Godzilla vs. Kong

~~Leo656~~ · 04-04-2021, 01:37 AM

Like, the actual plot being such a mess was what really killed me. Some people swear "Nobody watches these movies for the plot," but that's ridiculous. I very much like to understand what's going on and why. Too many characters, too many subplots, too much jumping between without adequate explanation. Yes, I care about the kaiju fights, but without a good framework it may as well be a cartoon.

Like, just for example, why again did they need to go inside the Hollow Earth with Kong if he was just gonna end up fighting Godzilla in Hong Kong? "Something something maybe something there can help fight Godzilla" was all I got from it. And sure, he found the axe, but neither Kong nor the scientists knew that would be there - or that anything would be there, really - and the entire plan seemed incredibly risky anyway. The entire middle act seemed like filler, like "Stuff is happening Because Plot and Runtime Demand It"... but it didn't feel like it made much sense or had much reason to happen. It all looked great, but I swear, I couldn't remember why anyone was even doing anything, by that point.

I agree that the sci-fi stuff felt a bit too over-the-top, compared to how grounded the solo Kong and Godzilla films were. I mean between the Magical Flying Machines that can withstand super-intense gravity pressure, and the outfits the mission scientists wore that looked like something out of Singer's X-Men films, it all just felt VERY disconnected from the earlier films and almost like something out of a super-hero movie. I guess that if you're gonna pop the cork on MechaGodzilla, you really have to Go Big, but... I mean, even that... like, a giant MechaGodzilla should probably be the most "fantastic" and unbelievable thing in the movie, right? But we've already established the Magic Flying Machines that can survive the pressures of the planet's core, so... Yeah, the giant mech dinosaur is no longer as amazing as he should be. AND he should have been in the movie more. There's definitely a few good "money shots" of MechaGodzilla, but by the time he shows up the movie's almost over and while the scenes he's in are good, they're too late and too short. I felt like he just showed up and all of a sudden he's scrap metal. They could have introduced MechaGodzilla in Act I and it would've been a much more exciting movie, frankly. I'm sure they could have found a way.

Also, why did it feel like Serizawa's kid should've been a much bigger deal? Like, there's some unspoken irony or something about his Dad being Godzilla's "pal" and now he's piloting MechaGodzilla with his mind to help the Evil Scientists... but they don't do anything with it, and at the end he's dead, I guess? Like, we don't see him again after MechaGodzilla fights off his control, and he looked pretty dead after getting electrocuted. I could believe that character had an entirely different name in the original shoot, and then someone was like, "We should make him Serizawa's kid!" and then just added that one line of dialog in post. Because that could have been very interesting, and in the end it's a lot of Nothing.

I couldn't believe that they stopped MechaGodzilla by pouring whiskey on the control console. That was like something out of a bad cartoon. I was like "That seriously has to be a setup for something, that CAN'T be how they 'win', that would be ridiculous"... except it was legit. You could tell that they really just gave up, by that point. The writers were very clearly in "This movie needs to end" mode.

Like, I really, REALLY wanted to like this one, but the more I'm thinking about it the less I can defend it. I liked all the other ones. KOTM gets a ton of hate but I don't really see the problems with that one. THIS one, though, I definitely see a lot of problems with. And it really feels like the people making it listened to entirely the wrong people after the last couple. There's always a ton of people who say loudly and often, "Nobody watches these movies for Characters and Plot, they just wanna see the CGI monster fights." And y'know, I get why people would say that, but I don't think that's true. I think those things DO matter, and you can tell when they're bad, and they can drag the entire experience down. This movie just SCREAMS that it was written by people who didn't care one bit about Characters and Plot... because "Nobody else cares, either". The characters do nothing except give exposition and make bad jokes, and the "plot" in between those monster fights makes little to no sense at all. I do plan to watch it again, but I can't believe that a big part of that was because I'm hoping to understand it better the second time, and not because I was so "Wow'ed" that I actually want to watch it again.

They basically went full-spectacle, "Nothing matters but the CGI goodies". Like a Transformers movie. That's what it felt like to me. And that's pretty heartbreaking, because those movies are awful and the others in this series were a LOT better than this. The "money shots" are there, but I wish it were more of a "real" movie. You could just whittle this one down to a 20-minute video of the fight scenes and you wouldn't miss a damn thing.

It didn't feel "epic" like it should have. I don't know if it was the lousy dialog, the bad "comedy", the muddled plot, or a combination of all those things. It just should have felt like a much bigger deal. Instead it felt... obligatory. Like very little care or heart went into it. It feels very much like "product". The others felt like Real Movies, even KOTM.

I sound pretty harsh, I know. I mean, I don't think it's actually "bad", but... parts of it are, for sure. And it should have been a LOT better.

