Godzilla

 

Any reboot/relaunch/remake/adaptation faces the triple-horned (or headed) dilemma of pleasing existing fans, introducing itself to new audiences and declaring its own identity. Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla achieves this in style by paying homage to Toho Studios’ Godzilla series, declaring its own identity, and exceeding expectations for a movie that centres on a huge monster stomping around a city. Some have complained that the titular character receives precious little screentime, but this seems churlish as the main purpose of Godzilla in any film is to smash things, be they cities or other monsters. By minimising Godzilla’s presence to his interaction with other monsters, Edwards not only focuses attention on the human characters but also creates a familiarity between them (us) and the giant, radioactive reptile. In doing so, the director echoes his debut, Monsters, which displayed a curious communion between its human and non-human characters. This suggests a common feature in Edwards’ cinema, drawing parallels between humans and nature. It will be interesting to see if Edwards continues this conceit in his future work, such as a sequel to Godzilla and perhaps in a galaxy far, far away…

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