![]() ![]() Mothra (1992) took an environmental stance, criticizing the greed and irresponsibility of a major corporation. While nuclear waste is still a significant concern, GvKG is largely an expression of Japanese anxiety over its global presence and future position. Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991) has a slightly propagandic intent in a plot that focuses on Ghidorah being sent back in time by a global coalition to destroy present-day Japan and prevent it from becoming the global superpower it will inevitably become. The first film The Return of Godzilla (1984) concerned itself with Cold War anxieties and a fear of repeated nuclear mistakes of the past. Almost every movie within this series, which rebooted with only the 1954 film as canon, matched monster crises to modern fears. This period of Godzilla films in which I am most familiar with, and which launched my love of the franchise, could be likened to the Modern Age of comic books as defined by writers like Frank Miller and Alan Moore. The late ’80s and ’90s saw Godzilla rebooted and this Heisei era brought on a darker consideration of the character along with new fears. And like those caped and costumed heroes, these giant monsters have seen their share of evolution and rebooting over the years in order to better reflect the society that relies on them. This art born of war, this new mythology, makes Godzilla and his fellow beasts of burden, like Mothra, Gamera and Rodan, not unlike the American superheroes who became a means for children and adults to process WWII and instill a sense of patriotism. “Thus, Godzilla transformed the trauma of war into fun - or art,” an evolution that places Dr. Godzilla becomes a beloved savior and ultimately a mascot,” Hoberman continues. Godzilla is a survivor, and perhaps there’s no better icon for post-WWII Japan than that. Hoberman says, “both destroyer and victim, the monster inspires terror and empathy - perhaps even admiration.” While there is a fair bit of schlockiness in the films of the Showa period, complete with a victory dancing and high-kicking Godzilla, there is also an interesting consideration of these kaiju in that many of them went from being feared to embraced as heroes in a novel reclamation of creatures that once were manifestations of national tragedy. In part because real people were used, the monster became sympathetic, even poignant.” “But Japanese audiences responded differently. “American kids may have found this ‘suitamation’ ridiculous - even as they loved it,” Hoberman says. It’s too often too easy for western audiences to dismiss Godzilla movies as schlock geared toward children who buy into men in rubber suits destroying miniature cities. Hoberman says, “In some ways, Godzilla was a patriotic movie - Japan’s postwar rebirth, economic miracle, and the reassertion of a national self in a supercolossal package…Godzilla was a way to imaginatively portray - and even exorcise - not just the atomic attack but also World War II in general, and to assuage more contemporary nuclear fears.” Yet, as time went on, Godzilla’s association with nuclear fears became lessened, or at least filtered through a different intent. In his essay “Poetry After the A-Bomb,” included in the Criterion release of Ishiro Honda’s Gojira (1954), J. His existence is inextricably Japanese, part of a cultural heritage that no other country can ever truly possess in the same way. His nuclear existence is the result of human cruelty and irresponsibility manifested as an allegory for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All hail the King.Godzilla has always existed at the intersection of science and myth. Let's hope humanity survives until then, because the idea of both Kings appearing in one movie with our current CGI technology sounds fucking bonkers. The so-called Legendary Pictures "MonsterVerse" is set to come crashing together in 2020, with the big team-up film, Godzilla vs. His abilities are very much in line with that of a gorilla, except many, many times the size. ![]() In this new canon, Kong originated as guardian of "Skull Island," and is about 100 feet tall. Kong first debuted all the way back in 1933, so he's set to turn 100 pretty soon. That film had an end credits tease that revealed the government organization "Monarch," who apparently had been tracking all these kaiju and keeping record of them over the years. The last time we saw this stadium-sized ape, he was towering over a Vietnam-esque island in the fantastic Kong: Skull Island of 2017. It is confirmed that, in this new iteration of Godzilla, Kong and the other monsters all exist in the same universe. We still don't know if we're going to see Big Daddy Kong in the upcoming King of the Monsters. King Kong patches up a wound in the 2017 Legendary Pictures reboot of the character, Kong: Skull Island.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |