GMK is a film that is called by many one of the best in the series, some even say THE BEST. I personally don't think anything can be classified as the best of anything, i feel there's no definite truth to criticism. we all find our own ways and no one person can be right, except to themselves.
Generalities aside, i consider GMK to be the most overrated film in the series. I will first start off by saying that in favor of this movie, it contains good human characters, something that the Millennium series in general had throughout in my opinion. Yuri, her father, and the rest of them are good characters with good stories. The effects are good as well.
Now onto why I find this film overrated. First point is Godzilla himself. This part i feel is purely subjective to opinion, but i hated the way Godzilla is portrayed in this movie. He has no character to him or any reason to like him, he's just a blunt instrument of destruction, unlovable in any way. Now you might be wondering "well of course hes not supposed to be lovable, hes a malicious bastard in this who kills people for spite", well therein lies the problem. The Godzillas of before and after this had a sense of tragedy to them, being horrifically changed by humanity is what made you feel for him, even in the 1954 film where he's doing bad, you knew that he didn't hate humanity, he hated what they created and targeted that. In this movie, hes just a tool, for lack of better terms.
Next criticism comes from the monster King ghidorah. I wont go with the casual point of "oh, he's never supposed to be good" because i really don't care about that. As far as I'm concerned, he's fighting Godzilla, they're enemies, and he isn't even technically a hero. That aside, i felt KG embodies a point that i feel is missing from these battles in this movie: suspense, a sense of struggle. The baragon battle is imo the only good fight because there is uncertainty and horror at seeing a guardian getting horrifically beaten, that being said, that tone doesn't carry over to KGs battle. His battle is more like an adult beating up a middle schooler: its just sad and pathetic. I get they're trying to show how powerful Godzilla is, but thats no excuse to sacrifice suspense. Take for example in Godzilla vs KG, KG was as strong as ever, and that fight was back and forth. And in the end, didn't Godzilla look so damn powerful when he absolutely brutalized KG? THAT is the way to have a battle. This was just sad, and anticlimactic when Ghidroah finally looks like he might have an interesting battle, only to be quickly and pathetically beaten. Wouldn't if the battle were structured in a way that had more back and forth, only to have Godzilla brutally decapitate a head or two, it would've had a horrifying and darker spin on it?
You may also be wondering "why not complain about baragon and mothra?" Well baragon isn't weakened by that much, just no fire, yeah hes smaller than G, but technically he was close to this size in Frankenstein. It was just great to see him. Mothras role in this movie is to have a brief fight with G before getting her ass handed to her, thats pretty much every mothra role since 1964 (love you mothra, but thats the sad truth).
People often say this film is too dark, I argue it wasn't dark enough. It has dark subject matter, and even good points like the counter age culture conflicts and the ineffectiveness of the military by government intervention, but never do we have a sense of dread or despair we felt in 1954 or 1984 and to a lesser extent Terror. I used to think Kaneko was limited by toho, but i know see that unlike his gamera trilogy, Writer Kazunori Ito doesn't accompany him. Maybe being director, writer, and special effects story boarder was too much for him. As for the whole Anguirus and Varan intervention, that doesn't relate to the film in my view as it is preproduction stuff, not having to do with what we see on screen (though if i were to chose, I'd honestly rather see ghidorah get pummeled than Anguirus, as hes better than that, ghidorah, idk if hes better than this, mothra 3 really makes me wonder about him...).
In conclusion, while a decent film, GMK is vastly overrated in MY view. And believe me, I tried so damn hard to love this film, i want to join other g fans in gushing about it, but i cant find myself to. Should i just go with the crowd, or am i gonna say what I think? Its okay as a standalone piece, but overall, i rank this at the bottom of the millennium series, and my third least favorite overall, only above revenge and KKvsG. I don't hate it, i like all Godzilla films. This one just doesn't do it for me like the others.
One last thing i want to address is directed at certain forums and their users, i feel really ashamed to see people on these sites be berated for even hinting at that they don't think this film isn't some great movie. Not everyone does this, but the ones i see often rudely and childishly say things like "you're not a true G fan, you're stupid for thinking otherwise." I never use forums, and this is why, this aggression really irks me.
