This has been quite a week with some Godzilla news as more details for Godzilla: King Of The Monsters came to light in Total Film's article, "GODZ AND MONSTERS." There are some spoilers in the article, but I will not be covering those parts so you guys can go into this movie without having to know every detail.
Also, it looks as though there are some political stuff sneaking its way into this movie to try and stir up controversy. It's not as bad as Captain Marvel's Brie Larson and her radical politics. Honestly, this one could almost be brushed under the rug. It has to do with SyFy Wire posting an article about Vera Farmiga mentioning how this Godzilla movie may be the first to pass the Bechdel Test. More details on that in a moment.
Then, there is news from NECA on the release dates for the Godzilla 2019 figures. Lastly, Godzilla is stomping his way to CinemaCon on April 2nd.
Breaking Down Total Film's Article:
The latest issue from the magazine, Total Film, was dropped last week. This latest issue gives more details about Godzilla: King Of The Monsters in the magazine's article "GODZ AND MONSTERS" as well as new pictures from the movie. There is not a whole lot of new info. Most of the article is what we knew already such as Michael Dougherty's love for Godzilla and the franchise. Yet there are some interesting tidbits and there is info that goes into spoiler territory, which I will not be covering.
One of the interesting pieces of info is how the monsters were designed. They looked back at the old Godzilla films and used that as the base to make a check list. Then, they looked at various animals for each monster and based them around those. For Godzilla, it was pretty easy for them to redesign since all he really needed to do was bring back his classic dorsal plates and other touch ups of their own by looking at komodo dragons and other lizards.
For Rodan, Dougherty looked at dinosaur fossils and vultures for inspiration of designing the monster.
When it came to Mothra, her design is based on culminations of moths, wasps, and mantises.
Ghidorah was the toughest one to design since the monsters anatomy is so strange. However, they looked to snakes (mainly cobras) for inspiration on how Ghidorah moves and as well as wolves and wolf packs.
When it comes to how Godzilla: King Of The Monsters has been marketed, there is no denying that there are some religious contexts and undertones from the bible. And the bible was where Dougherty got the idea for the marketing. He found an old bible he had when he was a kid and he remembered scribbling Godzilla in that bible. This is why we saw quotes from the Book of Revelation posted when the character posters for Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah popped up online. This is why in the movie's early marketing campaign it described Ghidorah when found in Antarctica as the devil having three heads or how Mothra's bioluminescent lights were called "God Rays." A lot of the marketing for the movie is using themes from Christianity and Catholicism for inspiration and it meshes really well with the tone set for this movie.
What I found interesting the most is that Adam Wingard, the director for Godzilla Vs. Kong, actually visited the set for Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. This was so then Wingard could grasp ideas for the 2020 movie and Dougherty even helped Wingard out with the script for Godzilla Vs. Kong. When asked about there being a clear winner, Dougherty smiled and said that the winner is the audience. I think with that kind of answer and knowing that Dougherty helped Wingard on the script that this sort of relieves some worries that I have for next year's monster "smash" - up. One of the worries I had for Godzilla Vs. Kong was not being able to live up to the hype as Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. When you look at Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, there are four monsters fighting each other and there many other monsters in the background causing mayhem bringing this end of days/apocalyptic tone. Then suddenly, the last movie is just Godzilla and Kong fighting each other in 2020. Sounds not as exciting if you are just coming off the hype train for the 2019 movie after probably watching it twenty times or so. However, knowing that Dougherty lent a hand to help Wingard write the 2020 movie gives me some confidence that this could turn out to be worth the wait. While Godzilla Vs. Kong might not generate as much hype as Godzilla: King Of The Monsters has, but we will see when we see a trailer for the final installment of the Monsterverse series.
The article even came with a couple new pictures from the movie. The first one showing Godzilla fighting King Ghidorah and the second one showing just King Ghidorah roaring in the air.
In the first image, it looks as though Godzilla is about to make his next attack while Ghidorah is sort of cornered. Also, it looks as though that maybe Ghidorah was thrown into the building just based on how he is positioned. It could be that he is struggling to get his body back up. Another thing to note is that you only see one of Ghidorah's heads. The other two could behind Godzilla lying on the floor unconscious or maybe they were torn apart. Who knows. It just looks like Ghidorah is cornered by Godzilla in this shot.
