Houndoom wrote: ↑Fri Aug 12, 2022 8:21 pm
eabaker wrote: ↑Fri Aug 12, 2022 7:58 am
Ultimately, when people are able to tell you, at great length, why a movie works for them (and, as I said, a
lot has been written about why this movie works), it seems kind of strange not to believe them.
I never got to say my piece on this topic. I'm not not believing them on why
they enjoy the movie. I believe it to the fullest, but even if a hundred(100) people told me they enjoyed a movie for x amount of reasons, I can still critically look at it and come to a conclusion that the movie is potentially overhyped. It's not just this movie, I think the likes of Attack on Titan, Demon Slayer, and most MCU stuff is incredibly overhyped. But in my original post I never even came close to implying people were
"misguided about its effectiveness for them" or even acted like my opinion on the matter was law.
Everyone including yourself could have easily just said "Okay, but why?" and encouraging discussion. And I can't help but bring up Breakdown being replied too and quoted was very lacking even though we both hold similar opinions on the movie, very strange imo.
With all this said though I am not implying it's a bad movie. I just see it as the equivalent to Freddy vs Jason, that it's a flawed movie, but it's a popcorn flick.
You're entitled to your personal opinions, and no one is saying otherwise. Think whatever you want about the movie. That's fine. That's all Breakdown is doing, and no one went after him for it. Where you went wrong, what provoked everyone to reply to you, was that you challenged
other people's personal opinions. You asserted that Kong being Godzilla's enemy is the overriding reason people "put this movie out on a pedestal," and you're flat wrong. That's not subjective or something that's debatable: you're just factually incorrect. Whether you agree with them or not, we have all kinds of other reasons for enjoying
King Kong vs. Godzilla, and they're all just as legitimate as any reasons you have to dislike it.
On the subject of your reasons, I disagree with all but the last of the gripes you listed. The humor and goofy, stylized characterization are dated, yes (it's a movie from 1962, of course they are), but I see that as a good thing. I like the aesthetics of older movies like this. It's just interesting to see a glimpse of another time and place that I never directly experienced. And I do find Tako funny, but humor is totally subjective, so.
The Kong suit does look bad, I think almost everyone would agree on that, and that opinion is as old as the movie. Is that a problem? Nah, not for me. There's a charm to it, and I don't have to take it totally seriously in a comedy movie like this. The random electric powers are a plus that fits right in with Japanese kaiju. There's a giant gorilla, and lightning makes it stronger for literally no reason at all. I love the absurdity of it. That ability gives this incarnation of Kong something to make him stand out, too.
Godzilla and Kong tore the castle apart because it had come between them, and they were so bent on their fight that they smashed through it rather than go around. Which is perfectly realistic animal behavior, incidentally. My dogs do stupid things like that all the time when they're fixated on something. Anyway, it's a really cool effects sequence, a huge, impressive miniature being believably battered to pieces in memorable fashion. The stop motion shot is just kind of there, a weird little blink-and-you-miss-it curiosity. What's wrong with Kong sliding down the mountain?
"Stop wars and no more accidents. I guess that's all I can ask." -Akio