Godzilla II - A szörnyek királya

Remek kezdés és az egyes szörnyek vizuálisan lenyűgöző bemutatása, amit majd tönkreteszi az unalmas sztorivezetés és a néző intellektusának alábecsülése. Gareth Edwards-nak köszönhetően a Warners-nek sikerült méltó módon újraindítania a Godzilla-kultuszt, előző filmben sikeresen ötvöztek a japán filmmítoszok motívumait és hangulatát a hollywoodi blockbusterek technikai bravúrjával. És nehogy megpróbálnának megfelelni a várható nézői elvárásoknak, a következő két epizódot középszerű, unalmas horrorfilmek készítőire bízzák. Elég a nagy költségvetés, amit csúcsminőségű CGI-ba adnak, a célközönség amúgy is buta, és csak szép szörnyekre van szüksége. Meglátjuk, hogy ez a megközelítés az új vezérigazgató asszonnyal változik-e majd. (2019.07.05)

In his previous effort, Edwards handled the legacy of the Toho films much more deftly. He stretched the cues effectively and delivered a clear action set-piece with some iconic moments at the end. But this? This sequel has a fantastic, exciting trailer, with a wonderful musical theme “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” that will make you swoon. Unfortunately, the film itself is not fantastic, let alone exciting. In every one of the 27 Godzilla movies I've seen so far (not counting Emmerich's crap that has nothing to do with Kaiju), I've had more fun than here, including the worst of them, the infantile Son of Godzilla, which was at least a pleasant guilty-pleasure. This film is just guilty, but without any pleasure. You don't care about characters who have a mouthful of family values, visually it's not great either. The golden-hued color filter is downright ugly and the action is cluttered, with a shaky camera that's often a clump of pixels you don't care about. It has a few moments, a few references to Toho's predecessor, which are nice (the woman is also the catalyst for plot twists, and we can hear about three times the notorious Godzilla arrival motif we know from Japanese Kaiju), but that can't be enough even for the most diehard Toho/Godzilla fans, among whom I count myself. It's a disappointment that I hope won't break the lizard's neck in the future. (2019.05.31)

Wow, I didn't enjoy it. Like, so very, very, very much. The other Godzilla shows that it cost a lot of money, and the monster battles are actually pretty good, at least the final one, which cleverly works with scale and alternates spectacular shots of two dueling titans with action with human characters running at their feet. But that's pretty much it. The new Godzilla has about fifteen human characters, but finding a single one among them that was the least bit interesting or likeable was a task beyond me. A few hours after the screening, I actually remember the names of about two of the protagonists. The trouble is that despite all the declamation and certain attempts to conceive Godzilla II a little differently, it is ultimately very much about those human characters, who of course are the ones who, by their dullness, flatness and absolute unwillingness to take themselves even a little bit less seriously (this is a film in which a giant lizard fights an even bigger three-headed dragon, dammit!) they get boring at first, and then just annoying. The grandeur and elegance promised by the trailers isn't there in the end, and while the fights are fun to watch, the rest of it really doesn't work. In fact, as a viewer, I'm not really interested in seeing another film conceived in this way. (2019.05.30)

Dougherty must be the only person on the planet who is approached by the people form Warner Brothers with a huge budget and an unmissable offer “to play games with Godzilla and all his fellow cult monsters in the backyard during their awakening and the end of the world", so he can't think “hmm, it could be from the perspective of people, as Edwards tried but failed to do, or bitter satire in the style of (Shin´s) Japanese Godzilla or a catastrophic B-movie full of ultimate monsters and titanic battles referencing the classics". No, what comes to his mind is “cool, I'll finally be able to shoot an interior conversational movie from the Avengers Helicarrier and satisfy all the scientists who have to say the weird nonsense with a straight face in similar movies, and I'll do it by not making them say that in a few sentences, but it will last tens of minutes and even the nonsense they talk about will be even more stupid than it normally is and I will intersperse it with dull CGI action, where everyone will constantly keep running out of collapsing buildings, and it will be full of such generic shots of falling skyscrapers that even the animators themselves won´t be able to tell whether this scene of a crumbling big city happened in the last Marvel or DC movie". And he did as he said he would. The childish quasi-scientific piffle and solutions meant to restart the civilization of Mother Nature are an integral part of the genre. But only If they form the background/prologue to the battles of the Titans, not if they are the cornerstone. No one gives a shit about monsters anymore. Except Dougherty. And when they just have mercy on the audience here and there and offer what the viewers are looking for, it lacks ideas, cool moments, dynamics and scale. The exception is a few moments during the decent ending, when the film almost becomes what it wanted to be (and should have been) the whole time. McCreary's music, paying one tribute to another, is the film's biggest asset. And yet it is very specific in every respect. At least he understood “what is going on", even if the director didn't. (2020.09.28)

