GODZILLA vs. KONG | March 31 2021 | Adam Wingard to direct

[Menor the Destroyer]

28 minutes ago, lorddemaxus said:

I randomly felt like rewatching the 2014 film and I was so, so wrong about this film. It's goddamn masterpiece that has more in common with old school blockbusters than anything from the past 10 years. Definitely owes a lot to Spielberg and Jurassic Park as others have said. I got so many images and sounds stuck in my head and I don't think anyone else today has managed to capture scale like Edwards has. Maybe the human plot is generic (although I personally found it quite engaging), but Edwards uses it to very effectively create a human perspective that makes the monster fights so much more tense and grand. There's this one shot where Godzilla and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character gaze into each other and it's just incredible.

 

And Godzilla turning up never fails to make me excited. The guys whistling and cheering at the end when Godzilla wakes up is one of the most wholesome things I've seen in one of these films. 

 

There's so much blockbuster filmmakers can learn from here. The camera compositions and espescially the long shots in this are more effective than what I've seen from any blockbuster in the past decade, besides Fury Road, And we got more than enough Godzilla in this. And he's so fucking magnificent in this. I feel dumb for making the criticism everyone was throwing at it (and also getting mad that they killed off Bryan Cranston early) when I watched this years ago. Just an audio-visual masterpiece all around.

I haven't seen the whole film but I have seen all the scenes with Godzilla which looked absolutely fantastic. I thought Del Toro did a good job with scale in Pacific Rim and Wan (in parts) of Aquaman but yeah Edwards is far better at it than the average blockbuster director (kinda wish we had seen a bit more of that style in Rogue One without the production issues, although I did really enjoy the film anyway). But damn you made me want to go watch the full thing lol.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Menor

[WittyUsername]

The biggest mistake the 2014 film made was killing off Bryan Cranston’s character early. 

[lorddemaxus]

24 minutes ago, Menor said:

I haven't seen the whole film but I have seen all the scenes with Godzilla which looked absolutely fantastic. I thought Del Toro did a good job with scale in Pacific Rim and Wan (in parts) of Aquaman but yeah Edwards is far better at it than the average blockbuster director (kinda wish we had seen a bit more of that style in Rogue One without the production issues, although I did really enjoy the film anyway). But damn you made me want to go watch the full thing lol.

Definitely keep Godzilla screentime expectations under check. Not sure if the patient style of storytelling will work for everyone and you might like watching just the clips by themselves but imo it pays off a lot here and makes the money-shots much more impactful.

[SnokesLegs]

48 minutes ago, lorddemaxus said:

I randomly felt like rewatching the 2014 film and I was so, so wrong about this film. It's goddamn masterpiece that has more in common with old school blockbusters than anything from the past 10 years. Definitely owes a lot to Spielberg and Jurassic Park as others have said. I got so many images and sounds stuck in my head and I don't think anyone else today has managed to capture scale like Edwards has. Maybe the human plot is generic (although I personally found it quite engaging), but Edwards uses it to very effectively create a human perspective that makes the monster fights so much more tense and grand. There's this one shot where Godzilla and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character gaze into each other and it's just incredible.

 

And Godzilla turning up never fails to make me excited. The guys whistling and cheering at the end when Godzilla wakes up is one of the most wholesome things I've seen in one of these films. 

 

There's so much blockbuster filmmakers can learn from here. The camera compositions and espescially the long shots in this are more effective than what I've seen from any blockbuster in the past decade, besides Fury Road, And we got more than enough Godzilla in this. And he's so fucking magnificent in this. I feel dumb for making the criticism everyone was throwing at it (and also getting mad that they killed off Bryan Cranston early) when I watched this years ago. Just an audio-visual masterpiece all around.

Got to admit, I never really felt shortchanged by the actual Godzilla stuff in the 2014 film, I know a lot of people didn’t like the way it hid him for the majority of the film but I didn’t bump into that at all, it built the anticipation perfectly so that when he did finally turn up in all his glory it has the impact it deserved. Compared to the CGI overkill that we got with KOTM I’d take the Gareth Evans approach any day. It had a sense of grandeur to it, whereas KOTM just lost all of that and opted for being a big, dumb, loud headache of a film.

