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With Godzilla: King of Monsters starting to film here in Atlanta, I did not realize its a sequel to both the 2014 (was it really 2014?! I thought it was more recent than that) Godzilla movie and Kong Skull Island. Because I apparently missed they're doing a shared monster universe.

Heh, with the juggernaut that is the MCU, I guess other studios assume, "Oh, lets just throw all these things together, and it will create a huge franchise that will make us tons of money!" I mean, it works for Marvel and DC because the connections are built in. Hasbro's attempt at a shared universe between GIJoe, Transformers, M.A.S.K. Rom Space Knight, and Micronauts could work. Even Legendary's Monster Universe has potential because people like seeing big ass monsters fight each other.

But Universal's "Dark Universe" is flawed. I mean, Godzilla, King Kong, they may tweak their origins a little, but at their core they're just a giant lizard and monkey. Everyone knows who they are. And as I said, the main draw is crazy monster destruction. But this Dark Universe, there are so many varied interpretations of Dracula, and Frankenstein's monster and Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde. And "The Mummy" and "The Wolfman" aren't even specific individuals, you could just make up anyone to be a mummy or wolfman.

And I think Universal was kidding themselves to think they could do the same thing as Marvel and DC and just start a franchise from the outset with these characters. I mean, the MCU only worked because Iron Man was a success. Man of Steel was not good, but DC has been powering through it, but they can because Superman and Batman are such iconic characters, people will go see them opening weekend regardless. Despite the lousy reviews, those movies still made them money, which is why they could do Wonder Woman. And they didn't even have confidence in WW, and it far exceed expectations!

Like if Universal did any one of those monsters, they can throw hints at the end of a larger connected universe, and IF the movie is successful they can think about actually doing some huge franchise. I mean in the past, those individual characters have been hit or miss at the box office, so its kinda crazy that they thought they could just start a multi-picture franchise from the outset.

Honestly, no offense to whoever greenlit that, but its kinda insane to me that some folks were sitting around a board room and thought "Let's come up with a multi-film franchise starring classic monsters from the get go" was a good idea. Its baffling that people in charge like this were thinking this was going to be a hit, but thought WW would flop.

(no subject)

Tekken blather- So I reached at least 100 fights with Heihachi, Kazuya, Jin, Lee, Lars, Bryan Fury, Dragunov, Katarina, and Nina Williams. 9 down, another 11 to go to reach 2000 matches. Some people were wondering why they let you unlock everything at 2000 matches, like isn't that unfair for people who slogged through treasure battle? But honestly, I think if you played that many matches of treasure battle, you'll have unlocked most of what you want before then.

I mean, right now, I think I've bought all the main customization stuff I want, plus all the stuff in the gallery. Everything left that I want is now the stuff you randomly win from treasure chests. I would hope after another 1100 fights I would get most if not all of those too. And if I don't, its nice to know there's an end in sight by reaching 2000.

Like it seems like after story mode, the main modes to play are treasure and online. Arcade is pointless since there's no individual arcade endings, so if you're going play against the computer, might as well do it in a mode where you'll get prizes.

Anyways, like I said, given the large movesets of all these characters, I feel like freaking Taskmaster whenever I pick up a new character. Like I'm forgetting moves and tactics I learned about character X when I move to character Y. I mean, some characters have similarities. And most characters have combos that are functionally the same even though they look different. Like there will be similar button sequences.

Still, each character has idiosyncrasies to know. Like what moves are good to whip out when you're feeling the pressure, which ones have priority, which ones are dangerous and can be punished. I like to know the best moves a character can pull off that start with holding the directional pad back. That was I know what's available to retort after I've turtled up.

Like I was having trouble with Lars until I learned those particular kinds of moves and knew how they hit and what their distance was. Heh, he had this cool move I'd seen the computer pull off where he knees someone, and then auto grabs them by the throat, holds them up and snaps their neck. And I saw it was a simple B+4, where the auto grab would happen on counter hit.

Playing Lili right now, as she has customizations I want to unlock. Which going by that, that list also includes Leo, Asuka, Alisa, and Eliza. But there are others I will eventually want to try for their moves and fighting style like Shaheen and Kazumi. I keep needing to check the latter out in practice mode to see if she plays like the rest of the Mishima family, as she does seem to have a few similar moves.

(no subject)

TV commentary:

Better Call Saul- Well, that was a shock! ( spoiler cut )

PLL- Wait, what the hell is going to happen next?!! ( spoiler cut )