What about the end of The Lost World? That's pure Godzilla monster action, and it's directed by Spielberg.
I mean, it is and it isn't. An angry elephant could rampage through San Francisco and that wouldn't be "pure Godzilla monster action."
When I bring up Godzilla, I'm bringing up the old Godzilla. The Godzilla that eventually was seen as a protector of Tokyo. A character with personality and intent. A lot has been said about the similarities between those old Godzilla movies and, like, professional wrestling. Toho's Godzilla always ends up kind of a defender of the earth (and that's why Shin Godzilla has been embraced as being this wildly different, fresh take on the franchise, because it's NOT that)
The T-Rex in the San Francisco rampage still acts like an animal, by and large. Just one that's redline on adrenaline. I mean, Dr. Harding straight up talks about how the first things it's going to do are look for a source of water and then food, and that's exactly what it does.
The mother Rex being so protective of her baby is similar to the way bears are with their young.
The final scene, once they coax the Rex below deck, calls to mind how big cats teach their offspring to hunt.
It's an animal. A very fearsome, dangerous animal. But it's not a monster, and it's not a personality.
Meanwhile, the Indominus is a fake "new" dinosaur who is smarter than them all, who kills for the fun of it, plays mind games like The Predator, etc.
Raptors are given names, there's a weird scene where it seems like they have to choose sides between going with the Indominus (who can "speak" to the dinosaurs and control them) or staying with Chris Pratt. The Indominus is given a moral compass; it isn't just a dangerous animal, it is an EVIL MONSTER.
The T-rex is coaxed out of her enclosure, the same T-rex from Jurassic Park, with the same scars in the same places, using road flares because that's the big character trait. She's not a T-rex, she's THE t-rex, the one everybody remembers. She's here to save the day again, called in to battle -- almost in to
war -- against the Indominus. THAT'S a Godzilla moment.
And now we have Fallen Kingdom, where they have to go in and save everybody's favorite dinosaur characters, and there's more evil monsters to fight.
No sir, I don't like it.
