How Godzilla Minus One Nuked Hollywood

I can't believe I'm saying this Godzilla minus one is the best movie of 2023 and I'll hear arguments about contenders but it's my favorite movie of the year as a lifelong Godzilla fan the worldwide reception to this movie has made a cynical man happy the movie continues to prove that the creature the icon is one of the most versatile characters in cinema history the film itself is thoughtful led by fully formed three-dimensional characters with actual arcs motivations and goals played by terrific actors it's a film made by people who clearly rever the Godzilla IP and have lovingly crafted a film that doesn't just do justice to the character but for film making in general what its production company too has achieved with the little they had to work with is a testament to the craftsmanship and dedication of passionate filmmakers the visuals are stunning and it's unbelievable that they were able to pull this off with the budget they did which according to the director was even lower than the reported $15 million USD Toho looked at the 150 5 million budget of the American version of Godzilla versus Kong and said go [ __ ] yourself movies have generally been stuck in a state of bloated budgets paired with shoty CGI and terrible scripts the box office receipts for Hollywood shitfest show audiences are growing tired of the shtick and want to get out of the [Music] mud well Godzilla minus one is the diuretic to a constipated Movie experience with each passing year we become more and more saturated with content the amount of money spent to create visually dull and narratively neutered stories is out of control and it's leaving companies hitting the Panic Button as profits drop customers leave or stay away dissatisfied and everyone loses I enjoy tearing apart bad movies to get some sort of entertainment out of them in the current year finding something awful the mock is easy finding something you don't just like but something you're enamored with and want to recommend is rare in the current pop culture climate yes I can find any films to recommend but rare are those Larger than Life movies that have heart and a purposeful story to tell something that completes the Hat Trick and doesn't miss any part of the film making process minus one is all that with VFX that rival Hollywood Blockbusters possessing 16 times the budget with its own $15 million figure closer to an independent film's budget by Western standards the movie's reception and performance at the box office could mean something positive for Hollywood something they've desperately needed lately and that positive would come in the form of a lesson make good movies people want to see for less money spending less means you can take more risks and invest more on story and Innovation you know what made Cinema so special in the first place you talking to me now if you don't want your skin to look like Godzillas I would advise you to pick up some razors from Harry's Harry's blades are made in their own Factory in Germany where they've been making blades for over a century besides the fact that I can't grow a real beard the biggest problem with it has and always will be how expensive even decent blades are and Harry's has always been a Brand that's been associated with quality and affordability I feel like Harries is a brand everyone knows or is aware of at this point if you haven't tried them and maybe you're worried it's just really nice marketing and packaging it's not they offer the highest quality blades possible at the lowest markup possible other blades are more expensive because they can be not because they need to be Harry's offers everything you'll need at a factory direct price allowing them to keep their incredible quality while keeping prices affordable at a time when saving money is more important than ever if you click the link below you'll receive Harry's trial set for Just5 that's a $13 value for just five bucks and thanks to Harry for sponsoring this video speaking of story much like any good Godzilla origin tale this one involves World War II as we follow a man by the name of kichi shikishima a kamikazi pilot who makes the last second decision to live pretending his plane was malfunctioning that evening a creature known as Godzilla approaches the base where koichi is hunkering down his superiors tell him to fire at the creature from his plane to kill it but kuichi freezes as Godzilla tears through the crow of panic soldiers leaving only him and another man standing by mourning by the time kichi returns home the following year he's found that his family's been killed in the bombing of Tokyo and a woman named noro in possession of a child who had also lost her parents finds her way into koichi's home who he reluctantly decides to help with a new sense of purpose kichi takes an ocean mine sweeping job meanwhile the US is performing nuclear tests near bikini atal and guess who's hanging out there the nuclear test turned Godzilla closer to the one we know and love he might have been a menace before but now he's a [ __ ] Terror standing taller than most skyscrapers and apparently indestructible showcasing regenerative abilities turns out kichi and his crew known as Doc and the kid are actually on a secret mission see the Japanese government already knew about Godzilla so they've sent these three to do something about it high Jinx ens Su as only Godzilla can do causing Untold destruction as he steps ashore he obliterates tens of thousands of buildings and goes full Green Goblin when he starts literally vaporizing people out am I I'm not going to spoil the rest of the story because I highly recommend you go see it but there's enough detail given to discuss all the important elements starting with the characters yes I know how everyone