Thread by @SlavaMalamud

Before spending your money on Godzilla vs Kong, try to ask yourself the question of whether a random 7-year-old could have come up with the same exact script in about 3 minutes.
(The answer is "No, it would have been more complex and interesting")

If for no reason other than that the 7-year-old would have had one or both of the main characters die rather gruesomely.

And this is my main issue with the entire super-monster/superhero genre. They are all craven copouts. They are all filmed with a sequel in mind. All of their main themes are money, the acquiring and maximizing of.
In a really good superhero story, the main character dies.

In a good Superman story, he dies because our world can't deal with a superpowered alien.
In a good Spider-man film, he dies, because his body has been altered in ways incomparable with long-term health.
And Batman. If his story doesn't lead to insanity/death, why even tell it?

What I am trying to say is, the superhero genre would have been so much better if it was written by Russians.
Russian literature would have benefited greatly, too.

PS. Hollywood wasn't always this cowardly. The original King Kong film has a perfect story and a perfect ending. There was zero reasons to ruin it with sequels, spin-offs and "choose your fighter" inanity. Which is of course why Hollywood did just that.

But hey, Hollywood's ruining good shit isn't exactly new, is it? It ruined Bernard Malamud's best novel ("The Natural") in the worst way possible. It ruined Steven King's best story ("Running Man") to the point of mutilation and sacrilege.
Why do you do this, guys?

PPS. Actually, check that. Russians DID try their hand in the genre. Back in the 1930s, Alexander Belyayev wrote "The Amphibian Man", about a boy who had gills implanted into his body by his scientist dad. He could do lots of great shit under water.
The ending?

The guy is captured, imprisoned, kept in a tank of water until his lungs are ruined and he has to live in the ocean, never to see his father and his beloved again.
Also, in the modern times, Boris Akunin wrote "Science Fiction" (yes, it's the name of the novel) in the same genre.

It's about two Soviet kids who get superpower from a contact with aliens. In the end, both wind up using them for petty, unworthy goals but in the end, when they team up to save a girl they both love, one ends up recruited by the KGB and turned into an assassin. The other dies.

Now, how much better is this than the endless parade of CGI sequels, prequels and sidewayquels with the predictable, overwrought final battles and unsurprising happy endings leading up to the next money-maker?
Russian literature is your savior, people!
Slava out.