The Godzilla franchise is at its peak. Fans of different preferences and tastes are getting what they want. This should be a win for the community. Yet there are those out there who are greedy, and demand that the franchise should only go in one direction. Godzilla should only stick with one tone. One style. And then slander the legacy of anything in the franchise that doesn’t meet their fancy. Godzilla is as successful as it is because it thrives in variety. It thrives in telling deep, compelling stories and giving fans a popcorn, fun spectacle. To steal that flexibility from the franchise would surely doom it.

And let's not forget that just because something is more escapist doesn't mean it's without theme, merit, or depth. There's this utterly vapid idea that because something is inherently fantastical it somehow, by default, is "dumb" or "bad." Escapism is how our greatest myths and legends have been told.

I got my fulfillment for a serious Godzilla with Minus one. I can't wait to watch Godzilla & Kong throw down with other titans! Each movie has a different type of storytelling that both can work imo

The arrogance that some people have to the legacy of a long-running media is just mind-boggling. Why is it a problem if a franchise has a variety of content for its viewers to choose from? People can have different tastes in the content they want to view but to act like a barbaric authoritarian figure in deciding how a certain media needs to go in their way and *only in their way* is just childish and pure narcissism.

Minus one is amazing, but meat riders gonna be bashing on the monsterverse for not being like what toho created, even though toho did the exact things the monsterverse is doing. Massive monster fights, godzilla doing various things, mythologies surrounding the monsters, it's all the same and they deny it

It really is weird how many versions of Godzilla and how he's represented there are, but with so many folks insisting on seeing the franchise as only one suitable way. Perhaps Godzilla resurgence in modern media is too fast for people to fully adapt to it's scope, maybe people have gotten so tired of escapism done poorly lately they think escapism is a problem on it's own?

I can’t believe thus , the main why I watch a lot of Godzilla movies, marvel movies, and dc is partly because it allows escapism. I enjoyed watching king of the monsters (2019) in theaters and i enjoyed it a lot because it currently offered some escape from all the cons that were happening at home.

I’m am so tired of everyone putting minus one on such a high pedestal. If Godzilla was serious all the time it would get real old real fast. Best thing about Godzilla is that there is something for everyone.

Wait till these people find out like a good 80% of all films soley exist to entertain even probably some of their favorites.

I just don't get why people want Godzilla to be static, he's lasted this long because he's not. He can be your greatest protector or your terrifying destroyer, it's all down to the execution.

*_"This wasn't fun, Bill. Nothing we do's been much fun lately." ~ Jerry Stokes, The Eltingville Club comics_* My sentiments towards the Godzilla fandom lately.

Minus one fan: Monsterverse is garbage. It's not dark and serious. They need to cancel it. Me: Of course. How selfish of me. Let's do all the things that YOU wanna do.

It's another repeat of that same annoying arguments that most fandoms have. But I do lean for escapism since it at least gives us a break from a even more mean-spirited world we live in that's even more than the past's corruption and cynicism. Even though sure, most movies these days don't feel sacred or feel of high value these days. But then again it's because we didn't grow up with these films and don't have much if an attachment as the ones we grow up with. That and we can't expect to rewatch every movie we've seen, since we don't have the time or will power anymore. But at least it's something we need because otherwise we would feel valueless ourselves.

These Minus One fanboys forget that escapism is part of why Godzilla has a franchise in the first place since if the original King Kong vs Godzilla failed to make profit, Toho would've ended the series and if that doesn't help prove variety is how the franchise goes on, no much else will.

I would like to specifically push back against the idea that the Monsterverse has no overriding meaning or message, because I do believe that it at least has one very simple, very important message that we as a species tend to forget: DON'T FUCK WITH NATURE

👍🏻🎥 -'Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee' is what got me into the franchise. There is nothing *BUT* escapism with that game. All you do is beat up other monsters, sometimes even the same monster you are playing(ex: King Ghidorah VS. King Ghidorah); and have fun. I haven't seen all the movies, but I certainly have seen some of the older ones(including 'Godzilla 2000'). So far the MonsterVerse has been quite entertaining for me; and I wouldn't want any changing of that. I swear these fandom debates are what ruins franchises, and *NOT* the movie-makers. 'Star Wars' has had perhaps the worst fandom in film history(not to get too into it, because this is about Godzilla). Now we are seeing the Gojira fandom starting to slide. There should be no debating, in regards to what makes a Godzilla film more or less valid. Unless the monster himself actually *NEVER* appears in a film, with his name as the title. -That being said, I am quite pumped for 'GXK'. Looking forward to seeing how Kong and Godzilla interact, in this one.

