Who do you think is the best and worst human character in the MonsterVerse

sonictiger

So I'm back, yes.  Anyhow, the human characters in the MonsterVerse have generated a VERY MIXED reception.  So who do you think is the best human character, and who do you think is the worst? Submit your thoughts in the comments and that's all for now!

sonictiger

Ok for me I'll just do each movie...

- Godzilla 2014: Best character is Ishiro Seriwaza ("Let them fight.") and the worst is Ford Brody...

- Kong: Skull Island's best was Marlow and the worst was probably....the Brie Larson character because the actress herself I dislike.

- Godzilla: King of The Monsters' best human character was Seriwaza and I gotta give an honorable mention to Madison Russell, who was a very close 2nd (also Millie Bobby Brown is great in everything she does...in acting that is.)  My least favorite was anyone who was there to add comedy.  'Nuff said.

- Godzilla Vs. Kong's least mediocre character was Jia, and the lamest characters were Josh and Bernie.

Those are my thoughts, feel free to argue with me if you wish.

Djdndnejwnwn

sonictiger 

Nice to see you!

2014: Best -Joe Brody, Worst - Idk

KSI: Best - Packard, Worst - Idk

KOTM - Best - Emma Russel, Worst - Dr. Stanton

GvK : Best - Jia, Worst - The guy who Bernie annoys at the beginning of the movie

Xenotaris

The only human character I really liked from MonsterVerse was Ishiro Serizawa

Djdndnejwnwn

Xenotaris
Joe Brody carried the most emotional drama and tension of any character, but in my opinion serizawa is close behind

sonictiger

I will Madison did bring a good amount of drama and tension but I don't think it was the writing, it was how Millie portrayed the character...

Djdndnejwnwn

sonictiger

i mean creating a conflict that could be explored in a story, not forced.

sonictiger

Yeah and Madison's was (partially) explored in the story but the GVK novelization showed some things that REALLY SHOULD HAVE BEEN incorporated.

sonictiger

AKA PTSD involving the events of G'14 and KOTM.

Djdndnejwnwn

sonictiger
it works better in the book yes, but in the movie her arc is dependent on the somewhat forced family drama. Joe Brody set up an interesting plot about loss which could have worked, shame they got rid of him so quickly

sonictiger

And then we ended up with Ford.

What makes the family drama worse is the fact that 2/3 actors (Kyle and Vera being that 2) are trying way too hard which makes it worse...

SasquaDash

Best Human Characters: Ishiro Serizawa, Hank Marlow, Preston Packard, Joe Brody, Jia and Bill Randa.

Weakest Human Characters: Sam Coleman, Rick Stanton, Josh Valentine and Victor Nieves.  

sonictiger

That pretty much sums it up.

Also ya forgot Madison but it's understandable since GVK ruined her...

Djdndnejwnwn

sonictiger 

I think ford deserves more credit than he’s due.  The army probably taught him to repress emotions.

Djdndnejwnwn

SasquaDash

I agree with this, those are definitely the strongest characters

sonictiger

Ok but he should've been played by anyone but Aaron-Taylor Johnson.  His acting was far better in Avengers and Tenet.

SasquaDash

sonictiger

I think that writing wise, Ford is a pretty good character, the novelization goes more into he personal thoughts and motivations, mainly the guilt of not believing his father and his goal of not only keeping the rest of his family safe, but also keeping other families from being torn apart by the MUTOs (Which is why he saves the kid on the monorail and tries to reunite him with his parents). The fact that he joins the mission to retrieve the warhead in the city, despite knowing that he might not make it back, shows that he's willing to sacrifice himself in order to keep his family and others safe.

The problem with his character comes from Aaron-Taylor Johnson's portrayal. Johnson tries to make Ford a more reserved character, who deals with trauma by suppressing his emotions, trying to give him a no nonsense attitude (which makes a lot of sense, given what the character goes through), Unfortunately it ends up taking away the audience's ability to sympathize with him and instead makes him feel uninteresting and bland.

Overall, I think Ford's a character that has some great ideas, but not the greatest execution. 

Djdndnejwnwn

SasquaDash

sonictiger

I don’t think Ford deserves that much hate, he’s better than most recent characters we’ve seen.

SasquaDash

HinikunaGoji

Yeah, I agree, while Ford isn't the most amazing character, I don't think he deserves the hate. I've seen some reviews that label him as nothing more than a "bland chunk of wood" and I don't think that's really fair. There is a lot of depth to his character, unfortunately most people overlook this due to Aaron Taylor Johnson's performance. I definitely like him better than some other Godzilla protagonists, especially compared to some of the Reiwa series characters.  

Monsterzero9

best: ishiro serizawa

worst: ren serizawa

how ironic

Djdndnejwnwn

SasquaDash

I do think Reiwa has a better grasp so far of how to make characters with clear motivations and personalities, the most aggretious errors in human writing would be the Godzilla Trilogy.

This next bit is my opinion.

I think people get confused when they hear, Character Development. To me what separates good writing from bad writing is Intention. A character does not need to undergo a grand Change or much change at all to be considered a good character. While that does make it interesting it does not mean that the story will succeed. One reason is narrative tension. This keeeps the audience invested, and the character changing does not usually keep the tension. Rather it makes a story interesting another way to engage the audience. Take the movie interstellar. Using the science to drive the plot and the tension around whether Cooper will be with his kids again. ALthough he has arcs of choosing to sacrifice himself he does not change on a significant level. (Note he never chooses to let go until he sees his daughter again.) Yet many don’t criticize the movie on this level, because it doesn’t rely on it. Either way this narrative style is either hit or miss

Djdndnejwnwn

monsterzero9

i don’t think it’s ironic,

sequels don’t tend to be as good

Djdndnejwnwn

I mean Ren seemed like he was there to, connect the universe? Honestly it’s not that big of a problem  he was decent in my opinion.

Xenotaris

I liked Ford Brody, he wasn't bland, just military.

G. H. (Gman)

"I think people get confused when they hear, Character Development. To me what separates good writing from bad writing is Intention. A character does not need to undergo a grand Change or much change at all to be considered a good character. While that does make it interesting it does not mean that the story will succeed. One reason is narrative tension. This keeeps the audience invested, and the character changing does not usually keep the tension. Rather it makes a story interesting another way to engage the audience."

Nail meet head.

Kattozilla

i know nothing about good writing so i couldn't tell you lol

sonictiger

I know good writing, and the MonsterVerse isn't really that as KOTM first made it so it looked like Madison saved the world by luring Ghidorah and the other Titans to Godzilla and Mothra's location and then later had a forced redemption cop-out by having Emma sacrifice herself when there was no setup for it and so apparently she saved the world.

Now that's an example of bad writing.

Djdndnejwnwn

sonictiger

Honestly I don’t think KOTM has the worst writing ever. I think it is a bit rushed and has a lack of focus. The ideas could have worked but the exposition and little mistakes in setup and writing pulled it back. 

I think recutting KOTM and GvK into one movie could would strip away most of the bad elements.

sonictiger

THAT'S PERFECT.

Like an HBO Max supercut movie called: Rise of The Titans.

Kattozilla

w o t

Djdndnejwnwn

Kattozilla

H m m m