Giant monster movies have made a huge comeback: After Legendary Pictures’ success with Godzilla and Pacific Rim, Toho (the Japanese parent company behind Godzilla) decided to release a new Godzilla of their own since they believed 2014’s wasn’t badass enough. With the awesome Shin Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, and even the completely random The Great Wall, the often neglected monster horror subgenre could be primed to take over theaters once again
From its first trailer, Shin Godzilla (formerly known in the US as Godzilla Resurgence until Funimation acquired the rights to the domestic release, reverting to the original title as Toho requested) made a huge impact. With direction from famous anime director Hideki Anno (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Neon Genesis Evangelion) and Shinji Higuchi (Gamera trilogy), and with Toho’s explicit goal of creating a more intense Godzilla to make up for the American version, the new Godzilla design is downright horrifying. Piercing eyes, more teeth than any other Godzilla costume, and this third Toho reboot took everything back to its nuclear horror roots. The second trailer isn’t as gripping, but Godzilla’s new purple energy breath looks fucking sick.
But the best thing about the current Godzilla revival is that not only do we get competing Godzilla visions– we’re also getting a new take on King Kong. Legendary Pictures shifted the Kong film rights around so that Godzilla and King Kong were once again under the same roof, meaning that we’re getting a versus film by 2020. But this wouldn’t have mattered if the first trailer for their new reboot, Kong: Skull Island, didn’t land as hard as they wanted to. The film looks pretty solid so far with a strong cast (Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston), and the new King Kong design is hefty (needs to be a giant in order to properly fight the newer, fatter Godzilla), but something about the entire thing feels a bit off. I’m hoping it’s just the way the teaser was cut, but Kong: Skull Island didn’t grab me like I expected it to do.
But the best thing about the current Godzilla revival is that not only do we get competing Godzilla visions– we’re also getting a new take on King Kong. Legendary Pictures shifted the Kong film rights around so that Godzilla and King Kong were once again under the same roof, meaning that we’re getting a versus film by 2020. But this wouldn’t have mattered if the first trailer for their new reboot, Kong: Skull Island, didn’t land as hard as they wanted to. The film looks pretty solid so far with a strong cast (Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson and Tom Hiddleston), and the new King Kong design is hefty (needs to be a giant in order to properly fight the newer, fatter Godzilla), but something about the entire thing feels a bit off. I’m hoping it’s just the way the teaser was cut, but Kong: Skull Island didn’t grab me like I expected it to do.
And finally, there’s an upcoming Chinese Hollywood feature starring Matt Damon for some reason. Beyond the controversy, The Great Wall has an interesting concept as the premise implies the Chinese built the great wall in order to keep out giant komodo dragons. I don’t have any particular hopes for this film, but as mentioned earlier, having more monster movies is a good thing. Even with the terrible Sharknado 4, monster horror isn’t going anywhere.
Shin Godzilla hits US shores later this year, The Great Wall releases September 29th, and Kong: Skull Island roars into theaters March 10th of next year. //Nick Valdez
Shin Godzilla hits US shores later this year, The Great Wall releases September 29th, and Kong: Skull Island roars into theaters March 10th of next year. //Nick Valdez