The Big Picture: Go Go Godzilla - Hoping for Better Blockbusters
- Thread starter MovieBob
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Director's cuts are all the rage nowadays, so I'm holding out hope that we might maybe get something a bit more interesting on DVD. Maybe some character development for the human characters?
I hope they are a not silly enough to call whatever they make next "Godzilla 2" because its actually more like Godzilla "large int".
I was actually shocked that people were skeptical about it. I mean they billed it as "from the team that brought you Wreck-it Ralph and Tangle". Not exactly bad movies. Hell Ralph became my favorite Disney movie up until Frozen came out. Its funny that they call fairy tale princesses girly and dated though. Its a fairy tale which, when done right, are timeless and never really get dated.Trishbot said:
I wouldn't say it had little hype. I'd say rather it had the wrong kind of hype. Playing up Olaf and Sven. Hell it wasn't until the third trailer for the movie that we actually got a much clearer picture of what it was going to be. Still I do think it was the word of mouth. And wow it was even cheaper than I thought. The only thing negative I'd have to say is I feel really really really bad for the follow up act to Frozen. While not quite the same comparison there was just too much event for this one once the train started rolling that I don't think Big Hero 6 will be able to do what Frozen did.
Still when you get right down to it. Films that have a greater goal then trying to fill out a balance sheet will be rewarded. Like Bob said while Godzilla ultimately did not sit well with him it had ambition, a very artistic approach to monster movies instead of having action shoved in your face 24/7. I haven't seen it yet but I know that Godzilla isn't in it that much. Still I think an interesting comparison can be drawn between this and Pacific Rim. Godzilla was the more art house of the two with a slow burn in the second act but massive build up for, what I'm told, is an all hell breaks lose awesome kaiju throw down. While Pacific Rim had ambition of a different kind. Take tropes, arcs, and character types you'd normally see on a low budget saturday morning cartoon and pump them up to silver screen proportions. Basically giving us a 2 hour Saturday morning cartoon on the big screen that aimed to do one thing and one thing only. Make you feel like a little kid on the inside and remind you how awesome giant robots vs. giant monsters is. Both films succeeded and both films got rewarded for their ambition.
The new Godzilla seems more like a 1.5 to me. By that i mean the original Godzilla was more about the people than the monster, Godzilla in that was just a force of nature destroying things. Like a tornado or hurricane. Wasnt till the sequel he became the true star and started fighting monsters. Now with the new movies sequel, they can add more monsters, hopefully Toho ones, and have way more fights though out the film.
I both agree and disagree with you Bob.
I get rooting for a change to the status quo, but I don't see how Godzilla represents that in any way shape or form. Its a reboot of a massively longstanding property. And the creators chose a narrative structure that worked in far better films (I keep hearing it compared to Jaws, for example) without any real understanding of why it worked in those films.
I mean, let's be honest, the first Transformers used the same general approach as this film did. It was more comedy than somber, but it still relied on a human-centric story anchored by performances that really couldn't hold it up in a weak overall story. And they both attempted a slow burn of the wildly anticipated Monster/Robot reveal. Although Bay popped his cork about midway through the film rather than waiting till the third act, but still.
I get rooting for a change to the status quo, but I don't see how Godzilla represents that in any way shape or form. Its a reboot of a massively longstanding property. And the creators chose a narrative structure that worked in far better films (I keep hearing it compared to Jaws, for example) without any real understanding of why it worked in those films.
I mean, let's be honest, the first Transformers used the same general approach as this film did. It was more comedy than somber, but it still relied on a human-centric story anchored by performances that really couldn't hold it up in a weak overall story. And they both attempted a slow burn of the wildly anticipated Monster/Robot reveal. Although Bay popped his cork about midway through the film rather than waiting till the third act, but still.
I liked the movie, and to be fair, the people in my theater(packed mid sunday with another line waiting as we left), clapped at a few points and at the end.Zontar said:
Was it slow? See I think I need to watch it again. I think I wanted to see Big G so much that it made it feel slow at points. Am I saying it was perfect. Nope, I am also pretty sure there was way too much of the main human character and not enough of what should have been the main character, his dad.
