The Kaiju/Monsterverse Thread (Kong & Godzilla)

[Silver Nemesis]

I don't know if this is true, but I've heard that the only reason Minus One wasn't nominated for 'Best Foreign Language Film' is because it was released after Japan had already submitted their entry in that category. Had it come out slightly earlier, it would certainly have been nominated in that category. And I think it would've stood a very good chance of winning.

I wonder if the Academy will give it the 'Best Visual Effects' Oscar as a way of making up for that.

[The Joker]

Interesting video on the cancelled 1990's King Kong film.

[Silver Nemesis]

[The Joker]

Congrats to Godzilla Minus One! You weren't just nominated, you won. On the Big G's 70th Anniversary no less.

[Silver Nemesis]

Well deserved. The fact they accomplished such impressive effects on such a miniscule budget should be a wakeup call for western studios. Had it not been for the release date, I expect Minus One would've taken home the best foreign language film award as well. But never mind. The fact remains it's now an Oscar-winning film.

[The Joker]

Newly released poster celebrating Godzilla Minus One's numerous awards.

[The Joker]

QUICK SPOILER REVIEW

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Checked out "GxK New Empire" the other day, and it's overall a fun film that fully embraces some of the outright and comedic absurdity from the Godzilla Showa era. The human element is even more scaled back from GvK, and much of the focus is decidedly on Kong and Godzilla. Once again, it's much more of a Kong focused movie, with Godzilla bits here and there until the final battle. As far as the villain goes, the Skar King is alright and pretty much to the point. There's no sympathetic or understanding quality about him, as he is simply evil and it's very much black and white. Shimo, I was a little bit disappointed with as it's revealed this monster is kinda like Titanosaurus from "Terror of Mechagodzilla" and being manipulated by Skar King. Sure, it's a twist, but for me takes away a little bit from the final battle as Shimo isn't quite as a dominating force as I would have preferred him to be. I've read someone say that Skar King is essentially the Million Dollar Man Ted Debiase to Shimo's Andre the Giant, and that's apt I think (making Kong and Godzilla the Mega Powers basically).

For me, the rematch fight between Kong and Godzilla was very much the highlight of the entire film. With Godzilla performing a Goldberg-like spear to Kong right into a pyramid, Kong doing his best Bully Maguire and putting some dirt in Godzilla's eye, some ground and pound by Kong, and seeing Godzilla literally suplex Kong was absolutely hysterical. The addition of Mothra returning was pretty cool as well.

I wouldn't say I liked GxK, as much as I did GvK, but the Monsterverse continues to very much lean into being a modern day Showa universe that's primarily focused on spectacle. Where does it go from here? Welp, there's a Xilien UFO easter egg, so a alien invasion wouldn't be all that surprising at this stage since the hollow earth got focused upon much more so in this film.

7 or 8 out of 10.

Also, I love this gif.