The anticipated Godzilla sequel, after the riveting trailers, is ultimately a missed opportunity and another blockbuster that failed to live up to expectations this year. Michael Dougherty is the director of Trick 'r Treat and Krampus, two decent holiday horror films, but Godzilla: King of the Monsters feels like a big bite that he couldn't quite chew. The characters are absolutely uninteresting (though Eleven tries), the pacing is pretty much erratic, we only see four of the fifteen monsters mentioned in the action, and repeatedly at that. Perhaps the worst part of it all is that the film isn't entertaining at all, and if it's not exactly blazing on screen, it's rather boring. I was most impressed with Hydra, which is visually solid and I think the finale is satisfying, but the rest of it hardly works at all. Too bad. 60% (2019.06.03)

They called for action and destruction, but five years later, it is becoming apparent that the controversial first installment was the right way to go. Nothing against the grand opponents of the titular titan, but whoever came up with the idea of ​​a spectacular clash of gigantic monsters as an eco-techno thriller that addresses family traumas that are for the most part unseen should hang their head in shame. Every time it seems to be heading in the right direction, some logical contradiction or extremely cheesy line comes along, or at the very least a deafening moment. However, the royal Godzilla still has its strong moments, thanks to Millie Bobby Brown's incredible acting certainty and Mothra being a creature so perfect I instantly wanted to take it home with me. The screenplay, however, is sometimes seriously insane. When I think of the playful Kong: Skull Island, I can't help but feel sorry that it has been compelled to become part of this strangely sterile universe. 50% (2019.07.07)

Oh shi... Faulting Godzilla for having stupid people in it is rather unfair. They have always been stupid and their behavior often illogical or just plain dumb. And it’s not Godzilla’s fault. The people who move the action along, especially the unpleasant scientist, are asking for a kick up the ass, but they manage to wake the monster, which then destroys the city and then they have a fight. Thank God for that, at least; otherwise there’s no point in even concerning myself with the cast. There are lots of battles and they’re much more monstrous than before. The alien dragon is a worthy opponent for Fatty. The caterpillar/moth seems really nice, not to mention Rodan the Pterodactyl (the aerial chase is incredible) and the mammoth. I think the sequel with Kong already has a clear winner, but I look forward to seeing it anyway. But with fewer people next time, please. (2019.05.31)

Crucial question, who cooked up that kick-ass trailer with Debussy's steroid-infused music? Because that's who should have made this overblown, dark, cluttered, whiny, dumb movie, it probably would have turned out a lot better. Because the balance between visual epic, musical poetry and respect for the original is something we can only dream of in the full version. (2019.06.04)

This film is in some ways the same for me as the previous one – knowing what to expect from it makes me enjoy it much more. Yes, I'm still sorry that it didn't follow the Gareth Edwards style, but the story itself isn't actually any sillier, it's just presented in a very, shall we say, straightforward way and looked at through a completely different lens. Last time, humans were in the lead while monsters were unleashing havoc that affected people's destinies, and Godzilla was there to help people at the right moment. This time around, the monsters are in charge, wreaking havoc on an even larger scale, with humans on the sidelines and helping the real main characters, Godzilla and Mothra, at the right moment. I was pleased to see that the titan fights are a lot clearer on TV at home than they were in the cinema, so I enjoyed some quite amusing close-ups and imaginative choreography (I absolutely love the moments when the digital monsters move as if they’re wrestlers in rubber suits), I never stopped enjoying Bear McCreary's Ifukube-themed music, and although I may regret it, I have to say I'm looking forward to the Kong fight. (2019.05.30)

