Godzilla Reboot Aims to Please

Godzilla is the King of the Monsters, of that there is no doubt. Starring in over 28 films (29 including the 1998 American reboot) Godzilla has had more than his fair share of city destroying, monster fighting experience. But he’s not done yet. Comic Con 2012 proved an exciting time for Godzilla fans around the world when Legendary Pictures showed a minute long concept teaser trailer for their new big budget Godzilla film. What clues can be piece together from the panel and reports of the trailer footage, and what should movie goers expect when Godzilla crashes into theaters (hopefully) in 2014?

From the brief trailer shown a couple themes and ideas for the film can be found. The trailer begins with a city in rubble, fires burning and smoke rising. In the rubble lies the charred carcass of some massive insect like creature, while the voice of Robert Oppenheimer reflecting on his work on the atomic bomb seemed to comment on the destruction saying “We knew the world would not be the same…. A few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture…. Vishnu takes on his multi-armed form and says, ‘Now, I am become death, destroyer of worlds.’” As Oppenheimer concludes the camera pans up to the king himself, Godzilla, as he unleashes his signature roar.

The footage reveals a couple of things, and most importantly reveals the look of Godzilla himself. From this image he appears to look very similar to Toho’s original monster but with a slightly thicker build and longer snout.

He also looks similar to this concept image of Godzilla that floated around the net a few years prior. The image  was rumored to be Godzilla’s look for the new movie, and though Legendary Pictures denies that the concept model has anything to do with the film, there are noticeable similarities between the model and the image of Godzilla shown in the trailer.

Director Gareth Edwards, whose films include Monsters, came out on stage at Comic Con to explain his take on Godzilla, saying that “I’m just going to take it really seriously.  I’d like to see this movie this way all my life, really…. There’s nothing sci-fi about this movie, it’s very grounded, realistic.” Edwards looks to keep the allegory for nuclear weapons and the terror and destruction of Godzilla’s original film, Gojira, intact.  Interestingly enough, the new film might feature giant monster battles if the teaser trailer is to believed, something that was missing from Godzilla’s debut film.

Even though the teaser trailer was brief, it is more than enough to get monster, science fiction, and movie fans in general very very excited. Hopefully Gareth Edwards delivers, as legions of fans will be waiting, and watching.

 

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