Monsterverse Missteps

[G1985]

By the way, before GvK, I thought the Hollow Earth simply meant that there were massive caverns deep underground, but still close enough to the surface for creatures to come and go. It's an extension of the basic idea from monster movies like "Rodan," "Gigantis," and "The Black Scorpion." Not sure if it was always the plan, but the reveal that the actual center of the Earth is hollow was too 'bonkers' for me.

Same here.

[Vakanai]

I agree. Both Godzilla's look (a different coloration and the overused 'threat display' internal lighting) and his behavior (animalistic and cruel, almost schoolyard level bullying) were radically different in GvK when compared to the earlier films.

I think even his face was redesigned to look more evil. He had like this evil devil smile going on a lot. I did not care for it at all for this Godzilla. If this was the first film, sure it could've worked. But making him so antagonistic and villainous after having been the opposite for his two previous films? And yet all some fans care about is that he won against the big monkey.

Main problem is they already made it clear he isn’t good, he isn’t good or bad. He’s a force of nature, doing whatever it takes to keep the planet in balance.

Main problem is clearly that wasn't true or the case in GvK. Kong wasn't in any way, shape, or form a threat to keeping the planet in balance. Godzilla was clearly bad in his interactions with Kong, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the previous films and his characterization to date.

[Dv-218]

I think even his face was redesigned to look more evil. He had like this evil devil smile going on a lot. I did not care for it at all for this Godzilla. If this was the first film, sure it could've worked. But making him so antagonistic and villainous after having been the opposite for his two previous films? And yet all some fans care about is that he won against the big monkey.

Main problem is they already made it clear he isn’t good, he isn’t good or bad. He’s a force of nature, doing whatever it takes to keep the planet in balance.

Main problem is clearly that wasn't true or the case in GvK. Kong wasn't in any way, shape, or form a threat to keeping the planet in balance. Godzilla was clearly bad in his interactions with Kong, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the previous films and his characterization to date.

Kong was a Titan that was both out of his habitat, element and interfering with Godzilla's main adjective at the time. Even if you don't take into account the novelization's explanation that he did not want a repeat of KOTM's events with other Titans doing Ghidorah's bidding (which makes perfect sense), Godzilla's motives in attempting to take Kong out of the picture in some form seem completely in line with him as a character.
I do agree he seems a tad aggresive at times but to this day I genuinely don't see anything about his behavior that directly contradicts anything about the previous films- he literally operates on the same schtick, seeks out threat, takes out threat and leaves.

And regarding Godzilla feeling "villainous", well, it is to be expected since most of their interactions are mainly shown from Kong's perspective. Up until their first meeting he was locked on an island and had zero clue about the outside world and Godzilla's role in it, and prior to their second fight all Kong saw was Godzilla destroying possibly the last remaining bit of heritage from his ancestors. He could have probably given less crap about Godzilla's ultimate goal and motives.

[Vakanai]

Main problem is they already made it clear he isn’t good, he isn’t good or bad. He’s a force of nature, doing whatever it takes to keep the planet in balance.

Main problem is clearly that wasn't true or the case in GvK. Kong wasn't in any way, shape, or form a threat to keeping the planet in balance. Godzilla was clearly bad in his interactions with Kong, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the previous films and his characterization to date.

Kong was a Titan that was both out of his habitat, element and interfering with Godzilla's main adjective at the time. Even if you don't take into account the novelization's explanation that he did not want a repeat of KOTM's events with other Titans doing Ghidorah's bidding (which makes perfect sense), Godzilla's motives in attempting to take Kong out of the picture in some form seem completely in line with him as a character.
I do agree he seems a tad aggresive at times but to this day I genuinely don't see anything about his behavior that directly contradicts anything about the previous films- he literally operates on the same schtick, seeks out threat, takes out threat and leaves.

