A Mildly Long MonsterVerse retrospective...

First comment on my own thing

How have you not seen the flick that kickstarted this whole thing? Godzilla 2014 is at least as good as Skull Island in some respects and far, far better than King of the Monsters.

Admittedly, my opinion of the film has retroactively improved when compared to King of the Monsters.

But really, the Monsterverse isn't doing anything Toho's already done. The Showa Series was pulling together a cinematic universe concept before the term was even coined.

I honestly surprised that people haven’t exploded in outrage against each other. KOTM was a touchy subject, but people have gotten over it for the most part. I’m not going to comment on my opinions, because I don’t want keep defending them. But I thought it was interesting 

As much as like King of the Monsters, I do have some issues with it. I get Dougherty wanted to homage key points of godzilla franchise but some things I think they should have omitted or at least save it for another time.

1. the massive HQ jet, reminds me of that dumb drill-aircraft from Final Wars. 

2. Ghidorah should of had more build up and should have been a solo monster rather than using an outdated alpha pack structure

3. The Oxygen Destroyer being used as a minor plot device (read: throwaway weapon) rather than a major plot device (read: last ditch weapon) that requires more build up to its importance

4. Burning Godzilla should have been saved for a later movie but that is just me. The Heat Spiral ability would have sufficed.

5. MUTO 3 being subserviently to Godzilla when their species are supposed to be his natural enemies!

Not natural enemies, Parasites. They are not competing for resources 

Technically the MUTO were parasitoids but only their young, I think the MUTO were large enough to be considered a natural enemy since both Godzilla and the MUTO feed on radioactive material

I really do think you should give G14 a go and then form your opinion on that film by what you see rather than what you've heard from other people. I do understand the complaints about Godzilla's screen time, but I'm honestly so glad the writers decided to hold it off until the last third, because it's worth it. Gareth's direction is very ambitious, and the way in which he handled these creatures (particularly in the climatic battle) is far better than anything you see in KotM imo. Undoubtedly my favorite in this universe thus far, though I think I need to give KSI a rewatch.

Gabriel Salomon,
Agreed. Godzilla '14's biggest strength is nuance and looking different from most blockbusters these days or at the time. It doesn't pound you over the head with a lot of visual noise or assault your senses in the way King of the Monsters does. (Or even Skull Island in some ways.)

Its weaknesses in carnage and character writing is balanced by its strengths in visceral imagery and nuanced directing. It's not a masterwork, but it definitely works.

As always, watch a film in its entirety before judging it. I see this a lot on this forum for some reason.

Well other people get influenced by other people’s opinions. So it’s easier to just use someone else’s opinions instead of actually watching it. 

Not going to get into my opinions on the first three movies. I've done that ad nauseum, and there are plenty of other opinions here to mull through. I will say you definitely need to watch it before coming to any conclusions, and watch it/them more than once. And then? Let us know what you think!

My thoughts exactly, G. H. (Gman). The tone and visuals in G14 are taken with a more simplistic approach with respect to the subsequent films in this franchise whilst simultaneously conveying the sheer grandeur of the on-screen events. That's why I find that film more rewatchable than KotM; it doesn't try to overwhelm its audience with crazy, smudgy visuals, but it does understand how to create a sense of scale, dynamic battles, and even suspense in certain cases (e.g. the Hawaiian airport scene or the halo jump). That's what sets it apart from much of Hollywood's current action flicks, though I do believe certain films prosper with that more overwhelming approach, so long as they remain self-aware throughout. A great example of this is Aquaman, which I think succeeds in all the ways KotM wants to.

SarcasticGoji

True, it is helpful to take the words of reliable critics/friends if you want to know whether or not you should waste your time on a certain film, but it is impossible to form your own opinion on said film without having even seen it. People are too heavily influenced by the opinions of others nowadays. 

Gman, I don't think it's that fun to have just humans for most of a Godzilla movie and save the real star for the third act.  That's just wrong.

Gabriel, KotM is in no way like Aquaman.

SarcasticGoji, I agree about the outrage part, KotM was the MonsterVerse's Last Jedi

Xenotaris, you can't bring in the Oxygen Destroyer without bringing in Destroyah.

@Salomon and Gman

Honestly I agree with the scale that G14 brings and the angle shots always being from the view of a person. KOTM did use this sometimes but missed it a lot. I’m not going to get into writing but more of the visual aspect. 14 was grayer while KOTM was more vibrant and booming. I prefer the latter in my opinion, I just find it more appealing. I wish 14 had not done grey but more of yellowish brown, which would really separate the night and day. If you want an idea of the tone color I wanted watch Sin Godzilla.

You can tell I’m biased to Shin.

@SonicTiger

Not to pick a fight, but U can bring the oxygen destroyer without destroyah.

The Showa continuity, and all the Millenium continuity had the oxygen destroyer without Destroyah.

But still, Destroyah is the most well-known thing when it comes to the Oxygen Destroyer.

Also, I think Destroyah's MonsterVerse design would probably be awesome

sonictiger,
How do you know that's where he comes in if you've never seen it? Because that's not when Godzilla first appears...

Human characters are intregal aspects of the genre whether any of us like it or not and the better movies of the franchise include characters that are not only fantastic, but have indirect or direct story connections to the monsters. In the case of 2014, the main character's "journey" mirrors that of Godzilla's--Both being soldiers, with a mission, attempting to reach their destination, solidified with a glance between the two.

Again, you've only heard what others have said about a movie and it's not entirely correct, giving credence to why you shouldn't just accept other people's opinion to form your own. If we do that, we give systems like Rotten Tomatoes a reason to continue existing. Because why form an opinion when it can just tell you?

SarcasticGoji,
Godzilla '14 was actually a fairly vibrant, beautiful movie with a sepia color tone when it was released in theaters. For some reason, WB Home Entertainment put a gray filter over it when they released it on Blu-ray. Hopefully they fix this problem when it's released on 4K:

The one human character in the whole frickin' MonsterVerse that anyone actually got behind was Madison Russell.  That's because her character arc was a lot more compelling than any other human character in the franchise.

I actually liked Ford Brody, I grew up in a military family so I felt connected to character

Are you talking about G'14?

Because again, never watched it.

Yes Godzilla 2014, it and Godzilla 1954 are my top favorite Godzilla movie. You should give it (G'14) a watch sonictiger

Actually, Joe Brody was probably the strongest character in the entire Monsterverse, he was just killed off too early. Next would be Marlow from Skull Island--Arguably more-so.

Madison, I agree, was the best character in King of the Monsters, but let's be honest. That's not a very high bar and she didn't really do much until the end of the film.

Hopefully Godzilla Vs. Kong gives Madison more time to shine, because Millie Bobby Brown is extremely talented.  It's a good sign that the actress had a lot of good things to say about her character in the GvK Collider interview.

Link: https://movieweb.com/godzilla-vs-kong-millie-bobby-brown-madison-evolution/

This article pulled quotes from the collider interview.

This is my reference link btw Gman.

@Gman

I didn’t see it in theaters, so that makes more sense.

The 4k release is reverting back to the sepia tone, so it'll be fine if you want to rewatch it.