normally feels about human characters in a Godzilla movie I don't give a [ __ ] fair enough don't give a [ __ ] I can honestly say as an actual fan of the franchise I've rarely become invested in any human character in any of the previous movies not that they're all of equal quality or even intended to have likable people in them but with 30 plus films under your belt you'd think I'd give a [ __ ] about somebody maybe it's just me not Don these men are annihilist there's n to be afraid of all of that's to say I was so invested in the characters and Godzilla minus one that Godzilla even appearing on screen was just a bonus movies with heavy focus on CGI creatures require either a great performance if the character is humanlike like Thanos for example or if it's a figure like Godzilla you need to be actively rooting For Your Heroes to make the audience feel the desired fear and anxiety something like Godzilla would actually bring to an unsuspecting City otherwise you get the legendary Studios Hollywood Godzilla films where it was cool to finally see Godzilla in expensive looking CGI Glory but all of those movies are Hollow but best because they never get the audience involved with their cardboard cartoon human characters they are afterthoughts they're treated like such and so those movies much like the Transformers movies or any other CGI laddin Blockbusters are aesthetically pleasing but emotionally empty it's junk food for the brain minus one showcases popcorn flick storytelling at its best it's a simple tale but its characters and its story are layered the way koichi is written spits in the face of the Los Angeles style script the movie exudes confidence because it trusted that the audience would be along for the ride what I mean is that Hollywood now tends to self-insert a character has to be relatable in some tangible yet completely shallow way koichi's play isn't something anyone today in Western society would understand he's ashamed comic Kazi pilot burdened with grief and a sense of Duty but we quickly empathize with him because like all good stories its themes are human and therefore universally felt no matter who's watching it kichi and his surrogate family are people who are lost who simply want connection protection and love he's also a man harboring unbelievable guilt shame and that sense of Duty is a burden I've seen this film twice now and I just come away feeling like the script was tight and competent and I mean that as an extreme compliment there were satisfying payoffs to setups in the movie each character got their due and there are a couple of moments that were telegraphed but they were earned the movie wants you to want those moments and you absolutely do even the way the script got around why the us or Russia couldn't intervene was reasonable this needed to be a smaller scaled giant movie if that makes sense and Godzilla is intended to be Japan's problem to solve Godzilla himself is much more of a living breathing character now than he might have ever been on screen and that includes the American versions Toho has managed to bring Godzilla to life in a few shots that are undeniable they're Superior to many shots you see in Hollywood Productions Godzilla's movements in the ocean look [ __ ] incredible and when he comes to land the creature moves slowly methodically purposefully he's the living embodiment of Mankind's fears the slow methodical walk exudes anxiety it makes this creatur seem inevitable there's one scene in particular that's hinted at in the trailers that was incredibly tense in the theater and was reminiscent of the tension in Jaws when the shark begins chasing the boat everything about this scene was brilliant the editing and pace is key to the anxiety they wanted the audience to feel and you have to have some stakes in the characters he's chasing very rarely does the film's ambition get ahead of itself the filmmakers were ballsy in some moments with the visual effects that don't quite hit the mark I cannot stress enough how beautiful this movie looks the color grading is gorgeous and the cinematography Rivals any Hollywood production the cast is filled with new and Veteran actors of Japanese Cinema starting with Runa suuki kamaki who's 30 years old but has screen credits dating back to 2 years old in baby commercials his acting abilities amplify with the scripts already beautifully laid out for an arc oichi is often reserved and the actor sells us with his body language and facial expressions he embodies someone who is constantly questioning and blaming himself a man who feels like his inaction has consistently led to others getting hurt and the guilt is compounding newcomer Mami Hami plays ai's partner Naro and is great in her role and has the most devastating emotionally powerful scene in the movie there are also two actors that stand out outside of the leads the first is munaki Aoki as Mr Iana the lone man who lived through Godzilla's attack on the emergency base and who blames it entirely on igi's in action in the film makes sure he gets a complete Arc as well the second is hitaka yoshioka as the doc hitaka is a seasoned veteran in a two-time Japanese Academy Award for best actor winner he plays the more typical Godzilla film role of scientist but he has his own fresh spin on it you can feel the weight he's bearing as he's concocting a way to defeat the monster because the consequences of it failing will be dire and you can see just from the trailers that the film is visually striking but I was genuinely pleased by the sound design and how much attention was put into it when Godzilla is swimming through the water or stepping onto land you hear and feel every moment I didn't get a chance to see it in IMAX and even the sound mix in a standard theater made the seats Rumble the base