Godzilla’s Back … from the Dead!
You’ve been warned.
I saw World War Z, and came away much happier than I expected. I’d held off reading the book, as I always do when I find out the movie is coming. Though I must admit that in this case the book had already languished for a couple of years in my to-be-read pile before I found out the movie was being made.
Have I mentioned how my to-be-read pile has grown out of control? I’m quite certain that it sometimes borrows my car, drives to Powell’s, and picks up books in my name just for an excuse to grow bigger. Because I swear that every time I look away more books get added to that pile.
But I digress. World War Z the movie was not innovative in terms of storytelling. It pushed no boundaries, it revealed no unthought-of consequences or turns of events, when compared with other apocalypse movies. What it did do was provide about two hours of solid entertainment and did it well. I enjoyed the movie, and would see it again. I’d go into details, but I’m not just writing today to review.
Pacific Rim opens today. In the same sense that World War Z was basically another zombie movie (or another apocalypse movie, in another sense), Pacific Rim is a giant monster movie. Giant monster movies have been around since the first King Kong, and the Godzilla* franchise took it to new heights (pun intended).
But Pacific Rim offers something that I, personally, have never seen in a giant monster movie: humans fighting back. I don’t just mean trying to find a way to drive off Godzilla before he destroys Tokyo or shooting ineffective bullets at King Kong. I mean going after them with giant remote-controlled robots (they might be powered armor. I’m not quite sure from the trailers) and engaging them in fisticuffs.
Oh, please tell me they follow Marquess of Queensbury rules.
Sorry about that. Back on point.
I suppose, in some senses, it may not be considered new. Ultraman used to fight giant monsters (until the incredible energy he derived from the sun diminished rapidly in Earth’s atmosphere, which took maybe twenty seconds). But that was more of a superhero situation: one individual battling for the fate of the human race. Pacific Rim looks to me like an organized military response, the same way we might respond with fighter planes and missiles if some big nasty walked out of the ocean this afternoon. In other words, humans fighting to save ourselves instead of relying on a savior. (This may have already been done in Japanese anime, of which I admit I’ve seen very little.)
But these weren’t the things I thought about when I last saw a Pacific Rim commercial. I thought about Cowboys and Aliens (another fun film, but not as good as I’d hoped). This is the era of crossing genres, and the giant monster movie seems ripe for a combination. When are we going to see things like:
- A giant monster attacks King Arthur’s court
- An organization unleashes a giant monster on the United States as cover for an attempt on the life of the President
- One lone professor stumbles on a dangerous secret: the Ancient Order of Fenrir, guardians of the world’s giant monsters. Now they’re after him and he must learn the truth and warn the world, because the stars are almost right…
And, of course, the inevitable: Zombie Godzilla!
What genre would you like to see combined with giant monsters?
* Gojira, in the original Japanese, I believe.
