King of the Monsters Member Review Thread (No Spoilers)

[BARAGONBREH]

Okay, well arguing against your claim that my statement was insulting and that I was being pretentious is literally the only thing I'm interested in doing with you at the moment. If you prefer to just type things and express your emotions, then that concludes our interaction here.

I am arguing that your statement was insulting and made you appear pretentious, by using the word claim. My first paragraph, that you ignored, was an explanation why, as well as my pasta example as to why you shouldn't use the word the way you're using it.

The pasta example is perfect, actually, because of course there are/could be objectively bad pasta dishes. If I take some overcooked spaghetti and mix it with dirt, grass, and a few pebbles, that is objectively bad pasta because 1. it's inherently offensive to the senses and 2. has the potential to cause discomfort/pain. Same as ridiculous, manic camera work.

If someone said "I love the dirt and rocks pasta!", I would not hesitate to describe them as "claiming" to like it rather than taking for granted that they actually did, and I do not believe doing so would be insulting or pretentious.

[gottatalktothefake]

I'm glad you just know it was good in your own mind. Unfortunately, critics, box office numbers and word of mouth paints a different picture.

Well thankfully I’ve got a pretty good life outside the fandom so I won’t be losing any sleep at night

And my friends and family all loved the movie so I’m good with that

Same here, and I'll also point out that audience scores are high everywhere. But I guess the vast majority of the people who have seen the movie are just wrong I guess. Those 100 some odd critics sure outweigh the thousands of audience reviews.

[_JNavs_]

I'm glad you just know it was good in your own mind. Unfortunately, critics, box office numbers and word of mouth paints a different picture.

Well thankfully I’ve got a pretty good life outside the fandom so I won’t be losing any sleep at night

And my friends and family all loved the movie so I’m good with that

Same here, and I'll also point out that audience scores are high everywhere. But I guess the vast majority of the people who have seen the movie are just wrong I guess. Those 100 some odd critics sure outweigh the thousands of audience reviews.

Same over here, and yeah exactly, audience scores are great everywhere. I'll never understand why people put more weight into 100 critics over 10,000+ general audience/movie goers

[BARAGONBREH]

I'm glad you just know it was good in your own mind. Unfortunately, critics, box office numbers and word of mouth paints a different picture.

Well thankfully I’ve got a pretty good life outside the fandom so I won’t be losing any sleep at night

And my friends and family all loved the movie so I’m good with that

Same here, and I'll also point out that audience scores are high everywhere. But I guess the vast majority of the people who have seen the movie are just wrong I guess. Those 100 some odd critics sure outweigh the thousands of audience reviews.

How many times have we been through this?

It was opening weekend. Of course the audience score is going to tilt toward the positive, as this is when all the people who have been waiting years for the movie go out to see it ASAP. This is so well-known I can't understand why it needs to be reiterated here so often.

Additionally: yes, people who watch every movie that comes out every weekend and analyze it for a living are usually going to have a better idea of what they're talking about than anonymous e-fans. Also, quite frankly, it's been a while since I've seen the critics so consistently get it right as they did with this film. Their critiques were dead-on.

[Dust Errant]

The pasta example is perfect, actually, because of course there are/could be objectively bad pasta dishes. If I take some overcooked spaghetti and mix it with dirt, grass, and a few pebbles, that is objectively bad pasta because 1. it's inherently offensive to the senses and 2. has the potential to cause discomfort/pain. Same as ridiculous, manic camera work.

If someone said "I love the dirt and rocks pasta!", I would not hesitate to describe them as "claiming" to like it rather than taking for granted that they actually did, and I do not believe doing so would be insulting or pretentious.

If someone "claimed" to like dirt and rocks pasta, I'd think they were joking at first, and if they insisted they did, my next response, would be, "well whatever floats your boat", not to insinuate that they're lying, which again, comes across as insulting and argumentative. Your usage of the word essentially comes across as trolling at that point, because it encourages people to argue with you.

[GodzillavsJason]

Okay, everyone needs to drop the subject.

Baragonbreh, you've been told to knock it off so many times, and yet you refused to listen. Enjoy the warning.

[Troyal1]

I wonder how this movie didn't look like ass to people. It wasn't causing me any discomfort outside of "oh god I paid for tickets for me and my brother for this movie" but the framing, blocking, colors, and zooms were all pretty bad.

If the movie had just been shot better(for me) my review would go up ALOT.

It’s always more frustrating to see a film with wasted potential than a movie that has no redeeming qualities imo.

And there was loads here that had big potential.