levels are used to amplify the stress levels the scene where Godzilla attacks The Wooden Boat comes to mind again because the impact and churning of the water created so much tension it's another part of filmmaking where they knocked it out of the park speaking of that scene they didn't bring in any music and it heightened everything because of the shock of the sound effects it's a brilliant artistic choice to not use music at that moment but I'd hate to disregard how wonderful the score is when used in the right context the original Godzilla theme is still incredibly effective I also understand the timing of dropping the Godzilla X Kong the new Empire or however the [ __ ] you say it the new trailer for that movie near the release of Godzilla minus one it seems to make good marketing Sense on the surface to release a tra trailer hyping up a project within the same intellectual property as the one hitting theaters Godzilla minus one hit theaters on December 1st in the Godzilla Kong sequel trailer landed a couple days later this originally was planned to be a prequel to The Godzilla versus Kong movie that was so successful for Warner Brothers back in 2021 when the film seemed like it was going to be a victim of Warner Brothers terrible decision to release their entire film slate that Year date and date simultaneously in theaters and on their streaming service HBO Max even though the theatrical experience was still up in the air by the end of 2020 when Warner Brothers made that decision it was obvious this was to mostly help boost their streaming platform by the tail end of that year the major Studios had invested billions into their own individual streamers and Warner needed something to boost theirs above everyone else's the Dual launch in theaters and HBO Max hurt a number of releases or in some cases Mass their poor performances by blaming it on streaming but Godzilla versus Kong was a hit in theaters and on Max For Better or Worse the new trailer for the sequel promises more of the same that means more of the beautiful but weightless CGI that will be the centerpiece of the film and underwritten stand-ins for human characters at that point the Hollywood version of Godzilla's universe will be five films deep and the last film of the franchise looks nothing like the first 2014's Godzilla was a darker toned film that took itself seriously and not to its detriment its biggest flaw was that the main characters weren't very interesting and they wasted Brian Cranston the negative response to the even more self-serious sequel king of the monsters made the studio go toward a lighter tone with Godzilla versus Kong which received some Acclaim for being a fun albeit brainless and forgettable popcorn movie what the studio took from the negative reception to the darker films were that darker films were bad yet the praise for Godzilla minus one and the success it's seen in comparison to its budget and overall expenses suggests maybe people don't care what tone you're going for they just like good movies a wild concept and the film story is emblematic of its production and the approach to film by too in general it's simultaneously massive in scope while being a small simple story it's easy to follow but has a deeply human core in all its messy complexity and contradictions the soldiers in the movie feel lost abandoned yet burdened with a sense of Duty that's never going to be resolved or so they think they want to fight for their country but feel betrayed by the regime they're proud men lost and finding purpose in uniting against Godzilla speaking of him minus one shows yet again why he's one of the most versatile movie characters ever created the first Godzilla film released in 1954 is an all-time classic and one of my favorite movies ever made with Godzilla the character reflecting the fears and anxieties of Japan at the time nearly a decade after the conclusion of World War II on the surface it was a well-crafted film but it was so much more than just a monster movie it Illustrated the consequences and impact Humanity can have on the planet with Godzilla essentially embodying nature exacting its revenge in my opinion this is and always will be the best way Godzilla's ever been utilized as a character but there were more than 30 movies to go after that and those themes weren't necessarily repeated here's Johnny and that's where the diversity of Godzilla can be understated the character has endured because of his versatility he started as a frightening screen villain in the living embodiment of Humanity's fears to a kid-friendly hero and a childhood icon serious or silly the character and concept of Godzilla can do it all and why he's been around for nearly 80 years over that span there have been four different eras of Godzilla film and media each with its own identity the 1954 film kicked off the shwa era that ended in 1975 and so began his transition from terrifying villain and threat to Earth to a hero and the savior of the planet new monsters would begin showing up as early as the first sequel now nearly eight decades later there are over 30 kiju and too's Godzilla verse with some starring in their own films like Mathra and Rodan as a fan I can appreciate all these eras for what they are and what they represent Godzilla is a character that can be reinvented reinterpreted and used as a tool for whatever the writers need him to be after the shwa era ended in 1975 the franchise laid dormant until the ' 80s when the king of the monsters was brought back for what's known as the Jay era he returned to form so to speak with a darker more serious tone and leaving behind the kid-friendly hero although he'd gain anti-hero status by the end of the era after this Tojo decided to risk licensing out the character to Hollywood and the results