1st Godzilla 2016 Images

In case you hadn’t heard there’s a new Godzilla movie coming our way real soon.  I wouldn’t blame you for not knowing, the last one was only a couple of years ago and even though sequels come out quick these days there’s usually more of a gap than that, especially given all the production shenanigans now plaguing Legendary studios.  However, this new Godzilla film isn’t a sequel to the 2014 formula snore-fest with a better than expected ending, it’s a whole new Godzilla movie produced by Toho, the Japanese studio that invented the king of the monsters.  While none of the Godzilla films are objectively great movies the very achievement of Godzilla himself is pretty impressive, one of the truly modern pop icons that comes exclusively from the world of film. 

The entire genre of “giant monster movie” was more or less defined by Toho and it was Godzilla that helmed that flagship.  What’s more, a lot of now common ideas like broader, inter-movie continuity originated in the Toho Kaiju franchise as well as the Universal monster movies.  As such, the launch of a new Godzilla film from the people who created him is a big deal and now we have our first images and they’re absolutely terrifying. 

So, it’s safe to say we’ll be getting a much more terrifying and probably malevolent Godzilla than I think some people were expecting.  Just from the outset this is a Godzilla that looks like a soulless monster and his melted, muscley skin certainly adds to that creepy appearance.  It looks a lot like the superheated version of Godzilla from Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, where his heart went into nuclear meltdown.  I’m not convinced that’s what’s meant to be happening in this new film though it certainly strikes me as an interesting idea and a neat way to tie Godzilla to the recent Fukushima disaster that’s still very much a defining tragedy in the Japanese psyche. 

I think there’s a knee-jerk tendency to view this iteration of Godzilla as taking the character back to his “roots” as a dark sci-fi allegory for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki but I’m not totally convinced that’s the case, mainly because it’s not 1954 any more.  What I mean is that the Godzilla of the first film was an unknown, a new visualization for a fear and dehumanization that’d been lingering in Japan for 10 years.  That Godzilla didn’t mean anything other than what the film said he meant, but now Godzilla has 50 years of history and shifting definitions, Godzilla carries baggage and meaning with him despite the adaptation.

What the redesign reminds me of most is actually Godzilla 2000, the film Toho made right after the 1998 American Godzilla.  It was the start of the 4^th Godzilla era and 3^rd continuity after the ‘80s Hi-Fi Godzilla run from 1985-1995.  That movie also swapped in a harsher look for Godzilla and featured one of the creepiest Godzilla foes ever seen in Orga, a giant monster that looks like one of Lovecraft’s great old ones and was actually big enough to swallow Godzilla whole.  If this is a reference back to that film it’d be a fitting tribute given it was the last Godzilla era/continuity, capping off in 2004 with Godzilla: Final Wars. 

Really though, aside from a few superficial elements this Godzilla design really does look wholly unique, mainly owing to the redesign of his face.  The beady little eyes mixed with some of the creepiest and most razor sharp teeth I’ve ever seen is down right terrifying.  The fact his teeth aren’t straight but are more of a mouth full of jagged random razor blades is incredibly chilling.  The whole thing reminds me of a deep-sea angler fish, which makes sense given that Godzilla is usually shown pre-attack living on the ocean floor so he would be eating large sea creatures for most of his existence.  That could be a way of taking Godzilla back to his roots I would believe, reverting him to the mutated sea-life he originally was rather than the prehistoric beast awakened by the atomic age of a lot of more recent entries in the series. 

Aside from dealing with the baggage of Godzilla’s decades as a hero of Earth the other big problem I’d see with trying to slot him into an allegorical analog to the Fukushima disaster is simply that’s not what Godzilla was meant to represent, not exactly anyway.  Godzilla has existed as the kind of unthinking force of nature you might need to be a stand in for that disaster but that’s really not the Godzilla we’re seeing here nor was it the Godzilla of the original film.  That Godzilla was more malevolent and direct, representing nuclear wrath in an age when the cold war was just starting to get into swing.  Godzilla actually started production not long after the Soviets first developed the atomic bomb and Japan had growing concerns over their proximity to the USSR. 

While I’m not convinced this Godzilla is a square 1 reversion of the character he at least has the look of a malevolent force, something more cruel and violent than unthinking, which makes him a less solid stand in for natural disasters than the kaiju of Pacific Rim or the like.  Speaking of which, it is odd that both this film and 2014’s Godzilla seemed to actively distance themselves from the ‘60s monster mash Godzilla films Pacific Rim drew on so well.  This could be an attempt to avoid direct comparisons, choosing to draw from the slick and edgy ‘80s Godzilla or the dark and deadly 2000s Godzilla to get as far away from the bright action oriented stories of the ‘60s, or it could be a direct response to Pacific Rim’s lack of financial success. 

It’s still hard to make broad claims about the upcoming Japanese Godzilla, mainly because of how few details we’ve received about the film so far and just how massive Godzilla’s mythology and history is.  For all we know this could be a quasi-ironic and gritty reinvention of the ‘70s pop anti-hero Godzilla and the villain could be the Smog Monster.  That probably won’t happen but Toho has always done a good job working to reinvent Godzilla with each new iteration and it’s nice to see a Godzilla that’s more raw and jagged than the very slick and polished 2000s Godzilla.  

If we are in for a much darker and malevolent iteration of the King of the Monsters that’d certainly be taking it in a new direction, perhaps meant to reflect growing fears and disillusionment with nuclear power in general.  If that is the case I wouldn’t be surprised if Godzilla turned out to be the villain of his own movie, perhaps opposed by Mothra or some other nature based Kaiju.

However, it could also be that Godzilla’s imposing and creepy new appearance is part of a greater point being made about the necessities against a greater evil.  Aside from the Fukushima disaster another major anxiety in Japan recently has been the growing incursion of Chinese naval forces throughout the South China Sea and near Japan in particular.  I don’t want to get too political about the situation but Japan has grown increasingly concerned about Chinese naval activities near them while China has shown a desire to exert greater hegemony over that part of the world. 

Given that growing anxiety I could see Godzilla working as a stand in for China or even going back to representing American nuclear/military interest as a sort of radically revisioned stance on America, picturing us as violent and malevolent behemoth but a necessary and preferable one in an age of increasing Chinese expansion and North Korean nuclear testing.  Only time will tell. 

Godzilla is scheduled for release on July 29, 2016 


if you liked this article please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter