Godzilla (2014)

I mentioned in the previous post that we're doing mostly American movies for a while now, and here comes the second one: the first time in this semi-chronological blog that we've done two movies in a row from a country that is not Japan. The Godzilla film from 1998 was, for a time, the only American made Godzilla movie, but this changed in 2014 when director Gareth Edwards brought us Godzilla (2014). It's a proper remake, essentially creating a completely new timeline for the character, without even any real reference to the original Gojira. Origin stories can be tough, often because they can feel so unnecessary, so this will be a fun exploration of whether Godzilla even needs origin stories at this point.

We're dealing with CGI kaiju these days, so the stars of this show are primarily Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ford and Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa. There's not a whole lot of background info to explore about this one except that it apparently took nearly 10 years to make and began as a short film. The producers, directors, and other creative minds on the film also apparently intended to replicate (but not copy) the look and feel of original Toho-created Godzilla. Rather than go for a "unique and new" American version of Godzilla (see Zilla), they intentionally built a Godzilla designed to resemble and blend into the Toho universe. I respect that. Last note: this MonsterVerse series, like Pacific Rim before it, is produced by Legendary Pictures.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- It's 1999, in the Phillipines, and main character Dr. Serizawa is investigating a collapsed cavern. Inside, they find the skeleton of some giant creature. Two parasitic spores are attached, one of which has already hatched.

- In Janjira, Japan, a nuclear reactor begins to meltdown. The family of dad Joe, mom Sandra, and child Ford are affected by this, primarily by Joe having to seal his wife inside the exploding reactor and watching her die (on his birthday!).

- 15 years later, Ford is a soldier who is called back to his former hometown of Janjira when his father is arrested after violating the permanent quarantine set up in Janjira.

- Ford and Joe are caught inside Janjira and arrested by Monarch, the organization Dr. Serizawa works for and apparently in charge of the quarantined area. Joe is ultimately proved correct when the cause of the nuclear reactor meltdown turns out to be the hatched spore from the first scene that has been feeding on the reactor for 15 years and now transforms into a giant monster they dub MUTO.

- As the MUTO destroys the facility in its escape, Joe is injured in the whole mess and dies. Ford is now left alone in Japan with his family in San Francisco. 

- The plot is explained to Ford: giant monsters including Godzilla exist in the world and the MUTO is just one such example. The MUTO was talking to something, which Monarch wants to find out and stop. If all goes particularly poorly, Godzilla will return to "restore order to nature."

- Spoilers: Godzilla comes back. After the MUTO makes a scene in Honolulu, Godzilla rises from the ocean and causes a tsunami. The two beasts argue very briefly before both leaving the area.

- Monarch tracks the monsters, Godzilla chasing after the MUTO after hearing its mating call. It turns out it is headed to Nevada after the other spore that was found in the original cavern. Despite being vivisected, analysed, and experimented on it appears that the other spore also survived and there is a second MUTO.

- Monarch is too late to do anything about it, and the second (larger, female) MUTO also hatches from her chrysalis and destroys Las Vegas as it heads toward its mate.

- After a plan by the military to destroy the 3 monsters off the western coast of the US fails (and only makes the MUTOs stronger), the 3 kaiju converge in San Francisco.

- With the warhead that was intended to kill the monsters being activated and now in San Francisco, Ford is sent in to help deactivate it before it destroys the entirety of the city his family is in.

- Ford attempts to get to and deactivate the warhead while Godzilla and the 2 MUTOs have a battle of the century. This is when the movie really gets online because we're here for motherfucking kaiju fights boi.

- While Godzilla is fighting both MUTOs and having a hard time of it, they are distracted when Ford and his team destroy the MUTO nest (and all of their eggs). This gives Godzilla an opening to finally unleash his Atomic Breath which briefly turns the tide before they unite against him again. 

- Godzilla smashes the male MUTO into a skyscraper, which kills the MUTO but also drops the entire building on top of himself, taking Godilla out alongside the smaller MUTO.

- With Godzilla downed, the female MUTO shifts her attention to the military, which she may or may not realize destroyed their nest. Ford and his team futilely attempt to fight back but almost everyone is killed when Ford finds himself face to face with the MUTO with nothing but a sidearm to defend himself.

- Fortunately for Ford, Godzilla rallies and sneak attacks, biting the MUTO on the neck before Atomic Breathing down its throat until its head detaches from its body. It's a badass move that is unique to this New American Godzilla.

- The next morning, Ford is rescued and Godzilla appears to have returned to land and died. As cleanup happens around him, Godzilla wakes up as Ford is reunited with his family. People are shocked Godzilla lives, but celebrate as he is given credit for saving the city.

- Godzilla roars in triumph as he heads back to the sea.

