"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire"

[00:00:00] You were listening to the Next Best Picture Podcast and this is our review of God's Little Khan, The New Empire.

[00:00:07] For centuries there was harmony.

[00:00:15] The tightness or the guardians of nature

[00:00:20] and the great apes became the protectors of humanity.

[00:00:24] Alrighty, we better you just listening to the trailers for God's Little Khan.

[00:00:27] X-Kong, The New Empire and the story is as follows.

[00:00:32] Godzilla and the Almighty Kong face a colossal threat hidden deep within the planet, challenging their very existence and survival of the human race.

[00:00:41] The film is starring Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hoddle, Fala Chen, and Rachel House.

[00:00:47] It is directed by Adam Wingard and it is written by Terry Russo, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater.

[00:00:53] Here to join me today for this podcast review I have Sarah Clements.

[00:00:58] Hello, hello.

[00:01:00] Josh Parm.

[00:01:01] Hello.

[00:01:02] Brendan Hodges.

[00:01:04] Hi, happy to be here.

[00:01:05] And Giovanni Lago.

[00:01:08] Hello.

[00:01:09] So God's Little X-Kong, The New Empire, this is the second film directed by Adam Wingard in this franchise.

[00:01:17] I believe he's the first actually to direct two movies within this Godzilla franchise if I'm understanding this correctly.

[00:01:26] I could be wrong, but I over read that somewhere.

[00:01:30] But this is a direct sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong which came out in 2021 at a time when theaters were not at full capacity.

[00:01:38] Which means some of us went to the theater to see it, some of us stayed home and watched this on HBO Max.

[00:01:43] I remember at the time.

[00:01:46] The reactions to it I think were more positive than they otherwise maybe would have been under normal circumstances because we were so starved and depraved of big screen action spectacles.

[00:01:59] So God's Little X-Kong, not only do you have the highlight of these two gigantic forces colliding against each other in an epic mashup, something that fans of both characters have wanted to see.

[00:02:15] And you had Adam Wingard directing and he's had a very promising career working in the horror genre.

[00:02:21] And so there were a lot of elements at play there.

[00:02:23] Now with Godzilla, X-Kong, The New Empire, horrible title by the way.

[00:02:30] What's the one thing that they could do this time around to freshen things up and simply just do a very basic pitch to get this project greenlit?

[00:02:39] Well, it's very simple. So to have them fight each other, why not have them fight beside each other?

[00:02:45] And so we get this team up movie here where the two characters have to face another gigantic monster, Doretten Hollow Earth.

[00:02:55] There are human characters. We're going to get into them played by some of the returning actors from the previous film.

[00:03:02] And then there are some characters who are just missing in general, who you would expect to be here but for some reason are not.

[00:03:09] We'll get into that as well.

[00:03:11] But overall, what did we think of this?

[00:03:14] Especially too in the shadow of Godzilla minus one which had critical financial success, including award season success, becoming the first Godzilla movie to ever win an Oscar for the franchise.

[00:03:27] Whoever by luck or something worse, this is essentially impacting our viewing experience.

[00:03:38] Like I've talked to so many people about this and for some it's inevitable that they're going to be comparing this movie to what we just got with Godzilla minus one other people view it as a positive.

[00:03:47] The franchise for Godzilla, like the interest in general and the franchise has never been higher.

[00:03:53] So people are just generally excited now to go see this movie and continue that Godzilla high following monarch on Apple TV.

[00:04:01] Godzilla minus one and now this so there's some good. There's some bad Sarah. Where do you fall ultimately?

[00:04:07] You know I went into this just wanting some good old monster bashing and you know we got that so.

[00:04:17] There's not much I can ask for with these Hollywood Kaiju movies.

[00:04:22] It's kind of similar to last week right with Roadhouse where it's like I just want to see two men beating the shit out of each other now this week is two CGI monsters beating the shit out of each other.

[00:04:32] Exactly and you know I really loved the team up between Godzilla and Kong at the end of.

[00:04:40] Godzilla versus Kong so I was really excited to see them team up again in this one albeit against a kind of.

[00:04:50] Not interesting villain, I don't know like Giovanni said to us earlier before we started recording couldn't even remember his name today so.

[00:05:01] Skarking I had to Google it yeah and normally with like the human story with these kind of Hollywood versions I really do not care about them at all because they're so like.

[00:05:14] You know there's no depth to them but I really enjoyed sort of the exploration of the character Gia's culture more in this and how it ties to the Titans.

[00:05:25] And of course baby Kong literally my new son sorry padding to Oop but yeah I really enjoyed this for you know what it is just monsters beating the shit out of each other so yeah.

[00:05:40] Okay and you know I've heard a lot of people kind of having this sentiment to of Matt what are you expecting heading into a movie titled Godzilla X Kong the new Empire should we just be enjoying it for what it's promising to deliver.

[00:05:55] Because it does deliver on that right so why ask for any more why have this critical lens when you're viewing such a thing.

[00:06:05] Well I'll get to that in a little bit here but let me hear from somebody who I know is a fan of this franchise and of just dooms day action movies in general that do offer the big screen thrills but also kind of silly dumb.

[00:06:20] Just God help us all moments that make us roll our eyes Josh parm you're very forgiving towards this kind of stuff so did Godzilla X Kong the new Empire I swear to God every time I say this title I'm going to vomit.

[00:06:32] Did you did it delivered for you?

[00:06:35] It did not actually for me sadly and you're right Matt that normally I am somebody who is quite forgiving with these types of films.

[00:06:46] I just really do love the spectacle like I buy into it so easily but that spectacle always does get paired up with very very weak characters and for the most part I can kind of forgive that I can just sort of roll with an tolerate that week part of the story

[00:07:05] while just focusing on what the movies actually trying to deliver and normally I can find that balance pretty well but I don't know there was something with this one where it just did get a little tedious after a while

[00:07:19] and I think that this is a movie that very clearly is more interested in like the Kong storyline in general and I think that there are moments even when we don't get any human characters you don't even get dialogue we just get interactions between Kong

[00:07:34] and these other giant apes and I actually did find those sections of the movie to be kind of compelling the way that they were able to really commit to wordless storytelling.

[00:07:45] I did actually sort of like that but the minute we cut away from it back to the humans it just like drained the entire momentum of the movie and I just could not take these horrible, horrible characters and despite some of that spectacle being really good.

[00:08:02] I just did not really feel like the totality of this storytelling was all that engaging to me and by the time we got to the end yeah there's still a giant fight that is very well done and on the surface I was sort of into it.

[00:08:18] I also just felt like at that point the movie had lost so much good will for me that it was even hard to connect to those sequences so even though I am normally a big fan of these types of movies I have to admit that this one eventually did sort of wear me down and I was not as into it as I wanted to be sadly.

