Kong: Skull Island pre-release thread

[JD]

We'll be getting a bit of tie-in merchandise to go along with the movie.
Titan Books is releasing a novelization by Tim Lebbon on March 14, four days after the movie.
They'll also be releasing The Art and Making of Kong: Skull Island on the same day.
The've also released some action figures and playsets that have started popping up in stores over the last few weeks.

 

[Beagleman]

Just not sure how this will play with a Kong vs. Godzilla movie.. We've established a sympathy with Godzilla since he destroyed the bad guy in the 2014 movie (even while destroying San Francisco doing it [also see Man of Steel]). If this movie sets up Kong also as a "good guy," how will that work for the audience's sympathies when they finally come together? Or will it be them fighting first, but then coming together to battle another, larger threat (also see B vs S)?

Hmmmm...

Both Kong's and Godzilla's mothers were named Martha?!

 

[Christopher]

Or will it be them fighting first, but then coming together to battle another, larger threat (also see B vs S)?

I'm thinking it will probably be the latter. That is pretty much the standard for any kind of story like that.

Not so much for kaiju movies, though. Usually either there's a clear good-guy monster and a clear bad-guy monster, or they're both bad guys but one is worse. (The original King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla were made when Godzilla was still a bad guy.)

Kaiju movies where the monsters fight at first and then team up are pretty unusual. One example is Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, where Godzilla and Rodan initially fought each other before Mothra convinced them to team up with her against King Ghidorah. Then there's Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth, where Mothra and her nastier counterpart Battra initially fight each other but then unite against Godzilla. And Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2 has Godzilla and Rodan eventually form a sort of alliance against Mechagodzilla. Those are the only ones I can think of. (Not counting ones where the human military initially fights one monster and then allies with it against a worse one. That's a lot more common, and the 2014 film is an example.)

 

[marillion]

Both Kong's and Godzilla's mothers were named Martha?!

*spit take*!!!

"Save... Mothra!!"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

*spit take*!!!

"Save... Mothra!!"

Yeah, at first glance, I saw Mothra.

 

[JD]

Not so much for kaiju movies, though. Usually either there's a clear good-guy monster and a clear bad-guy monster, or they're both bad guys but one is worse. (The original King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla were made when Godzilla was still a bad guy.)

Kaiju movies where the monsters fight at first and then team up are pretty unusual. One example is Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, where Godzilla and Rodan initially fought each other before Mothra convinced them to team up with her against King Ghidorah. Then there's Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth, where Mothra and her nastier counterpart Battra initially fight each other but then unite against Godzilla. And Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2 has Godzilla and Rodan eventually form a sort of alliance against Mechagodzilla. Those are the only ones I can think of. (Not counting ones where the human military initially fights one monster and then allies with it against a worse one. That's a lot more common, and the 2014 film is an example.)

I'm not real familiar with older Kaiju movies, so thanks for the info. I could also maybe see them just doing it with neither of them being a "good guy" and just focus on the effects of their fight on the people caught in the middle rather than a good guy/bad guy fight.

 

[marillion]

I'm not real familiar with older Kaiju movies, so thanks for the info. I could also maybe see them just doing it with neither of them being a "good guy" and just focus on the effects of their fight on the people caught in the middle rather than a good guy/bad guy fight.

There's also Jet Jaguar (Yes, I know I've mentioned him before)... Would love to see a modern interpretation of him in the new "Godzilla-verse," but that seems a bit TOO fanciful for the modern interpretation..

That said, I guess we kind of have that with Pacific Rim, even though the mechs aren't robots that magically grow in size..

 

[Christopher]

I'm not real familiar with older Kaiju movies, so thanks for the info. I could also maybe see them just doing it with neither of them being a "good guy" and just focus on the effects of their fight on the people caught in the middle rather than a good guy/bad guy fight.

The second Godzilla movie, Godzilla Raids Again, was kind of like that. It featured the first kaiju-on-kaiju fight, Godzilla vs. Anguirus, and neither one was the "good guy" or the "bad guy"; they were just giant animals acting on instinct and barely even noticing the humans underfoot. And a number of the Heisei- and Millennium-era Godzilla movies had Godzilla as a bad guy/threat but had him take on an even worse threat and be the lesser of two evils, or at least the devil we know -- the execrable Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, G vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla 2000, G vs. Megaguirus, Final Wars. I guess Gamera vs. Barugon, the least dreadful film in the original Gamera series, fits the pattern too, though Gamera's initial badness in that film is limited to the recap of the first film and the token destruction of a dam. You could also make a case for Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, the conclusion of the pretty awesome '90s Gamera reboot. Gamera had been a hero in the first two films but kind of lost his way due to the events of the second, and there's a really potent, chilling sequence where Gamera fights an enemy monster in the Tokyo equivalent of Times Square at its busiest time and carelessly causes enormous loss of life.

But that doesn't really fit what it looks like we're heading for in the Legendary Universe, because both Godzilla and Kong are being established as hero kaiju. So that's different from a situation where both are villains, and it makes it harder to justify putting them into conflict. Legendary Godzilla has been defined as a creature whose evolutionary purpose is to be a check on more destructive monsters and preserve the ecological balance (much like '90s Gamera, in fact, though naturally evolved rather than genetically engineered by Atlanteans). So if Kong is supposed to be a "good" monster, then presumably Godzilla would recognize that he doesn't pose a threat to the natural balance. Which would make it harder to set up a "misunderstanding"-type excuse for a hero-vs.-hero brawl.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Shades of Apocalypse Now? Is this official, or fan-made? Either way, it's pretty cool.

It's the official IMAX poster.

