"Godzilla" and The Critics

by Armand Vaquer

Above, "the King's" statue in Hibiya. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Comic Book Movie.com has snips of the "first wave" of reviews of the Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. Godzilla.

For the most part, the critic reviews are generally favorable to the movie with the biggest kudos going to the cinematography, the monsters and the movie's ending. Most are saying that Godzilla put back the "awe" in "awesome" and that the film will satisfy the monster fans.

In a nutshell: "It delivers!"

On the negative side, the consensus among critics are that the characters aren't "fleshed out" as well as they could be or that they are superficial. Well, who goes to monster movies for fully fleshed-out characters? The Godzilla movie with the best-developed characters of all has to be the 1954 original.

Still, this Godzilla is a "marked improvement" over the 1998 Sony/TriStar Godzilla.

What hurt some of Toho's "Millennium" series of movies was that the characters they came up with had "personal issues" that were more annoying than moving forward the plot. The two that stand out as suffering the most from this were the Mechagodzilla movies, Godzilla x Mechagodzilla (2002) and Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003) (the second one being the worst).

I will quote one critic whose comments are in the article (chosen at random):

DEN OF GEEK: "Most Creative & Striking Summer Blockbuster We’ve Seen In Years"

"This new Godzilla lacks the sense of despair present in Ishiro Honda’s 1954 original. But in its place is something relatively fresh in films such as this: an absence of cynicism. There’s an underlying theme in here about parents protecting children, and of people simply trying to do the right thing in the face of disaster. In Edwards’ reading of Godzilla, there isn’t necessarily any such thing as good or evil. There’s merely humanity and nature, with the former standing awe-struck in the destructive presence of the latter. Most importantly, Godzilla himself emerges just as he should: a bellowing, powerful force; a true king of the monsters." - Ryan Lambie

If you are interested in seeing what the other critics are saying, go to the link at the beginning of this blog post.

Huffington Post: "Godzilla's Secret History"

by Armand Vaquer

Poster: Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros.

Back in 1998, the TriStar Godzilla (commonly referred to by fans as G.I.N.O. (Godzilla In Name Only)) was released to much-deserved bad reviews by critics and fans. At that time, before the movie was released in May of that year, very little, if anything, was mentioned about the backstory of the Godzilla character in Japan.

This year, with Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. Godzilla will hit theaters on May 16 and the media is paying more attention as that release date nears. The media is also taking a look at what led to Godzilla as a stand-in for the atomic bomb. This is very gratifying to see. I don't remember any articles even discussing this aspect 16 years ago.

The Huffington Post has a good article on "Godzilla's Secret History" which fans should take a look at and steer non-fans over to read it. They acknowledge that the Gareth Edwards-directed film will be getting Godzilla back to his roots. That couldn't be said of the Matthew Broderick debacle of 1998.

Here's the first paragraph for a taste on what the article says:

Godzilla is a multicultural icon. If there was a Coca-Cola commercial featuring monsters that sung the national anthem, he'd be singing his part in a mixture of English and Japanese. He's been terrorizing Tokyo for longer than Disneyland has been around. Over the span of 60 years, he's battled Earthlings, space monsters and robots, spawned offspring and chased Matthew Broderick, all while belting out the most iconic roar in film history. He's appeared in 28 Japanese films, a 1998 American film and an upcoming 2014 reboot, countless comic books, novels, video games and TV. That's an astounding feat of sustainability. The daikaiju has nestled in our hearts (and nightmares) carving out a permanent place in the annals of entertainment lore. But even more astounding is Godzilla's secret past. Where did Godzilla come from, and why? In anticipation of Godzilla 2014 hitting theaters May 16 (directed by Gareth Edwards, and starring Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen and Ken Watanabe), here's a brief guide to the monster's origin story. The truth may actually blow your mind. 

Above, the bow of the Lucky Dragon No. 5. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The article won't blow fans' minds, but it does give a good history of Godzilla that fans can pass on to friends who haven't a clue on what the Godzilla character was really all about.

The Lucky Dragon No. 5 story is a major part of the article.

To read "Godzilla's Secret History," go here.

Legendary Pictures Pushing "Godzilla" At Comic Con

by Armand Vaquer

Legendary Pictures' Godzilla push at this year's Comic Con has generated a lot of media buzz.

The buzz continues at Forbes.com:

With the Godzilla experience and a panel at Comic-Con’s giant Hall H, the studio is giving Godzilla the full court press. Legendary is now moving from Warner Bros. to Universal where it won’t have access to the DC Comics characters that have helped make Legendary so successful. Instead, Legendary head Thomas Tull will have to work on finding new material that he can translate into huge franchises. If Godzilla is a hit it will certainly turn into a franchise and one with lucrative merchandising and spin-off potential. It could even result in a real theme park ride akin to the Godzilla experience at Comic-Con. If the film is a flop, Tull will have to keep looking for the next big thing.

The article laments the good word-of-mouth for Pacific Rim hasn't translated into more people flocking to theaters to see it. So far, it has earned $110 million at the box office. They wonder if the 2014 Godzilla will suffer in the same way.

However, there is a big difference between the two. Pacific Rim is a new concept in the U.S. (although it is more "old hat" in Japan) with flashy special effects. Godzilla, on the other hand, is an established character with a built-in fan base. If the Godzilla word-of-mouth is favorable next year, it could make the difference between failure and success.

The 1998 TriStar Godzilla did make money, but the poor reviews (deservedly so) ended up causing the movie be less successful than it could have been.