And regarding Godzilla feeling "villainous", well, it is to be expected since most of their interactions are mainly shown from Kong's perspective. Up until their first meeting he was locked on an island and had zero clue about the outside world and Godzilla's role in it, and prior to their second fight all Kong saw was Godzilla destroying possibly the last remaining bit of heritage from his ancestors. He could have probably given less crap about Godzilla's ultimate goal and motives.

Except he wasn't. He had to live in an enclosure on his own island or Godzilla would get him. Think of that, it wasn't just that he was safe in his own habitat of Skull Island, but they literally had to keep him in a huge enclosure to keep Godzilla from sensing him and tracking his monkey butt down. And in what way was he interfering with Godzilla's objective? He had nothing to do with anything relating to MechaG and indeed Godzilla had to go out of his way, ignoring his "main objective" just to mess with Kong.

It wasn't aggression, it was an uncalled for assault for no logical reason other than "ancient rivalry" and villainy. He was made into Kong's villain despite previous characterization, not because of it. Wingard didn't care what the previous movies established, he didn't care for a reason, all that mattered was making the two fight, and making this version of Godzilla a murderous villain out of character with the last two movies was how he chose to do it.

[Dv-218]

Main problem is clearly that wasn't true or the case in GvK. Kong wasn't in any way, shape, or form a threat to keeping the planet in balance. Godzilla was clearly bad in his interactions with Kong, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the previous films and his characterization to date.

Kong was a Titan that was both out of his habitat, element and interfering with Godzilla's main adjective at the time. Even if you don't take into account the novelization's explanation that he did not want a repeat of KOTM's events with other Titans doing Ghidorah's bidding (which makes perfect sense), Godzilla's motives in attempting to take Kong out of the picture in some form seem completely in line with him as a character.
I do agree he seems a tad aggresive at times but to this day I genuinely don't see anything about his behavior that directly contradicts anything about the previous films- he literally operates on the same schtick, seeks out threat, takes out threat and leaves.

And regarding Godzilla feeling "villainous", well, it is to be expected since most of their interactions are mainly shown from Kong's perspective. Up until their first meeting he was locked on an island and had zero clue about the outside world and Godzilla's role in it, and prior to their second fight all Kong saw was Godzilla destroying possibly the last remaining bit of heritage from his ancestors. He could have probably given less crap about Godzilla's ultimate goal and motives.

Except he wasn't. He had to live in an enclosure on his own island or Godzilla would get him. Think of that, it wasn't just that he was safe in his own habitat of Skull Island, but they literally had to keep him in a huge enclosure to keep Godzilla from sensing him and tracking his monkey butt down. And in what way was he interfering with Godzilla's objective? He had nothing to do with anything relating to MechaG and indeed Godzilla had to go out of his way, ignoring his "main objective" just to mess with Kong.

It wasn't aggression, it was an uncalled for assault for no logical reason other than "ancient rivalry" and villainy. He was made into Kong's villain despite previous characterization, not because of it. Wingard didn't care what the previous movies established, he didn't care for a reason, all that mattered was making the two fight, and making this version of Godzilla a murderous villain out of character with the last two movies was how he chose to do it.

No offense, but where exactly was such a thing stated? All of the implications from the film and what we know from side material shows he is only kept in the dome because the whole island went Bananas- it's outright shown in the film visually. When Illene refers to how Godzilla will come for him she refers to a situation where he will get taken off the island as a whole, not the dome specifically- which is fair and doesn't really contradict anything since as previous media showed, SI was pretty much eternally isolated until KOTM.

[Vakanai]

Kong was a Titan that was both out of his habitat, element and interfering with Godzilla's main adjective at the time. Even if you don't take into account the novelization's explanation that he did not want a repeat of KOTM's events with other Titans doing Ghidorah's bidding (which makes perfect sense), Godzilla's motives in attempting to take Kong out of the picture in some form seem completely in line with him as a character.
I do agree he seems a tad aggresive at times but to this day I genuinely don't see anything about his behavior that directly contradicts anything about the previous films- he literally operates on the same schtick, seeks out threat, takes out threat and leaves.