There's no shame entertainment how are you enjoy it. Watching Godzilla movies help me get through my miserable childhood heck is still helps me get through my adulthood

The same guy who directed the original Godzilla also directed all of the Showa films....funny how that works

This is an excellent video discussing the importance of escapism in media, and how lots of people both in and outside the Godzilla community have forgotten that after seeing Minus one. Godzilla minus one was amazing, but it doesn't have to be the standard for the ENTIRE franchise. Godzilla is aloud to have variety. It's also important to remember how well received Godzilla vs Kong was from both critics and general audience's. It's currently one of the most well received films in the Monsterverse and many liked it BECAUSE it was for escapism. When GvK came out, 2020 just ended. A lot of people were starving for some escapism and for many, Godzilla vs Kong was that stress relief that they needed. And even today people still want some escapism and to catch a break. There's an audience for both styles of Godzilla movies. And we should never have one without the other. Like one certain big purple guy once said, "Perfectly balanced, As all things should be."

Technically speaking, I care more about the writing being good than anything else. But that's almost a non sequitur because there is not one way to write well for this series. Whatever works works. I think Final Wars failed in so many regards, but that's more due to the characterization, worldbuilding, and plot issues than the tone. I would love to see a version of Final Wars that is internally consistent just as much as I would love to see Minus Two. I will comment on the extent to which GxK prioritizes escapism over a good story, because that would be a problem. But it is not a problem to prioritize the escapism over commentary (and it's not even a strict dichotomy either since it seems like Kong's arc in this movie is going to have something to say about the character and his values and legacy)

I feel like another reason why this is happening is because last year franchises like Marvel, DC and F&F have oversaturated the film market of crappy mediocre blockbuster to point where GxK is now being bashed by normies for looking “marvelized.” I just hope GxK is dumb for the sake of being entertaining instead of like Thor 4 where it’s just dumb for the sake of being dumb.

Fun things are fun

I blame internet critics for the hatred for escapism

You've inspired me to make some positive alterations to an upcoming video of mine. I like that you've provided an alternative route of criticism for these dipsticks as well as subverted the expected reaction of 'nuh uh, they are serious though!' Well done. I would like to bring up that escapism is fine, great even, as long as it's not damaging. King Kong was a film evolved from 'gorilla fight lizard' but that didn't stop it being very well made and well written. GvK is an escapist film released when the world needed escaping from, but that doesn't mean it can get away with terrible writing, character assassinations and cinematic world destruction. Looking forward to your next video!

one of the things I really despise from those bad faith know-nothing hot take videos is the assertion that Godzilla being a good guy is bad 1. Godzilla is rarely, if ever, a purely good guy, at his best he's an anti-hero, even in the Showa era (also I think the overall goofy lighthearted tone of those movies-especially the later ones-can cause a dissonance, make Godzilla seem more heroic than he actually is) 2. I think in a way, Godzilla and humanity finding peace-coexistence-with each other has a message in its own right Godzilla is a creation of the atomic bomb, the most terrible weapons humanity ever made, a tool of war, war-or the fear of war-creates Godzilla, he is an innocent victim of a war not his own, and in pain and anger Godzilla lashes out at humanity, which causes pain and anger in humanity, who try to strike back, and thus a cycle of hate and violence is perpetuated, and from there is a choice, continue the cycle until one party or the other (or both, nuclear war metaphor and whatnot) are destroyed, or... choose a third option, find a way for there to be peace

I think Omni is spending too much time worrying about a few woke a-holes. Any person who is a fan of Godzilla will agree 100% with the point made in this video. Hollywood, by definition, is 'escapism'. Afterall, what is a 'Hollywood ending'? Take the first sci-film about a trip to the moon. Is there anything political about that? It's virtually impossible for anything to be completely free of messaging and politics that involves humans...

Couldn’t agree more Omni not just with Godzilla and Kong but also with other franchises I love such as Jurassic Park and alien I just like stories that entertain me if there’s a meaning to them that’s a bonus

I didn't even get to see Minus One because Toho didn't release it in my country, i was absolutely dissapointed, so as far as im concerned, im very exited for New Empire because at least its a worldwide release

Take notes, Possum Reviews.

We are living in a wonderful time to be a kaiju eiga fan, we've been eating good these last years, we had the monsterverse for entretainment with a lighter tone, and we've had shin goji and minus one for deeper stories, shin ultraman for a weird take (i felt at least). Art is subjective, there are those who do not understand that a lot of art is escapism at a point, even if you are looking at a time piece, it's transporting you to that time, takes you away from this one. So long as it gives you something (an emotion, an idea, a memory, etc) art succeeds.

As much as I like Minus one, I am coming to think it may not have the rewatchable legs the original has or many of the escapism movies. Minus one needs a good english dub. That was one of the original Godzilla's keys to its place in history, a solid dub opening the franchise to new people worldwide.

yes, i can agree with you, matter of fact I'm making my own video addressing this very issue. I'm getting really tired of newcomers coming into this fandom after seeing minus one and think most of the franchise is shit without really looking at the rest of the movies. while yes, i really enjoyed minus one for how serious and dramatic it is, but i also like the monsterverse for the fun spectacle side of the franchise and i really don't think the franchise should be strictly one way or the other.

