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Not sure if this counts as unpopular. But man Hollywood really butchered Godzilla and many other iconic movie monsters. Why the hell is Godzilla some kind of anti-hero and don’t get me started on the cast.
Japanese Godzilla has been villain and anti-hero depending on the movie.
That's what most Japanese Godzilla movies are like if we're being honest. If you've only seen the original, I get why you might think Godzilla is usually a villain, but even the direct sequel had him fight another, more evil monster. Let's be real, the human characters in most of those sequels were awful and boring. Those movies exist mostly for the monster fights.
If you're unaware, just look up Godzilla's dropkick to understand what I'm talking about. That scene might be the pinnacle of the silliness, but it was by no means an outlier.
Compared to the goofy trash that encompasses 90% of Godzilla movies, the 2019 Godzilla movie where Godzilla goes super saiyan was one of the best Godzilla films ever made. Big fights, badass moments, and human characters that exist to compliment the monsters. The original Gojira, Godzilla Minus One, and even Shin Godzilla aren't comparable to or representative of most Godzilla movies.
I think the subtle difference between Hollywood and Japanese cinema is that Hollywood is literally applying the Avengers formula but on monsters. And that really ruined it for me.
As someone who grew up with the goofy Toho movies, I felt like the Americans used that formula more than the Avengers formula.
The human characters have little control over the monsters, relying on Godzilla or Kong to win fights and only being able to help them do what they already wanted to do. That's fairly in line with what the Japanese movies did.
Marvel movies have more quipy heroes with emotional backstories who rise to the occasion and save the world. There are some comedic human characters, but they're sidekicks to the monsters and aren't self aware like in Marvel movies. The monsters sometimes do silly things, but they don't quip and aren't sarcastic because they can't talk. There's tragedy in them being the last of their kind, but that's never the focus.
I really think the Monsterverse has carried on the legacy of Japanese monster mashes fairly well. They've actually been on the better end of the spectrum.
Godzilla minus one might be the best Godzilla movie to date. But, to your point, it wasn't made by Hollywood.
In the monsterverse Godzilla movies, I have found myself not caring at all about the human characters.
Godzilla Minus One seems to be the saving grace for this...
Also, Japanese movies also made him a hero of sorts in some movies so... I'm not too sure about anything anymore.