By now, about a month out from the theatrical release of Godzilla, you’d imagine we’d have heard everything director Gareth Edwards had to say about his upcoming reboot of cinema’s most famous giant lizard. Edwards has previously touched on how much he admires Toho’s first Godzilla and has mentioned the ways in which his movie will hearken back to that 1954 film. He’s also named director Steven Spielberg as an influence and his films’ Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jaws specifically in regards to Godzilla.
Now, linking those earlier comments together is this latest featurette (above) in which Edwards discusses how his Godzilla is a “serious” film, very much like the original, and how he’s given the film a Spielbergian scope, combining practical and digital effects to best avoid Godzilla looking like another campy monster movie.
As he comments in the above clip, it’s clear Edwards takes science fiction very seriously. Toho’s first Godzilla released only nine years after the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and that film was very much a response to those cataclysmic events as it was an entertaining thriller where a giant lizard terrorized Tokyo.
Judging by the trailers, that serious tone is still present in Edwards’ Godzilla, where the monster isn’t only a formidable, frightening creature, but his suspicious origins seem to hint at an even more terrifying conspiracy and coverup.
There’s also been yet another sweet looking poster released for Godzilla (the fifth one so far, I believe):
On the following page, you can see images of the toy version of an additional monster that’s been hinted at in the trailers. However, if you don’t want to be SPOILED, you probably shouldn’t click the link below.
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We’ve already had plenty of opportunities to see the big green guy, but Warner Bros. and Legendary haven’t been as open to sharing what other monsters will feature in Godzilla. We have some strong guesses, but this new toy set (courtesy of Total Film) really lets the cat monster out of the bag (so to speak):
That Godzilla figure is either the same giant-sized toy revealed a few weeks ago or it’s a similar design on a smaller scale, but either way it’s that Cloverfield-esque beast who is Godzilla’s newest foe. He’s been teased in just about every trailer so far, where all that was shown was one of those hooked appendages stepping onto screen. Now that’s he’s revealed in full – though not under the most favorable of circumstances – it’s a rather uninspired design.
Not only does the creature draw strong comparisons with the monster in Cloverfield, but those angular, wing-like appendages give it a silhouette reminiscent of the Recognizers from Tron and Tron: Legacy, and that’s an odd design choice.
Final judgment will undoubtedly be held until we’re either given a better look at this monster (read: not a plastic toy) or the film’s actual release, but until then, the initial impression isn’t all that intimidating. But then, maybe that’s the point? We’re all expecting Godzilla to make a mess of this spindly-legged loser anyway, right?
What do you make of the design for this newest monster? Does it fit with Gareth Edwards vision of a “serious” Godzilla? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
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Godzilla stomps into theaters May 16th, 2014.
Sources: Indiewire, Total Film (via Screen Crush)