👏👏👍👍💯 Agreed 100% with your arguments Omni Viewer, Thank you eternally for the video.

Excellent video my good sir, I agree with your opinion. Also, will you ever do comparison videos of "Godzilla: Minus One" with "Godzilla 2014", similarly with how you did with Godzilla: Resurgence? Because I would definitely watch those videos.

Great video Omni! I like both versions of Godzilla!

Escapism is what cinema is built on and what defines decades and franchises. As proved in this video, Godzilla's career of serious dramas and fun escapist monster mashes is perfect proof of this, but there's more proof outside of it: Take for example the 1970s; where most of the movies that decade ranged from gritty dramas to end-of-the-world sci-fi thrillers to pure exploitation of various shapes and sizes. A lot of beloved films came out that decade (I.E. Shaft, The Exorcist, Enter the Dragon, Taxi Driver, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Abominable Doctor Phibes, The Godfather, etc.), but most of the movies back then were trying to be dramatic. But do you know what that decade's defining film was? The film that cemented the blockbuster, pioneered filmmaking techniques, launched the careers of several young actors into superstardom, and launched a franchise spanning two sequels, three prequels, three spin-offs and three more sequels of a more "ill-conceived" variety not to mention video games, books and TV shows? The film which made such an impact, that many fan preservation projects exist to preserve the original version that started all of it after it was remastered with new effects and scenes in the 1990s? *STAR WARS.* Yes, the 1970s wound up being defined by a space adventure film inspired by old film serials where the political stuff is mostly relegated to brief mentions of a larger world and is devoted to giving audiences a good time at the movies. If that's not proof that escapism has far more merit and depth than these pretentious video essayists think, I don't know what is.

Look, I hate the direction the "Monsterverse" is going, but with how awful things are nowadays in life, sometimes it's just good to be entertained. Godzilla would have died years ago if they didn't change things up. Kong x Godzilla doesn't interest me though. As for these review video essays... it's pretentious people acting like they know what they're talking about. My guess is that these are the same people that years ago, would laugh at you if you said that you like Godzilla.

I do think the MonsterVerse deserves criticism, for one I do wish the human casts for these movies were more entertaining (not just making crappy jokes) and didn't bog down the movies so much. Let's not forget, the MonsterVerse started off pretty serious, so I understand where these "minus one fanboys" are coming from. What I wish from the MonsterVerse is something fun, and it's worth criticising the movies if they lack the entertainment value in things other than monster action. I do think Godzilla vs Kong pulled off monster action a lot more entertaining than KOTM.

Right off the bat Skipper’s statement is just plain BS since basically every Godzilla movie has some sort of deeper meaning and isn’t just two monsters beating each other up. But even if some Godzilla movies don’t have a deep message, that’s not a bad thing. Skipper is just the person that wants every Godzilla film to have a depressing tone about nuclear warfare, humanity’s errors and the inevitable doom of the planet just because the original Godzilla had that tone. In other words, he wants the franchise to fall into a downward spiral of stagnation that will bore everyone out of their minds. Sometimes, having an atomic lizard and a big monkey teaming up to kill a robot controlled by a three headed dragon from beyond the grave is fun and doesn’t have to be a cautionary tale to be a good movie

It's like the Godzilla fanbase is turning into the Sonic fanbase. I just hope it doesn't get to a point where the franchise's reputation doesn't end up soiled because of the fanbase.

Where were these people when Shin came out?

You can both, it just needs to be done right and other people should follow that example.

Something with meaning can still be escapism. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings as escapism but there’s still a lot of subtext with it. I’m just saying that escapism can still have deep themes within it.

THANK YOU YOUR A SAINT.

Don't get me wrong, I thought Godzilla x Kong is okay when I saw it in theaters (don't ask me why because you'll attack me for having an opinion), but I can agree with that since I had been in serious traumatic events since childhood. In my opinion, there are two kinds of escapisms. The first one is the Us vs Them escapism where one character plays hero in his/her own home that's under threat no matter the cost, an example of which is Independence Day, and the other is the Seeking Utopia escapism where a protagonist moves from his/her dystopian life to a paradise world where he/she lives in a happy life and even raise a healthy family free from taxes, crimes, loss of resources, terror and politics, an example of which is James Cameron's Avatar, but they can be a good thing in terms of quality, and since I hate the superhero genre because no matter which quality, nobody learns their lesson, I personally go for the Seeking Utopia side. However, both of them can have a deeper meaning where it shows there's only just one type of realism where no matter what side you choose, it's only Nihilism where your every day life is totally meaningless.

