Godzilla 2012

I don't know if you noticed but there's a big difference between Ironman and Godzilla. They kind of had to do a real suit because, y'know, Robert Downey Jr. has to walk around in it. I don't expect any combination of effect for a monster movie.

This thread is a good enough place for this sooo...

I watched Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs. Destroyah recently and one thing that struck me as off about both films was

1. The pacing
2. The lack of brutality in the battles

One thing I noticed about the pacing is that it spent a lot of time on unnecessary exposition and character, uh, "development" when we should've been getting to the action. Ideally Godzilla vs. X should describe the plot rather than the climax. Okay, so I kinda liked how vs. Destroyah was trying so hard to be Aliens, but the part where the Oxygen Destroyer monsters ran amok could've been the beginning of the film. Then we could've had more showdowns and had each one be a plot-relevant moment.

For movies about monsters having massive throwdowns, I didn't get much of a sense of brutality, either. Alright, so Destroyah's inner jaw thing on Godzilla Junior was surprisingly jarring and Destroyah's horn attack just shredded Godzilla's flesh, but there's more that can be done. Slamming enemy monsters into buildings, for instance, throttling, biting, breaking bones and more. The monsters don't bleed much, either, which could be used to great effect — imagine seeing the aftermath of a battle, with a huge skyscraper painted red on most of one side.

Basically, I'd like to see better fights and more to-the-point plots. And as much as campy stuff is fun, too much can detract from the experience. Such as the freeze lasers that run on fuel. Alright, freeze lasers are a staple of the setting now, but running on fuel? C'mawn.

The freeze laser stuff was only in that movie. The mazer cannons, or whatever they were called, were just lazers. And the monster stuff is supposed to be the climax, you're constantly building up to it through the monster tearing through the city, fighting Godzilla or some other monster first, and them the final battle. If the two monsters are fighting the entire movie, it becomes old fast. And you won't understand the true danger of the situation in that movie, especially that movie, without the exposition.

I seem to distinctly remember cold lasers from at least a couple of other films, 'cause I was aware of their existence (and silliness) before watching vs. Destroyah.

It's true that you do need exposition, but it's often handled inexpertly and express far too much via dialogue than just showing you. For instance, vs. Destroyah went to great lengths and spent lots of time expressing how Destroyah came to be. We don't need that — you can throw a few lines relating to the Oxygen Destroyer and then express things purely visually later on. Sort of like what they did, but with less dialogue and less time wasted. That extra time could be used on extending the battle sequences or giving attention to other elements of the film that needed it more.

As for the battles, they're not always fantastic climaxes — mostly because standards in fight scenes have changed and the expectation that Godzilla will win. And he usually does. We need more dynamic fights, which I understand is difficult with huge monsters, but that's why I think more brutality and ruthlessness wouldn't go amiss.

As much as I hate to make the comparison, a lot of Godzilla films end up being comparable to Alien Vs Predator — half the movie is spent on building characters we ultimately don't care about whose sole purpose is to provide exposition, which in turn justifies the monster match-up. And that's what these films come off as — overlong justifications for fight scenes. I'd rather see filmmakers get to the point and give us the throwdown. The increased economy would make for better pacing and make time for more plot progression — possibly as the result of multiple Kaiju battles.

I may have to go back and see, I really don't remember freeze rays in any other film.

And I don't remember alot of Destroyah, only have a VHS copy and no VCR, but from what I remember, I didn't find the exposition to be too problematic (I remember mostof it being devoted to Godzilla's meltdown rather than Destroyah). And I've heard that the final battle was originally much more brutal, but the studio backed down from that deciding it might be too much.

Of the 29 films I think he's lost atleast 10 times. In some films he either won, then lost later (vs Mothra) or lost then won later (vs Mechagodzilla).

characters we ultimately don't care about

Whose "we", you got a turd in your pocket? But, seriously, I actually rather like the characters in most films and find their scenes enjoyable. And I didn't hate the characters in Av P, I just hated the fights and the fact that I had a bias while watching it, so I didn't like them for other reasons. But I do rather a build-up to the fights, probably due to growing up watching wrestling?

