我们现在生活在哥斯拉黄金时代

My mother’s favourite movie is Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla from 1998. I resent her for a lot of reasons, but that one is definitely up there. She lives for its awful dialogue, dated special effects, and terrible characters. I love her, but I simply can’t forgive such a travesty.

But for all these flaws, many of the 1998 movie’s qualities can be found in modern renditions of the beloved kaiju, especially in Legendary’s increasingly ambitious Monsterverse. Now spanning several films and a television series, what started as a grounded and sombre reboot has grown into an utterly ridiculous celebration of giant monsters beating the crap out of each other.

My favourite part of the new film thus far is King Kong trying to convince Godzilla not to run rampant all over the pyramids. Who knew the big ape cared about history?

They aren’t masterpieces of cinema filled with superbly acted drama and beautifully framed shots, but that doesn’t stop them from being a lot of fun. With Skull Island, King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs Kong, and now Godzilla x Kong (because they’re boyfriends) fans are mere days away from yet another healthy dose of monster mashing.

For a long time, despite putting Pacific Rim on my favourite films of all-time list, I thought my intellect beyond these movies, believing that I needed to be appreciative of films like Shin, as I put the infantile past of Godzilla behind me. But the more time passed, the more I realised in my heart that they are all part of the same character. Godzilla may have begun life as Toho’s harrowing metaphor for nuclear devastation, but it wasn’t long until Japan introduced lots of new monsters, increasingly silly scenarios, and even a son for our lizard legend to take care of. Godzilla is inherently silly, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be wonderfully dramatic, either.

Just look at Godzilla Minus One by director Takashi Yamazaki, which essentially acts as a pseudo-remake of the 1954 original as we are whisked back to a post-war Japan where people are struggling to make ends meet, and as soon as society returns to normality, Godzilla pops up to ruin everyone’s day.

It is emotionally poignant, visually arresting, and was rightfully praised by critics as a new beginning for the legendary creature, but also one that sits snugly next to its western counterparts. Films like Godzilla: King of the Monsters and those that followed it work because, in spite of their ridiculousness, the characters take the circumstances of their world completely seriously. The world is hollow and giant monsters roam the surface, but we don’t immediately start cracking jokes to lighten the mood or make it incredibly obvious that we’re in a movie. Godzilla is serious business, a facet of nature we cannot underestimate.

If you decide to watch Godzilla (1998) my advice is to treat it as some sort of live action Simpsons fever dream. With Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, and Harry Shearer all making appearances, I promise it isn’t that much of a stretch.

Minus One is the very same, albeit more harrowing in its depiction of death and destruction. It follows a protagonist who fundamentally believes he has nothing to live for as a disgraced kamikaze pilot, unwilling to follow through when his nation demands it, and he spends the entire film learning that his existence doesn’t depend on throwing his life away for Japan.

Yes, Godzilla destroys loads of buildings and kills thousands, but in the end, he is merely the narrative device that allows our main characters to go on worthwhile adventures, with ample spectacle and dread thrown in to emphasise that the creature is far more than an evil to be vanquished, but rather a permanent fixture of a natural world we are now responsible for. You get significant whiplash returning to the other side of the pond, but for the first time in history, it feels like the Monsterverse is not only living up to Japan’s offerings, but also complementing them.

As a kid I was starved for kaiju content, resorting to badly dubbed versions of Japanese classics that made absolutely no sense, but that didn’t matter when I was having fun. There were also games like Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee that helped teach me about kaiju and lore I had no knowledge of before, which somehow bleeds into the modern era in ways none of us could have predicted. If I was the same age now and obsessed with Godzilla, I’d be chuffed.

With Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla x Kong, and a greater reverence for the kaiju genre as a whole, there has never been a better time to be a fan of giant monsters doing cool stuff.

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