Can I Tell You About My Lord and Savior, Godzilla?
Have I ever told you how much I love Godzilla? Thanks to my mom, I grew up obsessed with that kaiju. From the moment I saw Godzilla, King of Monsters! (the American re-edit of the original), I was hooked. Admittedly, I spent most of my childhood watching the American reedits and dubs of mostly the Shōwa era Godzilla films. From 1954-1975, the King of Monsters’ core canon was born. During this time, we got the original film, where Godzilla was a walking nightmare, punishing mankind for their sins. From there its horror-filled roots, the Godzilla franchise would blossom into a near-constant war of monsters. The big green lizard with atomic breath would take on creatures like the giant ankylosaurus Anguirus, the oversized insect Mothra, and the three-headed behemoth Ghidorah, among many others. Surprisingly, Godzilla fought a very famous rival, quite early in his career and they wouldn’t have a rematch for 59 years.
Let Them Fight
In his first color appearance, Japan’s top monster would face off with an American favorite, King Kong. While the promise of the film is exciting—as a kid, I loved it—the final product was somewhat silly and nonsensical. Revisiting the film recently, it wasn’t quite what I imagined it was when I was a kid. In some ways, that’s the challenge of these giant monster flicks from yesteryear. There is magic to experiencing this stuff when you are a kid. It’s just like playing with toys. You imagine it as being so much more realistic and intense than it was.
A New Era
Now, I’m not complaining about the guys in suits. Those Shōwa era Godzilla films, show so much artistry. The suit work, miniatures, and special effects were so well realized for the time. I still find myself amazed by the ingenuity it took to realize so many classic Godzilla moments in those films. But, we have to be real here: the special effects and CG of these new films help these titans feel more impressive than ever. In Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla King of Monsters (2019), we see these creatures realized in a way we had only imagined. And with Godzilla and Kong seeing films from the same production company, it was inevitable that we would see them come to blows once again.
What’s A King to a God?
With the preamble out of the way, let’s get to it. Godzilla vs. Kong roared onto the big screen and HBO Max nearly sixty years after the first meeting of these beasts. Though silly at times, this film cracked the kaiju code, delivering a breezy, 2-hour film with all of the giant monster action we hoped for. While not perfect by any stretch, this film was like seeing a childhood dream realized. This week on Stay Watchin, let’s talk about the slugfest and breakdown why this film succeeds where some of the other Legendary films failed.
 
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Stay watchin, fam. Peace!