On the one side we have Gareth Edwards’ 2014 Godzilla, the first in Legendary’s shared “Monster Verse” franchise, and on the other Toho’s titanic return to Kaiju cinema with their own ‘zilla, Shin Godzilla. Two very different takes on the behemoth reptilian monster, with their own pros and cons. But does Toho’s Shin Godzilla retain the title ‘King of the Monsters’ that it’s held since 1954, or does Legendary’s titanic Monster have what it takes to kick some Shins?
Man is more frightening than Gojira.
Hiromi Ogashira, ‘Shin Godzilla’ (2016)
We start with Hollywood’s beast, a colossal titan in all respects towering at 109 meters (and taller in the sequel, King of the Monsters), making it the largest live-action Godzilla so far. The film comes across as a human drama interwoven with a monster attack that plays out more like a disaster movie akin to The Day After Tomorrow, or even Independence Day, though there is an attempt to present an environmental discussion, which becomes more prominent in its superior sequel. Predominantly Godzilla follows U.S. Navy EOD Lt. Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), combatting the threat of Godzilla and the MUTOs, while trying to reunite with his wife, Elle Brody (Elizabeth Olsen).
Shin Godzilla, meanwhile, was directed by Hideaki Anno, known for creating Neon Genesis Evangelion, making it the 31st instalment in the Godzilla franchise, 29th Toho Godzilla feature, as well as being the first Godzilla film in the Reiwa period. For fans of Evangelion, there are a lot of familiar plot, pacing and visual elements that make the two comparable. Even in the portrayal of Godzilla, and the slow drawn out response scenes of the bureaucratic Japanese government debating how to deal with the threat are similar to NERV meetings. Though with less “Get in the robot, Shinji!” memes. Like the 1954 Godzilla, Tokyo falls under attack from an unidentified monster that emerged from the sea; though this time round, rather than being fully formed, Godzilla evolves throughout the course of the movie to survive on land, with each new form developing a way to defend itself from the last attack.
Compared to the human drama focus of the 2014 Godzilla, Hideaki’s monster smasher is startling more political. While Godzilla has always served as a metaphor for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the fear held by the Japanese following the attacks, Shin Godzilla draws influences from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011, with emergency broadcasts and footage that may seem familiar to the real world disaster reports.
In both features, despite the title, Godzilla isn’t actually in them for much of the runtime. Shin Godzilla uses the presence of the invading kaiju to create a political satire of Japanese politics, criticising the bureaucratic nature of the Japanese government when dealing with national crises and its relationship with foreign nations: perhaps in some ways we can find parallels to the more recent viral crisis responses from governments around the world. While its slower political satire makes it interesting to discuss, the pacing is hurt, brought almost to a standstill halfway through, much like Godzilla who literally sleeps through most of the movie, albeit on top of Tokyo’s skyline while he regenerates and evolves. This becomes a little mundane, sadly, though when Godzilla wakes up from his “beauty” sleep, it becomes quite the spectacle, more in line with what you would expect from a classic giant monster movie!
Legendary Godzilla’s focus on human drama similarly overshadows the movie, and indeed on Godzilla itself: ironic, considering its size. A common criticism among both critics and casual viewers is that there are too many characters – an issue that carries over to King of the Monsters – and too much focus on their drama. We are, after all, here to watch ‘zilla smash some buildings, tail-whip some monsters, and hear that iconic roar. And as if that weren’t enough, many no doubt were attracted to see it because of Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle actor, Bryan Cranston, but were disappointed by the fact that he doesn’t make it through much of the carnage. Instead, the story focuses on his son and wife, who are unfortunately less interesting characters.
Both Godzilla and Shin Godzilla find faults in drawn out exposition, very little monster or Godzilla action, and too many humans not being squished by giant reptiles or falling tower blocks. That being said, when our favourite titan does make its appearance, the iconic cry is met with applause. In fairness, even in the original Toho Godzilla films and the 1998 Tristar Godzilla, the titular kaiju doesn’t appear that often, usually reserved for a dramatic introduction with epic skyscraper smashing action and a climactic showdown in the conclusion. In this sense, perhaps Shin Godzilla is structured more like the 1954 original, but there’s no denying that its political discourse outstays its welcome and invites the need for more atomic-breath and monster rampage.
Aside from differing thematic interests, they couldn’t be more different visually! 2014 is dark, moody, and with an extra dose of dark for the sake of contrast (or lack of), which the nighttime settings don’t help much with: King of the Monsters improves visibility issues, though retains the moody ambience. Shin Godzilla is mostly set during the day, as if to say Godzilla doesn’t need to hide, it’s more than happy to stomp on your city in broad daylight! It is, unsurprisingly, a much brighter, more interesting film from a visual perspective. Godzilla is sadly so dark, in fact, that it falls into a trap many monster and horror films seem to follow recently – such as Venom or the relevantly titled The Monster – by making it too dark and therefore hard to distinguish anything important happening in the foreground from the dark background. Sure, the tone is dark, we get that, but as cinema-goers we still want to see what’s happening, especially when the CG monsters come out. Some might perceive this as an attempt to disguise the animation, but then Rampage and Kong: Skull Island feature daytime settings, massive monster fights, and bright attractive colours. For Shin Godzilla, being more colourful, the film takes on a more comic book aesthetic, which is possibly aided by choice camera shots that are, at times, akin to Evangelion, complete with tracking shots of scientists discussing their next move as they walk along corridors in large crowds. This helps to establish it as bolder and really shows off Godzilla’s design more, allowing us to have more fun with their fantastical creature design.
