I just got back from watching “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.”
I won’t say much about it, as you should see it yourself, but what I can say is that it was a rather good film.
But at the same time, it got me to think about how Godzilla is portrayed in the film and the MonsterVerse in general. Sure, a lot of people love their big monster fight scenes, creatures bigger than any known organism that walked on earth, causing havoc on human civilization and disrupting ecosystems just to prove who is the strongest among them. But is that really all there is to the king of the monsters?
Take, for example, “Godzilla: Minus One,” a film that was released last year in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Godzilla series, created by Toho Studios. Not only does it go back to its roots of portraying Godzilla as an antagonist, but it also does a wonderful job in showing the humans of the film; giving them character, conflict, passion and depth, enough so that, at the climax of the film, we weren’t rooting for the big radioactive lizard to do what he does best, but rather the humans, the Nation of Japan, banding together to defeat a common enemy.
Now let’s go back to the MonsterVerse for a moment. Throughout most of the films, we’ve seen the same song and dance over and over again: A big bad Kaiju pops up, the humans have no idea what to do, Godzilla appears, the Kaiju fight and Godzilla wins victoriously. Done, the movie ends. As expected, we loved it. We loved seeing Godzilla on the big screen clawing and bashing down his enemies with tremendous strength, proving repeatedly to be the force of nature that humanity needs to even stand a chance against the skyscraping beasts. But we’re so blinded by the CGI battles that we often forget what made Godzilla great in the first place.
Let’s go back to the original Godzilla film, released in 1954. It was the first depiction of the iconic Kaiju, having been transformed into the monstrous fiend we’re familiar with after being exposed to radiation from hydrogen bomb testing performed by the United States. Created nine years after the events of World War II and the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings, it served as a warning for nuclear power and the consequences of what could happen should humans proceed with its destructive capabilities.
Now let’s look at Shin Godzilla, released in 2016. It depicted the radioactive lizard as a horrific nightmare of a creature as it attacked Japan while undergoing constant evolution. While it maintained the message of the dangers of nuclear power, it also served as a message of corruption in governments and their lackluster willingness to do what needs to be done for their people.
I believe that both America and Japan make great Godzilla films, each of which can show the iconic king’s best qualities. But while America is good at showing the physical fights, Japan does far better at showing both the internal and external conflicts humanity faces among themselves and the greater forces that threaten their civilizations.
Lee Cloward can be reached at [email protected]