Canon-Strike XIII: Godzilla

[Dogg Thang]

I really like the Legendary one. I certainly get the criticisms and I admittedly become less tolerant of them on rewatches, with the main character really not being all that interesting. But I also see what problems they were solving with that approach and I think it was a good way of taking us through a Godzilla movie. One recurring theme here across the movies is the difficulty with the time spent with humans, largely because they are so removed from the actual monsters. This movie took a new approach with that, giving us someone essentially on the ground the whole time with the action, who could take us naturally (albeit often conveniently) from sequence to sequence. It was a new approach and, for me, I can see the merit in it over the board room or military control room that we so often get, where the human stories that play out there are often so removed from the actual monsters.

I also really get what they were doing with the limited glimpses of the action, as frustrating as it could be. It makes it feel more real in ways, to me. And it also meant that we usually got a human viewpoint and this gave Godzilla a sense of scale that I have never seen before or since. Yes, he is actually bigger but how that size was displayed is awe-inspiring. It was an incredible experience when I saw it on a giant cinema screen.

But losing Cranston and keeping Taylor-Johnson is a tough pill to swallow and there are many points where the involvement of the humans comes completely to nothing (a common problem in Godzilla movies, I guess). And I think there hit a point where we just wanted to see some amazing monster action.

Thankfully, they give us that in the next movie.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, that first viewing was one where the film really impressed. There's some great scenes and shots in it with the entire film geared as a build up to a slow reveal for the finale but that's also key to the films undoing as it makes it quite a chore to watch after that first time.

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 31 - Shin Godzilla
Spurred by the success of the recent reboot Toho decided to restart production on its own Godzilla films again and the result was this new incarnation that delivered fans their eighth Godzilla timeline, this time though the film is an origin tale that omits everything including the 1954 original. The film reviewed well in Japan and less well outside of the country, at box office though it was a massive hit for Toho however the victory would prove to be short lived as the agreement in place with Legendary meant that Toho could not release a new entry the same year as any Legendary release and with that calendar filling up with their Monsterverse plans and then the pandemic, Shin Godzilla remains the last live action Toho entry for now.




Did the modern take on Toho suggest the best path forward for Godzilla?

[CMcK]

When I first watched Shin I found the emphasis on how the government was handling things a little dry. But going back it and looking back at the original 1954 film it is appropriate. As an origin story goes it’s really spot on and does seem like it would be a good starting point for another reboot. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen though. This entry really nails Godzilla being an absolute force of nature. As it evolves you’re left in no doubt this creature is seriously dangerous.

[QualityChimp]

I procrastinated on Shin Godzilla for ages because I'd read that it's about 72.3% boardroom meetings, but when I finally crumbled I absolutely LOVED it - easily one of my faves, now.

I first watched it via archive.org, but I loved it so much, I got the DVD for a few quid from CEX as it's never streaming anywhere.

So, for me, I believe the whole film is about evolution and changing to survive.
I'm not even talking about just Shin, I'm talking about the Japanese Government too.
They are creaky and slow and look down on the younger people's suggestions, until it's too late.
It's only when it bites them on the bum that there is no option but to listen to the youth.

Likewise, Godzilla is constantly evolving, adapting to the environment and the enemy.

It's not even clear where he's going and why, but he'll get there no matter what.

However, it's also got some of the best Godzilla action scenes for years.
The helicopter scene is truly exciting and we feel a part of the action.
However, my fave scene is the Tokyo destruction. Holy smokes.

I need to drive home as it's a nightmare in the snow, but I'll write more tomorrow!

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 32 - Kong: Skull Island
The next film is the one with no Godzilla. Whilst there are references to Monarch, an organisation that ties Legendary's Monsterverse together, the film acts as an origin tale for King Kong so that audiences would be led into the two creatures facing off later down the line. The eleventh film made with Kong, it set itself in the 1960's amidst the discovery of Skull Island and the concept that a land exists where other monsters could emerge from, Kong being the lone surviving giant ape who crosses paths with the military aided individuals exploring the island.



Was this entry the King of Kong?

