Review: Godzilla
The big guy has returned. After the disastrous 1998 reboot starring Mathew Broderick and a toothless T-Rex, American filmmakers finally gave Godzilla the modern CGI, 3D treatment it deserved. The new Godzilla has spectacular visual effects, disturbing imagery of destruction, great action sequences, questionable science, and of course is very cheesy. As a fan of the franchise, I was entertained and think it stayed true to the original story bringing it into the 21st century. Whether the super-lizard has a place in the new century, is yet to be seen.
The human characters weren’t that interesting, as expected. The story is driven by the monsters. What really impressed me was that the filmmakers did not to use the seizure-inducing flashes of lights, rapid movements, and indecipherable combat sequences. In this movie, you can see exactly what is going on, and the monsters move like real animals. Seeing great cities torn down is strangely satisfying. It is also humbling when something from nature does it.
Godzilla is mostly fantasy. The creature is a daikaiju or “strange creature,” which places it in the same category as vampires or werewolves. Even in the original films, Godzilla was never treated as a natural organism. In some movies it is a mythical force, in other movies it was spawned from our abuse of science. It came into existence due to human’s use of nuclear weapons, waking it from his sleep.
The attempted scientific explanations for Godzilla’s size, power, and mere existence are ridiculous. The larger organisms become, the more energy required to keep them alive. To feed and maintain a creature of Godzilla’s size (about 300 feet tall), it would have to eat enormous amounts of food. There’s also the fact that there’s only one in most movies. Either it reproduces asexually (as the 1998 movie asserted) or the species can live extremely long periods of time and it is the last of its kind. Actually, large creatures can live long lives. There is one species of whale, the Bowhead, that some marine biologists believe can live 150-200 years.
Biology places limits on the size of creatures based on the limited resources available to keep it alive. Still, some creatures can keep growing. The anaconda continues to grow throughout its life. The longer it lives, the larger it gets, and more food it requires to maintain its size. If one could keep an anaconda alive for a long period, it could grow to Hollywood-size. Course, there’s no explanation as to how Godzilla has been kept alive.
As for genetic mutation from radiation, I couldn’t find anything to justify that one. There is no documented genetic mutation from nuclear radiation on the scale needed to create a creature like Godzilla. Usually genetic material is damaged by radiation, not altered in specific ways to enhance the organism. The mutations are usually fatal or deforming.
Okay, enough of the painful contorting of science to fit Godzilla. He is a fantastical creature with mythological origins. Some liken him to a god of destruction like Shiva, with no moral position other than to maintain a balance on Earth. When something is out of balance it awakens. The western world is more accustomed to benevolent deities who are our creators, governing the universe justly and compassionately. In the eastern world, there are many gods, deities, and spirits all with varying personalities, purposes, and abilities. Some are just and compassionate; some are not.
Godzilla is neither ally nor enemy of humanity. It simply “is.” Godzilla is from a time when the Earth was more radioactive (billions of years ago), fighting other monsters to maintain a balance in nature.
The movie plays on our fear of giants, ancient evils, and the excesses of modern science. Specifically, it plays on our fear of nuclear power. The monsters feed on radioactivity from our power plants and weapons (great metaphor!). We are responsible for their return. There is a distorted environmental and nuclear disarmament message here, but the movie never delves on it. The only direct message is that humanity does not dominate nature. There are still forces out there we cannot overcome. As we cross the line, nature will put us back in our place.
The movie has some very silly moments. In one scene, US navy warships travel alongside Godzilla within a hundred yards! None fire on Godzilla, just follow it. On land, soldiers seem to think assault rifles and pistols can hurt the monsters. There’s also a lack of shock and awe at the first glimpse of these creatures. Some look surprised and scared but others treat it like just another natural disaster. The Japanese expert on the monsters was a weird character with a goofy look on his face. Played by Ken Watanabe, the character says almost nothing and walks around with a surprised and confused look on his face throughout the movie.
All Godzilla movies are cheesy. For me that is part of the appeal. You have fantastic creatures with sad attempts to make it somewhat plausible. The creatures used to be guys in costumes hopping around sound stages. In a way, it was the Japanese version of the WWF. There were monster death matches in the middle of cities where we could see combat and destruction.
Oddly, Godzilla is both a devastator and sympathetic character. After destroying Tokyo there’s almost a remorse when it dies or retreats. Never mind the thousands killed, we kind of like the big guy and are thankful he killed the other monsters. The combination of horror, action, and comedy is most movie franchises can’t accomplish.
I give it 4 stars, but it is not for people who love hard science fiction. This is a monster movie with a modest attempt to add some science. The visual effects, 3D, and action sequences are beautifully done and are very striking. See it in 3D and IMAX.
J
The post Review: Godzilla appeared first on Jacob Foxx.