[00:08:38] Now the person that I saw this film with Giovanni Lago I watched in real time as he went from interested to disinterested following some tedious stretches in this film Giovanni would that accurately describe your viewing experience with us.

[00:08:54] Yes also for some reason where we saw it I felt like I was having a heat stroke I guess that's maybe because I wore a sweater and like the wrong things there say I didn't sense that there was anything wrong with the temperature so much as like I think that was just.

[00:09:06] I think it was just me going into this movie you know I can appreciate like a dub monster beating another dub monster I did enjoy 2021's Godzilla versus Kong I saw it in the feeder when it came out.

[00:09:21] I think the difference between that film and this film is again I'm not the most expert and like the previous Godzilla films are on at these monster films knowledge but to me that was the first time where I was like wow Godzilla versus Kong.

[00:09:35] There was like a sense of urgency or felt like something was building up to it so like when you do see them square off and everything it felt at least somewhat satisfactory compared to this one where I just feel like it's just something that's added to a conveyor belt of like we just got to make a sequel and pump it out and.

[00:09:52] I was quite bored a lot I remember looking checking my phone one time to see the time and it was only like an hour into the movie and I was like that's actually baffling because the movie is under two hours and it does not feel like it.

[00:10:06] And the ending is where you know you get the team up the action starts picking up there's an interesting set piece I don't know the quite works entirely where there's like zero gravity in the monsters are just flailing around and I was entertained I'm not going to say I'm not entertained.

[00:10:21] I truly don't believe this is a horrendous movie but I think it's ultimately something so middleing and passable that it's just so forgettable you won't remember it the acumen characters you know we're speaking of unforgettable I very excited to go into it because I think the way they incorporate like returning characters and storylines and deciding what to follow on and what to not follow on is actually very baffling to me and also fascinating.

[00:10:49] Also this movie should be called a calm movie like Godzilla is like gone for like large large stretches of the movie really doesn't do anything to the ending so and the main antagonist like we've said is like a calm like they're all monkeys and like again didn't remember his name he looks cool I'll give him that like he's got this cool chain and all that and he's like very cylinder but besides that I found nothing worth like going to see this in a theater or even like watching it again.

[00:11:17] Alright Brendan Hodges man what did you think of this yeah so listeners I had a rough and long week I had very long hours at work.

[00:11:32] Okay I had to put out fires every day you know I've been having some bad leg pain from an old injury that I'm trying to work on you know every day I woke up stressed wondering how can I get everything done today that I need to get done it was one of those weeks.

[00:11:53] I was asking myself how long can this continue so by the time Friday arrived and I left to go watch I think it's just pronounced Godzilla Kong no ex the exes silent is like hunter hunter the anime yeah it's like hunter hunter yeah no one go hunter X Hunter no no seriously like no one goes hunter X hunters just hunter hunter people still yeah I I guess it's fine it cuts and the end Kong yeah I'm on yeah so but I

[00:12:23] basically I was my brain could not Matt have been smoother I was hungry for a turn my mind off watch 300 tall high-due apes and dragons and whatever else beat the fucking shit out of each other.

[00:12:43] I could not have been in a more advantageous state of mind to enjoy this movie after the week that I had and I hated it.

[00:12:53] Oh my it's a really weird movie and ultimately it became just a really numbing experience for me the worst thing I could say about it is that I was bored there's nothing that happens in the movie of great incidents it's not filmed in a great way.

[00:13:13] I was surrounded way everything feels weightless most of the action is shot in a way where you can no longer tell the size of the characters unless there's a shot where there's like pyramids in the background or there's a particularly tall tree.

[00:13:33] Most of the action it could be taking place with these characters as only feet tall not 300 I especially felt this when you have Kong standing next to this tiny ape name suko and then they show these two characters in a big wide shot with the human character standing on a cliff.

[00:13:57] And that's when you realize just how giant this little tiny monkey is even compared to the humans and it's just you lose track of that when you have so many scenes.

[00:14:08] Without the human characters to kind of give them that difference in size exactly there's this classic trick and movie making that recently.

[00:14:18] Both of the recent doon films perfected for the most part which is show big thing next to small thing right you show a big object or a big character or a big vehicle in the frame next to smaller things so our brain has that sense of relationship between scale and size it's pretty basic to me yes this movie does not do that.

[00:14:47] In do you think of okay we see the ships in space looks small and then when we get to land the ships are huge and then the tiny humans are right next to the ship so you go oh wow that's big this movie does not do that this is something that the 2014 Godzilla does beautifully everything looks towering in that film yes that's not the case here and unfortunately.

[00:15:14] I'll just end by saying this is kind of a pretty to very good king Kong movie buried in the sewage of IP and forcing a Godzilla presence in here that clearly doesn't make that much sense Godzilla's geo pointed out is barely in the movie until the ending even then has relatively little to do my favorite part of the movie was the first five minutes.

[00:15:44] Which is a day in the life of Kong I had a rough week he had a rough week I had a rough time at work long had a rough time at work my leg hurt his tooth hurt right he at the end of this sequence had to take a shower to wash off the additions and and the excess of his labor now in my case that's because I was just a sweaty because they were so hard for so.

[00:16:14] Along in his case sure it was animal blood from pulling apart one of these creatures above his head I was going to say what are you going to compare this to in your daily life.

[00:16:26] But I was like I know this guy I relate to Kong and unfortunately Matt then the rest of the movie happened so those are my opening thoughts on Godzilla Kong the new empire.

[00:16:40] Okay so here am I opening thoughts here because I think a lot of people assume that I had into these movies like prepare to hate them wanting to hate them.

[00:16:49] I want to be very clear that I think I've been very generous over the years with these movies in a lot of ways you know the original.

[00:17:00] I don't want to say original because it's such a long running franchise obviously but like let's just go back to say.

[00:17:06] Garafet words Godzilla okay.

[00:17:09] I love the first half of that movie basically up until Brian cransden exiting the movie I think that movie is amazing and then it falters for me in the second half I think that's a very fair.

[00:17:23] You know analysis of just how most people tend to feel about that movie but let's continue cuz from there.

[00:17:33] We get the sequel Godzilla king of the monsters which we reviewed here on the podcast in 2019 and I really hated that Josh I remember actually going up against you on that because I remember you were a little bit more generous about that film.

[00:17:48] I think it's the best movie in this entire new franchise yes I do like that movie quite a bit and I understand the reasoning as to why like I get in terms of.

[00:17:59] Expectation of what you want heading into this sort of thing going over to the Kong side skull island I was a bit mixed on but there was enough there to.

[00:18:11] Keep me invested throughout I actually thought there were some really interesting things going on visually within that movie.

