So I've seen one or two people around the net complaining (as usual) that KOTM's bowing scene at the end was "ridiculous" because "animals don't work that way". And I'm not talking critics this time. I've moved on from talking about the critics. I'm talking about the "elite" fans.

Before we continue, let's just take a look at that awesomeness again, shall we?

Okay. Now first of all, I'd like to say this: really? You think this looks stupid? I mean, c'mon, guys, this is not the most stupid looking thing to happen in a Godzilla movie*...

Okay, okay, sorry for that last one. I just thought I'd remind the people who didn't like KOTM that it could have been much, much worse.

But my point is, it's actually not all that ridiculous. Animals lowering themselves in submission actually does happen in nature. Take wolves, for instance:

There's another one here, but the image link wouldn't work so I'm just doing it like this.

Speaking of wolves, I would like to address one animal behavioral inaccuracy that is present in the film: Mark Russel's wolf comparison while describing the Titans' alpha system. It's totally wrong. The quote below is from TV Tropes, but I did some double-checking and they're spot on it seems.

The popular image of a wolf pack involves a group of snarling animals that are always trying to one-up each other. The "alpha" pair are the strongest and most powerful male and female in the group. They however have to work to keep their place as "Top Dog" by frequently fighting with other members of the pack.

This image, however, is not accurate. Scientists used to believe this was how wolf packs accurately worked; however it's since been recognized that wild packs don't act this way. Captive wolves do, but that's because they're grouped with unrelated wolves.

In wolf packs, the breeding pair is naturally dominant just because they are the parents of most of the other wolves. The other adults are usually previous pups who haven't left to form their own packs yet. These pups generally leave the pack by their third year to make their own packs. Non-related are rarely let into packs. In most packs, the traditional "alpha/beta" dynamic doesn't exist because the wolves are all family. Wolf hierarchy is related more to age than strength - and not without reason; if you live a long time in the wild, you're pretty tough right? If wolves are unrelated, however, or the pack is very large then the dynamic is more likely to exist, but even then wolves usually aren't violent towards other pack members in the same way they are to rival wolves.

Captive packs made up of unrelated wolves introduced to each other in adulthood tend to have a more volatile hierarchy, since there's no natural order but physical strength and disagreements must be settled; the two parties can't simply part ways.

Despite science marching on, the mainstream still believes in outdated dynamics. Terms like "alpha wolf", "beta wolf", "omega wolf", and "gamma wolf" get thrown around frequently. This is largely because: A. many people don't realize it's outdated or B. they do realize, but they just think the older theories are cooler.

You know, I just realized, I might have partially undermined my own argument here. So what I'm describing does happen in real life, just not in the way most people think.

But anyway, this brings us into something else I'd like to address with the MonsterVerse: it was never realistic to begin with.

Let me be absolutely clear about something. When I talk about 2014's "realism", I'm not talking about it's scientific plausibility. Anyone can tell you that no animal can process nuclear radiation like that; radiation just doesn't work that way. And that's not even covering things like how Godzilla could remain in perfect hibernation for 250,000,000+ years, or how the MUTO spores are so perfectly preserved and viable, or how the monsters don't collapse under their own weight because of that pesky Square Cube Law.

When I speak of 2014's "realism", what I really mean is that the monsters are 200-300 feet tall and move the part. There was a sense of weight to them that made them look like they were actually that big.

And this has been my Godzilla PSA for the day.

*No, I'm not saying that those moments are bad because they look weird. I mean, c'mon, those are some of the best moments out of the whole franchise! Well, except for Ichiro doing...questionable things to that car. That just looks wrong on too many levels to count.

I just thought 5he scene was cool. Besides while they are animals they also have a high level of intelligence.

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Indeed. The people who complained that the monsters don't act like real animals in this movie are really off, I think. Kaiju almost never act like real animals. They act more like people than anything else. And that's part of their charm.