MadCap's Trailer Reactions - "Godzilla"

Godzilla.  Everybody knows the name.  Even if, like me, you've never sat through one of the long running Japanese produced daikaiju (“giant monster”, for those of you reaching for your Google) films.  But we all know the iconic monster.  A towering behemoth, with an iguana-like face and body, a cowardly approach to facing off against the military, and a bizarre fixation with eating a lot of fish…okay, yes it's a cheap shot at the 1998 film.

Needless to say, when stacked against the actual towering behemoth, “Zilla” – as he is called by both Toho and the fanbase – really doesn’t stack up.  After all, the real Godzilla was more like a force of nature than any sort of animal.  Bred and mutated by nuclear fallout, this wasn’t some Jurassic Park reject.  Godzilla stands tall, muscled and powerful, ready to crush any that opposed it with the weight of its own body, smash through buildings with its tail, or burn enemies to a crisp with his atomic breath.  Nothing can stop it…and for the last ten years, it had thankfully lain dormant…but now…

…The King of Monsters comes roaring back to the American movie screen, to be combated by the United States military, Heisenberg, Ensign Pavel Chekov, and the Scarlet Witch (the real one.  No, FOX, I don’t care if your movie has Jennifer Lawrence in it, it’s still going to blow…).   First off, and I know this seems like a weird thing to point out but bear with me, I like how you never clearly see the titular monster. 

Eh, well...still looks terrifying...

Unlike, say Batman: Arkham Origins where we already knew who the Joker was and there was really no reason to hide the fact that he was in the game from the general public (not that they tried, or anything…), Godzilla comes to us from a joint Legendary Pictures and Toho effort after the last Godzilla film ten years ago, allowing them to give an air of some mystery back to the character…provided they hadn’t plastered him on the front of Empire magazine, revealing the new form of the creature and…oh, oops.

Not to say that it’s bad, I really do like the design, I just almost wish they would have taken a page from the advertising of the 1998 film and not have it clearly seen until the film premiered.  That being said, again, I love the look.  This looks very much like the terrifying beast that the original film first brought to the screen and definitely something to strike fear into the hearts of the wee humans that will be caught in the path of its destruction, and that’s one of the best parts of the trailer:  humanity is clearly making some efforts to combat the beast, but we see a lot of shots of the human protagonists simply staring on in terror at things just off-screen – presumably Godzilla and/or the destruction it has caused -   reinforcing something that the 1998 movie had just been unable to.

The fact that, no matter how hard we try, we may be facing a creature that even all the power and ingenuity of humanity will be unable to stop.  A terrifying, gargantuan beast that can cause the very Earth to crumble beneath its feet, and whose roar can cause the very pillars of Heaven itself to shake.  Yes, Virginia, the King of Monsters is indeed back…and it looks like the summer has yet another excellent blockbuster coming up…

But yes, the teaser itself gives us very little and yet just enough to whet out appetites for that film.  Besides the beginning dialogue spoken by the leader of a military strike team dropping on what looks to be a Godzilla-wrecked Manhattan, there is no spoken dialogue.  Simply a few quick scenes to be seen flashing by that, without context, can only really be speculated at the meaning of.

Until we got the extended trailer…

Protip, America.  When Heisenberg is telling you that you need to stop what the hell you’re doing, you had best do it.  We get to see more of the film to come, as well as Bryan Cranston bringing some awesome prophet of Doom narrations over scenes of destructions as he warns about humanity’s inevitable return to the Stone Age because of the monster.  We also get the realization that the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests (which inspired the Gojira films to begin with) were not tests at all, but an attempt to kill the creature.

…oh, yes.

And, of course, more of what we got from the trailer.  More almost reveals of Godzilla – the closest full shot we get being of its head as what appears to be bay doors on some sort of vehicle as it lumbers forward to cause more destruction.  Even the dialogue itself within plays up the whole “force of nature” aspect, claiming that humanity’s own belief that it can control nature is entirely wrong, and that maybe it’s been the other way around the whole time.  Really, I like that they’re playing up that angle, because it’s definitely more fitting with what Godzilla is.

When the King of Monsters comes roaring back to theaters on May 16^th, I think we’re all going to have an awesome movie to look forward to.

Godzilla is set to be released on May 16^th, 2014 by Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, and Toho Co.

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