[00:18:19] God's delivers Kong I definitely created on a curve and I was very generous towards that film like I said earlier due to the circumstances of its release

[00:18:28] in what was going on at the time but it was still fun and I can sit down and watch something where like the Transformers movies not all of them actually maybe only like two of them really but in all honesty like just watching big giant CGI creations just you know and not come

[00:18:48] from so come type of brawl it can be enjoyable especially if it's conveyed in a way that makes sense I think Guillermo Toro specific rim is a film that we do not talk about often enough here or in general as a film that does this really really well.

[00:19:10] God's a little minus one liked it a little bit more on the second viewing I think I ended up giving that film an eight out of 10 on our podcast review.

[00:19:19] So I went into this with an open mind.

[00:19:23] But the problem I kept running into with this.

[00:19:27] Was while I appreciate Adam when guard focusing more on Kong as character or long stretches of this movie where the human characters which have been admittedly

[00:19:40] the sore point of this entire franchise I think for all of us because the characters are just not interesting and we're not emotionally invested in them and they the actors are just really given nothing.

[00:19:51] Of note to do they're just simply there earning a paycheck.

[00:19:57] I felt like the focus on con here was actually far more interesting than anything that the franchise has pretty much done up until this point.

[00:20:06] But the problem was yes the lack of Godzilla and then when you do go back to the human characters they just might as well not even be there at all at all.

[00:20:16] And I'll get into specific reasons won't once we break it down in a little bit there's also a lack of continuity here with certain characters returning other characters not coming back from previous films who are still out there somewhere supposedly in the world of the shared universe of Godzilla and Kong.

[00:20:35] And at the end of the day I just found this movie to be tedious I found it to be dull all the way up until the third act the third act does deliver everything that audiences I think heading into this want but it doesn't over deliver and by the time we get there it's too little too late.

[00:20:53] So while I don't think that this is an all out terrible movie I did find it to be pretty lackluster compared to not only what came before but also to I just feel that we as an audience deserve better and I don't think it's unfair to ask for better there's so many people have to see or kind of resigning themselves to this idea that

[00:21:17] well this is what we got and we should just be appreciative that this is it and it's like no we know what better looks like why are we settling for less.

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[00:22:17] I just want to understand that viewpoint of like hey this is what we're getting we should be fine with this like yeah I understand I normally somebody who would be in that camp for these types of movies but I think there's just something with this one where even though yes as you said Matt it does deliver on its spectacle when necessary and I do think that a lot of those sequences can be very fun to watch.

[00:22:41] I also feel like at this point in this series there's nothing about those sequences that kind of feel inventive anymore it just it feels a little bit more of the same from like the gods of the versus Kong movie and I just didn't really feel like there was much to kind of hype me up even by the time we get to the very end of the movie it's like okay this is where we're building towards but because this story is split between Kong and these like awful awful

[00:23:11] human characters that I feel like the only reason the humans are here is just for plot exposition reasons like that's it they have nothing to do it just feels like the momentum of the story doesn't really get to a point of elation at the end when we get this big fight so I found myself quite struggling through this even though I should be the target audience for this movie.

[00:23:35] I think what's also so funny about like the human characters of like this film is that let's take away Godzilla minus one for the side which I really enjoyed surprisingly because when I saw what Matt I was like this feels like you sheet a mellow drama and then Godzilla's just there so the emphasis on the human characters was like the main focal point.

[00:23:56] But even compared to like what Matt mentioned earlier I think I really enjoyed the 2014 godzilla film I think sure there is that second half issue but through even throughout like post crans in the films for the movie is it's been years okay.

[00:24:12] Like a retailer john sale is I was still dialed into like I thought their characters are far more fascinating and well done and felt very balanced in that world where it wasn't too much why was like.

[00:24:23] Okay not entire focus but they weren't just.

[00:24:26] Pieces moving the plotting forward and then it feels like every film since then in this like conceived monster versus has just been less and less and less and.

[00:24:37] What I mentioned earlier about like funny enough it's one or brothers this whole series has this very like DC EU feel to it of like what storylines they decide to keep what character so like.

[00:24:50] Millie Bobby Brown was in this franchise once and come a clock and they're gone but like they keep Brian's I read Henry for King of monsters and then in godzilla versus Kong Rebecca Hall and the child introduced.

[00:25:01] But then scars guard was there and then this whole movie I was just looking I was like to eat you didn't die in the last one right is easy just he just didn't want to come back and then sure you get Dan Stevens which.

[00:25:13] He's great i'm going to admit like very much a charisma ball kind of annoying cure for like every needle drop in the movie.

[00:25:21] The guest you are you in two yeah between him and when guard yeah and it's entertaining but then also like by the end of the movie you're just like why are you here like why are you guys like we need to free Rebecca Hall yeah there's like a whole little sub plot that's kind of hinted at between him and Rebecca Hall yeah the relationship do anything with that it just ends.

[00:25:41] The movie just ends and you're like oh okay I guess they won't touch on that like Dan Stevens is going out of his way and he's working I think incredibly hard to make this character fun and actually interesting something he's not given yeah any character development any growth there's one part in the movie in particular where.

[00:26:01] It's like only he can do this thing that's gonna benefit Kong actually happens twice once involving his two fake and another one involving his hand.

[00:26:11] And all I could think of in these moments were the pitch meetings at screen rant where the guys like all it's going to be super easy barely and inconvenience.

[00:26:21] That's what I felt like Dan Stevens was doing where I'm like how are they going to get this loaded on the ship and how is he gonna like get it on the Kong and it's like don't worry about it barely and convenience.

[00:26:33] The only human storyline they attempt to put the most focus on some mother daughter dynamics from Rebecca Hall and her child which her adoptive child my dad yeah interesting I guess very predictable because then they introduced his whole group.

[00:26:48] Of like these and just people that live and hit an earth and that she's a part of.

[00:26:53] And they like just start explaining all the stuff that you're like okay and then they introduce a big aspect of story of 40 spoilers I don't know we get into spoilers that.

[00:27:01] Makes it even more confusing when you're remembering stuff from the previous films you're like I thought this person wasn't back what's happening.

[00:27:08] It's just a whole bunch of like go around and you're just left there just at times a little bit frustrated and I'm just like what's what's happening like what is happening.

[00:27:17] There's no effort to explain most things that happen in this movie yeah it's a weird example of a movie where.

[00:27:27] Basically if you think about literally anything that happens in it it doesn't make any sense.

[00:27:34] And it almost begins to take on this kind of hysterical dream logic of just go with it level storytelling and everybody kind of remembers the crazy hot scale from how I met your mother.

[00:27:52] And outside of my mother is like that classic idea to me there's like a dumb cool scale in movies.

[00:28:00] Right the dumber movie is the dumber a plot point is the dumber the characters the cooler the movie has to be yeah it has overcompensate so that this way your brain just as you said goes with it right and in fact some of the best action movies are the dumbest.

