In
a lot of ways Godzilla is a perfect topic for me to write about. “Godzilla” is a common English expression
referring to something huge. We append
“zilla” to another word to suggest a giant-sized version, often with comedic
intent. The character has appeared in ad
campaigns (outside of Japan), comic books, and American Saturday morning
cartoons, but the Japanese have never bothered with an ongoing Godzilla
cartoon. Gareth Edwards’ new film Godzilla, hereafter called Godzilla (2014) demonstrates that plenty
of Americans get Godzilla, because this is certainly a Godzilla movie. It is not as layered and meaningful as 1954’s
Gojira, but Edwards’ film follows the
formula used by the majority of Godzilla movies. The plot unfolds in the same manner as older
Toho-produced Godzilla movies, and preserves the most enduring weakness of the
franchise: uninteresting humans. If you
fear this will be a repeat of 1998’s Matthew Broderick vehicle, fear no
more. This one is a real Godzilla movie.
But I am not writing a review of the
movie. I am here to examine why
Hollywood made this movie, and not Toho Studios itself.