And regarding Godzilla feeling "villainous", well, it is to be expected since most of their interactions are mainly shown from Kong's perspective. Up until their first meeting he was locked on an island and had zero clue about the outside world and Godzilla's role in it, and prior to their second fight all Kong saw was Godzilla destroying possibly the last remaining bit of heritage from his ancestors. He could have probably given less crap about Godzilla's ultimate goal and motives.

Except he wasn't. He had to live in an enclosure on his own island or Godzilla would get him. Think of that, it wasn't just that he was safe in his own habitat of Skull Island, but they literally had to keep him in a huge enclosure to keep Godzilla from sensing him and tracking his monkey butt down. And in what way was he interfering with Godzilla's objective? He had nothing to do with anything relating to MechaG and indeed Godzilla had to go out of his way, ignoring his "main objective" just to mess with Kong.

It wasn't aggression, it was an uncalled for assault for no logical reason other than "ancient rivalry" and villainy. He was made into Kong's villain despite previous characterization, not because of it. Wingard didn't care what the previous movies established, he didn't care for a reason, all that mattered was making the two fight, and making this version of Godzilla a murderous villain out of character with the last two movies was how he chose to do it.

No offense, but where exactly was such a thing stated? All of the implications from the film and what we know from side material shows he is only kept in the dome because the whole island went Bananas- it's outright shown in the film visually. When Illene refers to how Godzilla will come for him she refers to a situation where he will get taken off the island as a whole, not the dome specifically- which is fair and doesn't really contradict anything since as previous media showed, SI was pretty much eternally isolated until KOTM.

I am not going back to rewatch that film, not even the little bit to get that far in. I remember them saying something about how Godzilla was a threat to Kong's survival while he was still in the dome. It was early on in the movie. But I'll never give it a look over to give a time and scene for it. Maybe it's like you said and it was the scene with Illene and I misinterpreted what she meant, or maybe you did. It changes nothing. Godzilla went out of his way to go after Kong not because of some need to restore balance or anything other than the fact the director decided he needed to be a murderous monster to get him to fight with Kong. You might think otherwise, but the movie I saw made it pretty plain.

[darthzilla99]

Except he wasn't. He had to live in an enclosure on his own island or Godzilla would get him. Think of that, it wasn't just that he was safe in his own habitat of Skull Island, but they literally had to keep him in a huge enclosure to keep Godzilla from sensing him and tracking his monkey butt down. And in what way was he interfering with Godzilla's objective? He had nothing to do with anything relating to MechaG and indeed Godzilla had to go out of his way, ignoring his "main objective" just to mess with Kong.

It wasn't aggression, it was an uncalled for assault for no logical reason other than "ancient rivalry" and villainy. He was made into Kong's villain despite previous characterization, not because of it. Wingard didn't care what the previous movies established, he didn't care for a reason, all that mattered was making the two fight, and making this version of Godzilla a murderous villain out of character with the last two movies was how he chose to do it.

No offense, but where exactly was such a thing stated? All of the implications from the film and what we know from side material shows he is only kept in the dome because the whole island went Bananas- it's outright shown in the film visually. When Illene refers to how Godzilla will come for him she refers to a situation where he will get taken off the island as a whole, not the dome specifically- which is fair and doesn't really contradict anything since as previous media showed, SI was pretty much eternally isolated until KOTM.

I am not going back to rewatch that film, not even the little bit to get that far in. I remember them saying something about how Godzilla was a threat to Kong's survival while he was still in the dome. It was early on in the movie. But I'll never give it a look over to give a time and scene for it. Maybe it's like you said and it was the scene with Illene and I misinterpreted what she meant, or maybe you did. It changes nothing. Godzilla went out of his way to go after Kong not because of some need to restore balance or anything other than the fact the director decided he needed to be a murderous monster to get him to fight with Kong. You might think otherwise, but the movie I saw made it pretty plain.