[Dogg Thang]

I really like Shin Godzilla. It’s different and it’s weird and creepy and Godzilla is incredible in it, once I get past the googly eyes. The focus on inept departments is great and explores some realities that are never really thought of in similar movies, such as how easy it would be to create an international incident.

I do find the movie stalls badly, exactly when Godzilla himself stalls. And I really found I was waiting for him to get back up and running. Overall though, it’s a great movie.

Skull Island was way better than I expected. I must admit I’m not a huge Kong fan. He’s literally just an oversized ape. But the movie was fun and surprising, the tone works great and it entertains from start to finish.

[QualityChimp]

Jeez, chill your beans, Neon!

Back to Shin Godzilla for a bit.
Both the US Godzilla and Pacific Rim underperformed at the box office, as had Final Wars 10 years earlier and Toho had to try something new: Hideaki Anno.



Evangelion had recently smashed the box office and his tokusatsu exhibition had drawn a massive number of visitors, so he was the obvious choice, but when they first contacted him, he didn't want to do it because of his respect for the original film and burnout from doing Evangelion.

It took months of badgering from Toho and the encouragement from long time collaborator and co-director on SG, Shinji Higuchi, to convince him.

They didn't want to do it as a sequel to the first film (again!), but as the first time the monster appears in the modern world, using the recent Fukushima nuclear plant disaster as a reference point.

This was a massive sticking point, knowing how to tackle the issue of a disaster but without belittling the genuine disaster.
The compromise was having a much shorter half-life of the radiation and to never directly reference Fukushima, whilst both directors acknowledged a science-fiction film has always been a way to reflect the real world, but through a fantasy eye.

Hideaki Anno picked up writing duties after the original left for prior commitments, aiming for a realistic feeling by visiting people and places affected by the Fukushima disaster.

He had to fight Toho, who constantly asked for more human drama with the protagonist's family and girlfriend and had to threaten quitting before they'd back down.

Hideaki Anno wanted a more objective viewpoint and has always been influenced by the war films by Kihachi Okatomo and liberally "borrowing" some of his shots!

->Open Spoiler<-

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"Japan's Longest Day" has a lot of similarities like endless boardroom meetings but inaction.

Loads of ideas were nixed by TOHO, like a Godzilla that splits in half and had two heads, but they approved the idea of a transforming Godzilla as long as it finished on a version like the classic monster, but the deal was sealed when Bandai jumped up and down at the prospect of making three different toys to sell!

Someone posted a question on a Godzilla Facebook fan page asking if the military could have eliminated Godzilla if they'd attacked it in the harbour before even reaching land, and I absolutely think that they would have.
It's that inaction and hesitation that puts Japan on the backfoot on every encounter the old Government have with it.
Again, later they have a chance to destroy him, but hesitate because there are a couple of civilians that didn't evacuate (the old woman being carried is the wife of the late Ultraman cinematographer, another big influence!).

Love all of the Easter eggs in this like the reference to Godzilla slumping into the skyscraper in Shinjuku, like in Return of Godzilla. I love the use of the theme "Decisive Battle" from Evangelion - it's so dramatic and is similar to "007" from the Bond series.

All of that is cool, but ultimately, if the Godzilla scenes were poor, it would fall over, but hooo-boy are they great.

I'll start with the googly-eyes monster. Another reason why I was told it sucked because Godzilla looks stupid.
Yes, yes he does, but that ties in with the Government not taking the threat seriously.
That first evolution sequence is our first glimpse as to what's happening. The gills are no longer needed, so they slough out their contents. Then scraping his belly is no good, so evolves to a classic t-rex shape. He returns to the sea, unable to cope with the heat he's generating.

When he returns, he's even bigger and we finally see the army let loose their guns, rockets and tanks, but because they waited too long, he doesn't even flinch, adapting eyelids to prevent his eyes.

Later, he's in Tokyo and the government are escalating their attacks by asking the US to drop some Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs (fnarr) from their Stealth Bombers, which finally results in damaging the creature, but he's not taking it and we see this amazing sequence where he belches out rivers of black soot from his lungs, leading to pure flame, then refining into this fine beam that just slices Tokyo in half with absolute unstoppable destruction.
When the bombers try to attack again, Godzilla fires beams from his dorsal spines and blows them up before they even reach him.
With Tokyo ablaze, he stops and we fade out.



