Godzilla Is Relevant

When it was announced that the 2014 Godzilla movie would be released in cinemas later than any other country (July as opposed to May), I flipped my shit. I didn't think I could wait two months. As a child, Godzilla was my hero, odd as it is to say. And while it's hard to relate to a man in a giant lizard rubber suit, I genuinely tried. Looking back now, I can see I was just one kid in many in the grand scheme of things. A very large amount of those movies were totally marketed for kids, before they were turned into rather mindless action movies.

 There was an exception! The first film, released in 1954, is astounding even
to this day. No one really thinks of it anymore, but the whole thematic for Godzilla was that mankind created him and unleashed him upon the world, and that his one purpose was to leave destruction and death and radiation in his wake. If it sounds like I'm talking about nuclear weaponry, then we're right on the same page. That's right, the 1954 film was an allegory about the tragedy that is nuclear warfare. All you have to do to believe it is look at the scenes during which the characters walk through overflowing hospital grounds, filled with the dead or the dying - the direct aftermath of Hiroshima in a nutshell.

 In truth, I was hoping the newest movie would share similar themes. It doesn't, not truly, though it's hard not to wince a little bit at the sight of a nuclear reactor crumbling and the tsunami scene. If this iteration of Godzilla's saga were made in Japan, that might not have flown, but for Legendary Pictures, it's pretty much fair game.
 And although it's a fair criticism to make that the titular monster shows up pretty late in his own movie, my, what a presence he has when he does. The first time Godzilla roars, it's hard not to feel like the ground is actually shaking. It also helps that the cameras are placed near ground, as if we're looking up at the action. All in all, everything seems so much bigger.

 Legendary Pictures' film is more of a sci-fi movie than any of the previous films, and there's genuine effort put into making this story of giant monsters stomping on cities believable. It's worlds apart from the pseudo-science of the previous generations' Godzillas ("ooh! that alien looks suspiciously like a Japanese guy in spandex!") After looking it up, it turns out that the fighting patterns of large animals such as bears were integrated into the way Godzilla moves in order to add an extra degree of realism to the creature. With that on top of the movie boasting the incredible CGI it does, we've come quite far from the people in costumes punching each other on top of model cities.

 One last thing before I spoil too much, is that I have to mention the brilliance of the HALO drop scene that appeared in so many of the trailers, where soldiers parachute down in the ruins of San Francisco. That scene could've been replaced with nothing but the soldiers jumping out, and then fast-forwarded into them landing. Following one soldier through the whole drop, though, does so much to put the viewer right into the action on top of allowing the camera, usually on ground level, to see the creature from above, where its size can really be put into perspective when measured against the surrounding skyscrapers. And the tension is so palpable.