Perhaps I’ll appreciate it more a second time but I kinda doubt it. Shaky cam doesn’t mix well with me.

[Mr_Goji_and_Watch]

Yeah, nothing more annoying than knowing there's something worthwhile at some level but it got ruined by sloppy execution.

[kaijukurt]

I think the shaky cam scenes were fine for me since a lot were from a ground POV or had the human cast in the foreground. Helped give off a frantic/frenzied tone to the scenes (esp. in Antarctica where theyre desperately trying to get out of the way).

Of course, the style easily couldve been done for VFX reasons, but Id like to contend that the scenes manage to work.

Also didnt hurt at all that when the shaky scenes stopped, they would lead in to some really juicy kaiju imagery, like Godzilla roaring against a full moon/his atomic breath charging up.

Scenes like those, I really appreciated the immersion attempts.

[_JNavs_]

I think the shaky cam scenes were fine for me since a lot were from a ground POV or had the human cast in the foreground. Helped give off a frantic/frenzied tone to the scenes (esp. in Antarctica where theyre desperately trying to get out of the way).

Of course, the style easily couldve been done for VFX reasons, but Id like to contend that the scenes manage to work.

Also didnt hurt at all that when the shaky scenes stopped, they would lead in to some really juicy kaiju imagery, like Godzilla roaring against a full moon/his atomic breath charging up.

Scenes like those, I really appreciated the immersion attempts.

Agree 100%

[Troyal1]

I think the shaky cam scenes were fine for me since a lot were from a ground POV or had the human cast in the foreground. Helped give off a frantic/frenzied tone to the scenes (esp. in Antarctica where theyre desperately trying to get out of the way).

Of course, the style easily couldve been done for VFX reasons, but Id like to contend that the scenes manage to work.

Also didnt hurt at all that when the shaky scenes stopped, they would lead in to some really juicy kaiju imagery, like Godzilla roaring against a full moon/his atomic breath charging up.

Scenes like those, I really appreciated the immersion attempts.

I see what you’re saying and I really wish I could view if that way. But for some reason it broke my immersion/focus every time

[kaijukurt]

I see what you’re saying and I really wish I could view if that way. But for some reason it broke my immersion/focus every time

Thats ok, different strokes for different folks!

[Hokmuto]

Wrong thread

[MegaEvilSaurus666]

I think the shaky cam scenes were fine for me since a lot were from a ground POV or had the human cast in the foreground. Helped give off a frantic/frenzied tone to the scenes (esp. in Antarctica where theyre desperately trying to get out of the way).

Of course, the style easily couldve been done for VFX reasons, but Id like to contend that the scenes manage to work.

Also didnt hurt at all that when the shaky scenes stopped, they would lead in to some really juicy kaiju imagery, like Godzilla roaring against a full moon/his atomic breath charging up.

Scenes like those, I really appreciated the immersion attempts.

I see what you’re saying and I really wish I could view if that way. But for some reason it broke my immersion/focus every time

Godzilla and Kong before this managed without excessive use of shaky cam, I'm sure. I don't remember many or any instances where shaky cam was used in 2014.

I really cannot stress enough that the cinematography and battle choreography in Godzilla 2014 was better, even if slight in some cases, and that is unfortunate considering how far rendering has come since. The details look better and more clear, but there's more to it. Slight differences go a long way in making convincing effects. In the 5 year old movie, instead of a number of hard cuts from monster action to human action, we got a smooth transition of some sort, either by panning in, or by seeing an effect of the battle on the background of the shots that focused on the people. It gives the sense that you're looking around at these giants. The speed of the monsters also felt better. I think if the monsters were slowed down by just 0.75x in some shots, the size and weight would've been conveyed so much more. It tries to go full on Showa era with the speed on monsters that are nearly 3x the size on occasion. The battles in Heisei films were slowed to convey that size and mass, and that's what matters most. More building destruction is needed, which Godzilla 2014 also did better. It does about three things at once: size, strength, and immersion. Giant monsters in near barren landscapes makes them look smaller than they're supposed to be.

The best example for my last point is the ending scene. There's nothing to give Godzilla any size in the final scene, and the mound he stands atop makes him appear even less large.

[HannibalBarca]

I wonder how this movie didn't look like ass to people. It wasn't causing me any discomfort outside of "oh god I paid for tickets for me and my brother for this movie" but the framing, blocking, colors, and zooms were all pretty bad.

I'm a bit more forgiving of the execution for the shots of the monster battles, but for the life of me I couldn't even begin to understand what was supposed to be happening during that gun battle between G-Team and the terrorists at the Antarctica base.