 

[JD]

The second Godzilla movie, Godzilla Raids Again, was kind of like that. It featured the first kaiju-on-kaiju fight, Godzilla vs. Anguirus, and neither one was the "good guy" or the "bad guy"; they were just giant animals acting on instinct and barely even noticing the humans underfoot. And a number of the Heisei- and Millennium-era Godzilla movies had Godzilla as a bad guy/threat but had him take on an even worse threat and be the lesser of two evils, or at least the devil we know -- the execrable Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, G vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla 2000, G vs. Megaguirus, Final Wars. I guess Gamera vs. Barugon, the least dreadful film in the original Gamera series, fits the pattern too, though Gamera's initial badness in that film is limited to the recap of the first film and the token destruction of a dam. You could also make a case for Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, the conclusion of the pretty awesome '90s Gamera reboot. Gamera had been a hero in the first two films but kind of lost his way due to the events of the second, and there's a really potent, chilling sequence where Gamera fights an enemy monster in the Tokyo equivalent of Times Square at its busiest time and carelessly causes enormous loss of life.

But that doesn't really fit what it looks like we're heading for in the Legendary Universe, because both Godzilla and Kong are being established as hero kaiju. So that's different from a situation where both are villains, and it makes it harder to justify putting them into conflict. Legendary Godzilla has been defined as a creature whose evolutionary purpose is to be a check on more destructive monsters and preserve the ecological balance (much like '90s Gamera, in fact, though naturally evolved rather than genetically engineered by Atlanteans). So if Kong is supposed to be a "good" monster, then presumably Godzilla would recognize that he doesn't pose a threat to the natural balance. Which would make it harder to set up a "misunderstanding"-type excuse for a hero-vs.-hero brawl.

Hopefully they can come up with a good reason for them to fight then. I would have preferred a team up movie rather than VS, but I like to be optimistic in these situations.
I'm curious if there's a specific reason we'll be getting a 40+ year gap between Godzilla and Kong's first stories.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

So, I'm watching Godzilla (2014) on TV. In it, the explanation for the 1950s nuclear testing in the Pacific was explained as "All those nuclear bomb tests in the fifties? Not tests.... They were trying to kill it!".

Flash to a commercial break, where an ad for "Kong: SI" comes on. After some footage of nuclear testing, John Goodman explains "The 1954 nuclear tests weren't tests, they were trying to kill something."

Wow. I mean.... Really? Plagiarism law suits?

 

[DonIago]

How can it be plagiarism when they're creating a shared universe on purpose?

 

[WarpFactorZ]

How can it be plagiarism when they're creating a shared universe on purpose?

Well, that's not particularly clear.... but I'll take it if true.

 

[captainkirk]

The trailer's even say, "From the producers of Godzilla"

 

[JD]

Yeah, they've been very open about this being the start of the a new shared universe. We were actually discussing this just a little ways up the thread.

 

[Christopher]

And they've already announced that a Godzilla vs. Kong crossover is being planned.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

Yeah, they've been very open about this being the start of the a new shared universe. We were actually discussing this just a little ways up the thread.

OK, OK. Sorry, everyone. I just tuned in to this thread due to the ad (and missed the "From the producers" blurb). All good!

 

[JD]

We've got our first short clip, which makes the connection Godzilla explicit and throws a bit of a twist into the set up we got in the trailer.

Spoiler: I don't really consider this a spoiler since it's revealed in the clip, and it's not that surprising, but just in case I'll code it

Apparently John Goodman's character is a member of Monarch, and they the reason they give for dropping the bombs in the trailer is a lie. They were doing it specifically to draw out Kong, rather than mapping the island.

.

 

[Christopher]

The acronym "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism" (MUTO) is also mentioned in the clip. Meaning that it's a generic label, not just for the one species.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

The second Godzilla movie, Godzilla Raids Again, was kind of like that. It featured the first kaiju-on-kaiju fight, Godzilla vs. Anguirus, and neither one was the "good guy" or the "bad guy"; they were just giant animals acting on instinct and barely even noticing the humans underfoot. And a number of the Heisei- and Millennium-era Godzilla movies had Godzilla as a bad guy/threat but had him take on an even worse threat and be the lesser of two evils, or at least the devil we know -- the execrable Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, G vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla 2000, G vs. Megaguirus, Final Wars. I guess Gamera vs. Barugon, the least dreadful film in the original Gamera series, fits the pattern too, though Gamera's initial badness in that film is limited to the recap of the first film and the token destruction of a dam. You could also make a case for Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, the conclusion of the pretty awesome '90s Gamera reboot. Gamera had been a hero in the first two films but kind of lost his way due to the events of the second, and there's a really potent, chilling sequence where Gamera fights an enemy monster in the Tokyo equivalent of Times Square at its busiest time and carelessly causes enormous loss of life.

But that doesn't really fit what it looks like we're heading for in the Legendary Universe, because both Godzilla and Kong are being established as hero kaiju. So that's different from a situation where both are villains, and it makes it harder to justify putting them into conflict. Legendary Godzilla has been defined as a creature whose evolutionary purpose is to be a check on more destructive monsters and preserve the ecological balance (much like '90s Gamera, in fact, though naturally evolved rather than genetically engineered by Atlanteans). So if Kong is supposed to be a "good" monster, then presumably Godzilla would recognize that he doesn't pose a threat to the natural balance. Which would make it harder to set up a "misunderstanding"-type excuse for a hero-vs.-hero brawl.

I haven't really kept up with the promotion for a while, so I'm curious: what specifically did you see that convinced you Kong is being set up as a hero rather than a more neutral monster? I mean I've seen enough to know the humans aren't exactly innocent (which is in the tradition of KK movies), but that doesn't automatically mean that Kong is a hero this time around.

Even if that is that case ultimately, I could see Kong having a tragic trajectory where his natural heroicism is corrupted and destroyed by the horrible way humans treat him, so that he becomes a real monster/villain because of what happens in this movie.