That being said, if there’s one thing both movies do that truly captures the drama of Godzilla, or even the MUTO’s, it’s the perspective shots looking up at the monsters as opposed to down or around them as you might expect in, say, Michael Bay’s Transformers. This gives the impression that we, the audience, are seeing things from the perspective of the people amid the carnage, giving a true, perhaps more frightening sense of scale to Godzilla rather than standing him next to a tall building from a static skyline view. One of my personal favourite shots is from Shin Godzilla, however, during the end, framing Rando Yaguchi delivering his final reflective lines in the foreground with the frozen figure of Godzilla standing like a statue in the distance, conveying the menace of the monster and the cost of the fight to survive the attack. It’s just one moment that highlights the creativity of Shin Godzilla, heightened only by a truly grotesque design that evolves throughout the film with inventive new powers, including spamming crazy lasers all around like a point-defence mechanism. In essence both movies manage to conjure a sense of urgency and danger by placing us on the ground, even if Gareth Edwards decided to hide our gargantuan Godzillasaurus in shadow, and in despite of Shin Godzilla’s rather goofy appearance.
“Goofy” at least in the first few forms: the bulging googly eyes give Hideaki’s Godzilla an appearance worthy of The Giant Claw (1957), and its oddly hard to tell at times whether Godzilla is a return to rubber-suit wardrobes, CG, or a mix of both. It can seem a little comical but feels in-keeping with original Toho design and effects with a modern twist. Though later evolutions make it more menacing and horrific, with the climactic form capable of some impressive feats.
Legendary’s Godzilla, meanwhile, is all CG. While this may disappoint or even turn-off hardened Toho purists, Godzilla undoubtedly looks how you might expect him to look. No doubt there’s that familiar Jurassic Park design influence, but for the tone of the film it works well. The 1962 King Kong vs. Godzilla by today is still entertaining, but leaves a lot to be desired for a true clash of cinemas most prolific kaiju: with both monsters redesigned for modern audiences, the new 2021 King Kong vs. Godzilla will (hopefully) bring to life the climactic duel we’ve all wanted to see since.
When it comes to “which looks better?”, that’s hard to answer. It depends: do you prefer your monsters to be rubber suits like the original Toho franchise, or do you want to see a more realistic take on the monster that could menace the Silver Screen as a force to be reckoned with? They both succeed in their own ways, and undoubtedly Toho fans will likely appreciate Shin Godzilla more for this reason. But what about which one would win in a straight fight? Again, debatable. Legendary’s Godzilla has already proven itself a powerful creature by besting some of its most fearsome rivals in the revitalised King of the Monsters, taking on the likes of Rodan and arguable Godzilla’s historically biggest rival, King Ghidora. It’s massive by comparison, and has some impressive abilities – including atomic breath, a bad-ass smoulder, and as shown in King of the Monsters, can expel excess radiation, melting the vicinity around him while emitting powerful pulse waves.
When we first met Hideaki’s Godzilla, it couldn’t support itself on the surface, more suited to aquatic environments, and struggled to adapt initially, bleeding through its gills. Throughout the runtime of the film, Godzilla evolved into different forms; by adapting to the new environment, it was able to breath on the surface and stand up but retreated back to the water before long until it remerged later in its fourth form, annihilating large portions of Tokyo with atomic rays, evidently exhausting itself as it returned to a catatonic state ones again. However, before it could reach its fifth form, Godzilla was frozen solid. We know little of what could have happened if Godzilla continued to evolve, but as it had the ability to adapt to its weaknesses, there were potentially limitless possibilities. One of the most disturbing details in the film, aside from its ability to shoot lasers from its mouth, dorsal fins, AND tail, came from the closing scene, showing what appeared to be humanoid skeleton creatures with traits similar to Godzilla spouting from its tail. Could it be that this incarnation of Toho’s destructive monster would be able to spawn others like it? Looks like we’ll never know. But from what we’ve seen so far, the Monster Verse Godzilla has shown raw power that likely places it above.
Dr. Serizawa: We call him… Gojira.
‘Godzilla’ (2014)
Dr. Graham: The top of a primordial ecosystem. A god, for all intents and purposes.
Ford Brody: A monster.
To the modern fan wanting to see the true power of Godzilla, while 2014 is a flawed movie, its appearance in King of the Monsters shows that there is potential for Legendary’s Monster Verse to bring our fantasy monster fights to life like never before. But it is important to recognise that the Toho movies will always be staple classics, where there is an irreplaceable charm to the rubber-suit monster fights and miniatures used in the original movies. It’s a shame there are currently now no plans to continue with the live-action Shin Godzilla series from Toho, as it offered an alternative to fans who wanted to see those fun, energetic movies back as if filmed in the modern age.
Ultimately if you want to experience a modern take on classic Godzilla, the Toho Shin Godzilla is the obvious choice, capturing visual and audio cues from past Toho entries, including music scores that haven’t been used since the original 1954. With a familiar charm and campy fun, and being a Japanese made original Toho Godzilla, in this sense it feels intrinsically more authentic. The 2014 production, meanwhile, is gritty and mature, creating a more severe tone with a focus on human drama. However, for it’s more creative visual approach, unique take on the Godzilla mythos, and authentic modern-classic style, Shin Godzilla retains the crown for Toho as King of the Kaiju.
