Let's face it, this film was a flop, despite have a respectable user rating and many "10" user reviews. It failed to break even in the US. Abroad it did o.k., but not anywhere the numbers for a colossus special effects, battle royale action film. In Japan, the native land of Godzilla, it churned out an anemic $20+ MM. In fact it barely grossed half of what it 2014 progenitor raked in.... so the question has to be why?
It's not the plot, which by the contemporary standards of Marvel movies, is robust and, while it has one or two plot holes, pretty much holds water and is internally consistent. As the supposed much-coveted "universe" film in a Monarch franchise, it doesn't rely on ret-con gimicks to address the the prior 2 films, which frankly were pretty weak.
It's not the special effects, which are pretty much spot on. Godzilla is there in full glory, not constantly obscured by fog, buildings, and spider-monster appendages. The titular hero even gets some proper anthropomorphication, finally erasing the "dinosaur run amok" image of the 1998 film. The film probably has one too many supersonic jets being munched out of the sky by winged monstrosities with zero aerodynamics, and it definitely over-uses the word "Orspray". And there are extended sequences of human dialogue -- it relies on a big battle, back to the boardroom, rinse and repeat formula. Then again so do many other highly successful films. In the boardroom, the characters hold up well. There are two slightly tormented male leads carrying around Godzilla family baggage. There are the less flushed out comedic characters and the tough-as-nails female military field commander. So what is it that doomed this film?
The film has basically three problems. First: the human villains. The villains are essentially disciples of the Thanos philosophy, but they fail to conform to the modern villain demogrphic. Neither inspires much fear and hatred. There is no the hulking toxic-male aggression. Instead there is an impotent looking old man with a velvety voice and demeanor. Rather than seething of toxic masculinity and acting like a psychopath, his character is an environmental terrorist who is basically apathetic to people and conflict. Then there is his partner in crime, who I won't give away, but whose back-story flunks the 21st-century Hollywood litmus test for who can be a megalomaniac.
Another flaw that audiences in the screening room will tire of, it is in the way the human stories drag on the action. Themes of sacrifice, redemption, hubris, mourning the loss of a child -- all plot enhancers -- are just piled on until there are too many to sort out. Give us a neophite scientist struggling against the massive military-industrial complex, and we're more than happy to wash it down with a popcorn and a coke. Give us mish-most of complicated backstories, and no amount of pauses in the action give us the time to chew it up and process it. Also, this is a point where the film's color pallet fails. Those pauses in the action when the good guys return to base and lick their wounds while giving exposition and advancing the plot have been been blue light enhanced to the extreme -- the 21st century's paint by numbers substitute for quality acting.
Yes, many of the monster-battle backgrounds had to be produced right from the photo-shop color wheel, but it would be nice if at least the set-filmed segments look like they are taking place in the real world of color, and that the pallet was used to in ways to offset rather than enhance the drag of watching the humans mull over how bad their situation is. By literally slamming the breaks on the audience adrenaline and cutting off the air supply with human sacrifice after human sacrifice, by the time Godzilla finally climbs to the top of the monster heap, the audience is in tears rather than exploding with cheers and applause. Then again, whooping and whistling when one titan bashing another titan's brains out would be close to toxic masculinity, something Hollywood just can't abide today.
Overall, it was a good film. A huge leap from the cellophane plot of the 2014 film, and a notch above Kong Skull Island.
It's not the plot, which by the contemporary standards of Marvel movies, is robust and, while it has one or two plot holes, pretty much holds water and is internally consistent. As the supposed much-coveted "universe" film in a Monarch franchise, it doesn't rely on ret-con gimicks to address the the prior 2 films, which frankly were pretty weak.
It's not the special effects, which are pretty much spot on. Godzilla is there in full glory, not constantly obscured by fog, buildings, and spider-monster appendages. The titular hero even gets some proper anthropomorphication, finally erasing the "dinosaur run amok" image of the 1998 film. The film probably has one too many supersonic jets being munched out of the sky by winged monstrosities with zero aerodynamics, and it definitely over-uses the word "Orspray". And there are extended sequences of human dialogue -- it relies on a big battle, back to the boardroom, rinse and repeat formula. Then again so do many other highly successful films. In the boardroom, the characters hold up well. There are two slightly tormented male leads carrying around Godzilla family baggage. There are the less flushed out comedic characters and the tough-as-nails female military field commander. So what is it that doomed this film?
The film has basically three problems. First: the human villains. The villains are essentially disciples of the Thanos philosophy, but they fail to conform to the modern villain demogrphic. Neither inspires much fear and hatred. There is no the hulking toxic-male aggression. Instead there is an impotent looking old man with a velvety voice and demeanor. Rather than seething of toxic masculinity and acting like a psychopath, his character is an environmental terrorist who is basically apathetic to people and conflict. Then there is his partner in crime, who I won't give away, but whose back-story flunks the 21st-century Hollywood litmus test for who can be a megalomaniac.
Another flaw that audiences in the screening room will tire of, it is in the way the human stories drag on the action. Themes of sacrifice, redemption, hubris, mourning the loss of a child -- all plot enhancers -- are just piled on until there are too many to sort out. Give us a neophite scientist struggling against the massive military-industrial complex, and we're more than happy to wash it down with a popcorn and a coke. Give us mish-most of complicated backstories, and no amount of pauses in the action give us the time to chew it up and process it. Also, this is a point where the film's color pallet fails. Those pauses in the action when the good guys return to base and lick their wounds while giving exposition and advancing the plot have been been blue light enhanced to the extreme -- the 21st century's paint by numbers substitute for quality acting.
Yes, many of the monster-battle backgrounds had to be produced right from the photo-shop color wheel, but it would be nice if at least the set-filmed segments look like they are taking place in the real world of color, and that the pallet was used to in ways to offset rather than enhance the drag of watching the humans mull over how bad their situation is. By literally slamming the breaks on the audience adrenaline and cutting off the air supply with human sacrifice after human sacrifice, by the time Godzilla finally climbs to the top of the monster heap, the audience is in tears rather than exploding with cheers and applause. Then again, whooping and whistling when one titan bashing another titan's brains out would be close to toxic masculinity, something Hollywood just can't abide today.
Overall, it was a good film. A huge leap from the cellophane plot of the 2014 film, and a notch above Kong Skull Island.