MovieChat Forums > Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023) Discussion > If you're in it for the monsters, this ...

If you're in it for the monsters, this won't be for you.

posted a year ago by TylerAArse (2898)
27 replies | jump to latest

Through 9 episodes, I doubt there's been more than 5 minutes of actual monster screen time. This is like watching a porn, with no porn. What you do get is a look into the early origins of Monarch. So if you're really into this universe, this background would be of interest.

I do have issues with the story. There's a lot of "why the hell do we care" mess in it, too much attitude roaming around, and inconsistencies in the story that make you say, "Really?!?". Writers didn't think some of these things through. Good writing could've done this in half the episodes.

Show is just good enough to keep my interest, but if there's to be a season 2, I doubt I'd watch it. At least Anna Sawai is easy on the eyes.

[–] BKB (10487) a year ago

I just don't get this?? The people behind this show have to know that viewers want to see Monsters and monsters fighting one another, not a series about character relationships and I just mentioned this very same thing for the movie "MONSTROUS" that's a movie about Sasquatch basically taking a backseat to a story about a lesbian relationship and the one woman searching for her missing sister that possibly could've died at the hands of Sasquatch, but unfortunately, he's supposedly not in the movie til the end..

[–] FilmBuff (7343) a year ago

Honestly, I think most viewers want everything but monsters and monsters fighting one another. How many times can you see that? Granted, children won't enjoy this, because they are the target audience for monsters fighting each other. This is aimed at adults, and offers a thought-provoking, emotional story with unpredictable twists and nice payoff moments. The monsters make for a fun spectacle, and add gravitas to the situation, but in reality they are mere maguffins that allow the screenwriters to tell an interesting story.

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

"Honestly, I think most viewers want everything but monsters and monsters fighting one another"

Yes, when Godzilla-movie is in the movie theaters, then most people who buy tickets, they want everything but Godzilla fighting other monsters. Most viewers think that the best Godzilla-movie is a movie where Godzilla gets exactly 0 seconds of screentime.

The same goes for the tv-series. When the series' name is Legacy of Monsters, then everybody starts watching it because of the hope that there will be no monsters in it.

[–] FilmBuff (7343) a year ago

What are the most highly-acclaimed Godzilla films? The 2014 Godzilla, Shin Godzilla, and Godzilla: Minus One. What do they all have in common? The giant monsters take a backseat to an interesting story, told by great actors.

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

I haven't watched those small budget Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One movies, so I can't comment on them. But I did see that 2014 Godzilla and luckily some nerd in Reddit ran the numbers. So, here's the screen time:

Godzilla: 9:29 (7.7% of runtime)
Male Muto: 6:48
Female Muto: 7:22
All Monsters: 16:10 (13.1% of runtime)

So, in a movie where monsters take a backseat, they still have decent screentime. 16 minutes of screentime of 2h movie. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters had about ten hour runtime and monsters had about one minute of screentime total. I don't have exact numbers about Monarch, but monsters had roughly about 100 times less screentime compared to a movie where they already had backseat. Is there even a correct term for that? Backseat of a backseat of a backseat?

By the way, I checked imdb-ratings and Rotten Tomatoes audience scores (critics score was a tie) and Kong Skull Island had slightly higher rating than Godzilla and once they were on the island after 30 minutes, then for the rest of the movie, monsters had about 40-50% screentime.

[–] Burk48917 (11427) a year ago

To say they had 1 minute of screentime total means you didn't actually watch the series.

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

Oh, I watched the series as soon as the episodes came online. So, what do I remember of those monsters?

In the very beginning we have John Goodman watching a crab fighting a spider for a few seconds.
In some early episode they showed couple of seconds of some flying monster on top of a ship in the jungle.
In some early episode they showed a few seconds of Godzilla near some island.
In some early episode they showed a few seconds huge cockroaches, Dr. Miura fell into pit.
Somewhere in the middle they showed a few seconds of Godzilla before the nuclear detonation.
Somewhere in the middle they showed a few seconds of some weird monster on the ice.
Somewhere in the middle they showed a few seconds of Godzilla in the desert.
In the end they showed a few seconds of some big warthog monster walking around in the inner world.
In the end they showed a few seconds of Godzilla fighting some flying monster in the inner world.