Kaiju fiction is thrown under the bus all the time, especially since it's becoming more popular. Superheroes used to be treated the same way, maybe someday Kong, Godzilla, and Gamera will be looked at like Batman, Spiderman, and Hellboy. Also, people need escapism now more than ever.

I say there’s room for both I enjoy Godzilla as social allegory and as comic book fun I guess the problem is American cinema has just made escapist cinema and big budget movies are shallow

the reason why Omni is my fav youtuber who is talking about this is that he knows his stuff, frankly my fav Godzilla movies were from the Heisei era which felt to have meaning and was a way to escape RL , it actually pains me when some of the best Godzilla movies are him being the solo monster with nothing to fight, this is why im rather upset Minus one did great since it sends the message to Toho that godzilla only do great when he is in a solo movie and now we got people weaponizing that as a mean to push the idea that Godzilla can't be anything but a movie series of just one monster comming from the ocean to destroy cities and then in the upcomming movies you just repeat the same formula which would kill the franchies

I just saw "Son of Godzilla" once again, and that ending still hits as hard as the first time. Even in his goofiest, Godzilla has something to say.

Well after watching both Godzilla Minus 1 n Godzilla X Kong The New Empire it’s clear that there’s still room 4 both meaningful art with a message b it something that’s deep thought provoking n highly emotional as well as the meaningless escapism solely meant to entertain people bcuz both have succeeded in doing just that 4 the people especially the Godzilla fans

The only annoying thing is the people calling another godzilla film ass because it's not there kind of Godzilla’s film there's allot of videos dogging on the monster verse and it's annoying if they actually do some self reflection they would realize if they do the same things to minus one they would find problems with the film as well

6:41 just leaving it here for people to hear it on repeat

Hmm… I wonder if anybody were to ask Ann Darrow if she were to go back n do the whole voyage, movie n adventure revolving around King Kong would she have chosen not to or still gone through with it with only a few minor changes here n there

My personal thoughts on people that say that are A. Their just cheap KZfaq Shills hoping to get hate views aka for the money. OR B. They are those people that try to fill that Void in their lives with Entertainment and this is just the only way they can give that "Meaning". Which is just a lie.

I love escapism too, I just prefer it with good writing.

The advantage those three movies have is great writing. I think at it heart that's what separates them from the rest of the Godzilla franchise.

If the only good media is the media that has messaging then the sequel star wars trilogy would be universally loved with how much it bashes you over the head with the message of the day style of writing it has. The original King Kong movie even had a sequel called Son of Kong which was basically a pure cash grab.

Sounds to me like some people should watch the musical film The Band Wagon to c n understand y escapism is important in film history as well as movies with a deep rooted thematic point

These videos are getting tiresome. NOBODY hates escapism. The 3 Godzilla movies you mention that are worth watching are also escapism. If you're a film fan and not necessarily a Godzilla fan maybe they are the only ones worth watching. Who cares if the majority of people don't care to watch 38 Godzilla movies. I'm a huge fan and there's quite a few I don't care to watch either.

Because it’s the most obvious that doesn’t need to be addressed.

On a unrelated note: I really don't appreciate how they turned Godzilla pink, and if Legendary knows what's good for them, they'll change his power up color back to blue.

There's a definite problem with this argument. The reason New Empire is so awful in conception isn't just because it wants to entertain, it's because it's actively ridding of and degrading that which came before. 2014, Kong Skull Island and KoTM both had messages and entertained. GvK was supposed to, the novel version makes this clear, but either due to COVID or reshoots the film version cut a lot of the substance out. New Empire is an ugly Marvel movie in different paint, GvK2 for all intents and purposes. This film will have nothing to say, the CGI is pretty bad in the trailer during that final charge, and it's a rehash of more GvK which we already had. What is there possibly to enjoy?

Presentism, new word for the day en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentism_(historical_analysis)

We get it - you prefer Godzilla to be mindless slop like Bay's Transformers over good films. Glad you're willing to keep the genre of kaiju low quality so that it'll never be taken seriously.

(6:17) Exactly, thats one of the reason why I watched "The Meg 2: The Trench" in theaters last year. I knew by watching the trailer it was just going to be a pure action flick, I wasn't expecting "JAWS" level of story telling or characters. Thats what ive been trying to say for awhile now but for some reason these snobby critics out here think we shouldn't have fun anymore or that every Godzilla movie needs to be like Minus One going forward. And even after the original "King Kong" movie, we still got pure entertainment popcorn spectacle like "Predator", "Men in Black", "Commando" or both "Kill Bill" movies. Those movies don't really have deep messages and yet dose are consider to be classic by many movie lovers to this very day. 🚙🎟🤩📽🍿 (3:04) Heck even "Godzilla's Revenge" has message about bullying (granted I guess you can say it did a poor job at trying to sending the message but still lol). 🏝⚡🐸🧯🤼‍♂