Godzilla: King of the Monsters - General Discussion

[GuardianGhido]

Yeah, honestly fine with the spines being the way they are too. I really like the rune-like patterns on them that shine when he charges.

Yeah those are pretty good. Also love his "Intimidation Display" thing. It would have been a really cool shot to have him standing in the middle of a grounded pitch black storm cloud and illuminating the area with his Intimidation Display. The first few flashes would show nothing but then another flash happens and BOOM, King Ghidorah's right there! Would've been cool.

[MegaEvilSaurus666]

The only things I'd change for 2020 is the head size, and in general, neck proportions. On occasion, the width of Godzilla's head to shoulder area is excessively wide. His neck is massive in the scenes where he arrives in Boston, and it just looks bizarre. It could be the shoulders, I don't know. His tail is also sort of short for my liking, I feel like they should have left it alone.

Very minor changes to the dorsal plates' shapes would be alright. I used to think that the dorsal plates could be used as a form of identification between individuals of his species, looking at it from a biological perspective, but nope.

I'd prefer that Legendary's Godzilla wouldn't become an imitation of the Toho Godzilla. White on his dorsal plates isn't necessary, because for a time, this particular Godzilla was something new. While some people may have had their issues with it, the 2014 design was pretty well thought out. It's recognizable as Godzilla almost immediately from the silhouette alone, but without looking exactly like any other design previously created. Multiple areas of Godzilla's design are completely different from many predecessors, but yet manage to stay true to the idea of what Godzilla is. The 2019 design didn't just draw inspiration from the previous designs, but instead copy-pasted some of Godzilla 1954's dorsal plates, blunted the tail tip to something akin to Showa era designs, and changed the feet to where they nearly resemble those of the 2001 design. Just based upon the silhouette, this 2019 Godzilla is kind of less of a standout. I like the design a lot and the changes aren't inherently bad, but simply based upon uniqueness and from a creative perspective, it has some drawbacks. The 2020 changes shouldn't be drastic, and probably shouldn't dive deeper into making Godzilla into a Toho copy.

[BlankAccount]

I actually like the idea of his spines having a constant faint glow.

Bone white + constant glow = classic and new.

[gottatalktothefake]

So I've been posting this around in order to find a community consensus. So I figured I'd post it here. https://youpoll.me/15460/

[daveblackeye15]

Did I enjoy it? Yes!
Rating: 8/10
Though honestly don't know what it'd take to get to a nine. Maybe even better characters? I'm excited to see it looks like Dr. Chen is part of the cast list for Godzilla vs. Kong.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I gave it a 5. It does not deserve any less but at the same time I don't know, I just don't feel confident enough to rate it any higher. Then again I would have initially rated KSI a 5 but after my 2nd viewing I'd probably give it a 7. So who knows my opinion could easily change after it comes out on home video.

[daveblackeye15]

Welp I did it. Made it nine viewings. Just like I did for Pacific Rim and the 2014 Godzilla. Hey those other two were back when I had a cheap theater that would play them for several months extra.

I really appreciate that kids in the Monsterverse...do not have a good time with monsters around typically.
School bus of kids in Godzilla 2014? Freaking out as the military shoots at Godzilla on the bridge.
Madison is clearly afraid of larvae Mothra hurting her mom though this ends up being a good encounter.
Kid almost gets sucked away as Rodan flies over. Not having a good time before that either during the evacuation.
Madison doesn't have fun trying to run away from King Ghidorah. She's happy when Godzilla shows up but realizes that it is not a good idea to be underfoot. And when it gets really bad with Godzilla and Ghidorah fighting on the ground and Mothra and Rodan in the air she's freaking out.

I keep remembering that moment in the first Bayformers where Prime and Bonecrusher are fighting right in front of a kid and his mom in a car on a highway and he's all 'COOL MOM!'

[Thegarbagemonster]

I saw the movie a second time, this time with a friend who's only contact with Godzilla has been through the 2014 movie and one of the playstation games many years ago. He says he'd give it an 8.5/10 (he's pretty harsh on movies so that's an excellent score...) and I loved seeing his reactions.

There were also children in the theatre, and it was somewhat annoying because they talked constantly, and I was already annoyed due to the guy behind me having his shoes up on the back of our seats. But it was nice to hear them get audibly excited at the monsters. They also seemed to have a good grasp of the movies of the past, too, they even were talking about rodan passing on the fire to godzilla in GvMGII. Cool!

IDK how it is for you guys, or if it was just my specific room's projector, but I was trying my best to make out all the names during the scene where the girl (madison?) switches the ORCA on in Fenway and all the titans stop rampaging to travel to it. But they were all pretty blurry. I did spot the names of mokele-mbembe and a few others tho.

[GodzillaFan1990's]

I was at one of my local malls today and found out the DVD/Blu-Ray release for the film.

