Godzilla vs Wolverine

In a summer full of franchise films, GODZILLA and X-MEN:DAYS OF FUTURE PAST are two of them.  We, like the Greeks and most two-year-olds, love to hear the same stories told about the same heroes.  (Well, except for Spider Man.  Aint nobody got time for that.)

GODZILLA and X-MEN:DFP are familiar characters in familiar situations but they reflect different values.   Allow me to take a moment to compare them.

History

GODZILLA feels a lot like the original GOJIRA which was made in 1956.  There is nuculear power, a kid in a blue hat, scientists who just wonder about stuff without really doing anything, military guys who have to make hard decisions based on crap evidence, and a giant fat green monster with stone mountains stuck on it's back.  Which is to say, it's knowingly traditional and totally okay with that.

X-MEN:DFP blows up the entire franchise.   The past 14 years of movies don't count anymore, except for X-MEN:FIRST CLASS.   This is sad for anyone who really liked the past movies but I totally understand it. I don't know where you can go with a universe after having made THE WOLVERINE (Goes to Japan.)   I wanted to blow up all the X-Men films after that movie.


Leading Man

GODZILLA's narrative follows around Ford Brody, a veteran of Afghanistan who specializes in defusing bombs, as he does everything he can to take care of his family - his father, his wife, his child. Ford spends a lot of time toting a gun but never fires it.   He somehow ends up being present for every single catastrophic event that happens in the movie but never stops trying to get home.
 
X-MEN:DFP features Wolverine who wakes up in a minor's bed, beats up some guys, and steals a car in the first five minutes of his arrival in the 70's.  Not exactly a good guy. Hugh Jackman is now starting to look as old and grumpy as Wolverine should have looked for the past 14 years.  So that's fun.


The Sage

Every movie needs an old wise dude who doesn't actually do much.   GODZILLA has Ken Watanabe.  He's a scientist who has a vague idea of what is going on, recognizes good information when he sees it, and talks about his feelings a lot.  Unfortunately Navy Admirals need more than vibes when making decisions that involve nuculear power.  Dr. Serizawa ends up just being a witness of events as they happen around him.

Professor Xavier spends most of his time in X-MEN:DFP in his hover chair using a lot of feeling-words and mystical healing phrases.   He is all-knowing and never gives actual information. He does a neat trick of talking till his younger self, in the past, somehow figures out how to let go of anger.  Or pain?  Something?  I got confused halfway through the time-traveling therapy session.


Big Bad Things
(There aren't two conjoined images since I found cool gifs!)

This is a Muto (male)

And this is a Sentinel.

The Muto are an ancient race of giant gross things which eat radiation.  They trash everything in their effort to make babies.

Sentinels are designed to hunt deviants.  They are man-made, scary, and so unstopable the X-Men have to travel to the past to keep them from being born.


The Girl

No, they aren't actually played by the same woman.   GODZILLA features the character Elle Brody, who is an ER nurse and wife of that Ford guy.   She is supportive, cheerful, loves her kid, and makes iffish decisions about where to seek shelter during a major emergency because her husband asked her to.

Mystique in X-MEN:DFP is an angry assassin who killed a man with her foot and wants to shoot a little person in the head.   She's also naked a lot and painted blue.  You think the whole movie comes down to a decision she makes but really it's a decision Xavier makes, which kind of sucks.


In Conclusion

GODZILLA           8
X-MEN:DFP          6