Godzilla Being Sabotaged By The Critics?

Above, my Godzilla: King of the Monsters theater ticket. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is indeed bizarre to read the negative reviews of Godzilla: King of the Monsters by the critics, while at same time, laud the 2014 Godzilla. Sometimes I wonder if they saw the same movie as I did. 

Although I liked the 2014 Godzilla (I found it more entertaining than Toho's Shin Godzilla), I don't like it as much as Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Back then, I gave Godzilla a B+.

In general, fans like the current entry. At Rotten Tomatoes, fans give it an 86% audience score, while the critics are giving it 40%. Over at various message boards, quite a number of fans are telling others to "ignore the critics". This smells of "critic sabotage" to me.

According to the BBC, the negativity is being blamed for Godzilla: King of the Monsters "disappointing" box office results. One has to remember that it is up against some stiff competition such as Aladdin.

They wrote:

After some pretty punishing reviews, Godzilla – and his monstrous cohorts Rodan, Ghidorah and Mothra – have fallen short of expectations at the US box office. 

The latest in the 'MonsterVerse' from Legendary Pictures, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, has made $49 million (£38.7 million) across more than 4000 screens in the US, which doesn't bode brilliantly for a movie that's cost around $200 million to make. 

For perspective, the previous movies in the series, Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island, did notably better on their opening weekends, launching to $93 million (£73 million) and $61 million (£48 million) respectively. 

Though things brightened slightly worldwide, with a total haul of $179 million (£141 million), but industry outlets like Variety are already calling it a 'fading franchise'.

It will be interesting to see if Godzilla: King of the Monsters picks up more business through word-of-mouth in the coming days and weeks or has enough "staying power" to maintain steady box office business.

To read more of the BBC article, go here.

Japan Times: Critics Get Frank When It Comes To Godzilla

Above, Richard Pusateri (right) and Armand with a GMK Godzilla prop at Toho Studios in 2001. Photo courtesy of Richard Puasateri.

The Japan Times has an interesting article on the differences of movie critics in Japan and in Western countries when it comes to subjects pertaining to Japanese pop culture.

It begins with:

Because Japanese media are incestuous in their inter-corporate dealings, those writers referred to as hyōronka (critics) tend to be less critical about popular culture than their counterparts in North America and Europe. They are more likely to engage in punditry or public relations, because complaining about the quality of a movie, album or novel risks upsetting someone in the same business — publishing, broadcasting, advertising — who could influence your professional life.

This appears to be the "norm" in Japan. Except for one subject: Godzilla. Why?

The article states:

But Godzilla is different. Godzilla belongs to Japan, as both a film series and a character, in a way that demands scrutiny whenever non-Japanese attempt to use the monster for their own ends. In 1998, the first time Hollywood made a feature starring the big lizard, the Japanese press was mostly silent, a reaction that indicated displeasure with the movie, which basically transplanted the monster’s famous disregard for urban infrastructure from Tokyo to New York without providing a story that was compelling. But what mainly bothered them was the transformation of Godzilla into a typical dinosaur. Godzilla may be cold-blooded and scaly and huge, but he’s nobody’s T-Rex.

To read the article, go here.