Kaiju Notes 

- Legendary Godzilla is a chunky little monkey and I love it. His feet are beautifully tender but thick as tree trunks, and he just looks somehow pissed off all the time but huggable. Most Godzillas in the past have had vaguely human proportions but this guy is built like a brick shithouse, all muscle and volume with no mind given to mobility. Lastly: Godzilla's roar is... awesome. It's not mimicry of anything Toho has used while also being something that seems respectful to it but unique to this version of the Big G. I am a very big fan of this Godzilla roar.

- The MUTO(s) is insect-like. It's not a particularly terrible design, but a bit uninteresting. With its sleek design, muted colors, and red visor-like eyes, it could also just be a robot and would look pretty much the same and give the same vibes. On the other hand, it is always nice to see a creature with an "unusual" number of appendages, whether that's Ghidorah's 3 heads or the MUTO's 8 limbs.

- The male MUTO is also much smaller than the female, being sleeker, smaller, and using the smaller size to have the ability to fly. He also has a very useful weapon in his EMP blast which he seems to have developed after absorbing nuclear radiation for 15 years. The female MUTO has a similar weapon, but more of a shield than a blast. It also appears to weaken Godzilla's Atomic Breath, somewhat crippling the Big G's greatest weapon.

- The female MUTO is big as hell, being nearly Godzilla's chunky size. She tremendous, like twice the size of the male, but lacks the wings (and therefore mobility) of her male counterpart. She also has an egg sac with dozens of prominent glowing eggs, so there's also the idea that far more than 2 MUTOs can be in the world if they're allowed to continue.

Godzilla is a somewhat complicated case. First things first: it's actually a solid movie. Downsides, however: it's pretty boring for the first 30-40 minutes. Until the first MUTO appears and especially once Godzilla appears, this is a movie weighed down by all of the exposition that has to be done to get it moving. I think this ultimately pays off, but mileage is definitely going to vary. Once the various kaiju appear things do pick up quite a bit and their scenes are all very cool, but before we see a big monster a part of me was thinking "can we do this already"?

But once the movie picks up? I think it's quite good. It's an excellent mesh of the human and monster stories, a balance which is always difficult to successfully navigate. Ford's journey to get home paralleled by Godzilla and the MUTOs battles is an effective storytelling choice that actually makes the human element a part of the story without being a complete distraction that pulls us away from what we actually care about. The last 40-50 minutes is fairly spectacular... spectacle, now focusing on the Godzilla vs MUTO action now that all the pieces are in place. There's no arbitrary wins or random coincidences that turn the tide of battle, and both Godzilla and the MUTOs appear dangerous to each other without having to make the other look weak. If kaiju battle is professional wrestling (and it is), this is a 4 star match easy. According to the director this is an intentional slow burn, and I believe it because it absolutely works for me, a true connoisseur of film.

One thing I appreciate about this movie is that the various monsters are forces of nature. No trying to understand the mind or humanity of Godzilla the Giant Lizard, or the MUTOs being remotely concerned about the impact their nest might have on San Francisco. MUTOs want to mate and possibly take over the world, Godzilla wants to stop and kill them. Easy to explain, easy to understand, easy to convey. When Godzilla first appears on land he literally floods an entire city, but this is entirely an accident or natural consequence of this big mofo coming out of the ocean. Even when the female MUTO wakes up and destroys all of Las Vegas, she doesn't actually target anything that's not immediately in her way. The wake of destruction behind her is a straight line: the monsters don't care about causing wanton destruction in either direction. This makes the monsters more like volcanoes than "characters," which is a characterization that I have always enjoyed and is typically lost more and more as the various kaiju series continue. Gojira Godzilla was this, but by Son of Godzilla he was somehow a loving father who just wanted to get along with humanity before shifting between his heroic and villainous personas as needed for the script. I love a giant monster that's just a giant monster.

I also enjoy that by the end of this movie the humans seem to understand the same thing as above. When Godzilla wakes up in the middle of a destroyed San Francisco he is actually cheered on by the people whose homes and businesses he helped destroy. It's not that they wanted him alive, most people would probably prefer that Godzilla died alongside the MUTOs he killed - it's better for property values at least. But he wasn't being malicious and he stopped the creatures that were more of an obvious threat: a tsunami that washed away the raging inferno. Both events are dreaded and horrible, but one is at least "helping" a situation it didn't cause. When Godzilla next appears on land people will flee, as they should, but at least they seem to realize that Godzilla is on their side, as much as a creature which doesn't run by the morality of humankind can be.

Godzilla is good. Which is good news, because this film is the beginning of the American MonsterVerse, with several connected films and sequels to come. If for some reason you can't bring yourself to watch foreign monster films, this would be an great place to begin a kaiju movie journey.

Next: Attack on Titan!