 

The opening 20 minutes with Bryan Cranston was fantastic, the emotion that he brought to it really elevated it and as others have said, if they’d kept him around and had him be the co star with Aaron Taylor Johnson it’d have been a far better film overall. As it was, ATJ just felt like a stock character with a generic storyline that didn’t feel consequential at all.

[Lucas]

Yeah if there's one criticism I never agreed with it was Godzilla not having enough screentime.

[cookie]

My problem was always that Godzilla wasn't relevant to the story until he shows up at random during the Hawaii sequence, and even after then it's the MUTOs that keep driving the plot, and the movie doesn't apply the same Jaws-style approach to them, so it just became annoying rather than enticing.

 

The first 40 minutes and the climax are both excellent, but the movie in between I could never care much for.

[Brainbug]

Im a pretty massive Godzilla fanboy so take my opinion with a bit of a grain of salt but Godzilla 2014 could have been truly a modern masterwork of blockbuster filmmaking - if the human plot line was a bit better. Walter Whites early Death and the at parts wooden dialogue hold it back from beeing a rational 10/10 for me. All in all, its a 8,5/10 or 9/10 for me.

 

My Fanboy me rates Godzilla 2014 a 10/10 of course.

 

But heres also something that im really happy about: With G14 weve now had the modern Godzilla movie that used the "hide the monster to built anticipation" method very effectively and with KOTM weve had the all-out brawl that ive also always wanted. I know KOTM has a very mixed reception here and everywhere else, but im simply in love with that film. Seeing Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan and Godzilla together - no matter how brainless the plot is or the human characters - will never fail to make me smile.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Brainbug

[TheDude391]

The only major thing that bothered me with 2014 (aside from Cranston) is the cut away at the airport reveal. Up until that point I feel the film has done an excellent job building the tension and dread. Godzilla makes a truly epic appearance, the crowd inside the airport go silent as his foot hits the ground and we get a slow pan up as he roars. Then we cut away and don't get anything substantial until the ending, too little too late for me. I don't mind the teasing later but I think they should've given us something at the first reveal (small, short fight) and then save the big guns for the finale. The film always loses me as a viewer at that point.

Edited March 29, 2021 by TheDude391

[CaptainJackSparrow]

1 hour ago, TheDude391 said:

The only major thing that bothered me with 2014 (aside from Cranston) is the cut away at the airport reveal. Up until that point I feel the film has done an excellent job building the tension and dread. Godzilla makes a truly epic appearance, the crowd inside the airport go silent as his foot hits the ground and we get a slow pan up as he roars. Then we cut away and don't get anything substantial until the ending, too little too late for me. I don't mind the teasing later but I think they should've given us something at the first reveal (small, short fight) and then save the big guns for the finale. The film always loses me as a viewer at that point.

While I love the film, I completely agree that we needed a fight scene at the airport. 

[Hokkaido MUTO]

Just saw GvK and holy cow the action sequences were awesome. Godzilla is so badass in this. Humans are very expendable and didn't care for any. But it wasn't annoying or cringe worthy like KOTM was in my opinion. I would say G14 is probably better but can't definitively tell you as I haven't seen the movie in a while

[CoolK]

1 hour ago, Hokkaido MUTO said:

Just saw GvK and holy cow the action sequences were awesome. Godzilla is so badass in this. Humans are very expendable and didn't care for any. But it wasn't annoying or cringe worthy like KOTM was in my opinion. I would say G14 is probably better but can't definitively tell you as I haven't seen the movie in a while

[filmlover]

Just caught up on the convo about critics from a day or so ago and am so confused (not really since the original dumb motives behind why it started are clear as day but you know). Glad to have missed that.

 

Anyway, pleasantly surprised by the positive reception this is getting. Haven't been crazy about any of these movies so far (King of the Monsters was astoundingly dull for a movie so bombastic) but I'm completely here for these giant monsters fighting on the big screen.

[lorddemaxus]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by lorddemaxus

[Lucas]

1 hour ago, lorddemaxus said:

 

 

 

 

 

All the boys! And proof that Gareth Edwards is still alive!

[The Horror of Lucas Films]

I always trust on Wingard, The Guest remains one of the best and most stylish action movies I've ever watched.

[Krissykins]

Critics can’t seem to decide what they actually want with these films. 
 