In the second image, we have Ghidorah roaring into the sky with ash and lava splashing into the air. At first, I thought Ghidorah flying over a burning city. We do usually see Ghidorah flying in the trailers. The only place where we would lava is when Rodan wakes up from his slumber. It could be that Ghidorah was trespassing on Rodan's territory, Rodan tried to fight him away, and lost the fight. Or maybe this is taking place in the middle of that fight. Maybe, Ghidorah is making threats to Rodan. Where ever this image takes place in, it does have to do something with Rodan.
Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Passing The Bechdel Test:
So in the article from Total Film, Vera Farmiga said in her interview that this movie may be the first Godzilla movie to pass the Bechdel test since part of the story is about Vera Farmiga's and Millie Bobby Brown's characters. For those that don't know what the Bechdel test is it's basically a list of three criteria that needed to be met in a movie. The criteria is as followed:
1. It has to have at least two women
2. They have to talk to each other
3. What they talk about has to be something other than a man
Yeah, not really a big deal until SyFy Wire wrote an article just about this part of Total Film's article. I have never heard of the Bechdel test until this article and I couldn't care less about it. However, it does make fans hesitant that perhaps celebrities and the media are trying to test the waters to push a political agenda onto this movie like they did with Captain Marvel. I think this is just bait to start stirring controversy. Most people don't really care about a test, they care about seeing Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah on the big screen. I don't really see it as a big deal either. I think the only time time it does become a big deal is when a celebrity starts hammering hard at diversity, antifa, and other political agendas. So far, that has not happened yet.
The only other political thing that Vera said was that her favorite monster is Mothra because her superpower is to give birth. That statement is cringy because all female animals do that. It's not a superpower or a strength. That is just what females do. Mothra has many superpowers that could have been mentioned like her God Rays that is mentioned in the viral marketing. Millie Bobby Brown's answer as to why she likes Mothra is better. Millie thinks that Mothra is cool, badass, and intimidating, which are valid excuses. No mention of giving birth or any of that garbage. But whatever, that's just my critique on this whole debacle. This whole pushing politics onto movies thing is very tiring and I just wish it would all stay far away from the entertainment industry.
Release Dates For NECA's Godzilla 2019 Figures:
If you have been following me on my Facebook page and on my Twitter, GameStop is taking preorders for NECA's Godzilla 2019 figures. So far, they have Godzilla, Godzilla V2, and Rodan up for preorder, but no Mothra as of yet on GameStop's website. It is now confirmed by Gormaru Island, GameStop, and Randy at NECA that Godzilla 2019 will be released at GameStop on May 6th and Rodan and Godzilla V2 on August 20th. There is rumor that other stores may carry these figures as early as April, but this has not been confirmed.
CinemaCon 2019:
Next month, Warner Bros. will be stomping their way to CinemaCon. This is where we will no doubt see more marketing for Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. Warner Bros. even has their own panel:
WARNER BROS. PICTURES INVITES YOU TO THE "BIG PICTURE," AN EXCLUSIVE PRESENTATION OF OUR UPCOMING SLATE
There is a big chance that new footage from Godzilla: King Of The Monsters will be shown at this convention. Another possibility is a teaser announcement or at least a poster for Godzilla Vs. Kong. I doubt there will be footage since production for the movie is not done yet. So if there is any news on Godzilla Vs. Kong, it will be at this convention. Otherwise, we will have to wait until San Diego Comic Con in July for news or presentation of the film.
CinemaCon will be running from April 1st - April 4th at Casear's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event for Warner Bros. begins April 2nd from 4:15 pm - 6:30 pm.
Before I end today's post, I want to bring up this last bit of news. On Thursday, George Root III passed away from kidney cancer. George was a Godzilla fan like you and I and before he passed away his dying wish was to see the new movie just to hear Godzilla roar one last time. Many of the Godzilla fans scrambled to get the word out on social media praying that someone from Warner Bros. or the cast of the film can help make that happen. Someone from Warner Bros. got the message and were doing the best they can to make it happen. Unfortunately, George passed away before he got to see the movie. It's heartbreaking as a community not being able to help a fellow fan grant their dying wish, but it's even more heartbreaking to lose a family member. I pray for George that he rests in peace and I pray for his family and friends that they get the support they need in their time of grievance. So I ask all of you to say a prayer for George, his family, and his friends as well.