No matter how you look at it, the 1998 SONY/TRISTAR 'GODZILLA' was a terrible Godzilla movie. It not only failed to live up to the character and legacy, it failed to live up to its own hype. However, this is not a post meant to bash that movie. I won't go into any of my negative feelings associated with the film to any degree.
This is a post to discuss one thing; hope for a future.
You see, all complaints and fanboy rage aside, beneath it all there is something quite interesting that came out of that movie and that's this;
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| The star of the 1998 'GODZILLA' as designed by the incredible Patrick Tatopoulos. |
A new giant monster was brought to life. Sure it was meant to be a leaner and faster version of the classic Godzilla. But, as per the design intention, it is something very different. Strip away everything else about the movie and we are left with a creature who has every right to continue on in his own series. And thankfully he did. After the movie, an animated series was put together featuring the son of the above creature going off on adventures and facing monstrous enemies week after week;
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| The Animated 'GODZILLA' surpassed his Father in every way. |
This series improved on everything seen in the feature and did what it could to bring this new creature closer to the original Godzilla. 'GODZILLA' himself, was treated as a character and the monsters he went up against were unique and beautifully horrific. I love this show, and I've been revisiting it off and on for some time now. Its in watching that show that I came to the realization; I love this creature, i just wish he wasn't called Godzilla. There's tremendous potential here, its just being ignored and thrown away.
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| 'Zilla', as he was called, made what may be his last appearance on the big screen in 2004's GODZILLA:FINAL WARS. |
TOHO, the creators and owners of the original Godzilla, may or may not have seen that potential as well. As 'Zilla', TOHO gave him his own ID, made an appearance in the most recent Godzilla film, 'Godzilla: Final Wars'. Seen attacking Sydney, Australia 'Zilla' faces off with Godzilla in what may be the shortest on-screen Kaiju battle of all time. Some see this as TOHO getting back at SONY for their mistreatment of the character. Others see it as simply a throw-away gag in a movie filled with them. However further investigation may define it as a little bit of both. As in a previous film a reference was made to 'Zilla' in passing during a discussion of Godzilla himself, saying it wasn't the real thing. In any case it was still nice to see the character show up again.
A point I find interesting however is that the rights to 'Zilla' have in fact have gone to TOHO. As they are the owners of Godzilla, they are ultimately owners of anything derived from the character. TOHO has a long history of being protective of the property, as previous American attempts at Godzilla, including a possible sequel to the 1998 film, were seemingly derailed because of either financial or creative demands. If 'Zilla' were to appear again in his own series of movies it could be more complicated than simply renaming the character. As the folks behind his return would have to negotiate with TOHO directly. However, once you made it through the red-tape it could simply be a matter of explaining away a few elements of continuity here or there. For instance the creature died in the 1998 film, but an egg survived and that creature went on to star in the animated series. So maybe a second egg survived or was kept for study. Another Zilla hatches looking slightly different than the others and it goes on to star in its own series of features. There ya go, a new franchise is born and a new big screen monster begins its reign. After a couple of movies you could even start to bring in other American monsters, since he's not up to anything why not throw Cloverfield in as an ongoing threat. Creating an American Kaiju (Giant Monster) Universe similar to that which has already existed in Japan for decades. Think about it, it could be glorious.
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| What Could Be... |
As for the name, the new creature could be named anything really. Any ideas? The original Godzilla's name is pronounced in Japan; GOJIRA. A combination of the Japanese words for Gorilla (Gorira) and Whale (Kujira). This new creature could continue the tradition, maybe substituting Gorilla with something like Dinosaur (Kyouryuu) or Demon (Akuma) or even Dragon (Tatsu, Ryuu). Or maybe it could go in a completely different direction. Since the creature was born in French Polynesia I would maybe go with something from Polynesian stories. When it comes to naming creatures like this being generic is the last thing you want to do. Leviathan, Beast, Behemoth, these sort of names are far too basic. Names like Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Mothra, King Kong, Rodan, they stick with you. They're iconic, just like the creatures themselves.
Like I said, this post is about hope. I hope that one day someone does all of this. I hope one day we get to see something more with this creature.
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| Top; Left-Godzilla/Right-Gamera. Bottom; Left-Gorgo/Middle-Reptilicus/Right-Our New Creature. |
Japan has Godzilla and Gamera. Britain has Gorgo....kind of, come on make more Gorgo movies. Denmark has Reptilicus, which is something I think is worth celebrating a bit. Is America going to stick with King Kong or embrace its own giant reptile? What do you think?
For more information on the 1998 movie and series check out;
http://www.godzilla1998.org/index1.html and
http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2006/03/28/godzilla-the-series/
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