has the backstory behind the storm and an actual motive as to why Kong had to go to the Hollow Earth.

Spoiler

King Ghidorah's storm cell lasted for two years (so the prequel here is taking place in 2021), but then it changed direction and headed for Skull Island. It ended up merging with Skull Island's storm system. They were evacuating the Iwi people when it was happening, but I guess they didn't make it in time. The Iwi people, however, prophesied this with Camazotz.

And then there's Kong being stated to not really belong on Skull Island. Skull Island's ecosystem is believed to be the closest it gets to what the Hollow Earth actually is, but Kong's species was never intended to remain on the island.

I honestly have a feeling the art is definitely just manipulated photographs 'cause it's just too good, but if it was all hand-drawn and there were no photo-shoots done of the human cast, hat's off to you, Zid. Kong and Camazotz and the other monsters really are bloody amazing, so if you have a beautiful grasp on human anatomy that everyone's distinguishable from each other and have no off-model moments, you knocked it out of the park, man. Legit, a lot of these pages could be printed out and framed on the wall, and the nightmare/PTSD sequences are really cool to see. Imagining it in motion gives off arthouse vibes, and God I wish we saw more Skull Island in the movie. It's such a beautiful setting.

If I have to grouse about something, it's about the character of Tam, one of Audrey's comrades who may be her best friend or something, I dunno, they were close. She feels guilt for letting her squadron get wiped out by Camazotz, for one thing, but Tam had been in a coma since then. Thing is, it seems to be implied Tam may be an enbie (despite clearly looking like a woman with an androgynous look) because "them" pronouns were used whenever Audrey and the others brought Tam up. I don't know how intentional this was or if "them" was being used as a placeholder by Marie Anello (the writer) to figure out if Tam should be a man or a woman but never made up her mind. Maybe they were spooked about having possible lesbians in it or something, I have no clue, but it's a gut reaction I didn't like.

Script otherwise is fine, honestly, it can be easily ignored despite the human drama element that is the focus.

To end if off here, final page shows a member of Kong's kind getting his ass handed to him by someone of Godzilla's species.

Also I don't know why Arthur Adams, the cover-art guy, gave Kong what looks like mange when he has no such thing going on with him in-story. No clumps of fur were ripped out in the climatic battle, for instance. Just weird.

Godzilla Dominion is different. Like by a lot. It's really cool 'cause we're following Godzilla going through his territory, but he's actually searching for a new home since his lair was blown up. Art by Drew Edward Johnson (who also did Aftershock) is dynamic with a lot of bolded lines, and Godzilla is just majestic-looking in a lot of panels. Narration is third-person and rather flowery in language since in a way, Godzilla and the earth (mainly the seas) share like a bond of sorts and the narration has to explain that. He feels everything, understands how it's hurting and such. Kinda psychedelic at times with the art, too.

Spoiler

So we do see more Titans, and the first is Scylla, who went mad from hunger and tried to feed on a nuclear submarine. Godzilla pimp slaps her and tells her to get back in line or else, so she does.

This panel's pretty funny:

There was a new Titan, Amhuluk, was beating Behemoth's face in on top of breaking off a tusk and an arm over resources, so Godzilla interferes and makes them go back to what they were doing.

Did... did Atlantis build Godzilla's lair????

Turns out blowing up the lair opened up a hole to the Hollow Earth.

"Fuck off, Xiphactinus gnat."

"Oh, goddamn it, fuck!"

"Now piss off! Fucking hell!"

This is a beautiful moment, my camera can't quite capture it very well:

Moth wife gave him the ability to hear the sky and moon when she died. It's unknown how permanent this is, though, but I think it's super sweet.

Based off of the narrative, Monarch pissed him off trying to I think capture another Titan, Na Kika, who just wanted to go back to sleep, so he wrecked one of the outposts as a warning to not fuck around.

