Normally, I would say this is a unique situation, but I've done comparison reviews about the Total Recall and RoboCop movies. However, what we've got here is still a little different. This time, we've got THREE movies with the same name. Godzilla. If it seems like I've been a Godzilla run recently, it's because my interest in Godzilla has skyrocketed with the recent release of the Gareth Edwards film. I recently picked up two more Godzilla movies, the 1998 film with Matthew Broderick and the original film, Gojira. Of the three films, one really feels out of place. Anyone who's a big fan of Godzilla will know exactly which movie I'm talking about. But I'll get to that later. Right now, I'm going to jump in with the original film, Gojira.
Gojira:
Gojira begins as a ship is returning home from a fishing trip when it's struck by a mysterious object and destroyed. As word spreads that the ship has sunk off the coast of Tokyo, another ship is apparently attacked. Unlike the first ship, this one has three survivors. They say it was a monster that attacked them. Later, during violent storm at night, a family is sleeping when the house begins to shake violently and collapses. In the morning, the authorities arrive to discover a massive footprint in the ground, and determine that a gigantic animal of some kind was responsible for the destruction. What they also discover is that there is radioactivity in the footprint, so they tell people to stay back because it's dangerous. One of the local fishermen says it's a god named Gojira who has come to feed on people.
Anyone who hasn't seen this one has more than likely seen some of the other Godzilla pictures: The cheesy, over-the-top films with wild monsters and visual effects. This one is not cheesy. In fact, it's played deadly serious. Here's why: The film was released in 1954, just nine years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by atomic bombs. This film was created as a response to those events, and as a cautionary tale about the horrors of nuclear weapons. For Japanese audiences, this was a particularly terrifying film.
The story is fantastic. There is a very palpable sense of dread and mystery that permeates the whole movie. What sunk the ships and destroyed the small fishing village? The answer is both fascinating and terrifying. A gigantic sea monster, apparently woken by nuclear testing, is apparently responsible. This being 1954 Japan, they didn't really have the luxury, time or resources to do stop-motion animation, like the Americans did with King Kong in the 30's. So, they had a guy get into a suit and stomp around miniatures. By today's standards, this looks particularly archaic, but in 1954, this style of film was state-of-the-art. The performances by lead actors, Akira Takarada and Akihiko Harata are great. Takarada plays Ogata, a photographer. Harata is a scientist who has created a potential super-weapon to counter Godzilla. The effects, while dated by today's standards, still sells the scale of the beast and how he rampages across Tokyo. Unlike the films that followed Gojira, this film is far more dramatic and really touches on how humanity reacts to a situation like this. The film definitely delivers on the destruction and mayhem, and it's use of miniatures is incredible. The creature's design was very unique in it's day and it's become iconic. Also, iconic is the beast's roar. Anyone who hasn't seen a Godzilla picture will still recognize that sound. It's a part of pop-culture now. Gojira has amassed an enormous following, and with 31 films out there, Godzilla's popularity shows no signs of slowing down.
There are a number of reasons why this particular is so important. One, it ushered in a new era of science fiction and gave birth to the Kaiju movie genre, which is the giant monster movies. We ended up with, Mothra, King Ghidora, and Monster Zero among others. There are a lot. And some of them ended up with movies of their own. Not only that, Guillermo Del Toro released Pacific Rim as love-letter to Godzilla in 2012. It was an impressive film. So, the original Gojira has influenced movie-makers over the decades in terms of visual effects. We see a lot of movies with monsters that have been inspired by Big G. Hell, even the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were influenced, with their gigantic monsters and robots going at each other. In other words, Godzilla is a cultural phenomenon cherished by millions of people all over the world. The other big reason why this film is important is the message it's trying to send about the use of nuclear weapons and the consequences of said weapons. When we dropped Fat Man and Little Boy on Japan, we knew they would be powerful, but we had no idea what the extend of the damage would be. During the film, we see footage of Tokyo in ruins and it is very reminiscent of the destruction that the Japanese had witnessed during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So, the question the movie asks, which is the real monster here? Is it Godzilla himself or is he just the symptom of a larger problem: the unknown dangers of using super-weapons? The main scientist who inadvertently creates a super-weapon to defeat Godzilla is actually afraid of what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands and used for the wrong reasons. There is a very serious moral implication about the use of these weapons, and you really don't see that in movies these days.
Overall, this is an incredible film. Yes, it has destruction aplenty, but it also comes with a message and a warning about nuclear weapons. While the following films would eventually forget the message in favor of spectacle, the original Gojira remains a landmark picture that needs to be seen by anyone with a remote interest in cinema. This monster of a movie gets a perfect 10/10.
Godzilla(1998)
Our film begins as a Japanese fishing boat is heading home during a storm, when it is suddenly and violently attacked by an unknown force. There is one survivor who keeps uttering the word "Gojira." Later, at Chernobyl in Russia, a scientist by the name of Nick Tatopoulos(Matthew Broderick), is studying irradiated earthworms that have grown to unusual sizes due to the radioactivity in soil due to the Chernobyl accident. He is later reassigned by Colonel Hicks(Kevin Dunn)to investigate what appears to be a giant footprint and the remains of the fishing vessel that was attacked earlier. Tatopoulos discovers that this creature was a result of nuclear testing and that the creature is making it's way to New York City.
