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About Godzilla
The original Godzilla, which made its debut in 1954 under the direction of Ishiro Honda, managed to attract attention not only in its home country of Japan but all over the world. In short, the production in question, which can be seen as a monster movie attacking the big city, does not deserve such a simple definition. The change of the original name Gojira to Godzilla was due to a translation error. Godzilla is a symbol representing mother nature. It is as if humanity's destructive and uncaring attitude towards nature is the reason for Godzilla's emergence. Our monster has mutated as a result of chemical pollution and radioactive weaponization. Godzilla is the counterpart of the prediction "If you mess with nature, the result will be destructive"...
Another detail about the film is that there were two versions of the original 1954 production. To make the work more internationally recognized, additional scenes with American actors were added to the second version of the film and this version was released across the ocean. Godzilla was naturally compared to America's famous monster King Kong. The reason for the emergence of these two creatures, representing the power of nature, was similar. It was an exciting experience for the audience of the period to encounter this production, which contained technical tricks that had not been tried until then. The movements of Godzilla, who was tried to be animated by wearing a heavy latex costume, were quite cumbersome. The technical details in the production, except for Godzilla's costume, do not stand out too much even today. A miniature city was built to show the majesty of the monster. The physical characteristics of the giant creature were its resemblance to a lizard and the sharp, long, bone-like protrusions on its back. These protrusions acted as reactors and provided the necessary power for the flaming beam that emanated from the creature's mouth.
Even though Godzilla symbolizes the dark power of nature, it is hard to say that the series has resorted to symbolic and philosophical narratives. Although the first production was not very close to b-type cinema, the later works were part of the category of b-type films. In the sequels, our creature continued his battle with different creatures, giant robots and aliens as well as humans. But the most interesting movie in the series was King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). It was a tragically unique experience to have these two constantly compared creatures in the same movie. The movie was a complete disaster. The meeting of these two giants symbolizing two different countries was a metaphor. Godzilla himself was taking revenge on Japan for America's wartime nuclear attack on Japan. We can also see King Kong vs. Godzilla as "Japan vs. America". The work was one of the weakest links in the Godzilla series.
For Japan, which quickly recovered from the nuclear attack it suffered in World War II, the Godzilla films were a cinematic vindication. Especially the commercial success of the first production had a positive impact on the future of the country's cinema. The biggest factor that led to the emergence of the creature was the wartime nuclear disaster in the country. Although the creature was a symbol of the destructive power of nature, it was a monster that America had unknowingly created. As in the case of Frankenstein's Monster, in King Kong vs. Godzilla, America was the victim of a monster of its own creation. Godzilla movies did not pursue political discourse much after the first movie. The main purpose of this creature created by war was to be a box office monster. Godzilla movies, the pride of Japanese cinema, also tried to give environmentalist messages. This majestic monster of Japanese cinema has also managed to become the golden child of b-movies.
It would not be a surprise if this monster living happily in the B-movie world would one day appear in Hollywood. Handed to Roland Emmerich, best known for Independence Day (1996) about an alien invasion, Godzilla was the biggest cinematic flop of 1998. Even veteran actors like Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno and Hank Azaria couldn't save it. The creature's design was bad and very different from the original. The superficial characters, the militaristic approach and the lack of the dynamics that make Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla caused the audience to have a negative attitude towards the production. For Emmerich, it disappointed those expecting another Independence Day success.
After this failed attempt, Hollywood did not look favorably on a new Godzilla project for a long time. In 2010, Monsters, made on a very low budget, was a real success. With similar subtexts to District 9, the real monster was humanity. Creatures that mutate as a result of microorganisms from extraterrestrial microorganisms and resemble giant octopuses begin to pose a threat to humanity. States have built giant levees to separate the area where humans and the creatures live. The approach of alienating races that are different from oneself is the biggest subtext of the work. Towards the end, we learn that the creatures do not kill people arbitrarily and only show aggressive behavior when they are under threat. In the movie, which has the atmosphere of a road movie, director Gareth Edwards did an original job.
It was a good choice to bring Edwards back to the last Godzilla project in 2014. Based on the first production in 1954, Edwards brings us a Godzilla that sticks to its roots. The original design of the creature is not changed too much in this new production, which offers a fun spectacle and good direction. Gareth Edwards has a great command of his camera and is good at capturing the majesty of the hundred-meter behemoth. We are faced with the biggest Godzilla we have ever seen. It's a nice bit of nostalgia as it is true to its origins and continues the legacy of the first movie.
The director repeats the same environmental messages here and symbolizes Godzilla as the protector of nature. The opening scene includes a short documentary about the monster's appearance in Japan during World War II and how the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was actually meant to stop the creature. In the production, our monster fights two threatening kaiju and takes a pro-nature stance. Featuring great actors such as Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe and Juliette Binoche, the movie was not the biggest blockbuster of 2014, but it was not a loss-maker either.
Productions with monsters, creatures and aliens in their content easily find a place in commercial cinema and have no trouble attracting an audience. However, it is an undeniable fact that such productions are similar to each other due to some clichés. Even if they achieve high commercial success, they are likely to be forgotten in a short time. Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim (2013) and Edwards' interpretation of Godzilla are new creations that try to take a different stance from these clichéd and stereotypical monster movies. After watching the 2014 version, Edwards, who we felt was left free in the production process, was able to create his own personal movie. The scene where the soldiers parachute from the plane into the city and the different interpretation of the stereotypical school bus stranded on a bridge are among the cinematic flavors we miss...
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