And when he found himself another lair, he chased out the Titan Tiamat from it. (Btw, according to Wikizilla Amhuluk and Tiamat were actually name-dropped in KOTM, but I don't know if it was on a monitor or in the novelization--probably the latter, Greg Keyes wrote it and the script for Dominion.)

So like compared to Kingdom Kong, it's rather straightforward and doesn't have much of a story to it. It's just really cool to see what he does on a regular basis, and get a good idea what was going on prior to the events of GvK, though I don't know the exact timeline of this like with Kingdom Kong. Maybe roughly the same time, but probably shortly after Kong got put into that dome since no one responded to his challenge just before the sea dragon attacked. Unless it was a different island the Kong species used to inhabit.

Overall, bit of a surreal read, but it's still cool to see the King doing what he does best.

So yeah, recommend picking these up if you want some neat monster action. Couldn't show everything, just so you know, and I'm sure there's better-looking moments I haven't shown, these were just the ones I liked.

 

[Dang Woodchucks!]

So the final battle is basically

Spoiler

"Reject modernity, return to monke" in the most literal sense.

... awesome!

 

[Lodoss Warrior]

Finally watched it: ah, this takes me back to the good old days of unpretentious action films! What a joy it was watching a fun film that gets to the point while not being snidely self-aware.

Spoiler: Spoiler Stuff I Liked

I'm a Godzilla guy, so I was very vindicated to see the big boy dunk the monkey after the training wheels came off. Also, this might be the first time MechaGodzilla ended up being really cool--yeah I said it, SpaceGodzilla was always the more interesting clone! It helps that they essentially made him Ghidorah 2.0.

But yeah, most fun I've had in the big screen since King of Monsters. That film is still probably the best of the Legendary series, because I felt it had better established stakes and a more impactful human element, but this was a nice follow-up.

 

[RumblyTumbly]

Alright, my thoughts on the comics, starting with Kingdom Kong.

First off, I'm actually mad I had to wait a week for these comics to be shipped to me, because this one actually has the backstory behind the storm and an actual motive as to why Kong had to go to the Hollow Earth.

Spoiler

King Ghidorah's storm cell lasted for two years (so the prequel here is taking place in 2021), but then it changed direction and headed for Skull Island. It ended up merging with Skull Island's storm system. They were evacuating the Iwi people when it was happening, but I guess they didn't make it in time. The Iwi people, however, prophesied this with Camazotz.
View attachment 2065509

And then there's Kong being stated to not really belong on Skull Island. Skull Island's ecosystem is believed to be the closest it gets to what the Hollow Earth actually is, but Kong's species was never intended to remain on the island.
View attachment 2065514

I honestly have a feeling the art is definitely just manipulated photographs 'cause it's just too good, but if it was all hand-drawn and there were no photo-shoots done of the human cast, hat's off to you, Zid. Kong and Camazotz and the other monsters really are bloody amazing, so if you have a beautiful grasp on human anatomy that everyone's distinguishable from each other and have no off-model moments, you knocked it out of the park, man. Legit, a lot of these pages could be printed out and framed on the wall, and the nightmare/PTSD sequences are really cool to see. Imagining it in motion gives off arthouse vibes, and God I wish we saw more Skull Island in the movie. It's such a beautiful setting.

If I have to grouse about something, it's about the character of Tam, one of Audrey's comrades who may be her best friend or something, I dunno, they were close. She feels guilt for letting her squadron get wiped out by Camazotz, for one thing, but Tam had been in a coma since then. Thing is, it seems to be implied Tam may be an enbie (despite clearly looking like a woman with an androgynous look) because "them" pronouns were used whenever Audrey and the others brought Tam up. I don't know how intentional this was or if "them" was being used as a placeholder by Marie Anello (the writer) to figure out if Tam should be a man or a woman but never made up her mind. Maybe they were spooked about having possible lesbians in it or something, I have no clue, but it's a gut reaction I didn't like.