Godzilla attacked the first time because Kong was in his territory (Godzilla views the entire surface world except skull island as his territory). Also, when he came to inspect Kong traveling with the humans, humans fired on him (Godzilla) first. Now lets put it in another way. A Farmer with a shot gun sees a group of people walking through his property trespassing. He comes to inspect and finds among them is a guy who is a relative of another family the Farmer has bad history with (also the guy does not speak the same language as the farmer). The guy has no idea of his family history with this farmer. The guy's group of friends start firing and yelling at the farmer and the farmer fires back at the guy's friends. The guy then starts yelling at the farmer in a language the farmer does not know. The farmer takes this as a threat and so proceeds to fight and shoot at the guy. From the farmer's perspective the guy is taunting and is a potential threat but does not know the mind of the guy. The guy in turn does not know he is on the farmer's property but all he saw was the farmer is shooting his friends.

From Godzilla's perspective Kong being in Godzilla's territory and roaring at Godzilla is being a threat (also doesn't help that Kong's allies shot Godzilla first) to his life and territory. Sure we know Kong does not know about Godzilla nor cares, but Godzilla does not.

I'm going to repeat something both me and miguelnuva mentioned in the GVK discussion. The simple explanation based on movies only (and both KOTM and GvK were filmed almost at the same time and GvK was supposed to come out less than a year afterwards originally before the pandemic hit so you can't say they didn't have some continuity in mind) is that
1. Godzilla rules the titans all around the world except Skull Island
2. Law of the titans is that there can only be one Alpha
3. If you agree to declare Godzilla is the alpha in a way he understands you, he let's you live (this is scene the first time when the monarch base in KOTM stands down and again when they turn off the boat in GvK).
4. If you don't submit, you're saying to Godzilla "submit to my rule or die".
5. Kong's POV is that he doesn't know nor care about the law of titans.

While Godzilla started the first fight under the assumption kong knows about Titan rule (we know Kong doesn't know but Godzilla doesn't know, therefore Kong not bowing to Godzilla is confirming Godzilla's suspicions from Godzilla's pov) second fight Kong started himself.
And before anyone jumps on "But Godzilla blow a hole in Hollow Earth", he didn't start until Hollow Earth radiation was being drawn to the surface. That means one of two explanations.
1. He didn't know Kong was down there and therefore he was warning anyone taking Hollow earth radiation better stop or die.
2. If Godzilla did know Kong was down there, then he didn't care kong was down there until hollow earth radiation was being moved to the surface. Therefore Godzilla was giving Kong a warning to back off.

So if you really want to extend it, Godzilla was basically using an extreme version of castle doctrine on the world except skull Island.

Keep mind everything mentioned is movies only.

Finally, as miguelnuva mentioned before, "If I raised a Lion in the zoo and then brought him to another pride in Africa, the Alpha is still going to run him off".

[Vakanai]

No offense, but where exactly was such a thing stated? All of the implications from the film and what we know from side material shows he is only kept in the dome because the whole island went Bananas- it's outright shown in the film visually. When Illene refers to how Godzilla will come for him she refers to a situation where he will get taken off the island as a whole, not the dome specifically- which is fair and doesn't really contradict anything since as previous media showed, SI was pretty much eternally isolated until KOTM.

I am not going back to rewatch that film, not even the little bit to get that far in. I remember them saying something about how Godzilla was a threat to Kong's survival while he was still in the dome. It was early on in the movie. But I'll never give it a look over to give a time and scene for it. Maybe it's like you said and it was the scene with Illene and I misinterpreted what she meant, or maybe you did. It changes nothing. Godzilla went out of his way to go after Kong not because of some need to restore balance or anything other than the fact the director decided he needed to be a murderous monster to get him to fight with Kong. You might think otherwise, but the movie I saw made it pretty plain.