Your mileage obviously varies, but I find most characters in Godzilla films to be interchangable and basically just bland. They don't have distinctly memorable traits with very few exceptions, which says a lot about a series of movies that has a new set of characters almost every single time.

The profession and appearance changes, but we basically end up with someone who serves to be a tool of exposition. And that exposition ends up acting to justify the final battle sequences, which tend to be the end of the films.

It's kind of baffling, really, considering what you could do with characterisation. The trick is to relate it to the big G himself to pull everything together and give it relevance. A nuclear physicist that borderline worships Godzilla because he sees it as the perfect, final product of his research? A Christian military commander that sees both the devil and God in Godzilla? A paleontologist that wants to preserve Godzilla as a surviving (if mangled) example of life now gone?

All the same movie?

I'm going to go this moive and just listen to The End of the World as We Know It

Because thats comedy

edited 6th Nov '10 8:52:45 PM by badgertaco

I kinda don't like that song.

I wonder if the fight will get as intense as it was in Godzilla v. Destroyah.

I like that name, and no, I don't care it's Destoro-yah.

The Dark Knight's writer is gonna take a crack at the script.

This raises my hopes greatly it wont't turn out as bad as the last time we tried this.

...Yay. Let the man who ruined Joker get his paws on Godzilla. Capital move, Hollywood.

Not many agree with you Ronnie.

That is a humungous understatement.

I finally Monsters (the director's first film) and it wasn't too bad (despite being produced by complete hack Nick Love). But that was a low-budget District 9-esque film. This is a $100 million plus Stuff Blowing Up movie.

Hopefully Warner Bros. isn't like Fox and manipulates young directors constantly to the point where the studio (or the film's editor) basically becomes the director.

Wait, Monsters? That movie about the pointless journey of two cardboard cutouts?

So does anyone know anything about Max Borenstein? He's supposed to be writing the script now.

I am... actually kind of excited for this.

I've heard the argument that using CG will make Godzilla look less alive, and I can see why one would feel that way, but my stance is exactly the opposite. You know what will make Godzilla look alive to me? Breath. Muscles sliding beneath his armored hide. Subtle eye movements. A mouth that emotes rather than flapping open and shut like the top of a teapot. I mean, he'll be able to move his neck. I am in raptures.

But he's done all of that as a suit.

edited 27th Nov '11 8:57:35 AM by NULLcHiLD27

Definitely not the muscle thing. His surface is always unmoving, unless it's folding around him like a, well, a costume. And while some see CG as inherently unconvincing and "weightless," I have the opposite problem: I can't stop myself from picking the shot together into how it was made. I can't see a giant monster, only a separate shot of an actor in a (usually really well done) costume spliced in.

At any rate, Toho only said that they would stop making Godzilla movies for ten years after Godzilla Final Wars, so the hour is almost upon us. When they start making G movies again, they will probably be costumes. This movie's existence can only be a good thing.

edited 27th Nov '11 1:14:08 PM by Durazno

Wise from your gwave.

Comic Con 2012 had a pretty awesome trailer that we probably won't see online for a while unless someone managed to cam it.

http://io9.com/5926079/weve-seen-the-first-trailer-for--the-new-godzilla

...Well there should be! Godzilla's not about a fricking paleontology expedition, it's about a giant radioactive reptile wreaking havoc for whatever metaphor or plot!

Right! We need it to be fantasy!

...that's what you mean, right, director?

Right?

Otherwise, that's an amazingly silly thing to say.

I hear a lot of "Godzilla should be a dude in a suit" and "No, he should be CGI" and "No, he should be both" and "It should be Sci Fi/Fantasy." You know what? I don't care how he's rendered. I just want to see Godzilla wreck some shit. Maybe fight a monster. Stomp some buildings. Bonus points if he fights some henshin heroes.

edited 15th Jul '12 12:37:12 AM by Zeromaeus

If you don't count Jet Jaguar, I'm not sure if Godzilla's ever fought a henshin hero. That would be pretty neat, though.

Its something I always wanted to see as a kid.