[00:28:17] It can be fun to embrace a sort of nonsensical just go with it attitude I mean you I even think a lot of the time when I think about this topic like Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[00:28:28] How does Indiana Jones survive on the top of a submarine going through the ocean I don't know I don't care there's all these it's sort of the peak of almost like a child likes a suspension of disbelief when it's done correctly.

[00:28:43] This movie does not have and we you and Josh talked about this but it just doesn't have enough cool stuff the fights aren't good enough they're not rewarding enough to pay off needing to tolerate and sit through.

[00:28:59] All of the kind of stupidity in general and the main problem with the human characters is there basically does exposition machines they're constantly telling you the plot back at you especially a brine Terry Henry exactly as opposed to this letting things unfold organically.

[00:29:19] So when I saw the opening scene that I clearly loved a lot I thought wow if the whole movie is going to be this much oriented visual storytelling this could be something really special this could be really cool.

[00:29:31] But then it kind of abandons that and you know what the stuff between Kong and scar as he's called in this movie.

[00:29:40] There is a reliance on that the problem I kept having with those scenes was my brain kept on referencing where have I seen this better where have I seen this happened before and I was like oh shit dawn with the planet of the apes.

[00:29:56] And I was like god damn it yet that movie did this all so so much better sure it didn't I just couldn't get invested in it at once I made that connection.

[00:30:06] I mean yes I would argue that the plan of the apes movies yeah do that kind of stuff better but to this movies credit I do think that those sequences for a movie like this I was actually surprised how much it did decide to commit to these moments where you're just seeing these these animals communicate with each other.

[00:30:29] In wordless dialogue free ways and to see that in this kind of a big budget glossy movie meant for mass audiences I you know.

[00:30:39] I like I said I'll give the movie credit that those sequences did actually get me a little bit more invested in the story not enough to save the movie at all but I do think that those sequences were well executed for what they were and I think that.

[00:30:55] Those relationships I cared much more about than anything that the humans were doing like I did like little baby Kong you know that that was tagging along just actually the very first fight scene I think Kong is actually swinging that baby and.

[00:31:10] Yeah why so funny like that those are the moments that I do like about this movie and that's when it just really indulges in the very you know over the top stupidness that I can get into but yeah overall it's still not.

[00:31:25] Great connections that they're making with with those kinds of characters and we don't stick with them long enough over the course of the movie to get that invested either and every time we cut away we lose.

[00:31:37] The connection to that part of the story and it's just hard to build up things to that grand finale to feel really excited by it at the end well the one thing I'll also say to about the human characters in this.

[00:31:49] And maybe you guys feel differently but because they weren't featured as much while I was not emotionally invested in anything that was happening between them even to stop between Rebecca Hall and Kaley Hottel who plays her daughter who who returned by the way.

[00:32:06] It's the same actress from guzzalo versus Kong so I really appreciate that continuity there but.

[00:32:13] I didn't feel as annoyed by the characters this time around like I remember Brian Tyree Henry being insufferable in the last film.

[00:32:26] And here he was doing the same stuff but it was just not featured as prominently so I didn't quite feel so.

[00:32:35] Frustrated this time around by like his inclusion in fact there were.

[00:32:40] You know not many maybe two moments where I chuckled mostly involving him like shooting all this stuff as a documentary for his blog or his followers whatever.

[00:32:52] Where I was like okay Brian Tyree Henry is making a complete fool of himself and he knows it and you know those were moments I could have a little bit of fun with but it never overstayed its welcome to the point that I started getting.

[00:33:03] Very visibly annoyed and frustrated by it.

[00:33:08] Yeah I agree Matt but I just wanted to say that I love how like the wordless sort of interactions with these monkeys was more compelling and kind of.

[00:33:20] I don't know if emotional is the word but more emotionally gripping than anything that the human characters were saying to each other and.

[00:33:29] It made more sense and most of the things they were talking about but I do agree yeah I feel like there was more I found myself laughing more from the human characters in this one then the previous film.

[00:33:41] I mean like we said before Dan Stevens is like I think trying so hard to inject some life into this movie through his performance here.

[00:33:51] I just wish that his character actually had.

[00:33:56] Some sort of an arc with something to do I just don't feel like he.

[00:34:01] I mean like I want to be clear he's given stuff to do in the movie but he's not given stuff to do in the sense of anything to do with his character as far as.

[00:34:10] He's a cool guy right but like I asked you Gio this question as we were leaving the theater.

[00:34:17] Other than the team up of Godzilla and Kong which the title promises.

[00:34:23] What was the point of this movie?

[00:34:26] Dude the new empire was going to start come on come on I mean like on an emotional level to get me invested into care about the continuation of this franchise.

[00:34:36] Like what was the point like what was the meaning behind it all like I do feel like a lot of times in these films whether it's about nuclear war.

[00:34:45] Or something or another about saving the planet from maybe an existential threat whatever it is like these films do have some sort of underlying subtext to get you to go.

[00:34:54] Oh I can see what this is about.

[00:34:57] You know like what the and I'm not saying this has to be like a strong message movie but I just did anybody get anything out of this on that level.

[00:35:05] No I think it's great you mentioned that because when I was like writing about this movie I think you know maybe it maybe we're spoiled a bit by minus one and we got that but like I think there's a beautiful thing about film that we can have this space where you can get something as like poetic and deep as like minus one that's a mellow drama.

[00:35:25] And then you could go and see something like on television's Kong or this where it's just like two monsters just punching each other and it's just dumb eight shit right.

[00:35:35] But I feel like you can also make it good like it doesn't mean that just because you're making something on a different space doesn't mean it has to be this mediocre and like something that is felt like as a commodity to be like pumped out for a date.

[00:35:52] Like you could take the time and make something genuinely special like Godzilla minus one again I hate comparing I like I hate comparing especially I think it's more so just because it's just so recent like it came out like less than half a year ago.

[00:36:06] I cared about the human characters this franchise where it's like people are intently gonna go to see the monsters I don't think people's first thoughts when they go see a Godzilla or King Kong is wow I need these human characters to be great.

[00:36:20] But it is a nice plus to show that you can do both you can have it all and it's not like a selfish thing for audiences to be like I expect more out of these movies.

[00:36:30] So I just wanted to say before we moved on to answer Matt's question I do agree with a lot of what you said I do think the movie is trying to be about something in the stuff that I felt worked best in the film is when it is about this which is it's really about.

[00:36:45] Finding belonging in a world where you feel left behind I get that from the sense of Gia well also Kong I mean his whole emotion in the film is you know being alone and being depressed even about not having family.

[00:37:06] And he's searching for some kind of family or camaraderie within the animal kingdom not just hilarious because there's all these over monkeys that are there they just all happen to like hate his guts for some reason well that's what it goes with like what we're calling like baby Kong right like he I like the scenes of.

[00:37:27] Baby Kong repeatedly trying to get regular King Kong killed and then he just owns whatever obstacle is thrown at him.