Godzilla attacked the first time because Kong was in his territory (Godzilla views the entire surface world except skull island as his territory).

...and that makes sense to you? The entire planet is his territory hence Kong taking a step anywhere is grounds for Godzilla to try and brutally commit murder on him. And that's not him being a homicidal murder lizard to you?

Yeah, we're not going to agree on this. I don't even need to read the rest to know there's literally nothing we can possibly agree on about Godzilla's "totally in character" characterization here.

[darthzilla99]

I am not going back to rewatch that film, not even the little bit to get that far in. I remember them saying something about how Godzilla was a threat to Kong's survival while he was still in the dome. It was early on in the movie. But I'll never give it a look over to give a time and scene for it. Maybe it's like you said and it was the scene with Illene and I misinterpreted what she meant, or maybe you did. It changes nothing. Godzilla went out of his way to go after Kong not because of some need to restore balance or anything other than the fact the director decided he needed to be a murderous monster to get him to fight with Kong. You might think otherwise, but the movie I saw made it pretty plain.

Godzilla attacked the first time because Kong was in his territory (Godzilla views the entire surface world except skull island as his territory).

...and that makes sense to you? The entire planet is his territory hence Kong taking a step anywhere is grounds for Godzilla to try and brutally commit murder on him. And that's not him being a homicidal murder lizard to you?

Yeah, we're not going to agree on this. I don't even need to read the rest to know there's literally nothing we can possibly agree on about Godzilla's "totally in character" characterization here.

This is not akin to two humans fighting each other. This is closer to two animals fighting because one happens to be in another's territory, like a tame lion being dumped in the territory of a wild lion.

[Vakanai]

Godzilla attacked the first time because Kong was in his territory (Godzilla views the entire surface world except skull island as his territory).

...and that makes sense to you? The entire planet is his territory hence Kong taking a step anywhere is grounds for Godzilla to try and brutally commit murder on him. And that's not him being a homicidal murder lizard to you?

Yeah, we're not going to agree on this. I don't even need to read the rest to know there's literally nothing we can possibly agree on about Godzilla's "totally in character" characterization here.

This is not akin to two humans fighting each other. This is closer to two animals fighting because one happens to be in another's territory, like a tame lion being dumped in the territory of a wild lion.

Except "the entire planet" isn't a territory, both have been shown a bit smarter than just "animals" in the previous movies, and even animals usually just do enough to run each other off while Godzilla was out to kill from the get go. This is all just trying to justify something that you like but doesn't actually work. It's fine, it's okay to like something and admit parts of it didn't make sense, weren't thought out, were glossed over, hand waved, etc. You don't need it to all "actually it all makes sense because reasons" to be justified in liking it. You like it, alright. But the argument that they acted in character from the previous two movies is wrong. Godzilla was a villain, made into one to serve Kong's story, and it was completely out of character for him to be so to that extent. You can still love the movie despite it, just like I can still hate it because of that reason (among others).

You can keep arguing if you really don't see it that way, but you know where my stance is and that it won't change.

[Lesko]

...why does my preference for All Monsters Attack have to be taken as part of my indictment of GvK? I honestly just don't hate it like a lot of fans always have. It's not a great film, but it has it's own strange dreamlike charm and a nugget of wasted potential. I just can't bring myself to hate All Monsters Attack/Godzilla's Revenge. I think better executed it really could've been something.

Well that is because I think All Monsters Attack is even worse than Godzilla vs Kong.

Well I disagree - and rather than go into all the things you said (I didn't read the rest of your post because if I did it'd just make me want to make a bigger post and it ain't worth it) I'm just doing to leave it at this: I think All Monsters Attack is a flawed yet oddly charming film poorly executed, and I think GvK is a piece of poo on fire in a pile of poo on fire in a dumpster on fire on a barge dull of dumpsters full of poo, all on fire, so that the smell of burning poo can never leave it and woe be unto all noses unlucky enough to get within 50 nautical miles of it. In a nutshell, yes I think All Monsters Attack is better than GvK, but it's still not an indictment of GvK - as much as I hate GvK, it's unrelated to my feelings for All Monsters Attack, I just have different opinions on both these films than you do.