August 27th guys. Mark your calendars.

[Cryptid_Liker]

Yeah, honestly fine with the spines being the way they are too. I really like the rune-like patterns on them that shine when he charges.

They didn't say the shapes would be gone.

[Dv-218]

Yeah, honestly fine with the spines being the way they are too. I really like the rune-like patterns on them that shine when he charges.

They didn't say the shapes would be gone.

No, they didn't. Absolutely nothing was said regarding any changes so far. Just saying that I have no problem with the plates and design staying the same in GvK, since I dig the KOTM one.

[ClandestineCanine9]

while I think the bone-white would look cool, I agree that it would detract from this Godzilla's uniqueness. I like him the way he is.

[LockBite]

I really want this Godzilla to have spines that are different in color from the rest of his body. KoTM kind of circumvented this design issue by having them glowing constantly, but the truth is that in the daylight Godzilla looks more like a big gray blob (I say that as someone who prefers this design over all others ever). Making his spines stand out would make the design perfect.

[GojiDog]

One more thing I'll give these MosnterVerse Godzilla films.

In previous Godzilla movies, he's always implied to have some kind of a sixth sense. In Mothra Vs. Godzilla, he seems to know that Mothra's egg contains a potential threat. In Terror of Mechagodzilla, he knows that Titannosauras is attacking the city without anyone alerting him. In Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla, he knows right where Spacegodzilla is and heads in that direction.

There are examples of him being summoned to action or alerted of danger (Godzilla Vs. Megalon, Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 74) but generally, we're used to him showing up when another monster does and we just kind of accept it as something that Godzilla can do.

The Monsterverse's use of echolocation and bioacoustics provides, at least, a somewhat acceptable answer for how Godzilla knows where his enemies are and how he shows up when he needs too. I dig it.

[Thunderbird]

Just watched GKOTM for the seventh time.

I think the promo links to Stranger Things and Game of Thrones failed horribly. As a Godzilla fan who ignores commercial TV, the crossover of actors from the small screen held no significance for me. And on the flip side, I don't think fans of those shows (neither of which I've ever watched) were likely to crossover to Godzilla fandom either.

Tom Middleditch could have been cut from the film with his lines and scenes given to Bradley Whitford instead. One comic relief character was all we needed. Whitford was enthusiastic, genuinely funny and could switch to gravitas on a dime, which really worked in a movie that went straight from A to Z in terms of pacing.

Sally Hawkins' character should have survived Antarctica to inherit Serizawa's legacy. That would have made more sense in terms of plot, though I admit bias in that regard because Hawkins is a hottie and I can't take my eyes off of her when she's onscreen. Zhang Ziyi also classed up the joint and I think her inclusion in the film is responsible for GKOTM's stellar reception in Asian markets.

Ice Cube Jr should have been cut from the cast. I would prefer to see the Foster character given a more expanded role instead.

Charles Dance should have been cut from the film and the script should have instead been brave enough to let Vera go full terrorist on her own, complete with a straight up onscreen villain's death in the final act.

And finally, Millie Bobbie Brown should never have been cast in the movie. I get it that she's a female version of the tradtional "Kenny" character who represents younger audiences, but outside of being rescued by Godzilla from King Ghidorah she served no real purpose. It would have been better if Mark and Emma lost both kids in San Fransisco and their resulting separation and rivalry served as the core human drama.

The film was sorely missing a Ghidorah rampage scene to blatantly establish his dominance in the aftermath of the Mexico battle. His invasion of North America and battle with the miltary should have been front, center and cranked up to eleven. This would have sold the general audiences on his threat and would have made Godzilla's resurrection seem more powerful and necessary.

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say with further viewings.

[Dv-218]

One more thing I'll give these MosnterVerse Godzilla films.

In previous Godzilla movies, he's always implied to have some kind of a sixth sense. In Mothra Vs. Godzilla, he seems to know that Mothra's egg contains a potential threat. In Terror of Mechagodzilla, he knows that Titannosauras is attacking the city without anyone alerting him. In Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla, he knows right where Spacegodzilla is and heads in that direction.

There are examples of him being summoned to action or alerted of danger (Godzilla Vs. Megalon, Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 74) but generally, we're used to him showing up when another monster does and we just kind of accept it as something that Godzilla can do.

The Monsterverse's use of echolocation and bioacoustics provides, at least, a somewhat acceptable answer for how Godzilla knows where his enemies are and how he shows up when he needs too. I dig it.

Same here. In fact, one of the things that I thought to myself after watching KOTM again (enjoyed it even more the 2nd time btw. It definitely has flaws here and there, but in general I came out statisfied) and rewatching G2014 is how well both movies handled the natural sound abilities Godzilla has. It's a small, nearly miniscule detail, but oddly cool and makes a lot of sense when it comes to tracking down the rival Titans whenever they are. After all, he is a sea monster- an acute recognition of sound and bio-acoustics is useful in the dark abyss he usually swims in.