04-04-2021, 01:37 AM	#24
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	Like, the actual plot being such a mess was what really killed me. Some people swear "Nobody watches these movies for the plot," but that's ridiculous. I very much like to understand what's going on and why. Too many characters, too many subplots, too much jumping between without adequate explanation. Yes, I care about the kaiju fights, but without a good framework it may as well be a cartoon. Like, just for example, why again did they need to go inside the Hollow Earth with Kong if he was just gonna end up fighting Godzilla in Hong Kong? "Something something maybe something there can help fight Godzilla" was all I got from it. And sure, he found the axe, but neither Kong nor the scientists knew that would be there - or that anything would be there, really - and the entire plan seemed incredibly risky anyway. The entire middle act seemed like filler, like "Stuff is happening Because Plot and Runtime Demand It"... but it didn't feel like it made much sense or had much reason to happen. It all looked great, but I swear, I couldn't remember why anyone was even doing anything, by that point. I agree that the sci-fi stuff felt a bit too over-the-top, compared to how grounded the solo Kong and Godzilla films were. I mean between the Magical Flying Machines that can withstand super-intense gravity pressure, and the outfits the mission scientists wore that looked like something out of Singer's X-Men films, it all just felt VERY disconnected from the earlier films and almost like something out of a super-hero movie. I guess that if you're gonna pop the cork on MechaGodzilla, you really have to Go Big, but... I mean, even that... like, a giant MechaGodzilla should probably be the most "fantastic" and unbelievable thing in the movie, right? But we've already established the Magic Flying Machines that can survive the pressures of the planet's core, so... Yeah, the giant mech dinosaur is no longer as amazing as he should be. AND he should have been in the movie more. There's definitely a few good "money shots" of MechaGodzilla, but by the time he shows up the movie's almost over and while the scenes he's in are good, they're too late and too short. I felt like he just showed up and all of a sudden he's scrap metal. They could have introduced MechaGodzilla in Act I and it would've been a much more exciting movie, frankly. I'm sure they could have found a way. Also, why did it feel like Serizawa's kid should've been a much bigger deal? Like, there's some unspoken irony or something about his Dad being Godzilla's "pal" and now he's piloting MechaGodzilla with his mind to help the Evil Scientists... but they don't do anything with it, and at the end he's dead, I guess? Like, we don't see him again after MechaGodzilla fights off his control, and he looked pretty dead after getting electrocuted. I could believe that character had an entirely different name in the original shoot, and then someone was like, "We should make him Serizawa's kid!" and then just added that one line of dialog in post. Because that could have been very interesting, and in the end it's a lot of Nothing. I couldn't believe that they stopped MechaGodzilla by pouring whiskey on the control console. That was like something out of a bad cartoon. I was like "That seriously has to be a setup for something, that CAN'T be how they 'win', that would be ridiculous"... except it was legit. You could tell that they really just gave up, by that point. The writers were very clearly in "This movie needs to end" mode. Like, I really, REALLY wanted to like this one, but the more I'm thinking about it the less I can defend it. I liked all the other ones. KOTM gets a ton of hate but I don't really see the problems with that one. THIS one, though, I definitely see a lot of problems with. And it really feels like the people making it listened to entirely the wrong people after the last couple. There's always a ton of people who say loudly and often, "Nobody watches these movies for Characters and Plot, they just wanna see the CGI monster fights." And y'know, I get why people would say that, but I don't think that's true. I think those things DO matter, and you can tell when they're bad, and they can drag the entire experience down. This movie just SCREAMS that it was written by people who didn't care one bit about Characters and Plot... because "Nobody else cares, either". The characters do nothing except give exposition and make bad jokes, and the "plot" in between those monster fights makes little to no sense at all. I do plan to watch it again, but I can't believe that a big part of that was because I'm hoping to understand it better the second time, and not because I was so "Wow'ed" that I actually want to watch it again. They basically went full-spectacle, "Nothing matters but the CGI goodies". Like a Transformers movie. That's what it felt like to me. And that's pretty heartbreaking, because those movies are awful and the others in this series were a LOT better than this. The "money shots" are there, but I wish it were more of a "real" movie. You could just whittle this one down to a 20-minute video of the fight scenes and you wouldn't miss a damn thing. It didn't feel "epic" like it should have. I don't know if it was the lousy dialog, the bad "comedy", the muddled plot, or a combination of all those things. It just should have felt like a much bigger deal. Instead it felt... obligatory. Like very little care or heart went into it. It feels very much like "product". The others felt like Real Movies, even KOTM. I sound pretty harsh, I know. I mean, I don't think it's actually "bad", but... parts of it are, for sure. And it should have been a LOT better.