Not enough Godzilla/action

Not enough characterisation/story

Too much time spent with humans

Too much action 

[wildphantom]

count me in as someone who largely adored the 2014 Godzilla.  It was such a throwback to the way a Spielberg would have made it in the 70's, and modern audiences didn't quite know what to make of it.  It was always going to grow in appreciation as the years went by, and Edwards is a genuinely excellent filmmaker.

 

Skull Island I kind of liked, and I enjoyed KOTM.  The latter I think I would have liked even more had they not shown us pretty much the whole movie in the trailers preceding its release. That's why I've stayed away from all the trailers for GvK.  I'm gutted I won't get to see this on the big screen (UK cinemas not opening until May 17 and I'm not waiting that long), but I'm still very much looking forward to seeing this.  Probably would have been the billion dollar hit WB wanted from this franchise.

[FilmFincher]

Another huge Godzilla 2014 supporter. I think it's absolutely magnificent. The level of filmmaking on display is just incredible, it has me yearning for another Gareth Edwards blockbuster. It's Spielberg influenced in the best way possible (I quite enjoy all the callbacks/homages as well).

 

The films reserved nature gives it impact (As opposed to constant noise/crash/bang/wallop of KOTM), there's images, audio and scenes that will be stuck in my head for a very long time. The construction is so well thought out, especially the whole airport/hawaii section which is one the best set-pieces in any modern blockbuster for my books.

 

The camera blocking is just insane, even little things like how the camera moves to reveal Bryan Cranston being released from the police station. Showing a helicopter through a wing mirror than pulling back to have Cranston/ATJ step into frame. 

It's the stuff that takes it to the next level for me. 

 

The sound design as well, the rumble of the MUTO's is just sofa shaking, and none of it gets drowned out and is so distinct. The score and action both manage to have impact. Alexandre Desplat's score is *chefs kiss*

Spoiler

 

There's a few moments of imagery I want to touch on; the flaming train crashing into the water (reminiscent of War of the Worlds), The Muto standing alongside the train tracks, the parachuting man emerging from the fog followed by his jet crashing, Joe standing in front of the birthday sign years later, the gas mask POV, the interior bus POV, the shadows the monsters cast on the building and of course the halo jump. 

 

I do agree it needed just a minute of monster action at the airport battle, because there's definitely a sense of deflation when it cuts away. I also think they miss a beat by not focusing on the Father/Son reconnecting narrative more. The reserved nature doesn't do the film any favours on the character front in the second half but it also doesn't hurt it.

 

Whereas the characters in KOTM annoy me (especially when they try milk an emotional moment out of them), you're kind of just along for the ride with Brody, he's a nice enough lens through which to experience the events. But I do occasionally wonder if someone with big screen charm had been cast. I think Joseph Gordon Levitt was being looked at which might have done that. 

 

The approach to the casting does feel somewhat unique, there's a kind of indie feel to it, which I appreciate. 

 

 

Even with that said, I just love this film so much, the craftsmanship of it is something to behold. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by FilmFincher

[SnokesLegs]

13 minutes ago, FilmFincher said:

The sound design as well, the rumble of the MUTO's is just sofa shaking, and none of it gets drowned out and is so distinct. The score and action both manage to have impact. Alexandre Desplat's score is *chefs kiss*

One of the best things about watching the 2014 film in IMAX for me was the way they created a new IMAX countdown thing before the film started that ended with Godzilla’s roar. The bass reverberated through my entire body, it was great. 

[SchumacherFTW]

6 hours ago, wildphantom said:

count me in as someone who largely adored the 2014 Godzilla.  It was such a throwback to the way a Spielberg would have made it in the 70's, and modern audiences didn't quite know what to make of it.  It was always going to grow in appreciation as the years went by, and Edwards is a genuinely excellent filmmaker.

 

Skull Island I kind of liked, and I enjoyed KOTM.  The latter I think I would have liked even more had they not shown us pretty much the whole movie in the trailers preceding its release. That's why I've stayed away from all the trailers for GvK.  I'm gutted I won't get to see this on the big screen (UK cinemas not opening until May 17 and I'm not waiting that long), but I'm still very much looking forward to seeing this.  Probably would have been the billion dollar hit WB wanted from this franchise.

Hit up a drive in, that's what I'm doing on the 12th