were well f yourself you're a piece of [ __ ] [ __ ] that's how I feel and that's how we got the next era of too Godzilla films known as the Millennium ERA this one was pretty unique because it was the first era to have each film represent a different interpretation of the character and his Mythos culminating in the wham bam fan pleaser known as Godzilla final wars if some of the older films seemed like kids just smashing their toys together this was if those kids grew up and given a budget to keep going the franchise is currently in the Raya era and its film output is considerably lower than the previous ones aside from the Netflix animated Godzilla projects the Raya a has seen two theatrical releases Shin Godzilla in 2015 and minus one this year Shin Godzilla would go on to win the Japanese equivalent of a Best Picture Oscar and was lauded for its themes critical of government bureaucracy during times of global crisis they've licensed Godzilla out to Hollywood and produced animated features but too has taken a much more conservative and thoughtful approach to their theatrical releases and how they use the character if Shin Godzilla carried modern broader themes Godzilla minus one tried to and succeeds at doing the opposite because it's a much smaller personal story that follows a single character as the clear lead instead of an ensemble that's normally required for a story of a global threat it's a different approach to a story that requires Great Character writing because the success of the movie hinges on the connection between the audience and the people on screen how they're going to deal with Godzilla becomes surprisingly secondary to what's going to happen to kichi Aiko doc will they make it through this and even if they do will kichi be able to live with himself it's wild care so much about characters in a Godzilla movie but it stands out more now because it's rare to have it in a movie on the big screen in general unless you're in the Indie Market you simply don't get this in an IMAX level popcorn flick very often and in the center of it all is the character of Godzilla himself whether he's a force of Nature and a catalyst for change in the lives of our league characters or he's the actual focus of the film as a hero or villain whether it's a rubber suit or fully realized CGI Godzilla is an incredibly versatile character and it's proven to be true time and again just how godamn good minus one is really shines a light on the poor quality of the Hollywood version of Godzilla the monsterverse has its own charms in a way it truly is the Americanized version of the schlocky rubber suit more kid-friendly creature legendary Studios decided to go the more anti-hero rut with Godzilla instead of making him a full-fledged villain or an indifferent force of nature while the first movie in the franchise in 2014 had a dark tone and I mean that in every sense you couldn't see anything in that [ __ ] movie I'm not blind 23 hours a day or 22 hours a day I'm blind the whole goddamn time I'm blind they moved forward with a lighter broader appeal to the franchise and the character by the time they got to the slugfest of Godzilla versus Kong compare the lead characters in Godzilla minus one to whoever the [ __ ] was in that movie yeah who were the characters in Godzilla versus Kong the girl from stranger things right and the brother of the guy who played it and if we're comparing the quality of minus one to Hollywood films you can't get back better than Godzilla's direct American Hollywood counterpart the American-made Monster boxing match was fun during the brawls but all the movie was good for was spectacle it's the epitome of Summer disposable trash and I say that as a fan of the franchise contrast the American version with toos and you couldn't find two franchises that are literally the same thing be more opposite from one another I'm curious what kind of impact a minus one will have on the American monsterverse moving forward I wonder if fans will scoff at the assembly line nature of the next Godzilla versus Kong film coming out next year now that we have a brand new example of how great a Godzilla movie can be the budget of this film reflects the dedication and passion of its filmmakers the word embarrassing has been thrown around quite a bit in relation to how Hollywood Studios should be feeling but it's true Godzilla minus one won't make hundreds of millions at the box office it'll probably Cruise past 100 million in the end so we're not talking about an Avengers level cultural shift or anything but the overwhelming praise from fans and the continued expansion of the film through North America should prove to Studios that you can do more with less that smaller films can be profitable that a big budget movie makes people more risk averse and that makes movies Bland boring predictable granola assembly line trash Godzilla is an IP that's well over 80 years old and can be reimagined and reinterpreted seemingly endlessly so when you hear about superhero fatigue or anything related to the overuse of ips while there's Merit there I would suggest maybe it really is bad movie fatigue and it can be applied to anything you can get granular but it makes sense to be fatigued with an entire genre if each thing has been mid to awful and there stands the king of the monsters showing how an intellectual property can endure with a passionate and caring crew behind it who care about producing the best quality work possible the end result is the best movie of the year if you can please support great films and see Godzilla minus one while it's still in theaters GG's

Channel: The Movie Cynic

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Id: jVABtC51bLA

Length: 20min 30sec (1230 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 20 2023