[00:37:36] And like gives him some food and then they have this like nice quiet moment of eating together there's these little character driven moments in the movie that I thought were very very strong if the whole movie was just stuff like that.

[00:37:52] I actually think this would have been a really strong movie and that's paralleled with the G is that she's trying to find belonging in terms of tribe and cultural identity and those things I don't think the movie does that part of the film as well as it does the Kong stuff.

[00:38:07] But I do think that's kind of a novel angle with which to tell a story about these characters I mean yeah I've never seen all the Godzilla movies I haven't seen all the King Kong movies.

[00:38:19] But I've never seen a King Kong movie or a Godzilla movie for that matter where it's principally about the title character just being sad and wanting to find family and friends.

[00:38:31] And that's very much ingrained in the storytelling in a way so I did respond to that positively.

[00:38:37] I think my problem and why I didn't draw upon that connection as strongly as you did their Brendan is because I couldn't exactly figure out why the other apes in this movie were against Kong.

[00:38:52] Well so keep in mind that not all the other apes are really against Kong.

[00:38:58] The movie creates this power dynamic, this sort of hierarchy where this like scar king guy, scar Kong, whatever he is really kind of abusing and enslaving the apes under him.

[00:39:16] Yes, it reminded me a lot of like this movie.

[00:39:21] It riffs on many different types of Spielberg.

[00:39:23] I shouldn't say types many different Spielberg movies right that idea of like a distress signal beamed right into somebody's head is right out of clothes and counters.

[00:39:33] The ship going down and then needing to go on foot very much like Jurassic Park.

[00:39:37] Sure.

[00:39:38] All of this stuff reminded me of Temple of Doom where you have this enslaved populace and the story becomes in part liberating the populace.

[00:39:50] And in fact, it also was like Temple of Doom where we have a character who is at first in Temple of Doom their brainwashed.

[00:39:59] But in this film they're just scared.

[00:40:02] They're like conditioned into following the scar guy and conditioned into trying to kill their enemies which is King Kong.

[00:40:09] And then they slowly become an ally just like Temple of Doom.

[00:40:12] So that's what I think is happening now do I think all of this is done very well?

[00:40:18] No, but I think that's the idea behind what the movie is doing and I ultimately think that's why the Godzilla stuff and a lot of the human stuff feels especially extraneous.

[00:40:29] Because it literally has nothing to do with the main heart of the movie everything the movies telling us it's about has nothing to do with all the.

[00:40:40] Monsterverse stuff so by the end of the movie this big fight everybody keeps talking about that being is pretty good I was completely numbed and checked out.

[00:40:50] Because the movie had already told us a lot of this stuff doesn't actually matter that much.

[00:40:55] But yeah that's ultimately what I think it's trying to do some of the eight on eight like action that happens before third act in this movie too.

[00:41:03] Another unfair comparison to my brain was making did anybody else get reminded of Peter Jackson's King Kong a little bit when watching somebody scenes.

[00:41:13] I mean a little bit especially in the way that these movies have really tried to infuse the humanity in Kong which I guess is maybe the reason why got

[00:41:23] Syllogis ends up not really being in these movies that much is just because it's much easier to.

[00:41:28] Project that emotion onto the face of an ape which can kind of make that connection to human emotional expression a lot better than you know in giant lizard can I sort of assuming that's the reason why these movies kind of like.

[00:41:45] Feel like Godzilla only isn't here as a cameos really they would have to like redesign the entire character if they wanted to do that so yeah I agree with you I think that's exactly the reason.

[00:41:55] Yeah I feel like that's why these movies tend to focus so heavily on Kong and you know what I don't even have a problem with that necessarily in theory because I think when this movie does focus on him and those sequences with these other apes.

[00:42:12] I think those are the strongest bits I think that that is a section of the movie where this we're telling actually does start to pull me in a bit.

[00:42:19] The problem is just the juxtaposition of those scenes with everything else in this movie like yeah I completely agree with Brendan and this movie does numb you once you get towards the end of it and the stuff that you should be celebrating the the spectacle that it's presenting you that you should be all in for.

[00:42:37] It just does it's done such a poor job of establishing those particular stakes and even being like clever on any way that it just kind of falls apart at the end and I just I wish I loved those sequences as much as I.

[00:42:55] Yeah as much as I should but it just did not really work for me also I will give credit to Adam Wingard these sequences where it's just the apes talking it's not like Donna the plan of the apes.

[00:43:06] Which some compare it to like they have subtitles and the plan of the apes because it's mainly like sign language here it's just straight up grunts.

[00:43:14] And so like as a viewer he's really trusting this type of audience well not to be like insults or anything for people who are going to see like on silver's content

[00:43:23] really just queuing on body language like the tone of the grunts and everything to like inform like what they are conveying to each other.

[00:43:32] I think it works for the most part again like you know Josh messing it doesn't really blend well because juxtaposition of like all the action every other dumb shit in this movie that doesn't work but I think the attempt at it alone for this type of like big budget genre felt you know like I was like okay interesting I respect it.

[00:43:51] Okay so by the time we do get to the third act without getting the spoilers here I know some of you have said that you were pretty much numb by that point couldn't get invested.

[00:44:01] Sarah like it sounds like that delivered for you am I am I right in saying that.

[00:44:05] Oh definitely yeah that's sort of like what kept me going was knowing that there was going to be like a big fight at the end.

[00:44:12] I will say that my audience that I watched this with I mean I turned the geo because they they must have applauded I think like two times during the climactic scene and the reason why I turned to geo was because I almost couldn't believe

[00:44:24] that some members of the audience were so into it and I just wasn't at that point but then you know you do remember that there are so many people that are heading into this movie wanting one thing and literally one thing only.

[00:44:38] And as long as the movie can give them that and especially in under two hours I mean it just movies almost two hours but it is under two hours.

[00:44:47] I think that there's a lot of audience members out there that are extraordinarily forgiving of this type of movie and it's just something over the years with you know the Michael Bay Transformers movies or even some Marvel movies in some cases where I just feel like.

[00:45:05] I've seen this before I've seen this formula before.

[00:45:09] And at the very least you could have just given me something with the human characters that could have just been a little bit more interesting or as interesting as what they're doing with Kong in this film or just even done something else with Godzilla because like we said I just feel like he's underutilized.

[00:45:26] How he has top billing here in the title is beyond made some the contract negotiations on on that lizard's part are second to none apparently.

[00:45:36] Truly like yeah the fact that he is the first name and is barely in the movie and but I felt like that was something even with you know Godzilla versus Kong I think we made a mention there that Godzilla was barely in that movie too these films just don't really know how to utilize that character other than just a couple times he shows up for a big fight scene and.

[00:46:00] Yeah I just feel like that's the ads practically nothing to these movies even the team up at the end like yeah on a sort of base level that is a fun concept but.