Well thats my thoughts, again its my view, so you can either take it or leave it, i feel while i cant change the world with a Review, I can at least try to articulate my reasons in an intelligent and adult like manor.
Generalities aside, i consider GMK to be the most overrated film in the series. I will first start off by saying that in favor of this movie, it contains good human characters, something that the Millennium series in general had throughout in my opinion. Yuri, her father, and the rest of them are good characters with good stories. The effects are good as well.
Now onto why I find this film overrated. First point is Godzilla himself. This part i feel is purely subjective to opinion, but i hated the way Godzilla is portrayed in this movie. He has no character to him or any reason to like him, he's just a blunt instrument of destruction, unlovable in any way. Now you might be wondering "well of course hes not supposed to be lovable, hes a malicious bastard in this who kills people for spite", well therein lies the problem. The Godzillas of before and after this had a sense of tragedy to them, being horrifically changed by humanity is what made you feel for him, even in the 1954 film where he's doing bad, you knew that he didn't hate humanity, he hated what they created and targeted that. In this movie, hes just a tool, for lack of better terms.
Next criticism comes from the monster King ghidorah. I wont go with the casual point of "oh, he's never supposed to be good" because i really don't care about that. As far as I'm concerned, he's fighting Godzilla, they're enemies, and he isn't even technically a hero. That aside, i felt KG embodies a point that i feel is missing from these battles in this movie: suspense, a sense of struggle. The baragon battle is imo the only good fight because there is uncertainty and horror at seeing a guardian getting horrifically beaten, that being said, that tone doesn't carry over to KGs battle. His battle is more like an adult beating up a middle schooler: its just sad and pathetic. I get they're trying to show how powerful Godzilla is, but thats no excuse to sacrifice suspense. Take for example in Godzilla vs KG, KG was as strong as ever, and that fight was back and forth. And in the end, didn't Godzilla look so damn powerful when he absolutely brutalized KG? THAT is the way to have a battle. This was just sad, and anticlimactic when Ghidroah finally looks like he might have an interesting battle, only to be quickly and pathetically beaten. Wouldn't if the battle were structured in a way that had more back and forth, only to have Godzilla brutally decapitate a head or two, it would've had a horrifying and darker spin on it?
You may also be wondering "why not complain about baragon and mothra?" Well baragon isn't weakened by that much, just no fire, yeah hes smaller than G, but technically he was close to this size in Frankenstein. It was just great to see him. Mothras role in this movie is to have a brief fight with G before getting her ass handed to her, thats pretty much every mothra role since 1964 (love you mothra, but thats the sad truth).
People often say this film is too dark, I argue it wasn't dark enough. It has dark subject matter, and even good points like the counter age culture conflicts and the ineffectiveness of the military by government intervention, but never do we have a sense of dread or despair we felt in 1954 or 1984 and to a lesser extent Terror. I used to think Kaneko was limited by toho, but i know see that unlike his gamera trilogy, Writer Kazunori Ito doesn't accompany him. Maybe being director, writer, and special effects story boarder was too much for him. As for the whole Anguirus and Varan intervention, that doesn't relate to the film in my view as it is preproduction stuff, not having to do with what we see on screen (though if i were to chose, I'd honestly rather see ghidorah get pummeled than Anguirus, as hes better than that, ghidorah, idk if hes better than this, mothra 3 really makes me wonder about him...).
In conclusion, while a decent film, GMK is vastly overrated in MY view. And believe me, I tried so damn hard to love this film, i want to join other g fans in gushing about it, but i cant find myself to. Should i just go with the crowd, or am i gonna say what I think? Its okay as a standalone piece, but overall, i rank this at the bottom of the millennium series, and my third least favorite overall, only above revenge and KKvsG. I don't hate it, i like all Godzilla films. This one just doesn't do it for me like the others.
One last thing i want to address is directed at certain forums and their users, i feel really ashamed to see people on these sites be berated for even hinting at that they don't think this film isn't some great movie. Not everyone does this, but the ones i see often rudely and childishly say things like "you're not a true G fan, you're stupid for thinking otherwise." I never use forums, and this is why, this aggression really irks me.
Well thats my thoughts, again its my view, so you can either take it or leave it, i feel while i cant change the world with a Review, I can at least try to articulate my reasons in an intelligent and adult like manor.