Well to summarize my post quickly it was just the parallels in lost potential between GvK and AMA. I didn't really disagree with what you said other than the fact that I think AMA is worse than GvK while you don't. Which quite frankly, isn't really significant in my eyes. We all have our preferences.

[Vakanai]

Well that is because I think All Monsters Attack is even worse than Godzilla vs Kong.

Well I disagree - and rather than go into all the things you said (I didn't read the rest of your post because if I did it'd just make me want to make a bigger post and it ain't worth it) I'm just doing to leave it at this: I think All Monsters Attack is a flawed yet oddly charming film poorly executed, and I think GvK is a piece of poo on fire in a pile of poo on fire in a dumpster on fire on a barge dull of dumpsters full of poo, all on fire, so that the smell of burning poo can never leave it and woe be unto all noses unlucky enough to get within 50 nautical miles of it. In a nutshell, yes I think All Monsters Attack is better than GvK, but it's still not an indictment of GvK - as much as I hate GvK, it's unrelated to my feelings for All Monsters Attack, I just have different opinions on both these films than you do.

Well to summarize my post quickly it was just the parallels in lost potential between GvK and AMA. I didn't really disagree with what you said other than the fact that I think AMA is worse than GvK while you don't. Which quite frankly, isn't really significant in my eyes. We all have our preferences.

Ah sorry then, just made an assumption. Runs the risk of making an ass of Ume (whoever she is) when you assume, but I know myself well enough that had it been a big disagreement I'd have wanted to make a big reply. Kind of know I have to limit myself on the disagreeing opinions sometimes just to not get lost in huge debates. So sorry about that.

And yes, we've all got our own preferences. I actually still watch AMA some times, like I said there's a charm to it I can't hate, and I like to imagine the movie it could've been. If Studio Ghibli were ever tapped by Toho to do a Godzilla movie, AMA is where I'd want them to draw inspiration.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

I think GvK is a piece of poo on fire in a pile of poo on fire in a dumpster on fire on a barge dull of dumpsters full of poo, all on fire, so that the smell of burning poo can never leave it and woe be unto all noses unlucky enough to get within 50 nautical miles of it.

Why would someone light that much sh*t on fire? Could've used it all to fertilize some orphan plants or something.

[G1985]

I think GvK is a piece of poo on fire in a pile of poo on fire in a dumpster on fire on a barge dull of dumpsters full of poo, all on fire, so that the smell of burning poo can never leave it and woe be unto all noses unlucky enough to get within 50 nautical miles of it.

Why would someone light that much sh*t on fire? Could've used it all to fertilize some orphan plants or something.

[Vakanai]

I think GvK is a piece of poo on fire in a pile of poo on fire in a dumpster on fire on a barge dull of dumpsters full of poo, all on fire, so that the smell of burning poo can never leave it and woe be unto all noses unlucky enough to get within 50 nautical miles of it.

Why would someone light that much sh*t on fire? Could've used it all to fertilize some orphan plants or something.

Trust me, I asked that question a lot as the film went on...

Added in 1 minute 3 seconds:

I think GvK is a piece of poo on fire in a pile of poo on fire in a dumpster on fire on a barge dull of dumpsters full of poo, all on fire, so that the smell of burning poo can never leave it and woe be unto all noses unlucky enough to get within 50 nautical miles of it.

Why would someone light that much sh*t on fire? Could've used it all to fertilize some orphan plants or something.

So, Wingard's Joker?

...I can see that, yeah.

[Desghidorah]

Keeping some of the content cut from GvK would have probably improved the film. Namely the Ghidorah connections and Madison having PTSD over King Ghidorah, which would have added to their resurrection later.

