Happy (Late) Godzilla Day! This'ere's a big 'ol ramble, I tell'ya h'what.
So, first off, off the bat, I got the MMS Godzilla Evolved Godzilla Store Exclusive - phew - an amazing translucent redeco much more reminiscent of the movie than the original figure. Even though he's seemingly considered... Ass, I've always loved Evo, and his cute lil' MMS - I knew I'd have to eventually score this variant.
Second - Godzilla Minus Zero!
Minus Zero was a total monster-mash... with a slight heavy-handedness very narrowly aiming for prestige. Insane, gory, wicked kaiju action - yet, as all-too-often is the case... not enough of it?
I promise I'm not one of Those Guys who always gotta hate the "Human Stuff". There's loads of iconic stories throughout the franchise; the possessed prophet queen from Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster - the Godzilla hurricane chasers from G2K - the Red Bamboo! You could go on. There's even ones like Gamera Vs. Barugon or Space Amoeba where the kaiju are honestly the less interesting characters!
Unfortunately, in this film's case... I dunno. There's this excellent tense disaster-horror trapped beneath a weighty casket-lid of Melodrama; very, very overinfluenced by the first film's success. Maybe I went in with the wrong mindset, ya never know, but I was sort of hoping the Dramatics would be more the first film's thing, y'know? Too much Crying Baby. Too much rage. To me, it gets into, like... Indian TV Serial. Its manipulative, it's all way too much.
When Yamazaki goes wild, he goes wild - captivating gore, incredible brutality. Really quite relevant to our present times, in multiple ways. The first film's themes were excellent, in and of themselves - and sometimes, those themes carried into the sequel fit just about as well - but I think a more adventurous sense of levity would better fit what I perceive to be his interests. I mean, just look at the Godzilla Rides he himself directed - there are scenes in Zero that dip into this more colorful, while still serious energy - kaiju, and otherwise - and they're great. I assume the inevitable third movie will, as per tradition, go further down this route - especially based on my prediction...*
This all being said - when its good, it's good. Sort of a genetic mish-mash of Godzilla Vs Biollante, the Heisei Gamera trilogy, and Terror of MechaGodzilla... with dashings of Godzilla: KotM and Godzilla X MechaGodzilla. In a broad sense, Minus Zero absolutely pays off on what you're here for - the monsters! The doom, the gloom! They want EFX! Some live F-X...Old-heads will enjoy Godzilla's return to his Heisei-era role - complete with Miki. Far from the film's focus, he's like an uncontrollable storm; a role shared by his strange, three-headed demon clone, King Ghidorah.
Though appropriately horrific, and grand, Ghiddy's a pretty direct evolution of the Monsterverse incarnation - it's not a bad thing, it isn't necessarily "more of the same"... it's more of the... familiar. Which is like, kinda good! KotM's kaiju scenes are a great thing to rip off; and though I do think the 2019 version reigns superior, Zero Ghidorah very memorably takes the new series to a much welcomed stranger place. I adored his golden glow - his satanic charisma - his mythic, unreal scale.
Spoilers? You got it. Baby Ghidorah is totally just Gyaos. The elderly man I met outside the theater agreed. Godzilla's new form isn't relevant - and anyone who thought the NYC shot was, somehow, "only for the trailers", Is A Clown. I'm sort of surprised there wasn't a second Godzilla - I well expect one of these modern movies to break that conceptual ice - but, then... Ghidodzilla was Amazeballs. What a freak. Where's the MMS!? So far, the leaked standard figure looks pretty generic. Might end up going for the Giga, but... I think I'd better wait.
You ever notice since they keep doing this Godzilla-mutant-expy storyline? Biollante, SpaceGodzilla, Orga... no hate. Just noticing.
I gave it a 3.5, over on Tha Box'd. Lower than Minus One, which I last rated 4; but, Zero is certainly more to my tastes. Gross, strange, very memorable and even enjoyably debatable in its flaws. The original holds incredibly solid - and though the sequel, I suspect, won't exactly carry that flame, I loved it's bold new ideas.
Oh, yeah. I got the popcorn bucket. You don't wanna know how much this "Sucka EmCee" cost. I didn't plan on nabbing one, with that in mind - but as the impish little man behind the counter flaunted a little IMAX promo poster, singing the praise of Godzilla's massive, plastic-pollutant popcorn surprise... he had to be mine. Both the popcorn bucket, and the Man.
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| Us at Greg's Bar and Grill... Never did get his name... |
Y'know something weird?! I was given the display model(!), because, according to the employee, the rest had broken arms. Lo and behold... if you know, you know. Same arm, too.
Not to mention... his spikes come out...
You wanna talk about the figure? Let's talk about the figure. He's real nice. For a so-called "popcorn bucket", this is an excellent collectible - seriously pushing the boundaries of what can Contain Popcorn. There's a ton of space inside this guy - you could throw a couple cold ones in 'em. Though very hollow, it's thick, rubber spines and bulky tail give the statue an overall durability that's surprising for... what it is. I'd say he's borderline fragile... but, its a display piece. A ridiculous and amazing one, at that.
Its a flawless sculpt - a real testament, and tribute to the lauded design. Almost like a symbol of the Minus series' insane success, in its absurdity. For the Nerds, he's real similar to the beautiful 2 foot tall Jakk's Godzilla 2014. Similar scale, similar paint... even a fairly similar design. It's just so cool - again, for a so-called "popcorn bucket"? Forgettaboudit.
I gotta say - it's a weird thing, but I love the figure's unpainted grey eyes. So GMK - or better yet, Sunset on Third Street. Always been my favorite of this Yamazaki guy's Godzillas. Again... #WheresTheMMS?
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| 71's original commissioned concept rendering of what would, after being Stolen, become the 2024 Godzilla design. |
Yes, as some are aware, 71 Studios burned down just recently, on - what else? - the very night of Halloween; as it's successor is under construction, me closest mateys and I are enjoying a well-deserved vacation! For details on mass layoffs, future employment, and confirmed victims - including deceased - please visit our main site at [REDACTED], or call our toll-free number at [REDACTED]. As company founder and CEO, my standing has no relevance whatsoever to your jobs, wellbeing, or lack thereof.
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| One of Godzilla's many MidLife cameos... |
Stay tuned - Details to come! Let's close off with another... Happy (Late) Godzilla Day! Amen.
Love,
The SmogMonster
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