Monster of the Day #1938

Updated on June 4, 2019 By Ken Begg 22 Comments

The failure of the Godzilla “Monsterverse” franchise, for whatever reason (most probably mass apathy for giant monsters), just again emphasizes what a miracle the success of the MCU has been. Again, Kong vs Godzilla is pretty much already done, so it will be released, I’m sure. And MAYBE two ‘stars’ in the title will allow that one to fare a bit better. Not likely, but possible. Ah, well, we got a handful of pretty decent movies out of it.

As a what if, if GKotM had been huge, would Warners have had the leverage to convince Toho to let them bring Gamera into the mix? I doubt it, as Toho is historically very protective of Godzilla. However, it’s a very fun and now wistful thing to think about.

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  • Beckoning Chasm

    I thought Gamera was a different studio than Toho, or has that changed recently?

  • Gamera977

    ‘It’s a big as a battleship!!!’

    SORRY!!!

  • Gamera977

    Yeah, Gammy is Daiei and Big-G is Toho. it would take some legal work to get them in the same movie.

  • Ericb

    I think he meant that Toho might consider Gamera to be a second rate monster that would sully Godzilla’s prestige. It would be like equating Cheap Trick with the Beatles.

  • Ericb

    One of the few blessings of CGI is that we can finally see Rodan fly like an actual animal rather than like a jet plane.

  • Rodan was so glorious in this flick. So perfect. He’s my favorite right after the Big G, so it was nice to see him in the limelight and not as a wimpy also ran.

    On the subject of the Monsterverse, its days might have been numbered for other reasons. Toho’s been making rumblings about having their own shared universe, and the deal they had with Warners wasn’t the best to help with this endeavor. They might be taking their toys back no matter how well this movie or the sequel does.

  • Gamera977

    I believe Gammy was supposed to be one of the generic kaiju in ‘Destroy All Monsters’ back in ’68 but the deal fell though leaving him to be replaced by Gorosaur. Gammy there was supposed to play second fiddle to Mothra and Rodan.

  • It’s a Marvel – DC equivalent.

  • Ericb

    Now if only Anguirus would get his due.

  • zombiewhacker

    Well, if this multiverse fails Toho always make the next Godzilla film a clips episode and add a CGI Gabra.

  • hypocratus

    There is also the fact that one of the biggest blockbusters came out just a little more than a month ago. Maybe some people are just blockbuster fatigued? There is also the fact that with the production and advertising cost being close to $300 million it had a large hill to climb in the first place.

  • Mike Weller

    And only the lawyers would enjoy the fight.

  • Mike Weller

    Do NOT play the Giant Claw ‘Big as a battleship’ drinking game. Not unless you wanna get snockered before Mitch blows up the lab.

  • Mike Weller

    Two things,Ken.
    The trailer makes me think yeah, the monster scenes should be killer.
    The thing you mentioned in your mini review, is likely the same thing I noticed. Let me guess…scientist who thinks humanity needs to suffer, and let the big, bad ‘Gia’ force rule?

    I’d say this; remember this film series comes from a worldview, where humans are just like animals, a part of nature with no special place or meaning.
    I don’t see things that way, and so I’m not as impressed with the new Kaiju flicks as I might be.
    I loved the Tremors series, because the humans matter, and when they defeat the monsters, it’s a nice change of pace from most modern monsters flicks.

  • Him and Varan. Would be great.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I have such a dirty mind. I look at that picture of Rodan, remember the “joys” of dealing with pigeon droppings, and wonder how bad his would be.

  • Ken_Begg

    Since Warners is an outside company, though, they could acquire the rights to Gamera and fold the properties together, much as Kong was folded into the Godzilla universe. I just don’t see Toho allowing it, and now the question is kind of moot in any case, given the returns on GKotM.

  • Ken_Begg

    Weirdly, it’s not a political correctness issue, at least not per se. Maybe a wait a few days (I’ll probably see the film again in 3-D this weekend while it’s still out) and put up a Spoilers post for those who have seen it.

  • Ken_Begg

    We certainly got a bit of that in Gamera Guardian of the Universe.

  • I liked the movie, although some of the fan service moments were unncessary.

    I think one of the pitfalls of making a giant monster movie is achieving the balance between human and monster sequences. In a superhero film, the human characters are naturally the focus of both the action sequences and the character development. Sometimes both can occur at the same time.

    Giant monster films, especially those involving monsters that battle each other, are a lot trickier. Balancing all of those things out: giving us spectacular monster battles and destruction sequences, and giving the humans both development and something to do, not to mention a plausible (as it were) framework in which the monsters appear and fight…that’s a lot of work. The Heisei and Millenium series usually kept the main characters in the action by having them pilot an anti-Godzilla aircraft or superweapon, although that got repetitive after a while. In a lot of movies, however, the human story just stops during the monster action so we the viewer focus on the fights. Critics today will tear that approach to pieces (except, perhaps, Leonard Maltin), but would general audiences like that?

    I respect by the Monsterverse movies for trying to give the humans things to do during the fights, instead of being spectators to the epic carnage. But even when they try, some fans complain and critics are complaining a lot.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I remember the female scientists reaching into the pile of, well, and pulling out a set of eyeglasses.

  • Ken_Begg

    Giving the humans something to do is all well and good, of course, but it helps if that stuff is interesting. Again, the character I was talking about was clearly meant to add depth and instead just made the movie unwatchable at times. And personally–one man’s opinion, obviously–I don’t need family drama during my monster movies. You could skip that and shave 20-30 off the running time, and I’d be happy with that. Probably the main issue here is that Godzilla is meant to be a good guy, which isn’t a problem in itself, but it means the most sympathetic human characters are basically telling other people to not get involved; “Let them fight.”