4 Ideas I Would Like To See In "Godzilla Zero"
Continuing the discussion with "Godzilla Zero," I have not seen much talk on the film ever since the movie's announcement on November 3rd, 2022. While we know this movie takes place during the right after WWII, but there are still a lot of unknowns that leaves a lot to the imagination on what this film could be. So I developed a list on what I would like to see in this new Godzilla film.
1. Godzilla's Main Theme Song
This may very well be a given that Godzilla's theme song will most likely play somewhere in the movie. Originally composed by Akira Ifukube, the theme song became a main staple in most of Godzilla's films. Over the span of movies we have seen Godzilla's look evolve and change up to the current era. The same goes for his theme song. In the 1954 original, the music gave a sense of ambiance that always sent shivers down the spines of viewers and it evolved to become more and more epic over time.
I will admit that Bear McCreary's rendition of the classic theme song for Godzilla: King of the Monsters is my most favorite version out of all of them. It is a great tribute to Akira Ifukube to have his music become as epic as it was in the movie. Every time I listen to it, I can't help feel excited. I just know that when it plays it means Godzilla has come to kick some Titan ass.
For "Godzilla Zero" I want to get the same feeling of excitement, but in a way that still captures the bone-chilling shiver like in 1954. When listening to the song from the 1954 movie, the song just hits really different because I know exactly what is going on in the movie without having to watch the movie. When I listen to the original, I can picture the sirens of firetrucks blaring and the trucks tumbling over trying to avoid the debris left behind by Godzilla. At the same time, Godzilla continues leaving a path of destruction spraying his radioactive breath across Tokyo. It was literally a song that expressed Japan's inevitable defeat at the hands of the monster and all of those that tried to fight had fallen. If you click on the video and just listen to the song while watching the scene you will get what I'm talking about when I say it hits different than other renditions.
In Shin-Godzilla, there is a song called "Who Will Know" that plays during the initial scene when Godzilla uses his atomic breath for the first time. The song captures a similar bone-chilling feeling, but the scene itself was a little too over the top when the beam started shooting out of his back. So when I hear this song, I still know how the scene plays out and I get reminded about the part with beams shooting out of Godzilla's back and the feeling sort of dies. Don't get me wrong, "Who Will Know" is a really great piece of music. I just wish the scene itself wasn't so over the top as it was.
Overall, I want the original theme song that still captures that feeling of terror combined with a destructive scene that is not over the top like Shin-Godzilla.
2. A Godzilla Design With More Personality
Let's get one thing straight, Godzilla can't be Godzilla without capturing basic, classic look. A saurian, bipedal monster with three rows of dorsals, charcoal grey, and must have atomic breath. When you change the formula you get something that is not recognizable. In a couple instances, this could be a good thing or a very bad thing. It all comes down to the personality of the design.
For a long time, we have seen Godzilla go through many unique designs and almost all of them with their own personality. Suddenly, I am seeing Godzillas without any personalities attached to their designs and it is really hard to watch a Godzilla film or show from Toho that has a Godzilla without any personality. That is why I enjoy the Monsterverse a whole lot more. Godzilla in the 2014 movie, in King of the Monsters, and in Godzilla vs Kong had always kept Godzilla's personality consistent, memorable, and easy to latch on to. Plus, the Monsterverse Godzilla has a very grounded design that looks realistic while also keeping that classic look that fans recognize.
Look at Tristar's GODZILLA, for example. This Godzilla looks nothing like the monster that fans recognized. It didn't even have an atomic breath. It had a new power breath ability called a wind breath. The monster didn't even act like Godzilla would act. It acted just like an animal and attacked only when provoked and cornered. There wasn't even another monster for this Godzilla to fight to prove itself worthy to be called Godzilla. Nobody liked the movie when it was first released due to this reason. Over the years, however, fans have took another look at this design. Yes, it looks nothing like the classic monster fans recognize, but when fans saw what this design could do in the animated series fans started to recognize more of those classic traits. It didn't look like Godzilla and yet the show still captured the spirit of Godzilla because those monster fights allowed this design to really show off what it could do.
Now, let's look at the Godzilla from the Polygon trilogy movies. The design captures the basics of what Godzilla should look. However, it has no personality. This Godzilla did not really do a whole lot in all three movies. This Godzilla would be asleep for most of the movies only to wake up at the climax, fire its beams a few times, sleep to regain health, pull some new power out of its tail, and call it a day. Even the "fight" between Godzilla and "Ghidorah" (aka the flying spaghetti monster) was just Ghidorah lifting Godzilla in the air and putting him back down again. That was it. That was the whole fight.
