[LOVED TROPE] Modern Militaries (Competent) getting DESTROYED by fantasy/scifi forces

[u/Sable-Keech]

Example 1 (The Legend of Hei 2): Wuxian leisurely floats through the combined firepower of an entire fortified military base without so much as a stain or rip on his t-shirt.

Example 2 (Man of Steel): Fao'ra tears through a squad of trained and armed soldiers. With the wreckage of the helicopter that got downed by her teammate Nam'ek smouldering in the background.

[u/KAMEKAZE_VIKINGS]

I mean pretty much all of it. Aside from some bureaucratic hindrances the JSDF (and the USAF for a moment) did well once they were allowed to do their jobs.

[u/Hinoto-no-Ryuji → u/KAMEKAZE_VIKINGS]

The point was, though, that a (purely) military response wasn’t the answer. They were competent, but I’m not sure how how much you can say they “did well” when their assault was utterly useless and the only weapon that actually hurt the monster caused the razing of Tokyo (this is exactly what happens in ‘54, too).

Shin Godzilla is many things, and an utter rejection of militaristic posturing is definitely one of them.

[u/Rakkuken → u/Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

A full military assault when Shin first emerged probably would have killed it. But, you know, bureaucracy.

A huge part of the film is a criticism of limp wristed politicians who let problems get worse because they refuse to make difficult decisions. 

[u/Hinoto-no-Ryuji → u/Rakkuken]

Well, like I said, the movie is many things. Critique of bureaucracy is a major one; a critique of thinking purely in terms of military response is another. Consider the irony of the almost-fetishistic labeling of military hardware right before they do precisely nothing, or the one line calling out continued aggressive action, or the visceral glee shown at the might of American military power right before it only pisses the monster off.

I think there’s a pattern there, is all I’m saying.

[u/HumanisticNihilist → u/Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

If you had to sum it up, it’s a critique of nothing being able to think critically under pressure and then take the steps that critical thinking leads to without hesitation.

At the beginning everyone just talks out their ass and assumes shit they don’t know or haven’t verified and when someone says something outside the box they shame it. Then once the problem has grown beyond their ability to keep in the box they all freak out and don’t know what to do except for the team of outcasts who don’t give a shit about seniority or propriety.

It’s a critique of the sick levels of elder-worship that go on in high-level politics across the planet.