[Jetty_Jags]

Do we really have any proof that stuff was cut?

[DynomikeGojira]

Do we really have any proof that stuff was cut?

The set visits from a few months ago.

[tenup]

Everything after 2014 seems like a fanfiction and doesnt really build on anything significant.

[Bigdog]

It's one thing for some fools to continue living in disaster areas. It's a whole other to have two cities wiped off the map and then people just shrugging "Whatever. Let's pick up the flimsy house of cards and hope it never happens again." That's the definition of insanity. I can't get behind any story where the worldbuilding basically has people in the immediate danger acting so moronic like that. People still haven't lived in Chernobyl since the nuclear accident, and something on par with that in such a short timespan would only mean that there's no excuse for anybody to still have any business living on the Gulf of Mexico.

If Boston and San Francisco were both annihilated to the extent they were in both prior movies because of monsters, no one can reasonably tell me with a straight face that there wouldn't be a massive exodus from the coasts. That culture and the way of life for many people across the world wouldn't shift more inwardly. Because with all those ships becoming prohibitively expensive from the insurance hikes due to a chance of giant monster fights sinking what's the cornerstone of global trade, no one can tell me honestly that domestic manufacturing wouldn't have a new boom. And with such a shift of capital and resources, if let's say rare earth deposits were found in appreciable numbers outside of China, there goes China. With such a grievous loss of overseas trade, land trade itself to Europe would drive Europeans to prefer American resources, which throws China into serious political issues with a crumbling economy. It'll get very bloody real quick and with no presumable end in sight to these Titans save for MechaGodzilla, this will likely be the status quo for centuries to come.

Isn't this a problem in any long-running Kaiju continuity? The Showa and Heisei eras had regular monster activity and attacks from the coasts and we frequently saw coastal cities and towns that had not been abandoned or reinforced in any way against kaiju attacks. I wouldn't mind seeing more focus on the geopolitical realities of kaiju attacks but that's not ultimately what most of the films are about, and I think it'd be wrong to judge solely the Monsterverse by this metric and not any of the other Godzilla continuities.

I judge the more serious or "serious" intending outings than I do with anything more lighthearted or inspired by let's say, super robot anime like Pacific Rim or shows like Ultraman. They don't act under the pretensions that their world is relatively the same as our own. It's built under its own rules and logistics that I can suspend my disbelief towards. Basically, if the tone and rules are like most TV tokusatu like Sentai and Ultraman or Power Rangers, then it's nothing. But if it's like 1954 or close to it, I'm expecting the rules to be more grounded and the characters realistically reacting to the crumbling world around them.

I typed out this massively long response that gotten derailed with my issues over the Heisei series before I deleted it. But the gist was that I had far less issues with the Showa period as a whole versus the Heisei continuity because while the former has a few serious entries, it generally acts on Ultraman rules before becoming a cinematic ripoff of that franchise later on. The Heisei series and everything after until Shin hardly or don't remotely attempt to scratch the surface with those themes [or only do it as a crutch to say it's not like those cheesy films], that at least the Heisei series is usually claimed to tackle.

The Monsterverse had this consistent tone that was serious, That's not to say I don't enjoy Godzilla vs Kong on its own merits and loved it for what it was. I actually really liked it. But in my more critical opinion, the constant cutting, the Hollow Earth, and the Bay-esque trio plot, not to mention MechaGodzilla itself, undermined it as a whole as a sequel. My only issue with 2014 at the end was how all the dumbasses in the San Francisco stadium cheered Godzilla as some hero as he waded back into the Pacific depths. I would've loved Godzilla as this force of nature hammering down hard in the other movies not as some misunderstanding, but like a Battra-like role where humanity could potentially be the next monster he needs to eradicate in order to reset the balance. I still haven't seen KOTM 2018 yet, and I plan on doing it anyways.