So Bad #6 is Rey and #7 is Jeff Goldblum hacker skillz

As a life-long Godzilla fan, there was no chance that I was not going to see this movie on opening day. I loved Godzilla (2014), I loved even more Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019), and then there is this one. My one word review - meh.

I agree with everything in the OP.

There is a whole lot to like in this movie, as noted in the OP, but that is all balanced out by a whole lot to either eye-roll or hate out-right.

One thing I really liked - the little girl signing with Kong (my daughter is in first-year ASL at Cinco Ranch High, so I'm going to entice her to watch this with that nugget). No idea if the signing was correct or not, but I did really appreciate that as I never suspected anything like that for a movie like this.

I wasn't much a fan of this Mechagodzilla, but I will note that it was funny to watch it become self-aware and kill its creator.

The fights between Godzilla and Kong were epic, but I'm wondering in this world of the titans, how in the hell does any these three movies.

Oh, and Godzilla kicked Kong's ass. So much so that the big monkey was on freaking death's door until the stupid hollow earth ship lightning blast. Why not just give the original movie a nod and have a storm roll in and lightning hits him? I mean, am I supposed to believe that this ape just ripped apart the thing that was [almost] having its way with the lizard that had kicked the ape's ass? At least in the original one could make a good case that the lightning gave Kong the kick-start needed to equalize the battle.

The hollow Earth stuff was ... wierd but cool. But ... where the f*** was the sunlight coming from?

Eh ... looks like someone forgot to turn off his brain prior to entering the theater.

That was fun. The fight scenes were all awesome, albeit too short. But if a movie leaves you wanting more I suppose it's done its job.

Some minor complaints:

The whole middle act with the Hollow Earth stuff got a little too wonky sci-fi for me. (And I'm gonna need someone to explain how the hell there's sunlight in there.)

They hand-waved one too many major things for my taste. (How they got Kong on the ship and chained up, getting him on a net and airlifted by helicopters, how Mechagodzilla suddenly achieved self-awareness, who built the Hollow Earth throne room, etc.)

The super-powered axe also felt like a bit of a cheat code for that final fight. (And for the movie in general.)

But the fights are fun enough that it doesn't break the movie for me. I'd probably put it behind Skull Island in the series.

Also, I didn't miss an after-credits scene did I? I fast forwarded and didn't see anything. Surprising.

Didn't read anything before posting. Looks like we're all basically on the same page.

I also wasn't a fan of having Godzilla so clearly defeat Kong. And then the superaxe being a cheat with Kong taking him out. It felt like a cheap way to get Kong on equal footing.

This movie was everything that I needed right now.

I took both my boys to see this for their first movie in a LONG time, and the 7pm XD showing at the Cinemark in B/CS was pretty full (considering social distancing). That was such a welcome and encouraging sight.

And this movie was everything that Pacific Rim wished it could have been. To see Godzilla destroy Hong Kong was so cool. I mean, why did we have to keep watching him destroy San Francisco or Boston when it should have been Hong Kong or Tokyo?

The one thing that kept going through my mind while watching the Hollow Earth sequence and the final fight was: this would be the most kick-ass 3D ride at Universal Studios Orlando.

I will definitely be watching this again on HBO Max over the weekend. Probably several times.

Fiancee and I were at the same showing! Agreed it was nice to see a relatively full theater.
Also, enjoyed the movie a lot. Fight scenes were dope.
Felt like the stowaway three were mostly pointless.

Plot and acting were absolutely horrendous. When I check out at the beginning, and I STILL start getting mad halfway through at how distracting the absolute piece of **** they are shoving down my throat in between fight scenes, you know it's bad. And I'm the ultimate "check out and enjoy monsters fighting" guy. Every single character was jar jar binks bad. This wasn't even them "not trying". This was them 100% not giving a **** and laughing at us.

And no, Pacific Rim was 10x the movie this was. When I saw PR, the fight scenes were unpredictable. While these were visually cool, I knew every single thing that was about to happen. It was so incredibly lazy.

And despite all of that, I somehow still enjoyed it. Not sure I'll watch it again though. Way too cringey.

Saw this in El Paso at the grand opening of a new Alamo Drafthouse. Yes, a new theater actually opening after months of delays due to Covid!

The first third of the movie was eye-rollingly bad and way too convoluted. Still, the fights were great and I'm very glad that Godzilla wasn't truly the bad guy, as I'd hoped.

Honestly didn't expect Mecha, so that was a well kept surprise (at least I think so).

Overall, I'm so glad I got to see this in a theater vs. just on Max. B- popcorn movie grade maybe?

Taking my 9 year old daughter to see it on Saturday, she is super hyped. I let her watch Jaws with me a couple of years ago one night and she's been all about giant monsters ever since.

Of course we can. But I'd argue that makes it more fun. What am I here for if not ridiculousness?

Brian Earl Spilner said:

---

Can we at least admit that Godzilla's atomic breath shooting straight into the core of the Earth in seconds, and precisely into the location of the throne room, is completely ridiculous even for this type of movie?

---

When the center of the Earth seemingly had sunlight, I think we can shrug off that.....

My God, this movie was bat sh*t crazy awesome!

Chase McGuire said:

---

I barely remember the human plot lines in this one, and that is exactly how it should be. Some of y'all are thinking way too hard about a kaiju movie.

Were the monsters awesome? Yes. That's all you need.

---

While I generally agree, it could have easily done without the completely unfunny and cringey fat kid. They probably could have saved a couple dollars too not having to pay him.

Agreed. Should have been switched out for Space Godzilla or Destroyah.

*Zombie* Mothra

Nothing not to like about that, imo.

Watched it with my 7 year old tonight.

Mindless King Kong / Godzilla fun. He was a fan, I enjoyed watching it with him.

Bruce Almighty said:

---

agmag90 said:

---

Fight scenes were great, everything else was a massive eye roll

---

So like every other Godzilla movie ever made.

---

Exactly

Had a lot of fun watching it. So did the wife.

Agreed... VFX were wonderful, and worth a watch just for that, but even Avatar had a better story. As we were watching, I started calling plot points out... mainly to annoy the wife. And I hit every single freaking one. I'm not saying that to brag but rather to say how unimaginative the writing was.

That being said, it's just pure eye candy. Glad I watched it but doubt I'll go out of my way to ever again.