Godzilla: Classic Remake or Blockbuster Sellout

Hmmm, are we waving a sad farewell to the days of movies as an art form?

The latest cinematic debut, just in time for the Victoria Day long weekend, is yet another remake of the B-movie classic Godzilla. I’ve been seeing the television commercials for it for a few weeks now. A bellowing, enraged, Jurassic Park wannabe monster absorbs all the pixels on my TV screen.

Godzilla first roared onto cinema screens in 1954 and has reappeared dozens of times. Sixty years later it is back for another go-round – this time with big money behind it.

The motion picture studios are increasingly returning to the well these days to remake classic (I use the term loosely) movies. Comic book characters are one of their staples.

Spiderman is back on the big screen for at least the fifth time. We’ve seen numerous versions of Batman with a who’s who of actors portraying the caped crusader: George Clooney, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and Christian Bale. Christopher Reeves donned the tights and cape four times to portray the man of steel Superman.

I get that remakes and sequels are money-in-the-bank for the studios. I cannot fault them for going where the money leads them. But the resurrection (pardon the pun) of Godzilla feels to me like a blockbuster sellout. Surely there are better ways to pry money out of the pockets of movie goers than to scrap the bottom of the B-movie barrel.

I enjoy the experience of going to the movie theatre. It is a chance to take a break from the chaotic, always-looking-over-your-shoulder society in which we live these days. Slipping away into the make-believe world of cinema is a welcome escape.

But it is increasingly difficult to find movies that I actually want to see. My tastes run to mainstream, character driven dramas where gifted actors can spread their wings. I consider myself fortunate if two or three such movies find their way to the screen each year.

The motion picture industry, like any other, is about making profits for shareholders. But I would like to believe it is possible to do so and still have a modicum of integrity. Movies were once considered to be an art form. But those days seem to be slipping away from us.

Interestingly, I discovered that Godzilla was originally conceived, in the wake of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a metaphor for nuclear weapons. But the metaphor has been watered down over the years. The latest incarnation of the king of the monsters seems to me to be all about chasing the easy money.

I continue to hope that a few true artists are still holding on in the industry and fighting to have intelligent movies made. Otherwise, escaping into the theatre for a break from reality may not be an option for many of us much longer.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.