A Non-review by Professor Popinjay
As it was loosed in Japan, so it was loosed in the United States.
Even with complaints of the fights being a bit too dark and Godzilla’s opponents, the MUTO, being rather uninteresting, the 2014 film was generally well received in the U.S. and paved the way for something even closer resembling a more traditional kaiju film.
Kong would get a 2017 revival film set just after the VietNam war. Personally, I thought it was great. I wish Tom Huddleston could have stayed on for later films.
Two years later we would get Godzilla, King of the Monsters. I was so excited for this film I took all five of my kids. They were doing backflips in their seats.
My oldest daughter loved Ghidorah and his part in this film was epic! Very few kaiju films effectively pull off demonstrating the sheer immensity of these creatures but Ghidorah felt so massive. Seeing this in the theatre was just overwhelming.
My two slightly younger daughters were big Mothra fans. Again, an epic depiction in King of the Monsters. Having seen earlier Mothra films, I think my girls fancied themselves the twins who would summon Mothra. They even memorized the original Mothra song which was in Indonesian! Crazy kids. Great times. Nowadays those two alternate between correlating on elaborate art pieces and/or trying to kill each other. Kids!
My son, the youngest of the bunch, was literally having convulsions from pure unadulterated excitement as Rodan flew out of the volcano.
The excitement we shared before, during and after this film are some of my fondest memories.
Unfortunately, Yoshimitsu Banno would not live to see this realization of his efforts. In the credits of King of the Monsters and subsequent films, he would be named executive producer posthumously.
While the magnificent Charles Dance would hint at a sequel, sadly he wouldn’t show up in Legendary’s next installment: Godzilla vs. Kong. I was sad to learn he wouldn’t be in it. Dance is by far my favorite villain actor ever since he played Benedict in Last Action Hero.
But Godzilla vs. Kong! Finally! That hasn’t happened since 1962! Almost 60 years! And it was well met!
I recall a friend asking, “If both Kong and Godzilla have fans, how will one win over the other without making half the fans mad?”
A very perceptive question and very telling as to the direction the plot went. The answer was spoiled for me (and many) by the Godzilla vs. Kong toy line. Could you imagine if toys for the film Psycho had spoiled the ending? Alfred Hitchcock would have sent his birds after them! But there’s a profit to be had and consarn it, we gotta make money off toy sales, dang it!
[Tangent: There actually are toys pertaining to the film Psycho which spoil the movie. The Alfred Hitchcock action figures are super pissed about it.]
Well, I for one shall maintain some artistic integrity here (for once) and refrain from explaining what goes down in this film but I will say it is spectacular and you shouldn’t miss it even if you still just don’t get Godzilla.
Coming out after Godzilla vs. Kong but occurring chronologically before it story-wise, is Legendary’s Apple TV series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Loved this. Monarch greatly fleshed out the story regarding the organization that was monitoring Godzilla and other kaiju through the Legendary film series. John Goodman kicks off the series with a guest appearance. Any amount of his involvement is always a favorable point. The story eventually is taken over by both Kurt Russel and his actual son, Wyatt Russel. They are playing younger and older versions of the same character as the story jumps back and forth in the timeline. It was a little confusing at times but you get the hang of it. It helps that Wyatt is the spitting image of his father. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters was some of the more compelling human aspects of the story Legendary has yet produced and they’re talking about a second season. Needless to say, I’m on pins and needles with anticipation.
All this has culminated into Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Now we have Godzilla and Kong working together to stop a common enemy, the Scar King, who subjugates an ice-blasting Godzilla-sized quadruped as his personal attack dog.
I’m beginning to notice a pattern here. Every time these stories reboot, they start out dreadfully serious, they are usually well received by general audiences, but gradually the filmmakers grasp who the super fans are and what they want to see. This trend leads to semi-silly scenarios. The human drama connected to these stories, which I would argue are necessary even if they often are uninteresting, tends to slowly get pushed to the back burner to make way for more extravagant kaiju fights.
GxK: The New Empire is a very different movie when compared to how this franchise got started with Legendary’s first Godzilla film in 2014. If you were to tell me three films later, Kong gets a pneumatic power glove and vanquishes another badass gorilla who wields a bladed bone whip, I probably would have laughed out loud. But as the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot, these films have grown on me. Yes, they got a bit silly and the human characters have become cartoony but GxK is a fun film, at least in my opinion.
My only complaint is because this installment deals heavily with Kong and Godzilla’s interactions with each other and things just as big as them, some of the impressive scale is lost.
GxK made $578 million worldwide and I likely contributed to about half of that amount. Last I heard, Legendary plans on making a sixth installment.
Have these evolved into something wholly different from what Godzilla is supposed to be? Do they still have the right to bear the name Godzilla? Is Legendary being respectful to the original ideals for which Godzilla stood or is the soul of these films gradually becoming corrupted by money-grubbing? So far, I believe the popularity of these films is a testament to the vitality of that soul even if someone is raking in the cash. Sadly, production companies typically don’t stop beating a dead horse until it stops spitting out money so a truly terrible Godzilla and Kong buddy film could very likely be on the horizon. Only time will tell.
My wife thinks they could freshen up the dynamic by making it a buddy cop film. I think she’s on to something.
Well, we have one film to go and it’s a doozy. Look for the final installment of Who is this Godzilla Person Anyway? with an assessment of Toho’s Godzilla Minus One.
Hey if you like Space Dragon’s awesome art seen above check out his Deviant Art page at the link below!
Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity 
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