This blog, that you are currently on, is called Monster Girl. I will tell you why. I love monsters, all kinds, the more destructive the better. My first exposure was through a TV show called "Power Rangers". Oh you know them? Damn right becuase they were amazing. I wanted nothing more as a small child than to marry Tommy, the green power ranger and defeat giant monsters then ride off into the sunset on his motorcycle. Perhaps this was the beginning of my love of bad boys as well...
Really when I think about it, my first real exposure to monsters was probably Barney, the purple dinosaur. I mean, he was as much a kaiju as Godzilla was.
Seeing the first Godzilla movie was literally life changing for me. How could any child see a rampaging, radioactive lizard monster and identify with it immediately I don't know. I obviously have issues. But there was something about the King of Monsters. Perhaps it was the fact that, like most monsters, Godzilla wasn't a monster by choice. He was a product of an irresponsible and cruel society that not only had little regard for human life but also for the nature that spawned us. Just like humans who rose from the early primordial ocean to reek havok on its environment, Godzilla rose from the ocean and fucked shit up. The Japanese turned perhaps the largest, most devestating human tragedy as the nuclear bomb and made a creature that fucked them up even more. Godzilla could be seen as a metaphor of the nuclear destruction, of American consumption, of insurmountable rage. What also struck me was that most of the time the people needed Godzilla, that despite the fact that it was the humans who made him what he was, he still helped defend them. I saw Godzilla as the savior, who comes to a people with a message and leaves them, never asking for a bit of thanks.
I own most of the movies, my favorite being Godzilla vs Mothra (1964) and Destroy all Monsters (1968). In 1998 an American movie was made of Godzilla and naturally I was in that movie line the opening day. The movie starred Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, and a whole bunch of other people too... Anyway this movie was just like every other 90's action/science fiction movie much like Independence Day, Deep Impact, Armageddon ect... There is massive destruction, one white guy who miraculously survives it all and is the key to saving humanity and government baddies who stand in his way. It was disappointing, not only to me but fans of the franchise. The main complaints being that it was too much action and not enough plot (I don't even remember the plot tbh). But the one addition to this franchise is the very controversial decision to give Godzilla a sex change, yeah thats right, in this film Godzilla was a lady, the Queen of all Monsters. This decision was and still is, disputed as many claim that Godzilla is actually a hermaphrodite, neither male or female but both (as though it would be so horrible if Godzilla actually was a woman). From that time on, I have associated Godzilla as a hermaphrodite, which many people find strange, but I think makes the character even more dynamic.
Well cut to 2013 and here we are with a new trailer for a new movie, and I have to say, it looks good. The design looks more like the original, iconic spined back Godzilla, with an upright stance and a humanoid body. The plot from what I'm gathering is more along the lines of Destroy all Monsters, with Godzilla defending humanity from other, invading monsters. The film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick Ass), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Ken Watanabe (Inception), and Juliet Binoche (Dan in Real Life).
Below is the teaser trailer which doesn't show much of anything but is full of awesome imagery.
The release is May 2014 for the US.Labels: monsters, movies, video