Script otherwise is fine, honestly, it can be easily ignored despite the human drama element that is the focus.

To end if off here, final page shows a member of Kong's kind getting his ass handed to him by someone of Godzilla's species.
View attachment 2065531

Also I don't know why Arthur Adams, the cover-art guy, gave Kong what looks like mange when he has no such thing going on with him in-story. No clumps of fur were ripped out in the climatic battle, for instance. Just weird.

Godzilla Dominion is different. Like by a lot. It's really cool 'cause we're following Godzilla going through his territory, but he's actually searching for a new home since his lair was blown up. Art by Drew Edward Johnson (who also did Aftershock) is dynamic with a lot of bolded lines, and Godzilla is just majestic-looking in a lot of panels. Narration is third-person and rather flowery in language since in a way, Godzilla and the earth (mainly the seas) share like a bond of sorts and the narration has to explain that. He feels everything, understands how it's hurting and such. Kinda psychedelic at times with the art, too.

Spoiler

So we do see more Titans, and the first is Scylla, who went mad from hunger and tried to feed on a nuclear submarine. Godzilla pimp slaps her and tells her to get back in line or else, so she does.

This panel's pretty funny:
View attachment 2065677

There was a new Titan, Amhuluk, was beating Behemoth's face in on top of breaking off a tusk and an arm over resources, so Godzilla interferes and makes them go back to what they were doing.
View attachment 2065795

Did... did Atlantis build Godzilla's lair????
View attachment 2065678

Turns out blowing up the lair opened up a hole to the Hollow Earth.
View attachment 2065584
"Fuck off, Xiphactinus gnat."
View attachment 2065590
"Oh, goddamn it, fuck!"
View attachment 2065593
"Now piss off! Fucking hell!"

This is a beautiful moment, my camera can't quite capture it very well:
View attachment 2065686
View attachment 2065688
View attachment 2065696
Moth wife gave him the ability to hear the sky and moon when she died. It's unknown how permanent this is, though, but I think it's super sweet.

Based off of the narrative, Monarch pissed him off trying to I think capture another Titan, Na Kika, who just wanted to go back to sleep, so he wrecked one of the outposts as a warning to not fuck around.
View attachment 2065728

And when he found himself another lair, he chased out the Titan Tiamat from it. (Btw, according to Wikizilla Amhuluk and Tiamat were actually name-dropped in KOTM, but I don't know if it was on a monitor or in the novelization--probably the latter, Greg Keyes wrote it and the script for Dominion.)
View attachment 2065739
So like compared to Kingdom Kong, it's rather straightforward and doesn't have much of a story to it. It's just really cool to see what he does on a regular basis, and get a good idea what was going on prior to the events of GvK, though I don't know the exact timeline of this like with Kingdom Kong. Maybe roughly the same time, but probably shortly after Kong got put into that dome since no one responded to his challenge just before the sea dragon attacked. Unless it was a different island the Kong species used to inhabit.

Overall, bit of a surreal read, but it's still cool to see the King doing what he does best.

So yeah, recommend picking these up if you want some neat monster action. Couldn't show everything, just so you know, and I'm sure there's better-looking moments I haven't shown, these were just the ones I liked.

I've ordered both comics, but they haven't come yet. Can't wait to read 'em!

 

[Lodoss Warrior]

dont get me wrong i liked it better than kotm or godzilla 2014 but not as much as skull island. it's a decent godzilla movie, not great, but we havent had a great godzilla movie in ~20-25 years. not even shin which was better than decent but not great

Hard disagree here: Shin Godzilla is probably the single best 'serious' film in the franchise since the original.

But the Monsterverse franchise is really doing its own thing. Much like the later half of the Showa era, it's more concerned about being entertaining kids films than being a deep philosophical work about Japan and nukes. In that regard, it's been a success. I'd certainly say they're more entertaining than Godzilla vs Gigan, with less stupid plots (although that's not saying much).