A few seconds here and there. Did I missed something? Was it really more than one minute? One minute and 30 seconds? 1,5 minutes in ten episode about one hour each. So we had 1,5 minutes of monsters out of 10 hours. Wow, what a great "monster-show".

[–] Skavau (15993) a year ago

You missed the clips of Godzilla in San Francisco, and and the Frost Vark in Alaska that killed the korean pilot. And each scene was more than a "few seconds".

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

I mentioned "some weird monster on the ice". So no, I didn't forget that. I specifically didn't mentioned Godzilla in San Francisco, because I wasn't sure they weren't from the Godzilla movie.

So, we have ten scene with monsters in ten episodes. I said that they were like 1,5 minutes combined, 90 seconds or 9 seconds per episode. Well, 9 is more than a couple :)

Maybe some nerd will run exact numbers, but it can't be much more than 1,5 minutes combined.

[–] Skavau (15993) a year ago

>I mentioned "some weird monster on the ice". So no, I didn't forget that. I specifically didn't mentioned Godzilla in San Francisco, because I wasn't sure they weren't from the Godzilla movie.

And the "weird monster on ice" was not present purely for 2 seconds. It was in multiple clips, spanning 5-10 minutes over a few episodes (Shaw returned to it).

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

Yes, clips were 5-10 minutes maybe, but how long the monster was on screen? 2 seconds at a time? Watch those scenes again and come back with exact numbers, no point of arguing before that.

[–] Burk48917 (11427) a year ago

All of those scenes were considerably more than a few seconds, as you know. The fact that you need to embellish says you know you're mistaken.

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

I don't need to embellish anything. Some of the episodes had like 2-3 seconds of monster-time, so no, I don't embellish and I'm not mistaken.

Watch all those monster-scenes again and come back with real numbers, no point of arguing before that.

[–] Burk48917 (11427) a year ago

There were no monsters on the screen for only 3 seconds, so instead of embellishing, I'll just say you're a liar.

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

Like I said, count the screentime and come back with real numbers, otherwise all you have is "mommy, that boy is a liar!".

[–] Burk48917 (11427) a year ago

Nah, I'm not a loser that needs to spend time convincing an anonymous lying loser he's wrong, when it's plainly obvious. Fucking moviechat douchebags...I swear. It's always fuckholes with new accounts like you that are always trying so hard to be assbags. 🤣🤡

[–] MrMorden (67) a year ago

Just like a expected, exactly the type of comment "mommy-mommy, that boy is a liar", with lot of personal insults and f-words. No real numbers, no evidence.

Lo, talking about losers, you've been writing 10 000+ comments. Have you tried real life, like ever? :D

[–] BKB (10487) a year ago

Why would you watch this for anything less than the Monsters when it's titled "MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS"??

[–] Burk48917 (11427) a year ago

Because it is "Monarch" legacy of monsters, so there is a reasonable expectation that much of the story would focus on the organizational. This is the story of the entity that is Monarch and it's legacy involving monsters. It would get mundane and tedius to have 10 episodes of monster destruction.

[–] FilmBuff (7343) a year ago

Because I'm not a 10-year-old kid. If I'm going to invest my time in a film, let alone 8 hours of TV episodes, I want a compelling story. A few minutes of a couple monsters smacking each other around is fine, but without a story to accompany it, it is of no interest to me.

[–] fc31 (5791) a year ago

[deleted]

[–] TheArgentinian (7175) a year ago

That's just not sustainable for a full tv season. Financially or storytelling-wise.

[–] Burk48917 (11427) a year ago

Exactly. I think if they had that, they'd discover how boring it gets.

[–] RoloTony (1306) a year ago

I gave up on it last week. I just didn't care about any of the characters or the story. I was hoping for something visceral like Shin Godzilla. Instead I got a whole bunch of cheesy Kurt Russell lines.

I'm sure in the finale there will be some mega monster battle to erase the blandness of the prior episodes.

[–] Burk48917 (11427) a year ago

I like it,but with 3 episodes left, Kurt really seems to be phoning it in.

[–] Pete314 (3095) a year ago

Shin Godzilla? Isn't that most of the time about a highly inept government?

[–] millsey72 (10539) a year ago

But is there racial diversity?