Top Ten Things I want
to see in Godzilla 2014
It’s probably obvious to you (the readers) that I’m pumped
to see Big G return to theaters, and you may be wondering what I hope to see
(and not see, for that matter) in the new film. Instead of doing a full movie
preview/prediction piece on the new Godzilla,
I’ve decided to take a brief look at the ten things I really hope are in the
May 16th release, as well as things I really hope are left out. This
list is in no particular order.
10. Don’t make
Godzilla the hero
Godzilla started out as a villain. Created by nuclear
testing and woke up from his million years slumber, Big G was a representation
of humankind’s disrespect for nature and for each other. The destruction of
Japan was not his fault: it was humankind’s doing, because we made Godzilla and
he was karma coming back to bite us all on the ass. Later Godzilla movies threw
this notion out and made him a good guy who defends Japan from other threats.
Any Godzilla fan will tell you the best films featuring the mega monster are
the ones where he’s stomping cities and fighting other kaiju, but not concerned
about whether the puny humans live or die. When he’s fighting off monsters to
protect Japan, it’s not as exciting. I think the new Godzilla will primarily have the monster as an enemy to humankind,
but the inclusion of another giant monster may mean Big G will reverse roles by
the end and save the world from this other threat. Hopefully he just beats the
crap out of it, wrecks a lot of stuff, a lot of people die in the process, and
he moves on. If the “saving the earth” part is any more than coincidental, it’s
going to kill the image of Godzilla as a bad guy again, which will be very
disappointing.
9. The military is
useless, but still tries
I don’t know how many times the army has fired missiles at
Godzilla, but every time it proves futile. I Maybe they all have amnesia and keep
forgetting what missiles do to him, or they’re so scared they just keep
shooting him in futility, but they never throw in the towel until every shell
has been fired and the air is thick with smoke. Even though it’s almost cliché,
it’s also a trademark of any good Godzilla
film that the military at least tries to kill or injure or even deter Big G
with their useless artillery. From what I’ve seen in the trailers, it looks
like the military is going to make a decent attempt, but I’m pretty sure the
outcome will be the same as usual. I really hope they learned from the mistake
made in the first American Godzilla
movie attempt in 1998. Godzilla does not
die from missiles, get it right damnit!
8. Make the
characters likeable...
Matthew Broderick was great as Ferris Bueller. Why they
thought he would be right for the role of a nerdy yet cool yet heroic scientist
who specializes in nuclear radiation and can somehow save the day from
Godzilla’s attack is beyond me. All the supporting characters in Godzilla 1998 were as forgettable and
unlikeable as he was, and the actual focus on Godzilla himself was surprisingly
limited. Please, don’t make the same mistakes twice. In Godzilla 2014, it looks like Aaron Taylor-Johnson will be playing a
soldier and is the main character, and Bryan Cranston will be playing a
scientist/his father. Bryan Cranston is definitely the actor I expect will give
the best performance here. Another actor besides Cranston I’m excited to see is
Ken Watanabe, who has played some great characters in films such as Inception and The Last Samurai. It’s also nice to see a Japanese actor in a
Japanese-inspired film. The cast for Godzilla
seems promising, but...
7. ...but don’t make
them too important
Let’s not forget who the real star is. I don’t mean to
disrespect any of the actors in this film, but I doubt many people are going to
see Godzilla just because Aaron Taylor-Johnson
or Elizabeth Olsen will be in it. It’s called Godzilla: he’s right there in the title, so he better be in it for
a decent portion of the movie. Having Bryan Cranston in the cast may prove to
be a big draw for anyone who was skeptical about this movie to start with.
Thanks to the huge popularity of Breaking
Bad, Cranston has become a household name, and it’s clear he recognizes a
good script when he sees one, which makes me think Godzilla will prove to be a well written monster flick. However, I
would be disappointed if director Gareth Edwards takes the same route he did
with his film debut Monsters, which
was a giant monster movie focused on the human characters with the monsters
merely in the background. This brings me to my next point...
6. Show Godzilla and
what he can do
In Monsters, the
giant monsters only made a handful of appearances. The cgi used to bring them
to life was flawless, so I have no worries about the visual effects looking bad
in this one like they did in 1998’s Godzilla—especially
after seeing some brief samplings in the trailers. What I am concerned about is
Godzilla actually being at the forefront of the action. I wouldn’t mind having
a ground view of the action, where the camera follows the characters around on
street level while all the destruction takes place, but I also really want to
see those wide shots of Godzilla stomping through the city and blowing stuff
up. It’s hard to tell, based on the promotional material and previews, how much
of Godzilla we are actually going to see. One interview with Bryan Cranston
worried me, when he said Godzilla’s presence will be known and felt, even when
he isn’t always being seen. I may be getting too worked up over nothing. Having
avoided much in the way of clips and extended trailers, I may just be unaware
of the action that’s already been shown, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised.
5. Don’t reinvent the
wheel, or Godzilla
Godzilla 1998 made
a lot of mistakes, but a big one was the look of Godzilla. Beyond the most
basic details, the monster in that movie looked nothing like the traditional
Japanese creature we all knew. The design of the new Godzilla is much more
faithful to how he usually looks, but it’s different enough to feel distinct
and unique. Generally speaking, I like it, but there are some details I don’t
care for. The one that bugs me the most is his dog-like snout. His head appears
too small compared to his body at some points, and his dorsal spikes are too straight.
