Monsteriffic Movie Malevolence!
May. 19th, 2014 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaosvizierAbout a year ago, I noted that Pacific Rim was the movie that Godzilla movies were meant to be. So what happens when Godzilla 2014 tries to be the movie that Godzilla movies were meant to be (except for that Matthew Broderick debacle, Of Which We Shall Not Speak)?
Let's find out.
GODZILLA
The purpose of Godzilla is twofold. First, he represents the folly of mankind's foray into nuclear power and technology. This is born of Japan's rather heated and personal experience during the dawn of atomic weaponry - their culture has developed a strange aversion to it. The idea of a giant unstoppable monster created by nuclear experiments and leaving a path of destruction in its wake seems to represent their history with an adequate, if somewhat tyrannosaurian, metaphor, and provides us all with a moral warning: do not uncork the nuclear bottle, because the genie is fifty stories tall and very very angry.
Second, he represents the need that all humans harbor deep within their souls. That need is nothing less than to watch a giant tyrannosaurian metaphor stomp the holy hell out of everything in its path, be it a city, a town, an army, a country, another giant metaphor shaped like a moth, or any combination thereof. This is a primal need that has existed long before metaphors could be committed to film, but let's be honest: film really helps.
But storytelling exercises its own demands on our titular character. It would be a highly boring movie if our unstoppable metaphorical juggernaut did not have something to clash against, something to challenge its authority, something to seem even more fearsome. And so, Godzilla must do battle against other giant metaphors to assure his dominance over the Earth. And we, the puny human beings who are the collateral damage in the war of the gargantuas, can only fork over $10 at the theater and watch this drama come to its epic conclusion.
The plot: Godzilla and other monsters destroy a whole bunch of stuff. Surprisingly enough, New York City and Tokyo take zero damage.
The pros: The scale of Godzilla and his monstrous colleagues is clear and absolute: you know that you are watching towering behemoths, and the devastation they wreak on the cities around them is clearly visible. The destruction of Honolulu is especially noteworthy, starting with the tsunami and ending with a monster-sized walking trail drilled through the heart of the city. You feel the futility and the hopelessness as the human participants fail time and time again to come up with a solution, and you rejoice when, finally, the smartest person in the movie comes up with the right plan: "Let them fight." And Godzilla fans cheer when their stalwart hero lights up his spinal ridges and unleashes atomic justice from his gaping maw.
The cons: "Let them fight" should be the entire plot of this movie. There's about 45 minutes worth of human drama and whining and trauma and tragedy that could be cut in favor of, say, 45 minutes of Godzilla and two giant insects smashing up a few more cities. But that's probably more expensive to film, alas. Really, that's my only complaint, and that's only because I'm greedy and I want to see some more metaphorical monstrous muay-thai. A minor side complaint is that the trailer for this movie is full of lies and deceit. This is, of course, common for most trailers, but seriously. The ruined Statue of Liberty face? THIS MOVIE NEVER GOES NEAR NYC. Nice try, jerks.
The verdict: Yes, have some. Godzilla is a terrible movie if you are seeking Academy Award-winning theater. Godzilla is a much better movie when you sit back, relax, and enjoy the metaphor.
Note: When Godzilla is lying around all dead-ish and then gets better, I was reminded of our old friend the honey badger. Check out 2:50 onward. Look at that sleepy fuck.
Note: Godzilla's last kill is especially worthy. I admit: I cheered for this metaphor of hot lizard-on-insect smooching.
Let's find out.
GODZILLA
The purpose of Godzilla is twofold. First, he represents the folly of mankind's foray into nuclear power and technology. This is born of Japan's rather heated and personal experience during the dawn of atomic weaponry - their culture has developed a strange aversion to it. The idea of a giant unstoppable monster created by nuclear experiments and leaving a path of destruction in its wake seems to represent their history with an adequate, if somewhat tyrannosaurian, metaphor, and provides us all with a moral warning: do not uncork the nuclear bottle, because the genie is fifty stories tall and very very angry.
Second, he represents the need that all humans harbor deep within their souls. That need is nothing less than to watch a giant tyrannosaurian metaphor stomp the holy hell out of everything in its path, be it a city, a town, an army, a country, another giant metaphor shaped like a moth, or any combination thereof. This is a primal need that has existed long before metaphors could be committed to film, but let's be honest: film really helps.
But storytelling exercises its own demands on our titular character. It would be a highly boring movie if our unstoppable metaphorical juggernaut did not have something to clash against, something to challenge its authority, something to seem even more fearsome. And so, Godzilla must do battle against other giant metaphors to assure his dominance over the Earth. And we, the puny human beings who are the collateral damage in the war of the gargantuas, can only fork over $10 at the theater and watch this drama come to its epic conclusion.
The plot: Godzilla and other monsters destroy a whole bunch of stuff. Surprisingly enough, New York City and Tokyo take zero damage.
The pros: The scale of Godzilla and his monstrous colleagues is clear and absolute: you know that you are watching towering behemoths, and the devastation they wreak on the cities around them is clearly visible. The destruction of Honolulu is especially noteworthy, starting with the tsunami and ending with a monster-sized walking trail drilled through the heart of the city. You feel the futility and the hopelessness as the human participants fail time and time again to come up with a solution, and you rejoice when, finally, the smartest person in the movie comes up with the right plan: "Let them fight." And Godzilla fans cheer when their stalwart hero lights up his spinal ridges and unleashes atomic justice from his gaping maw.
The cons: "Let them fight" should be the entire plot of this movie. There's about 45 minutes worth of human drama and whining and trauma and tragedy that could be cut in favor of, say, 45 minutes of Godzilla and two giant insects smashing up a few more cities. But that's probably more expensive to film, alas. Really, that's my only complaint, and that's only because I'm greedy and I want to see some more metaphorical monstrous muay-thai. A minor side complaint is that the trailer for this movie is full of lies and deceit. This is, of course, common for most trailers, but seriously. The ruined Statue of Liberty face? THIS MOVIE NEVER GOES NEAR NYC. Nice try, jerks.
The verdict: Yes, have some. Godzilla is a terrible movie if you are seeking Academy Award-winning theater. Godzilla is a much better movie when you sit back, relax, and enjoy the metaphor.
Note: When Godzilla is lying around all dead-ish and then gets better, I was reminded of our old friend the honey badger. Check out 2:50 onward. Look at that sleepy fuck.
Note: Godzilla's last kill is especially worthy. I admit: I cheered for this metaphor of hot lizard-on-insect smooching.
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no subject
Date: 2014-05-21 06:37 pm (UTC)Also, that tired puppy look he gives the main character dude. Kind of like, "Dude, this sucks. I need a nap. Dumbass mating motherfucker moth monsters."
no subject
Date: 2014-05-22 06:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-25 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-27 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-27 11:17 am (UTC)...
*blinks*
*rereads*
...I
*backs away slowly*
no subject
Date: 2014-05-27 02:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-28 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-28 07:02 pm (UTC)