Godzilla has, as of the writing of this article, thirty-eight movies under his titanic belt. The King of the Monsters was originally quarantined to Japan, but eventually would find his way to North America thanks to quite a few projects. Legendary’s MonsterVerse, for example, has been a success for the lizard king, as various films and crossover movies have helped this Western take on the kaiju hit new plateaus. This year sees the release of Godzilla Minus Zero in theaters worldwide, and so now feels like the right time to do a breakdown of what works about the King of the Monsters, what doesn’t work, and what makes for the kaiju’s best movie.
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To really sink our teeth into what makes for a good Godzilla movie, we need to look at the behemoth’s origins. In the 1954 film that first introduced us to the titular monstrosity, the lizard king was introduced as commentary on the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In fact, one of the potential origins for the beast was always that Godzilla was created from the souls that had died. Without diving into what readers might think, Godzilla’s role as an antagonist to mankind always adds some edge to the creature, which is a fact that can often feel missing in the MonsterVerse. Bearing this in mind, we think that we can narrow down the best of the best, keeping this fact in mind.
Let’s Look at Godzilla Minus One
You’d be hard-pressed to find a kaiju enthusiast who didn’t fall in love with Godzilla Minus One, the latest Toho ‘Zilla film that managed to be the first of the franchise to win an Academy Award. This recent offering takes things from the top, reimaging the introduction of the King of the Monsters while making this Godzilla one of the scariest interpretations of the character. Ironically, what makes this movie work as well as it does isn’t just the lizard king, but it’s the humans that both fight the kaiju and attempt to survive his path of destruction.
As a rule of thumb for a monster movie, whether it stars Godzilla or any other cinematic beast, the quality of the overall outing can also rely on the shoulders of the human protagonists. Godzilla Minus One did a fantastic job of presenting a story that would be compelling even without the King of the Monsters making landfall in Japan. Koichi, as a former kamikaze pilot who was unable to sacrifice his life for his country, eventually ran into Noriko, another wandering soul left in Japan’s wasteland caused by World War 2. Creating an interesting backdrop for Godzilla to rampage through makes a movie hit that much harder.
Godzilla Basics
Whether it be the original movie that started it all, Shin Godzilla, or Godzilla Minus One, you will routinely see fans lean toward the movies that make Godzilla scary. There’s certainly fun to be had when it comes to seeing the King of the Monsters team up with Kong, but that adventurous outing might lose out on the sense of menace that works so well for the lizard king. For yours truly, Shin Godzilla was the cream of the crop until Godzilla Minus One took the crown, as this interpretation of the kaiju sent shivers down our spines.
At its heart, while Godzilla is a story that focuses on a giant rampaging lizard, said lizard is a representation of many different themes. The kaiju can be seen as a punishment for mankind’s hubris and/or love of war, of an unknown threat that must unite mankind and putting aside differences. It’s in examining these different storylines that Godzilla is able to truly shine. At the end of the day, every Godzilla fan is going to have thoughts about what differs and what doesn’t, and it’s each kaiju fan’s to determine what makes for the best movie of the bunch.
Does a Goofy Godzilla Work?
This isn’t to say that you can’t find enjoyment from the goofier side of the King of the Monsters, as we’ve been privy to some hilarious adventures. As mentioned above, there has been a “softening” of Godzilla in Legendary’s MonsterVerse, thanks to him mostly turning his ire to other kaiju rather than humanity. In the comic world, we’ve seen the King of the Monsters fight the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, the Marvel Universe, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with each of these crossovers making for fun romps. Will these be considered the greatest Godzilla stories of all time? Probably not, but they still help to prove the versatility of the character and, in doing so, help Godzilla retain his title as the King of the Monsters.
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