I remember there was this HUGE hype about a new Godzilla movie being made. I knew it was being made by Roland Emmerich, the guy who directed Independence Day. The trailer that I posted above is absolutely fantastic and it really amped up the excitement for this movie. Toho, the creators of Godzilla had sold the rights to Sony Pictures in the hopes that maybe an American film company could actually deliver on a Godzilla picture. The result is a bit of a mixed bag. Don't get me wrong, it's a spectacular film with grandiose visual effects and size of the monster is impressive. The film is also loaded with big explosions and large action set-pieces that will definitely satisfy people who are into disaster movies. There are a few problems here that really did the film a major disservice. One: Emmerich jettisoned the original Toho creature design for something that looks like it came from Jurassic Park. It's essentially an overgrown iguana. This is NOT Godzilla. Two: The whole baby Godzilla subplot was completely unnecessary and silly. Three: Matthew Broderick is woefully miscast here. While he was absolutely fantastic in Ferris Beuhler's Day Off, he doesn't have the screen presence to carry a major action film like this. Four: The film accuses the French of being the ones responsible for this mess, and then relies on them to be the good guys later on. That's some really.....interesting writing. Five: This Godzilla doesn't actually breathe atomic fire like his predecessors. You can't have a Godzilla movie and NOT have him breathe fire. Yeah, there are scenes where he causes fire to be blown, but he doesn't create it himself, and it feels like they were tacked on to keep the fans at bay.
Here's what DID work: The visual effects are incredible. Utilizing a large budget, Emmerich definitely goes to town on wrecking New York City. The creature itself is actually impressive in scale. This is not a man-in-a-suit Godzilla. The explosions and the destruction are nothing short of impressive. The film is surprisingly well-paced with a pretty good sense of humor. It definitely does NOT take itself seriously. The secondary cast members are mostly amazing. Hank Azaria plays Victor "Animal" Palotti, a camera-man for a local news network. He's hilarious, especially when he nearly gets stepped on by the monster. His reaction is priceless. Harry Shearer is the sleazebag anchor, Charles Caiman. Shearer knows how to play creeps very, very well, and Caiman is definitely a self-absorbed cretin. He's fun to watch, though. Kevin Dunn gets to play the hard-ass Colonel Hicks, and does so very well. While most people remember Dunn from the Transformers movies as Shia LeBouf's father in those films, he really gets to be awesome in this one. The guy that really steals the show in this film is Jean Reno, who plays the French insurance/secret agent, Phillipe Roache. As much as the film dumps on the French for being responsible for Godzilla, the French guys are really fun to watch as they try to eat and drink American food and pretend to be American soldiers. The musical score by David Arnold really makes the film intense. The one thing the filmmakers did do right, was keep Godzilla's roar. They modified it a little bit, but it's been modified a little bit over the decades anyway.
This movie was intended to be the first in a trilogy of films, but it did so poorly and was not very well received, especially by Toho. They yanked the rights away from Sony, because of this movie and released their response, Godzilla 2000, two years later. I really can't blame them for making that decision. Roland Emmerich's choice to redesign Godzilla left a sour taste in the mouths of Godzilla fans around the world. When I first saw the film, I loved it. 16 years later, I still enjoy it. It's got amazing visual effects with a great secondary cast. The pace is intense the moment Godzilla hits New York. It's also got a great sense of humor. As a giant monster movie, Godzilla hits most of the right notes. What it gets right, it does very well. As a Godzilla movie, it fails miserably. It lacks the charm and the creature design of the previous films. With an annoying subplot involving baby Godzillas, combined with the not-so-hot performance of Matthew Broderick, the film just....flounders. It's a shame, too, because this could have been really spectacular, and the sequels could have been great.
After Toho reaquired the rights to Godzilla, they responded with Godzilla 2000, giving the world a proper Godzilla flick. In 2004, Godzilla Final Wars was released. In that film, we get to see the 1998 monster get obliterated by the actual Godzilla. That was a moment of sheer awesomeness. Don't believe me? Check it out:
I give the 1998 Godzilla an 8/10 as a giant monster movie. As a Godzilla movie: 2/10. It's Godzilla in name only.
Godzilla(2014)
Since I had already reviewed the latest Godzilla movie, I'll post a link to that review here. The latest film was released to theaters 60 years to the day that the original film was released in Japan. The marketing campaign for the new film was nothing less than incredible. When I first saw the teaser and the shadow of Godzilla himself, I was excited. When the film was released in May, it was astounding. I got to see it in 3-D. If there was a movie to see in 3-D this year, it would've been Godzilla. It was spectacular. If you want more details, check out my review in the link above. I want to shed some light on some of the criticisms that have been leveled against the new Godzilla. The main criticism is that there wasn't enough Godzilla in the movie. Here's the thing: The monster in the original film, which so many people loved, wasn't in the movie for more than 20-30 minutes at most. People don't complain about that, yet they complain about not enough Godzilla in the new one? The best Godzilla movies are the ones where he doesn't take up the entire screen time. It would ruin the final battle. When the big guy shows up, it's got to have an impact. Some of the near battles that you see throughout the film cut away so the anticipation for the final battle ramps up. Godzilla definitely delivers on that.
The other criticism is that the human characters are bland and not much use. I disagree. Bryan Cranston's character of Joe Brody really gave the human element a much needed depth and an emotional anchor that gives Ford(Aaron Taylor-Johnson)the motivation to protect the people he cares about. The human element in this film is just as important as the monsters. The original film had a very strong and obvious message about the dangers of nuclear weapons. The message is still there in this new film, but it's more subtle and behind-the-scenes. Godzilla 2014 is a damn good movie, and doesn't deserve the derision it's gotten. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but Godzilla is quite possibly one of the best action movies this year, and I believe it does right by the original film. It certainly corrects the misfire that was the 1998 Godzilla. Since the new movie did so well, a sequel is being planned for 2018. It is apparently going to include some of the classic monsters of the previous films, such as Ghidora. But it's too early to tell as information is scarce at this point. It hasn't even reached the script phase yet, so patience is required. But the King of the Monsters will be back. That's for damn sure.
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