Added in 3 minutes 2 seconds:

Just watched GKOTM for the seventh time.

I think the promo links to Stranger Things and Game of Thrones failed horribly. As a Godzilla fan who ignores commercial TV, the crossover of actors from the small screen held no significance for me. And on the flip side, I don't think fans of those shows (neither of which I've ever watched) were likely to crossover to Godzilla fandom either.

Tom Middleditch could have been cut from the film with his lines and scenes given to Bradley Whitford instead. One comic relief character was all we needed. Whitford was enthusiastic, genuinely funny and could switch to gravitas on a dime, which really worked in a movie that went straight from A to Z in terms of pacing.

Sally Hawkins' character should have survived Antarctica to inherit Serizawa's legacy. That would have made more sense in terms of plot, though I admit bias in that regard because Hawkins is a hottie and I can't take my eyes off of her when she's onscreen. Zhang Ziyi also classed up the joint and I think her inclusion in the film is responsible for GKOTM's stellar reception in Asian markets.

Ice Cube Jr should have been cut from the cast. I would prefer to see the Foster character given a more expanded role instead.

Charles Dance should have been cut from the film and the script should have instead been brave enough to let Vera go full terrorist on her own, complete with a straight up onscreen villain's death in the final act.

And finally, Millie Bobbie Brown should never have been cast in the movie. I get it that she's a female version of the tradtional "Kenny" character who represents younger audiences, but outside of being rescued by Godzilla from King Ghidorah she served no real purpose. It would have been better if Mark and Emma lost both kids in San Fransisco and their resulting separation and rivalry served as the core human drama.

The film was sorely missing a Ghidorah rampage scene to blatantly establish his dominance in the aftermath of the Mexico battle. His invasion of North America and battle with the miltary should have been front, center and cranked up to eleven. This would have sold the general audiences on his threat and would have made Godzilla's resurrection seem more powerful and necessary.

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say with further viewings.

Agreed with some of these points. I definitely wish we actually got to see Ghidorah wrecking the sh*t out of Washington D.C, as implied in the novelization. Not disappointed at all, but it would have been a nice addition to establish further just how much of a monster Ghidorah is. And yeah, honestly felt that Coleman's character was unnecessary. Rick just stole the show when it came to the comedic relief aspect- I mean, it's Bradley fucking Whitford. Can't go wrong with him lol

[KingKaiju]

The more I think about it, the more I kind of hate what they did with Rodan in this movie. He was so badass, but I hated that they turned him into a Starscream-like character.

[JesstrK]

The more I think about it, the more I kind of hate what they did with Rodan in this movie. He was so badass, but I hated that they turned him into a Starscream-like character.

Yeah same. I would have preferred if he disappeared for a while after getting beat by Ghidorah and we assume he's out of the fight for the movie, then just when we've forgotten about him, he zooms in out of nowhere during the final battle and tackles Ghidorah away from Godzilla just when things look really bad, like how Blue did in Jurassic World.

[Dv-218]

I can see where you are coming from, but I will say that Rodan always had a self-caring and somewhat jerkish personality to him- and of course, he was an antagonist (albeit a tragic one) in his original debut movie. I feel like KOTM simply presents a somewhat different interpretation of both of these character traits in a manner which suits this particular plot- all while providing a Rodan incarnation that feels perfectly in line with the destructive beast from 1956, although without the emotional and tragic aspect. Still, I do feel that the movie could have given him more time for him and his personality to shine, and seeing him realize that Ghidorah is a "false king" and joining both Godzilla and Mothra against him would have felt incredibely satisfying and in-line with his development in GTTHM. Who knows, perhaps he will get a "redemption" in GvK, if he plays a role in it that is.

[BlankAccount]

One more thing I'll give these MosnterVerse Godzilla films.

In previous Godzilla movies, he's always implied to have some kind of a sixth sense. In Mothra Vs. Godzilla, he seems to know that Mothra's egg contains a potential threat. In Terror of Mechagodzilla, he knows that Titannosauras is attacking the city without anyone alerting him. In Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla, he knows right where Spacegodzilla is and heads in that direction.

There are examples of him being summoned to action or alerted of danger (Godzilla Vs. Megalon, Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 74) but generally, we're used to him showing up when another monster does and we just kind of accept it as something that Godzilla can do.

The Monsterverse's use of echolocation and bioacoustics provides, at least, a somewhat acceptable answer for how Godzilla knows where his enemies are and how he shows up when he needs too. I dig it.

Also his hollow earth tunnels with insanely strong water currents. Gives an explanation for how he travels to the threat so quick despite being half way around the world in the middle of the ocean, he uses it like a highway to zip around and boost his swimming speed to much higher than what he can normally swim at.