[00:46:12] I just don't think it has great that a great execution to it it feels so kind of just standard and perfunctory by that point like we just have to do this and like there's nothing that Godzilla does in this movie that makes me.

[00:46:26] Excited when he shows up and makes me want to see what he's going to do because it just seems like the movie has no there's nothing for the Godzilla character to do either yeah yeah Godzilla's only thing the whole movie is if he's not sleeping in the.

[00:46:43] Coliseum which was a somewhat funny visual gag the first time you go back to it yeah yeah like literally the only thing he does is just prep for this final battle he has no idea about because it's

[00:46:56] just like wow Godzilla is just sucking all this like atomic energy and radiation from all these reactors and then it's just so you can look cool with the pink coloring and then it's he just uses it for the end which by the way I have a theory about the pink coloring.

[00:47:09] I don't know listen I haven't confirmed this someone can just tell me right now if this is not true but why do I have the feeling that this was a last minute.

[00:47:22] Decision to change the coloring due to the success of Barbie no I don't think so I can it's like an 80s thing right like it's like the pastel I have no idea I think it's like the blues.

[00:47:35] And the pinks the movie has like a very sent the.

[00:47:39] Score at times 80s yeah I think the idea is that the movies going for like a very neon heavy kind of occasionally heavy metal cover visual I kind of graphic style that's like you feel in the music as well but I will say Matt.

[00:47:57] This is going to be something I'll get to in final thoughts if I didn't have a chance to talk about it one of the issues I had with this movie that this weirdly kind of points a light to.

[00:48:08] The movie doesn't really have its own identity in any meaningful way it has this sort of 80s past each thing kind of like type of a T T's Thor movies like it's trying to do 80s and it but it doesn't do it enough.

[00:48:25] Or makes that enough of an overriding aesthetic visually or musically for the average viewer to go like oh they're clearly doing a thing with this you know what I mean like it's not enough of an emphasis.

[00:48:40] So the movie kind of becomes this really awkward.

[00:48:44] I hate to use a word that sounds like my last name but it's kind of like a hodgepodge of all these different things shove together and it just sort of doesn't have a homogenous aesthetic and I think that's a big problem with the movie because it just feels like a bunch of stuff happening a bunch of visual ideas shove together.

[00:49:06] Not that I think you know a Godzilla movie necessarily has to be a frame to frame visual masterpiece but the original 1950 or Godzilla.

[00:49:15] Is fucking beautiful and I think Edwards Godzilla is extremely beautiful even King of monsters a movie that I do not like is pretty good looking of a movie.

[00:49:26] This has some of those nice shots but it just doesn't have an aesthetic that works frame to frame I think and this is also the same cinematographer who worked on Godzilla versus Kong.

[00:49:39] Adam when guard as we mentioned earlier returning director.

[00:49:42] But the thing that I was most stunned by in terms of wow I don't know if this is just the way it's always been or if this is just under delivering.

[00:49:55] The visual effects work for me at times was there were times where I thought okay this is exactly what I would expect and then there were times where it was underwhelming me never once did I have a visual effects eye popping moment of me going wow that looks amazing and really capturing my attention in a way that these films haven't done before.

[00:50:21] I think Josh you kind of said this earlier it just feels like it's all more of the same yeah it's very.

[00:50:27] Uninventive this movie and.

[00:50:31] And I know that all of them are like I understand and as somebody who normally really gets into these types of films like I can spot the formulas I can spot when.

[00:50:41] We need to kind of just have the human characters show up because mostly contractual obligations with these actors like I get it I understand how these movies are made and and their functions and.

[00:50:51] Normally I can put that aside and just enjoy the ride but there is something with this one where it just felt like the the dichotomy between those two sections just felt so much more pronounced to me like I don't really know why that is I think maybe just because the lazy writing for those sequences just.

[00:51:15] Was overwhelming to a point where I just couldn't ignore it this time I think maybe it's also just because there's no like real payoff with these other characters like we mentioned how cool Dan Stevens is but I feel like that's all he is he's just cool that's the only thing to that character and.

[00:51:32] Blessed and Stevens for doing the best job that he could to try to make that work but there's nothing like there's no arc there's no payoff to what anybody else is doing and.

[00:51:43] Man just like every time we cut away from Kong I think I like just grow like audibly grown because like why are we here I fucking hate this this part of the movie you know I'm just I just really really don't care for the storytelling that they're indulging in here and it just makes the parts of the film that are actually good just get way even further down.

[00:52:06] You know when people always talk about like seeing themselves in film and you know having that moment of just recognition where I really saw myself in that storyline or in that character man I just wanted to know if Brian Tyree Henry got more subscribers to his podcast by the end of this movie and I didn't even get that.

[00:52:22] Oh god I feel so bad for Brian Tyree Henry yeah do you know he knows what he's doing he knows what he's doing accepting the paycheck here come on well that's what everybody is doing like every time an actor walked on.

[00:52:35] This is when I just thought like well I'm glad they're getting that extension of their kitchen you know that's basically by thought but like he is saddled with just a terrible character and he's not as annoying as he was in the last movie but it wasn't improved by much in my opinion.

[00:52:51] Alright let's get over to final thoughts here Sarah I'm going to toss it over to you you're you're definitely I think the most positive out of all of us do you have any final thoughts you want to share here something that you didn't mention or something you want to reiterate.

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[00:53:49] This made me think about a lot about like I feel like the studio kind of just saw these two characters and was like you know what we could do bring them together but never really thought about how to craft them as their own characters really accept of course as everyone said Kong because.

[00:54:08] You can make a more human like and relatable in that way and at the end of this film it just made me think like how what are we supposed to do next yeah because at this point Godzilla is basically killed everything and like what's his competition.

[00:54:26] And I mean I guess a lot of people wouldn't really care they'd be like I just want to see them fight again which I think you know in my screening for example people did clap too and I'm like.

[00:54:38] Well they're going to clap next time to or is this just going to get tired at some point so I'm wondering.

[00:54:44] Yeah where do we go from here basically I feel like in the next film we should probably they should concentrate on Godzilla more but now Kong has found this family and we're like well we want to see baby Kong again and stuff so it's like I don't know.

[00:54:58] I as much as I like you know these films at some point it's like well where do we go from here you know this is that big question that lingers in your mind.

[00:55:08] Well that is a question I want to then just pose to everyone else too you know you've had them fight each other now you've had them team up.

[00:55:15] Where do you go from here because this movie I think presumably is going to do well enough financially that they're going to want to return back to this again so what's the story doesn't matter if there even is a story like.

[00:55:31] I don't know where you go after this they'll find some dumb reason to make these two team up again I'm sure.

