I started watching Pacific Rim again last night. The big Kaiju movie.
I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it the first time round. I am a creature feature nut at heart and Kaiju like Godzilla and the like are my thing when it comes to films rather than other types of 'horror'.
Some of the imagery in Pacific Rim is quite breathtaking. Not the massive punch-ups between Jaegers and Kaiju in the sea, its the quieter glimpses of these giants meeting humans.
There is an amazing shot of damaged Jaeger slowly walking out of the ocean, where a man and a boy are staring in disbelief on the beach. Its stunning.
Alas, I found the whole 'drift' sub-plot of Pacific Rim a human distraction from the monsters. Monster films need more monsters, simple. And get them in early on.
Night of the Demon had the right idea. We get to see that fabulous fire-demon from the start and can appreciate it many times throughout the movie. Dana Andrews is a great actor but the star of the show is the demon for me.
Also, show them fully. Not parts of them. Cloverfield drove me mad, the camcorder gimmick reducing the beast to short bursts of footage. Infuriating for a monster nut. Get rid of the phones and show the damn thing!
Do you like your monsters to feature a lot in monster movies readers?
Monsters are the whole point of monster movies. No monster, no movie. People build kits of Godzilla, King Kong, and the rest, not boring humans.
ReplyDeleteGood point!
ReplyDeleteIf I'm watching a movie that features giant monsters, I want to see the monsters. I don't want to catch a glimpse here or there, no quick shots of a tail slithering behind a building, etc.
ReplyDeletehear, hear! I caught a modernish sea monster flick last week Captain called The Eye of the Beast about a giant squid. Did we see much of the squid? Nope! TOO MUCH TALKING I shouted at the screen!
DeleteThe trouble is, with Pacific Rim, you really didn't even "see" the monsters, at least not in full shot for more than a mega-second. Lots of super-quick, low contrast shots, but no good shots of the monsters fighting, like in the classic kaiju eiga. Pacific Rim was like a giant, loud video game to me. I must be the only kaiju fan who really, truly hated Pacific Rim. To me, it was the death of the kaiju genre. But then again, I haven't even see any of the Toho monster movies after circa 1990, when it was all CGI garbage. Video games ain't monster movies to me... Thank goodness I have nice DVDs of all the greats. Just watched Monster Zero again last month, the U.S. theatrical version - now that's a monster movie!
ReplyDeleteI must watch Monster Zero Zigg!
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