[AllHailTheKing]

Returning member here. I had an account 3 years ago but I lost my password and had some difficulty retrieving it (don't remember the details). Anyway, I saw the movie Saturday in IMAX with my mom and really liked it. It wasn't perfect, but I don't get all the hate it's been getting. The story was a bit been there/seen that but that's okay. I loved the global scale, how we learn more about Monarch and the Titans, and get a glimpse of how the world might react if it found out there were giant monsters. I loved all the Easter eggs and the return of the original musical themes. The kaiju fights were awesome. I actually thought there were going to be MORE based on people saying it's wall-to-wall action for the whole movie. I had some nitpicks too, but overall I had a good time and really want to see it again.

[GuardianGhido]

Howdy everyone! I've been lurking these forums since K:SI came out and the only thing that pushed me to make this account was this wonderful WONDERFUL movie!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a rightly deserved title in every way possible! (in my opinion of course) The monster action was some of the best I've seen in ANY Godzilla movie, rivaled only by Final Wars! All of the titans fought in the best way possible! Not Heisei beam spamming and not Showa brawling but a perfect animalistic yet majestic way of fighting that really captured my interest every second they were on the screen! Godzilla was strong, fast and imposing at the same time! Using a good combination of human-like melee attacks, beastly mauling and epic blasts of his signature Atomic Breath! King Ghidorah moved in ways I've never seen from any other Ghidorah, being a dynamic focused and smart fighter instead of a sitting duck that fires beams everywhere. I didn't mind wingwalking as it made him fast and besides, he also stood upright for intimidation and aiming, heck he even used his wings like arms in a few occasions which really impressed me. Mothra carried her air of godliness and holiness while still being a competent fighter, actually fighting in melee with her scythe arms which really set her apart from her past incarnations. Rodan had such aerodynamic ability with barrel rolls and sudden flaps that were impossible to imagine with wires in tokusatsu and he was also so aggressive in all his fights, even getting too aggressive to his own detriment sometimes. I loved all of it.

Now I've heard a lot of sane normal people that aren't critics also complain that the humans and plot sucked. I had absolutely NO such feelings watching the movie! The fast pacing only served to keep me more engaged and excited without ever getting bored. The plot might seem dumb to some people but the way it was presented wasn't dumb at all to me. The human characters weren't Gojira levels of amazing but they were pretty damn serviceable for a Godzilla movie. I actually found myself worrying about the Monarch people while they were being attacked by the Titans and the like and actually cried at the most emotional scene. My only real complaints about the plot and characters is that some of them felt a little underutilized (Charles Dance and MBB especially, they killed it in what little roles they had and I wish they had more), an extremely cool plot point was reduced to a one-scene wonder with no fanfair and one of the characters did a full 180 on established character rather abruptly which was a little baffling.

Then there's all the complaints I've heard about "sloppy" and "incomprehensible" camerawork and cinematography. While I do agree some wide shots would have been way better, the quick cuts and stuff I felt to be enhancing the hectic and chaotic nature of the scenes. It really drove it home how much danger the humans were in. The thing I say is that cinematography and stuff is technically art. And I am of the belief that no art can be objectively good or bad and that it only matter what you think of it. It's like if you tried to see Picasso's weird artworks as human portraits and get confused and accuse it of being incomprehensible. Sure it might seem that way to you, but some people CAN like it. It's not too far-fetched for anything to appeal to someone.

Overall this was a mind-bllowingly awesome and absolutely amazing cinematic experience that I will never forget. It felt like a dream come true to see a Showa style monster bash come to the big screen in beautiully CGI rendered glory. And unfortunately it makes it all the more depressing that it's doing badly box office wise. I guess people don't know or like Godzilla or something. I bet it was the 5 year gap between 2014 and this one. Reviews by Godzilla hating critics ("Is it a good movie? It's a Godzilla movie so no") probably didn't help either. But the sorrow is starting to wear off and I'm glad that at least we got to see this movie in our lifetimes.

Overall 9.5/10 from me. Long live the King.

[Spuro]

Am I the only one who liked the close ups and human perspective?

I thought it allowed for shots and angles unseen in any other Godzilla fight. If it was entirely wide shots I'm not sure how it would stand out cinematography wise compared to the many suit battles.

I wouldn't want this to be the new normal, but it felt fresh and new to me.

Are you the only one who liked not actually being able to see the monsters during the monster scenes?

I would say yes, but you are not the only one who will claim they liked it.

