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Godzilla (2014)
Godzilla (2014): Text
As the events of 3/11 provoked fear and anxieties of nuclear power in Japan once again, it was only a matter of time for Godzilla to reawaken from his almost ten-year slumber. However, his latest entry would not be from Japan, but from America. Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers would get the rights of Godzilla from Toho to produce their new adaptation of the character. They would hire indie director Gareth Edwards to helm the project that would release in the early summer of 2014. Unlike the 1998 film, this new Godzilla sticks with the traditional traits of the character. His design is new but familiar and his origin is tied with the Bikini Atoll nuclear testing, and imagery that harkens back to Fukushima is present in the film. However, while Godzilla 2014 would incorporate nuclear imagery, the film would be a symptomatic text of climate change and global warming.
Godzilla (2014): About
The film opens with a MUTO, one of the main antagonist monsters, awakening in a Filipino mine and going directly towards the fictional Japanese city of Janjira. The MUTO causes tremors that are felt throughout the morning of the attack by the nuclear power plant near the city. The MUTO, like the danger of nuclear radiation, remains unseen as it attacks its nuclear facility. The destruction of the Janjira nuclear power acts as the origin of the MUTO’s as a wide shot of a child Ford Brody looks out his school’s window as the nuclear power plant is destroyed. Fast forward a couple of decades and Bryan Cranston’s character, Joe Brody, tries to enter the Janjira power plant but is caught. Brody would yell in the interrogation room that Monarch, the scientific organization in charge of the power plant, is covering up the incident, similar to how many thought of how the Japanese government was handling Fukushima. The MUTO’s ability also reflects Fukushima’s loss of power as the creature unleashes an EMP blast, knocking out the equipment that was used for monitoring it along with all forms of telecommunications after the MUTO escapes from its confinement at Janjira. The film then reveals that another MUTO is being kept at a Nevada nuclear waste site and has also escaped. While the film does follow the trope of previous Godzilla films depicting the MUTO’s as a greater threat, the film also gives the MUTO’s sympathetic traits. A wide shot shows the MUTO’s embracing each other when they arrive in San Fransisco as they exchange a nuclear weapon as it will serve as an energy source for their offspring. The MUTO’s are not necessarily a threat towards humanity themselves but their actions very much are. At the same time, Godzilla also resurfaces and challenges the MUTO’s.
Godzilla is explained as being the equalizer of an ancient world ruled by monsters and was awakened by nuclear testing in the Pacific, almost acting as Earth’s defender. This characterization of the character is a combination of the heroic Godzilla from the late ‘70s Showa films with the tone of the ‘90s Heisei films. When discussing whether this version of Godzilla was a hero or villain, Edwards states:
Godzilla (2014): Bio
“...probably be like one of the Last Samurai. Or like a Ronin. He’s kind of like a noble, ancient warrior – the rest of his kind is long gone, and he’s happy to just keep to himself. And reluctantly only comes up when he has to correct something that’s wrong with the world. That was the character we were going for”
- GARETH EDWARDS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH IGN`S CHRIS TILLY
Godzilla (2014): Quote
Edwards's comments further positions Godzilla as the Other as Robert Dallek argues, “‘for most Americans, the external world has been a remote, ill-defined sphere which can be molded into almost anything they wish’” (Noriega 64). Edwards's molding of Godzilla into a romanticized samurai character is an orientalist perspective when looking at Japan. Edward Said's concept of Orientalism states the West`s view of the East is based on artifacts. In this case, Japan`s samurai are the artifacts that given to Godzilla to understand Japan through a Western lens. The film also follows established tropes of the genre and of the franchise such as the nuclear message. While only serving as a backdrop to the film, some audience members would be caught off guard as they were more accustomed to seeing a campy Godzilla from the 1960s and 1970s. As Ann Klein explains “the differences between these two viewing positions further explain why the same images can create different emotional reactions in audiences, depending on the context into which they are placed” (86). Americans do not have the same relationship with atomic weapons nor were they accustomed to the social commentary of the films.
Godzilla (2014): Testimonials
Godzilla 2014 brings back the familiar name of Serizawa and is the first time another character appears with that name since the original. However, this Serizawa would not be a one to one from his original counterpart. Played by Ken Watanabe, this version of the character is a combination of the original and of Professor Yamane. Ishiro Serizawa is not a scientist involved in weapons research; as part of Monarch, he researches and wants to preserve the monsters. Throughout the film, he tries to find alternate solutions than those by the military who want to quell the monster threats as he believes that nature must play itself out without human interference. These traits more so resemble Professor Yamane’s stance to coexist with the creatures. What separates Yamane and this version of Serizawa is context and social issues. Yamane’s stance was trying to coexist with nuclear energy until that was no longer an option. Serizawa on the other hand is trying to coexist not with nuclear energy, but with nature. Where this version of Serizawa shares characteristics with the original is in trauma. This is displayed when the American military decides to use a hydrogen bomb to kill both Godzilla and the MUTOs, an action that both Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and his assistant Dr. Vivienne Graham object to. When their pleas are dismissed, Serizawa would pull out a watch that belonged to his father with the camera doing a close-up showing the time of the Hiroshima bombing.
Godzilla (2014): Testimonials
Godzilla 2014 would be a massive box office hit both domestically grossing $200.7 million in North America and $227.3 million internationally (The Numbers). The film adapts the character to address the current nebulous threat that is global warming. The film also keeps established tropes such as giving sympathetic traits to the monsters. However, the film would fall into the trappings of the genre as the only weapon to defeat the monster is by the weapons that gave them strength. Serizawa would also be in the middle between genre conventions and what made the original Serizawa a compelling character. He would give an exposition of the creature’s origins and place within the world and condemn military action that would go on deaf ears. Serizawa would also remind both the characters and audience of the horrors of atomic weapons. During this time, Toho was already preparing a Godzilla film of their own that would be a response to Fukushima.
Godzilla (2014): Text
Sources
“Godzilla (2014) - Financial Information.” The Numbers, 14 May 2014, www.the-numbers.com/movie/Godzilla-(2014)#tab=summary.
Klein, Amanda Ann. “A Dying Serpent: Understanding How Film Cycles Change Over Time.” American Film Cycles : Reframing Genres, Screening Social Problems, and Defining Subcultures, University of Texas Press, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/utd/detail.action?docID=3443575.
Noriega, Chon. “Godzilla and the Japanese Nightmare: When ‘Them!’ Is U.S.” Cinema Journal, vol. 27, no. 1, University of Illinois Press, 1987, pp. 63–77, doi:10.2307/1225324.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Penguin Classics, 2003.
Tilly, Chris. “Director Gareth Edwards Discusses Godzilla's Big Secret.” IGN, IGN, 18 Mar. 2014, www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/18/director-gareth-edwards-discusses-godzillas-big-secret.
Godzilla (2014): Text
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