Let us look at Shin-Godzilla and Godzilla: Singular Point. Two very different designs, but both of them look very static and soulless. Yes, Shin-Godzilla is recognized in Japan as their best Godzilla movie made since the movie was very on the nose about the political commentary. Yet, that was about the movie itself and not about Godzilla. Godzilla's personality was very much absent and it is very telling based on how he moved and how he reacted towards his surroundings and his attackers. Same issue with Godzilla: Singular Point. The anime tried to be Shin-Godzilla 2.0 by trying to be deep with theoretical physics that are completely absurd (even the director admitted that the physics in the show was absurd), had Godzilla evolve through multiple stages, and then just walked through Tokyo for the rest of the show until the last episode where he fought Jet Jaguar. People liked the robot more than Godzilla because Jet Jaguar had more personality and more screen time.
What I would like to see from Toho is to really get creative with their next Godzilla and if a certain rumor is true we may see that happen with "Godzilla Zero." There was a rumor going around 4chan back in November that was about the story for "Godzilla Zero." I am not gonna go into lengthy detail, but it actually has me interested to see how this movie turns out if the rumor is true. It has two Godzillas: one is the classic design and another one that is supposed to be a proto-Godzilla or a Godzilla that wasn't affected by the nuclear radiation. This proto-Godzilla is said to have a design that looks like an orca whale with smooth skin and two large dorsals along with rows of smaller dorsals.
As with all rumors, they must be taken with a grain of salt. However, if this design of a proto-Godzilla is true I think fans will be really happy with it and I think I will be as well. It sounds so out there, but if it looks good in action then I would consider the movie a win for Toho.
3. Better Story And Characters
Another issue I have with the Reiwa Godzilla films and shows are their stories and characters. From Shin-Godzilla to the Polygon trilogy to Godzilla: Singular Point the stories for these movies and shows have really been rough.
While Shin-Godzilla was considered a smash hit in Japan this was due to the political commentary. The approach with this movie was that the whole government was treated as the main character rather than a handful of individual characters. It was affective in Japan, but not so much in America.
The story for the Polygon trilogy was a real mess. While the trilogy movies focused on individual characters this time, the characters were not interesting in the slightest. It did have good wholesome moments here and there, then the story will go back to reminding the audience just how we are a virus to planet Earth and we should all die as our contribution to saving the planet.
As for Godzilla: Singular Point, the anime's story was more of an essay paper, which nobody asked for. We hardly learn anything about the characters themselves as the show hammers the audience with whatever junk science the show tries to explain and some monster action mixed in. Even though all monster movies have junk science to explain how the monsters exist and their motives Godzilla: Singular Point just goes way overboard turning into a headache.
What I want to see with "Godzilla Zero" is a balanced story that has memorable characters and it doesn't go overboard explaining the "science" in the movie. I know that having a good story in a monster movie is really tough. In this generation, it is all about the monsters and watching them fight. Those fight scenes are the main event. I know that there are fans clamoring for a Godzilla movie that has no humans at all. Honestly speaking, I don't think that will ever happen. You need the humans to drive the story no matter how boring they are.
I have seen fans being optimistic about "Godzilla Zero" since it is being directed by Takashi Yamazaki who has done the "Godzilla the Ride" for a theme park in Japan and the Always: Sunset on 3rd St. trilogy movies. He has this style of filming that really captures the Showa era look in his movies and the ride and the story for the Always movies, from what I heard, has gotten a lot of praises. So maybe we will see a good Godzilla movie from Toho Co. that is a hit for both Japanese and international audiences. We will have to wait and see when the trailer drops.
4. Breath > Beam
In this section, this is more on personal preference that I would like to see. How Godzilla's breath attack will turn out may not affect how I will feel about the movie overall. Much like how Godzilla's design has changed over time, so has his signature attack. In the original movie, it started out as a misty spray kind of breath to a a blue beam that can slice through buildings. It is always cool to see how this attack will look in each new movie, but I am starting to feel as though it is getting too overpowered. Since "Godzilla Zero" does take place in the Showa era it is fitting to bring back a more classic style breath attack.
It is understandable that when Toho made the original movie they had to be creative in making Godzilla's breath attack look destructive and devastating. As special effects evolved, we see Godzilla's breath turn into a blue beam of death and destruction. Then, we got to see other colors such as red, green, and purple. By then, it was like choosing your favorite color lollipop for fans. There is also the wind breath from Tristar Godzilla, but we don't talk about that one. That one I will say is too weak compared to other iterations of Godzilla's breath attack.
As mentioned, this is just a style preference that I would like to see return in this new iteration. It won't affect much as to how I will feel about the movie when it releases. If a movie takes place in the Showa era then I think bringing back this classic iteration of Godzilla's attack would be nice to see again.
Those are my thoughts and ideas on what I want to see in "Godzilla Zero." Now, I want to know what you would like to see in this movie. Leave a comment in the comments section with ideas you have that you think will help improve the movie. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Minds, MeWe, Gab, and TRUTH Social to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.