The finale scene is great and we see Yaguchi's multi-stage attack working because it's not just one tried and tested method, he's thinking outside the box blowing up bullet trains and dropping whole skyscrapers on him, the opposite of the concern for collateral damage from the earlier government.

Even then, Godzilla is evolving, learning to generate a more precise tail-beam to take out the drones and their bombs.

Amazing.

The final scene is chilling though and an insight into the potential ideas for the planned sequel, with Godzilla splitting into loads of humanoid creatures, every part of him a potential new creature.

So yeah, this is probably my fave Godzilla film as a whole package, even though I love the earlier films because of their brilliant practical sets and giant tag-team wrestling matches.

[QualityChimp]

I need this:

[briareos_kerensky]

Nothing much more to add on Shin Godzilla, other than it's clear it's a movie directed by Anno due to his choices in music, pacing, photography, scene cuts, and of course Evangelion references.
It also cements the fact that if you want a kaiju movie script done right, you have to ask Shinji Higuchi.

Kong: Skull Island is OK. I'm not a big Kong fan but I do enjoy the movie, it's a great example of well-mixed monster and human plot lines, the movie flows well, and I did care about most of the cast, though Loki and Captain Marvel are not that interesting compared to Jackson, John Reilly, and even John Goodman...and like Cranston and Watanabe, I would have loved to see how their characters progressed rather than killing them off (spoiler I guess).

[Neon Ignition]

That Godzilla diorama is spot on, the only thing I'm not keen on for that G design is the splitting jaw


For me, Skull Island is probably the best of the four Legendary films. The historical setting gives it a nice tone and it's a very clear, cohesive film compared to the other three which range from slow to messy

[Neon Ignition]

Movie 33 - Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
Unable to produce a live action film and therefore follow up on Shin Godzilla, Toho moved into making an animated entry set in the distant future where humans have long abandoned Earth and plan to come back and reclaim it from Godzilla. Once again the canon of the franchise was restarted to produce Toho's ninth timeline which received mixed responses with many enjoying the representation of Godzilla but not being keen on the human characters.




Did the shift to animation add anything to the formula?

[CMcK]

I started watching that Netflix series but it was so dull I just gave up with it.

[briareos_kerensky]

The animated trilogy is dull, boring, uninteresting. The first movie is a setup for the upcoming episodes, and feels incomplete in all its parts.
Going forward to the second movie...I have very little memory of it.
The third movie is the best of the bunch, but that's not saying much. It's a somewhat competent ending to an otherwise forgettable trilogy the bring very little to the franchise.

The scifi setting and the idea of Godzilla being so destructive and large to debase all of humanity and friendly aliens is not without merit, but it's badly executed, with characters doing bad decisions just for the sake of it, and characters themselves not having much of a personality.

Godzilla Singular Point is much more interesting and well executed, but that's not a movie and it doesn't count.

[QualityChimp]

I can only write one essay a day, Neon!

Right, Kong: Skull Island is brilliant.

There's an interview with Quentin Tarrantino where he explains that his movies exist in two universes - the "real" and the "movie" universes.
“There is actually two separate universes,” he explained to The Project. “There is the realer than real universe, alright, and all the characters inhabit that one. But then there’s this movie universe. So From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill, they all take place in this special movie universe. So when all the characters of Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, when they go to the movies, Kill Bill is what they go to see. From Dusk Till Dawn is what they see.”

I really like this idea that some films can just be the sheer joy of taking the medium of cinema and just pushing it to fantasy levels.
I recently watched RRR and this felt the same way, where one cop fighting an entire crowd or a tiger is absurd, but if you think of it like a movie in a movie, that extra level of intensity makes it acceptable.

The same goes for Kong.
I have to admit that I started falling asleep in the cinema at the start because I stay up too late all the time, then a tree was flung at a helicopter and I was startled awake and I was 100% onboard for the rest of the film.

I like the characters and the total abundance of threats on the island.
I like how they give Kong some character without having to get the characters to give him exposition every 2 minutes "he's eating bananas because he's hungry."

Mainly, though, it's a visual feast and is a real treat in 3D.



Bonus points for this excellent Japanese poster!