[00:55:39] Oh life life will find a way to get that we're saying pretty much there's an even more hidden earth that's the next one you mean hollow worth yeah no the hollow hidden

[00:55:51] Earth it's definitely hollow that's for sure all right Brendan what about you final thoughts I think it's just really interesting use this movie as a counterpoint to other fully CG big scale kind of

[00:56:08] Kaiju style action and what makes it work for me at least individually in one example but not another I actually really love a lot of Peter Jackson's King Kong same I think it's really really well done it has

[00:56:22] its issues it's a flawed film but I'm generally a big fan of it and anyone who knows me online or indeed on this podcast knows that I'm a massive James Cameron fan I love both

[00:56:33] Avatar movies very dearly and these are obviously examples of all CGI I really enjoy Pacific Rim Matt which you brought up earlier yeah but this movie did not actually remind me of any of those films

[00:56:46] The movie it reminded me of the most or movies I should say is actually Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy in terms of at its worst those movies felt like a bunch of

[00:57:01] weightless poorly framed CG things being thrown at the camera all the time all the time and there's this interesting thing I think that happens where

[00:57:14] when you try to make every shot be equivalent of like a trailer shot you know what I mean like every shot is trying to be super

[00:57:22] ostentatious and showy and kind of dazzle you in some superficial cheap way that it stops any all of it stops feeling special all of it just feels kind of same and you check out you need

[00:57:37] to have those moments of contraction and expansion you need to have those moments of visual simpleness so when you get a big kind of money shot or like a big

[00:57:48] epic shot you can feel the impact of it still and this movie doesn't do that every shot is trying to be as over the top what I'm

[00:57:58] quote awesome as possible and I think that's why it has that numbing effect for me and it also has that thing of as I talked about

[00:58:07] earlier many of the fights kind of are just really generically done they don't use the environments in an interesting way

[00:58:16] you know in Pacific Rim they're crashing through buildings and using the buildings to support themselves and they're like picking up objects from

[00:58:26] the Bay or that the city to use as weapons right it's kind of like that Jason born idea just finding random things to fight with this movie doesn't really do that

[00:58:38] it doesn't use the Egypt location at all really you we see a pink laser atomic breath destroy the pyramids but that's in the background

[00:58:50] it doesn't impact the fights the fights in this movie 90% of them could have happened anywhere in any setting and nothing about them would change

[00:59:00] and that's a problem it's also a problem that as Josh said there's nothing like special about what's happening there's no like cool new thing that we're watching there are some interesting abilities that are brought up in the

[00:59:16] ladder sections of the movie that are new I'm avoiding spoilers here and but that stuff isn't even really used in an interesting way

[00:59:24] what Brendan Kong's augmentation was not enough for oh my gosh I don't think a mecca hand that you put on top of your arm will cure the ailments let's say that Kong was suffering within the film anyway

[00:59:41] but like it's I just want a reason to care about this stuff it is so easy for me to just turn my brain off and watch dumb action

[00:59:49] like I love to just go like dumb brain mode and just watch monster smash smash it's great right this movie just didn't do that for me one of my friends positively said I love it because it was like watching action figures

[01:00:05] for me I would completely agree it's like watching action figures because you're just literally shoving like your figures together

[01:00:13] and that's what this felt like it didn't feel like they added anything to it to make it unique or special

[01:00:18] and that I think is just a big failing of the film because what great CG action does

[01:00:24] is it finds a way to make it have weight to feel grounded

[01:00:29] to know how to frame things appropriately so you feel the hits you can see them using their setting in an interesting way so it feels like a real world they're

[01:00:39] inhabiting I don't know so that's basically where I wind up on on the film I like Dan Stevens I like that he's getting paid

[01:00:47] I hope he gets better and bigger roles in the future because I feel like he isn't as seen as much in Hollywood these days

[01:00:56] and I miss him so I'll just end there

[01:00:59] yeah he continues to be I think one of the most underrated actors that we have working today he's so versatile and

[01:01:07] I always captivated by him even in something like this I just wish that the character was a little bit stronger

[01:01:14] right Giovanni Lago final thoughts over to you you look everyone and including myself is really summed up

[01:01:21] when I thought about the film it just left that screening like you said when we were talking about it what happened

[01:01:27] when was the point I don't feel like it was productive use of my time then

[01:01:32] what I came to see of monsters slapping the shit out of each other doesn't really pay off to the ending

[01:01:37] it's very grating just seeing these characters continually get these human counterparts get

[01:01:42] just worse and worse each film I'm dreading what's gonna happen for them in the next one

[01:01:46] which is gonna be inevitable but in that you know a step down from Godzilla vs Kong

[01:01:53] don't know what the new title for the new one will be hopefully it's a bit more clear

[01:01:57] but yeah I just didn't really think much of this film Godzilla x x x Kong this time they fuck

[01:02:06] maybe I don't know we'll see

[01:02:09] Josh parm final thoughts just a few things one I because I know somebody's gonna

[01:02:15] mention it I will say that officially baby Kong's name is Sukko so just because I know

[01:02:22] somebody's gonna mention that we didn't say the real name so and it actually one of my favorite

[01:02:27] new characters in the movie I'll be honest I did really like that character that's one of

[01:02:33] the few positives that I can say about this film another positive that I'll actually also

[01:02:38] mention is that there is this other creature that they introduced that basically is like a

[01:02:44] ice dragon or something like that it I thought that was actually a very cool concept then I didn't

[01:02:49] need any explanation about like where it came from or its purpose it was just this other monster

[01:02:55] that they had and I thought that was good to like that was the dumb stuff that I was willing to buy

[01:03:01] into and I just wish the movie committed to that more more consistently throughout so there are

[01:03:07] sections of this movie that I think are are well done and that was an element that I did enjoy

[01:03:13] and then the last thing that was in my mind that I am shocked didn't really have great follow-through

[01:03:19] is that I was convinced something was gonna happen with Kong's tooth I thought that we were sending up

[01:03:26] something for that to happen at the finale of this movie that would have been so stupid and dumb

[01:03:31] but I was like are you gonna like jump on something with the tooth yeah in like a unique interesting

[01:03:39] way but and yet no he did bite him at the end to grab like the knife the bad one so I guess that's

[01:03:48] what you guys got rewarded what is emphasized at all I truly believe it was only just a means to

[01:03:55] introduce dance Stevens which by the way his name in this movie is trapper just trapper no yeah

[01:04:04] yeah okay lazy look he's wearing Hawaiian shirts he's got sunglasses and he's the greatest

[01:04:10] goddamn dentist in the monsters okay let's give the film this one W but I really feel like it was

[01:04:16] just set up for introducing his character and then to explain how without any other explanation he's

[01:04:23] able to get the mecha arm onto Kong later on in the movie because well we saw him do this two things

[01:04:30] so of course he can do it here too yeah I think that's the main reason but like

[01:04:37] I put if they had a payoff to that then that not only is like a cool concept at least cool