You could see the monsters just fine.

And don't try to tell me what I did and did not like. I can speak for myself, thanks.

[_JNavs_]

Howdy everyone! I've been lurking these forums since K:SI came out and the only thing that pushed me to make this account was this wonderful WONDERFUL movie!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a rightly deserved title in every way possible! (in my opinion of course) The monster action was some of the best I've seen in ANY Godzilla movie, rivaled only by Final Wars! All of the titans fought in the best way possible! Not Heisei beam spamming and not Showa brawling but a perfect animalistic yet majestic way of fighting that really captured my interest every second they were on the screen! Godzilla was strong, fast and imposing at the same time! Using a good combination of human-like melee attacks, beastly mauling and epic blasts of his signature Atomic Breath! King Ghidorah moved in ways I've never seen from any other Ghidorah, being a dynamic focused and smart fighter instead of a sitting duck that fires beams everywhere. I didn't mind wingwalking as it made him fast and besides, he also stood upright for intimidation and aiming, heck he even used his wings like arms in a few occasions which really impressed me. Mothra carried her air of godliness and holiness while still being a competent fighter, actually fighting in melee with her scythe arms which really set her apart from her past incarnations. Rodan had such aerodynamic ability with barrel rolls and sudden flaps that were impossible to imagine with wires in tokusatsu and he was also so aggressive in all his fights, even getting too aggressive to his own detriment sometimes. I loved all of it.

Now I've heard a lot of sane normal people that aren't critics also complain that the humans and plot sucked. I had absolutely NO such feelings watching the movie! The fast pacing only served to keep me more engaged and excited without ever getting bored. The plot might seem dumb to some people but the way it was presented wasn't dumb at all to me. The human characters weren't Gojira levels of amazing but they were pretty damn serviceable for a Godzilla movie. I actually found myself worrying about the Monarch people while they were being attacked by the Titans and the like and actually cried at the most emotional scene. My only real complaints about the plot and characters is that some of them felt a little underutilized (Charles Dance and MBB especially, they killed it in what little roles they had and I wish they had more), an extremely cool plot point was reduced to a one-scene wonder with no fanfair and one of the characters did a full 180 on established character rather abruptly which was a little baffling.

Then there's all the complaints I've heard about "sloppy" and "incomprehensible" camerawork and cinematography. While I do agree some wide shots would have been way better, the quick cuts and stuff I felt to be enhancing the hectic and chaotic nature of the scenes. It really drove it home how much danger the humans were in. The thing I say is that cinematography and stuff is technically art. And I am of the belief that no art can be objectively good or bad and that it only matter what you think of it. It's like if you tried to see Picasso's weird artworks as human portraits and get confused and accuse it of being incomprehensible. Sure it might seem that way to you, but some people CAN like it. It's not too far-fetched for anything to appeal to someone.

Overall this was a mind-bllowingly awesome and absolutely amazing cinematic experience that I will never forget. It felt like a dream come true to see a Showa style monster bash come to the big screen in beautiully CGI rendered glory. And unfortunately it makes it all the more depressing that it's doing badly box office wise. I guess people don't know or like Godzilla or something. I bet it was the 5 year gap between 2014 and this one. Reviews by Godzilla hating critics ("Is it a good movie? It's a Godzilla movie so no") probably didn't help either. But the sorrow is starting to wear off and I'm glad that at least we got to see this movie in our lifetimes.

Overall 9.5/10 from me. Long live the King.

Completely agree with every word!!!

[The Baranosdragon]

I am... a touch conflicted, honestly. I could go on and on about how I feel, but I will summarize my opinions to save time:

+ The monster battle scenes were, as I expected, absolutely incredible.
+ The special effects were very good as well.
+ Bear McReary did an excellent job with the soundtrack, especially considering the fact that he had permission to use various Akira Ifukube songs.
+ The monster designs are overall amazing, and the big four were done justice and then some (especially Ghidorah).

- While the other titan designs were good, I would have liked to see more of them.
- The overarching story was... mediocre at best. It is such a shame, considering the talent behind the film.
- While certain shots were amazing, some of the camerawork was a bit dodgy, if not outright tacky at points, such as the zooming in certain shots.
- While the battles were incredibly entertaining, especially the final battle, I found Ghidorah's ultimate defeat to be an anti-climax.

That about summarizes how I felt about it. Did I enjoy it? Yes, very much so. Do I wish it could have been better? Also yes, when all is said and done. As strange as it may sound... I just might have liked Godzilla 2014 over this film, but that will require a bit more valuation in the future.