From what I've seen so far, Legendary Pictures appears to be treating the character as it should be: as a nuclear terror. TriStar treated it as a joke. From what little we've seen of the Godzilla design, it appears to be undoubtedly Godzilla (I like how the fans are saying it looks "majestic" and "massive"). TriStar's was nothing more than a mutated iguana who eats fish and lays eggs. It didn't look like Godzilla and didn't act like Godzilla. Legendary seems to be "doing it right" this time.

We have a year to go before we see how it all pans out.

To read the Forbes article, go here.

What The Fans Want To See In An American Godzilla

What The Fans Want To See In An American Godzilla

Opinion by Armand Vaquer

The late George Putnam used to have his "one reporter's opinion" pieces on current events and politics. Well, here's mine on Legendary Pictures' Godzilla.

After settling down from taking care of some banking and buying a new microwave oven, I sat down and perused the news reports on Legendary Pictures' announcement of their planned Godzilla co-production (with Warner Bros.) that is slated for a 2012 release.

The wire service Reuters carried the story and this quote was included:

"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be able to create a modern epic based on this long-loved Toho franchise," said Thomas Tull, chairman and CEO of Legendary. "Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop-culturally relevant for as long as it has."

This gives me hope that the new American version of Godzilla will stay true to the character. Obviously, the Sony/TriStar Godzilla from 1998 was not what the fans hoped to see. Fans are still smarting over that one.

If you were to ask fans on what they'd like to see, they'd say that, 1.) Godzilla has to be recognizable as Godzilla. They wouldn't quibble over some tweaking of the design here and there (as long as it looks "cool"), but the design has to look like a credible Godzilla to make it work for them. 2.) Godzilla has to be the nuclear terror that serves as a metaphor for The Bomb or war itself. 3.) No campiness! Camp humor and nuclear terror are not a good mix. Keep it serious. No Siskel and Ebert lookalikes or actresses who can't convincingly cry, thank-you! 4.) A good storyline. If Godzilla is to appear in America, there has to be a good reason (plot-wise) for him to do so. Make a scary giant monster movie. It can be done, Cloverfield proved that! 5.) The special effects have to be top-notch. TriStar's special effects in their 1998 film were good, but some were not so hot (like the CGI baby Godzillas in Madison Square Garden). The effects have to be realistic and dazzling to the eyes. 4.) More screen time for Godzilla. The TriStar misfire had Godzilla disappear for a long stretch. If a company is willing to pay for the rights to use the character, then USE the character! 5.) If Godzilla is to be killed off at the end, don't make it happen so easily as TriStar did (a few missiles from fighter jets, c'mon!). His demise has to be extraordinary. Better yet, don't kill him (think sequel). 5.) As a fan, I want to see an American Godzilla movie that I can point to with pride and be able to tell people, "Hollywood finally got Godzilla right this time!"

Some fans would like to see Godzilla fight another monster. I am against this for one reason: they need to concentrate on getting the Godzilla character right. If they succeed, then they can do a monster vs. monster story in a sequel.

To see the full Reuters story, go here.

It's Aliens vs Humans In Peter Jackson's District 9

Written By: Ken Hulsey

With so many good horror movies being made these days, it is not too surprising that a really good looking sci fi movie was able to sneak in under our radar.

"Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson has been working on a good old sci fi epic, which until very recently, has been kept under pretty tight wraps, called "District 9". The film is about a group of alien refugees who are held against their will in a prison camp in South Africa.

The trailer for this one is quite impressive. It looks a lot like "Terminator" and "Transformers" mixed in with a good chunk of "Alien Nation." Unlike "Alien Nation", however, the aliens in this one haven't come to settle in with us humans. In fact both the insect-like refugees and the human powers that be seem to be doing everything in their power to keep each other segregated. It is easy to gather that 'racism' and 'prejudices' are the underlying themes to this one. Certainly the choice of the location for "District 9", South Africa, is a big giveaway in that department.

Jackson is serving as producer on "District 9", the directing duties were given over to Neill Blomkamp, whose short film, "Alive in Joburg" was the main inspiration for the production. In fact just about every facet of Jackson's film comes directly from the prior short.

Here is the film's synopsis:

"District 9" is the tale of extraterrestrial refugees stuck in contemporary South Africa.

It's been 30 years since the aliens made first contact, but there was never any attack from the skies, nor any profound technological revelation capable of advancing our society. Instead, the aliens were treated as refugees. They were the last of their kind, and in order to accommodate them, the government of South Africa set up a makeshift home in District 9 as politicians and world leaders debated how to handle the situation.

As the humans begin to grow wary of the unwelcome intruders, a private company called Multi-National United (MNU) is assigned the task of controlling the aliens. But MNU is less interested in the aliens' welfare than attempting to understand how their weaponry works. Should they manage to make that breakthrough, they will receive tremendous profits to fund their research. Unfortunately, the highly advanced weaponry requires alien DNA in order to be activated. When MNU field operative Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) contracts an unusual virus that causes his DNA to mutate, the tensions between the aliens and the humans intensifies.

Wikus is the key to unlocking the alien's technology, and he quickly becomes the most wanted man on the planet. Ostracized and isolated, Wikus retreats to District 9 in a desperate bid to shake his dogged pursuers.

"District 9" looks like the good old kind of sci fi a lot of us have been craving for a while. A good combination of top-end special effects and a thought provoking story. There seems to be a lot to savor here, great looking alien creatures, great looking alien and human tech and machines, including what look like cool robot designs.

The marketing machine for "District 9" has just begun getting into full swing. Trailers and adverts are starting to pop up just about everywhere in preparation for the film's August 14th release.

Check out this cool MNU website that has been set up by Tristar - http://www.d-9.com/

Here are a couple of pics and the trailer for "District 9":