[01:04:43] in theory to follow through on but then it gives that character more purpose than just yet introducing

[01:04:50] this mecha arm that yeah sprint and said like that that arm would not alleviate the issues going

[01:04:57] off with Kong's hand at that moment like there's other problems at that at that point and okay he's

[01:05:02] got a mecha arm like that's not even that exciting of an addition to this story like I don't even

[01:05:09] understand that so I wanted pay off with the tooth I want to pay off with the tooth so badly

[01:05:14] and we were denied it and it was just yet another element of this movie that was very very

[01:05:19] underwhelming the mecha arm uh man just seeing it on Kong visually and then like the shape of

[01:05:28] Kong's head and everything I was like oh man I'm being reminded of Thanos right now and I don't

[01:05:33] like it I just don't like him one bit did you all catch the 2001 a space Odyssey reference when

[01:05:41] they're diving into hollow earth and Brian Tyree Henry is like reacting to you know all the I don't

[01:05:48] know colors and stuff around him yeah I mean it felt like a very uninspired way to present that but

[01:05:56] you know okay yeah the pyramid tackle into the suplex at that point I just wanted to see

[01:06:07] WWE style fighting at that point I was like start just trading blows back and forth throw a stone

[01:06:14] cult stunner in there something like little RKO I don't know like it just seems like at that point

[01:06:20] it was you know and also to I couldn't understand why uh Godzilla like it was so funny to watch

[01:06:27] Godzilla like charge a Kong and Kong like throw up both his hands and be like wait wait wait

[01:06:33] it's just like so ridiculous but I got to admit I did enjoy that small bit within the movie

[01:06:41] and most of the action in this movie takes place on hollow earth where there is no

[01:06:48] human population at least until they reveal later that there's a whole human population that lives

[01:06:52] within hollow earth which I I have a lot more questions about that but putting that aside

[01:06:59] by the time we get to the third act of this movie and we're in Brazil I feel like this movie

[01:07:04] literally said yo fuck Brazil because man they just demolished this city completely decimated it

[01:07:15] and there is no signs whatsoever at least to my memory like no establishing shot nothing of the

[01:07:23] humans on the ground who were watching this happened it might as well be an abandoned city

[01:07:29] I love how these films never really talk about the death toll at the end because it must be massive

[01:07:34] exactly and that's why I kind of had this feeling like oh the final uh fight in this movie is

[01:07:41] probably going to take place within hollow earth I imagine no no not at all and are we going to explain

[01:07:47] anything no we're not going to explain anything because that's just been this movies mo from the very

[01:07:52] beginning uh so with all that said I know it sounds like I hated this I didn't actually hate it

[01:08:00] I was just underwhelmed by it I definitely liked it less than Godzilla versus Kong I would give it a

[01:08:07] 4 out of 10 I think I'm being generous or maybe I'm just right where I need to be with it I don't know

[01:08:14] it's it's a movie that quite frankly I just am not going to really think about much beyond this

[01:08:19] podcast and that's like think for me the worst part of all about most of these movies is that

[01:08:27] I'm still thinking about minus one I want to revisit and rewatch minus one like I cannot wait

[01:08:33] when that film gets released I hope on 4k and so I can like watch it again but I have no desire

[01:08:40] to want to rewatch I have not gone and back and revisited Godzilla versus Kong I probably will not

[01:08:48] watch Godzilla x Kong what were Godzilla Kong silent x the new empire could Jesus Christ

[01:08:55] so yeah 4 out of 10 for me and I think I'm being generous Giovanni what about you I'm at a 5 out of 10

[01:09:02] Sarah um I had fun 6 out of 10 okay hey listen those of you that had fun watch this no one's

[01:09:09] gonna take that away from you just because I've with people didn't have fun doesn't mean that it

[01:09:14] negates once fun Josh what about you I'm going to be a 4 out of 10 which is like

[01:09:22] is this anything review for me on with these types of movies get said we count generous I

[01:09:27] I can be but yeah this one was just kind of rough to get through

[01:09:32] Brendan oh my gosh am I the lowest I'm a 3

[01:09:36] okay yeah well in terms of the film's awards potential I mean I'm gonna have to go with nothing

[01:09:43] on this one because the track record for these movies in general with the Oscars have not been good

[01:09:49] outside of Godzilla minus one recently so which had some extraordinary circumstances that

[01:09:54] propelled a 2-a victory even then oh absolutely like but could I see this getting shortlisted

[01:10:01] for visual effects maybe maybe not honestly I don't even think it's getting that right it

[01:10:06] like it depends on how the rest of the year goes and yeah and like I said earlier who's

[01:10:11] gonna like remember this by the time we get to that point yeah I think the Sierra the potential

[01:10:16] for visual effects contenders to is far better than last year so I mean yeah I have one thing

[01:10:22] I forgot to say earlier that's relevant here has anybody looked at the budget for this movie it's

[01:10:29] amazingly low yeah 135 million yeah that's actually wow okay yeah and part of that is there's

[01:10:36] a smaller human cast yes I was gonna say their salaries very low but still for a movie that's like

[01:10:43] non-stop visual effects that probably has many many many thousands of visual effect shots there's

[01:10:49] probably very few shots in the movie that don't have some visual effects component to them I think

[01:10:54] the movie looks incredible considering the budget there is more if ECG I think than the last one

[01:11:01] for sure the characters tend to look a little bit more quote unquote CG a little less photo real

[01:11:08] but considering the budget for this I think that's super impressive it's the lowest price

[01:11:14] budgeted blockbuster that has this consistently good and this number of visual effects I think

[01:11:21] I've seen in many many years so if it gets in which I don't think it will it might be because of

[01:11:27] that I don't know but I thought I just wanted to call out the budgeting because I thought that was

[01:11:31] really impressive and no idea that's actually shocking yeah but I think like I said earlier a large

[01:11:37] time when we talk about budgets within films and people are like why is it costing this much

[01:11:42] man people don't realize how much actors salaries sometimes go into those budgets and yeah

[01:11:49] like Leonardo Caprio asking for 40 million you know it's like that's how you get 200 million

[01:11:54] are killed as a flyer moon right there you know yeah so anyway okay that'll do it for our review

[01:12:01] here of Godzilla Kong the new empire I'm trying to do that silent X thing Sarah where can they find

[01:12:09] you on the internet you can find me on Twitter at Mil dritts veers Giovanni Lago

[01:12:15] find me on Twitter and the Giovanni Lago Josh Parham you can find me on Twitter and letterboxed

[01:12:21] at J.R. Parham and Brendan Hodges you can find me on Twitter and letterbox at Metaplex movies

[01:12:27] there to search Brendan Hodges and you can find me a next best picture thank you so much everyone

[01:12:32] for listening to the next best picture podcast we are proud to be part of the evergreen podcast

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