Godzilla is the King of Monsters. The star of nearly 30 films over 60 years, the monster has a more prolific film career than most Hollywood A-listers. It’s been a decade since Godzilla stormed on to the big screen, his final appearance being to Toho Studio produced Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004. But the king is back this year in Godzilla, the second American-produced film in the franchise after the botched 1998 film. But, whereas Roland Emmerich’s version made a large departure from the Japanese source material, the second trailer for the new film looks to be staying true to it’s roots. “In 1954, we awakened something…”
The latest film comes from Gareth Edwards, the director of the excellent and impressive indie Monsters. Despite being made for less than a million dollars, Monsters boasts impressive visual effects, made all the more impressive by the fact that Edwards did all the post work by himself on his home computer. In addition to being and excellent film, the movie served as a kind of extended audition tape for bigger things. Well, things don’t get much bigger. Making the leap from an indie thriller to $160 million blockbuster doesn’t seem to have fazed Edwards much, and if the trailer is any indication, we have awesome things to look forward to.
The first trailer gave an idea of the film’s mood and style. This gives us an idea of the scale. In a word: big. Bryan Cranston’s narration not only provides a sense of gravitas, but also gives a hint at film’s high stakes. Plot details are still vague, although it’s been confirmed that Godzilla will be facing off against some other monstrous foe. It’s nice to see Edwards keeping in line with the Japanese mythology of the character, and it looks like the film will do a good job of honoring the old while forging a new direction.
The creature design looks fantastic, although there’s no real Godzilla money shot, choosing instead to showcase glimpses of the monster’s scale and shape. Depending on how the marketing of the film progresses, we might not get a clear look until Godzilla premieres on May 16.
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