I’m looking way too far into this, I know, but something we’ve yet to see in
any of the trailers is his atomic breath. In every Godzilla movie except the 1998 American one, Big G has fiery breath
that incinerates anything and everything. Over the years it has undergone
alterations in colour and strength, but the idea remains the same. 1998’s Zilla
didn’t have atomic breath, which was a huge letdown. Even though this new Godzilla is going for a more realistic
approach, they’re still including his atomic breath ability. I’m looking
forward to seeing if it’s like 1954’s Godzilla,
which was more like a mist than a beam of light, or something different
entirely. Whatever the case, hopefully all of Godzilla’s trademarks aren’t
altered too much (I’m still not sure if I like the new roar or not).
4. Don’t just throw
in a new monster at the last second
In the past, when a new enemy of Godzilla shows up, there’s
often a lot of setup to show how the new monster came to be, what it’s capable
of, and what kind of a chance Godzilla has against it. Over the years, because
Godzilla became self explanatory for the most part, more focus was given to the
new monsters and Godzilla simply showed up to fight them. With remakes and
reboots, filmmakers seem to think we need to see it all over again and hear how
Godzilla came to be, what he’s capable of, blah-blah, etc. etc. What I would
rather see is the new monster gets a proper introduction. In 1998’s Godzilla, there wasn’t even another
monster for him to fight, but this time around there is Mutos, which I know
next to nothing about. I’m hoping the filmmakers realize the general public understands
the essence of Godzilla and we don’t need a whole retelling of what he is and
what he does. Reintroduce the character as simply as possible, but still make
it make sense within the context of the film, then focus on what this Mutos
thing is, where it came from, and what it does. Don’t just shoehorn Mutos in so
Godzilla has something to fight in a flashy, extravagant final battle.
3. Is a decent
monster fight too much to ask for?
As has already been identified, the 1998 Godzilla had no other monsters in it.
Thus, there was no skirmish between Zilla and a radioactive rival. Something
that became a staple of the Godzilla
series as far back as the second film was to have Big G fight another monster.
There have been monsters with saws on their stomachs, monsters made of sludge,
monsters from space, monsters from the ocean depths, monsters from other
dimensions, monsters from the past, monsters from the future, monster dragons,
other monster dinosaurs, monster birds, monster lobsters, and the list goes on.
How Mutos will rank with enemies of the past is yet to be seen, but I really
hope he puts up a good fight against Godzilla. After last year’s Pacific Rim, which delivered spectacular
Kaiju-Jaeger battle sequences, the expectations for monster mayhem are higher
than ever. Godzilla 2014 might be
able to get away with being a good reboot for general audiences, but if the
movie is going to feature another giant monster—and a new one which looks
intriguing at that—then it has to feature at least one good battle between it
and Godzilla, or fans will walk away disappointed no matter how good all the
other aspects of the movie are.
2. Godzilla must be
unstoppable
Sixty years. Twenty nine films. Over two dozen enemies.
Thousands of missiles. And still, Godzilla is king of the monsters. The biggest
mistake made in 1998’s Godzilla was
the ending—although, looking back on the whole thing, it’s probably good they
killed off that imposter. The real Godzilla doesn’t die, especially at the
hands of the military. Obviously if this new Godzilla is a hit there will be sequels, and from what I’ve read
online and heard in interviews, it doesn’t sound like they plan on killing Big
G at the end. But on the off chance this Mutos monster kills the main Godzilla,
and a new Godzilla monster replaces him for the sequel, I will rage. Even if
the whole movie is terrific, if they end it with Godzilla dying, it will undo
every good thing that happened before. Godzilla doesn’t die! Not unless
they bring back the Oxygen Destroyer or Destoroyah can they kill him, and if
they do either of those things it’s probably going to suck.
1. Get the tone right
This might seem like the simplest thing that I’m hoping for,
but it’s also one of the most important things which the first American Godzilla screwed up so badly. Godzilla 1998 was all over the map. Very
little of the humour worked, certain attempts at jokes failed, there was zero
suspense, no horrific elements, and the action was largely improbable, even for
a Godzilla movie. The worst part: it didn’t feel
like a Godzilla movie. Just by
looking at the trailer for the new one, I get the sense that this is a Godzilla
movie. Is it a little too soon to make a call like that? Probably, but from
what I’ve seen so far, it’s clear the filmmakers behind this are trying to be
faithful to Godzilla and its roots as
a cautionary giant monster tale. What I’m afraid they might do is make it too faithful, or too serious. Take a
second to consider, a giant radioactive dinosaur walking through a city,
smashing stuff, blowing atomic breath, and fighting another monster of equal
size. In all honesty, it is ridiculous. Trying to make it a completely dead
serious film would be a mistake. It’s a delicate balance. Play it too straight
and too serious, and you lose a huge portion of the enjoyment. Play it too
loose and silly, and you lose any sense of realism or believability. I can only
hope Godzilla 2014 recognizes there’s
room for serious scenes of city destruction, carnage, and man against nature,
but there can also be some light moments, even in brief, and a chance to have
fun with it and give the fans what they want, much like Pacific Rim did last year. Having said that, I fully expect this to
be a dark, serious take on Godzilla, and I’m all for it, but I hope it finds
the right tone that hits home with audiences.
Godzilla (2014) image from www.hdwallpapermint.com
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