This monsterverse is a rare example of variable filmmaking techniques that result in considerably different movies. Godzilla, perhaps the most distinctive blockbuster of the decade, cleverly linked the events from the characters’ perspective and the futility of their actions, while Kong: Skull Island delivered straightforward and over-the-top adventure focused on human actions (and how they make everything worse). This sequel starring the fairy lizard is somewhere in between, it takes from the first one the serious attempts at fatalism and the portrayal of the insignificance of the human characters, while form Kong it takes the narrative drive, more space for the monster encounters and a more active human participation with the Titans. I don’t think it will be any surprise to say that the oscillation between two such different concepts results in a pretty impersonal approach that is often somewhat simplified, and that maybe even weakens both the nature of the clashes of the monsters and the fate and motivations of the human heroes. The catalyst of the story is a group of people, but their significance is gradually lost and by the end It’s pushed aside by contrived family ties and the helplessness in the face of the powerful titans. Though the protagonists try to act throughout the story, their actions (which fortunately aren’t stupid or naive but understandably motivated) only serve the purpose of delaying the climax (unlike the first movie, where the characters actually tried to prepare for it). On the other hand, the narration flows by quickly, rhythmically setting monumental action set pieces into a story that systematically shuffles between the subjective observation of the terrors and the havoc caused by the monsters and the admiration for Godzilla, whose iconic image the film develops and escalates. The twists are also linked smoothly and they basically make sense, though they are often simplified by the insanely fast movements through space and, of course, the indecision over which approach should take precedence. The individual scenes and their staging are great, it’s a shame that they were unable to build a more coherent story arc around them. In any case, it’s still an interesting approach to the extensive mythology of that world, to which I will gladly return. 70% (2019.06.08)

It would have been foolish to have had high expectations of a movie whose core deal is a massive fight between a group of giant monsters, however, people still have to have at least some minimal expectations. Despite that, however, all the people in the movie are completely one-dimensional cartoon characters, that ticks all the cliché boxes for disaster movies (the daughter in trouble, the heroic father as savior, the scientist determined to sacrifice themselves for the others). Plus, robotically reciting the monsters’ catchy names so that we as a stupid audience know what to call them, is totally reprehensible. Then it turns out that the villain performed by Charles Dance, who was what I was most looking forward to, has nothing to work with. In addition, you really can not say that action scenes and special effects were so beguiling that they could cover up the useless screenplay. It is just another upstart in a tailored franchise, which is simply just meant to serve as a step to the third movie, and so totally just throws a load of crap in the face of its audience. (2019.09.05)

I won't hide the fact that I was looking forward to Godzilla: King of the Monsters like a little kid on a trip to the candy store. But at the same time, I was expecting it to be quite possibly a disappointment. After watching it, I have to admit that I was expecting something a little different from the latest kaiju-film. The second Godzilla definitely has a brisk pace, flows along nicely in the cinema and features a lot more action compared to the first one, but also a lot more family-oriented scenes, which somewhat detracts from it. I have to commend the trailers for not giving away any of the background around the character with the face of Charles Dance, so it was a nice screenwriting surprise. On the other hand, they unfortunately did refrain from strong parables, wannabe profound morsels of wisdom and a few logical flaws, which is something you can forgive in this kind of film. It does not lack pathos, nor typical American clichés about the importance of family and self-sacrifice for the common good. But I just like these shallowly thought-out but audiovisually impressive and megalomaniacal popcorn flicks. True, at times the visuals were cluttered and dark (like in Batman vs Superman), but whatever, in broad daylight it wouldn't have had the desired effect. Plus, the second film offers a better cast than the first – Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown. I'm curious about the next King Kong movie, for which the second Godzilla opened the door with its conclusion. (2019.06.03)

Warner Bros crammed 200m into a reminder of how much we should have appreciated the previous Edwards auteur blockbuster. We didn't appreciate it, after the harvest we're going to have to suck Chinese dicks. Good for us. A film about a room with six people in it flying around the world watching a digital cartoon. (2019.08.28)

I thought Godzilla: King of the Monsters was supposed to be a celebration of classic kaiju monsters, and the main ones are featured here. However, in the end, it just became a parade of CGI, where to make it even uglier, most of the action takes place in the dark, so the monsters do not stand out as beautifully. Although I find the inclusion of Vera, Kyle, and Millie appealing, none of them work in the movie. (2019.08.20)