See I don't necessarily agree that lack of Godzilla was a problem, having the movie told mostly from a human perspective was a great idea, Edwards just picked the wrong perspective.
Good Lord, this is happening? Get ready for a billion "Where my Peeps at?" jokes in the marketing alone.Andrew Siribohdi said:
I didn't realize there were other live-action blockbuster movies with machine gun wielding racoons.AJey said:
OT: Great episode Bob. I agree with you when you say it's kind of nice to see that ASM2 is kind of failing comparitively and it's dropping in the box office already. I'd much rather have Godzilla succeed.
Not slow but rather depressed like i am so tired of this i want to go home please just leave me alone.MB202 said:
This is a post I can get behind. I hated that they kept breaking away from Godzilla to the humans because the humans were lodged somewhere between incompetent and boring as all hell. I've been banging on about how the film could have been great if, instead of bland-Army-guy and his wooden wife, the film had concentrated on Ken Watanabe and Bryan Cranston chasing the giant monsters around as they tore things up. The movie wasn't bad because it didn't have enough Godzilla, it was bad because there wasn't anything else going on between the tiny few monster fights we saw.theApoc said:
Uhm the soulles blockbuster machine is responsible for SIDELINING the transformers in their film for Shia LeBouf, remember? Keep the giants out of frame is so standard by now for movies aiming for broad appeal and some sense of respect is.. kinda old hat by now.
Why are we even pretending this is a bold move which its part of the JAWS formula from the late 70s?
Why are we even pretending this is a bold move which its part of the JAWS formula from the late 70s?
Just thinking about it now I actually found the film similar to Speilberg's reboot of The War of the Worlds. It makes sense given that Gareth Edwards is obviously a big Speilberg fan - that open scene with the helicopter was right out of Jurassic Park.
Dear god man, please tell me you're joking...Andrew Siribohdi said:
*googles it*
There...there has never been a more worthy reason to facepalm...
I mean come on, people. At the rate I'm losing it, I'll be all out of faith in humanity by the end of the year. More and more we seem to be striving to prove that Idiocracy wasn't a movie, but rather a prophecy.
I've got to hand it to you Bob, even though you didn't care for this film the end, you didn't follow up with "this is why this film is bad more so" like some reviews in the past (like Spider-Man... also brought up here but never mind for now). I'm glad you're not too down on your disappointment.
Personally I really enjoyed the film despite its faults and disagree with your review yet I agree with your message here all the same, I want new and more, even if it doesn't work. I didn't hate the Amazing Spider-Man 2 like you did Bob but I'm not wanting it to become its own Avengers-style "crossover-verse" some higher ups are hoping for.
Personally I really enjoyed the film despite its faults and disagree with your review yet I agree with your message here all the same, I want new and more, even if it doesn't work. I didn't hate the Amazing Spider-Man 2 like you did Bob but I'm not wanting it to become its own Avengers-style "crossover-verse" some higher ups are hoping for.
I'm glad this video could find the silver lining in what I thought was an insufferable film. It made for a nice companion to the fuller commentary in this week's podcast.
I thought the movie was decent and would like to see a second one, maybe with fewer humans.
I have a few questions I would like to ask the team that made Godzilla.
The begging was so slow that I had time to think about these questions. I believe they can only do better with a sequel.
I have a few questions I would like to ask the team that made Godzilla.
1. Why did the Muto?s look like they came from space? Godzilla looked prehistoric they did not.
2. What use was the Muto?s EMP bursts in prehistoric times? That was a little convenient.
3. Why was it always so dark out even in the day time?
4. Size wise how did no one in Nevada not notice the female Muto getting bigger over 15 years? time? And why did no one check on the nuclear waste over 15 years.
5. Last why were people still working in the office building during an evacuation?
2. What use was the Muto?s EMP bursts in prehistoric times? That was a little convenient.
3. Why was it always so dark out even in the day time?
4. Size wise how did no one in Nevada not notice the female Muto getting bigger over 15 years? time? And why did no one check on the nuclear waste over 15 years.
5. Last why were people still working in the office building during an evacuation?
The begging was so slow that I had time to think about these questions. I believe they can only do better with a sequel.