Tag: Kaiju

Easter Eggs And Potential Sequel Hints From Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

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Geekville Radio #235: Putting the “God” in “Godzilla”

We looked at the Godzilla sequel last week and gave it a favorable review. We also listed Essential Godzilla Viewing in Examining The Dead #21. Here, you will see why those movies were selected.

Godzilla – Starting off with Big G himself, here are some nuggets placed throughout the film. Many of which go back to the original 1954 Gojira.

  • Leading into the third act, Godzilla is re-energized by a point-blank nuclear bomb planted by Dr. Serizawa. For a time, Godzilla has glowing red patches all over his body. This is a nod to 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destroyah, which saw Godzilla eventually reach meltdown status and… well… melt.
Godzilla’s Death in 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destroyah

Mothra – One monster that is almost always a heroic, Mothra is usually depicted as one of Earth’s guardians.

  • In the “Blink and you miss it” moment, Monarch does have a screen identifying her as “Mosera”, which is the original Japanese pronunciation.
  • Mothra is found in Outpost 61, a reference to 1961, which is the year the first Mothra movie was released.
  • Ziyi Zhang portrays two characters, Dr. Chen and Dr. Ling. Chen has an in-depth knowledge of Mothra and claims to have ancestors from the same island as the creature. As any Mothra fan knows, she usually has twin fairies, referred to as Shobijin (“little beauties”). They can communicate and translate monster language, as well as call on Mothra for help.
Mothra’s ever present singing twins
  • In the current movie, Mothra is blasted by King Ghidorah’s dragon breath, and her life essence revitalizes Godzilla. This helps Godzilla come back to finally defeat Ghidorah. A similar scene happens in 2001’s GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, only the roles of Godzilla and Ghidorah are reversed. Mothra revitalizes Ghidorah to take down an evil Godzilla.
Mothra resurrects Ghidorah in GMK (2001)

King Ghidorah – Ghidorah served as the main antagonist in the film. He is arguably Godzilla’s most powerful foe because it often takes multiple monsters working together to defeat him.

  • Monarch originally refers to Ghidorah as Monster Zero, a name that was given to him in the 1966 film Godzilla vs. Monster Zero.
  • In another scene reminiscent of GMK, Monarch finds Ghidorah frozen in ice, where he has presumably been for many years. This mirrors his discovery in GMK. In an unexpected twist, GMK marks the first and only time King Ghidorah played the role of a guardian monster.
  • During a fight, Godzilla bites off one of Ghidorah’s heads. In the post-credits sequence, the severed head is found and given to Jonah Alan. In 1991’s Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, one of the opening scenes is the discovery of a severed Ghidorah head. That head was used to make Mecha-King Ghidorah, who fights Godzilla in the third act. That may not guarantee we get MKG, but it may lead to the three-headed monster’s return in a future sequel.

King Kong – Kong was introduced in 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and will return next year in the aptly titled Godzilla vs. Kong

  • Kong himself is absent from this movie, though he is seen in some of the monitors in Monarch outposts.
  • Dr. Houston Brooks was a major character in the 2017 film played by Cory Hawkins. Veteran character actor Joe Morton portrays an older Dr. Brooks in this movie

Rodan – While he is clearly #4 in importance behind Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and Mothra, Rodan still has some memorable screen time in the film.

  • Rodan emerges from a volcano, much like he did in 1964’s Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster. A film which also saw him team with Godzilla and Mothra to take on King Ghidorah
  • The volcano is dubbed by Monarch as Outpost 56, a reference to the 1956 film Rodan.

Dr. Serizawa – Portrayed by Ken Watanabe, Dr. Ishiro Serizawa is one of the leading experts on Godzilla. His name is a combination of two people: Ishiro Honda and Dr. Daisuke Serizawa.

  • Ishiro Honda was the real-life director of several Godzilla films, including the original 1954 Gojira.
  • Dr. Daisuke Serizawa in the original film was a scientist who developed The Oxygen Destroyer, which was used to kill the original Godzilla.
  • The 1954 version saw Serizawa sacrifice himself with Godzilla’s destruction. He feared that as long as he was alive, there was a chance he could be forced to develop the weapon again.
  • In the current movie, the military already has a weapon called The Oxygen Destroyer, which it uses in an attempt to kill both Godzilla and King Ghidorah.
  • Like the original, this Dr. Serizawa also sacrifices himself. Only it is to heal Godzilla through a nuclear detonation.

Spiga – A giant spider that plays a minor part throughout the film bears a striking resemblance to Spiga/Kumonga, who first appeared in Son Of Godzilla.

Did you see any other easter eggs? Or hints at future films? Sound off below!

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Review

WARNING: Mild Spoiler Sauce in this review, and in the trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjoY7foPDgo
Latest trailers showcase the other kaiju seen in the film

It’s hard to believe that five years have passed since Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla roared into theaters. While the deviations from the classic lore were apparent, the heart of the film was still in the right place. It was also a different take that placed Godzilla squarely in the protector role. Something the classic Toho movies rarely did.

Perhaps the biggest issue a die-hard kaiju fan might have with these recent takes on Big G is the removal of the nuclear metaphor that was integral to the monster’s character. Godzilla was created out of the Atomic Bomb tests during World War II. When mankind decided to play god, Nature created Godzilla as a result.

Raymond Burr sums up why Godzilla exists

However, the new lore still works in a different way. Rather than Man creating the Monster, the Monster actually predates Man. It’s not unlike the original Mothra, a creature who exists to protect Earth from other atrocities. And, in a way, puts the “god” in Godzilla.

Fast forward five years. Gareth Edwards bowed out of the sequel to make Rogue One, and screenwriter Michael Dougherty took his place. Thus, an almost entirely new cast was put on display. That, and the highly anticipated addition of other famous Toho monsters, made the film less of a sequel and more like another story in a franchise.

Which brings us to 2019, and the latest entry in Warner Bros. “Monsterverse”, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters.

Only one major character returns from the 2014 film. Ken Watanabe reprises his role as Dr. Serizawa, the scientist who has been studying Godzilla all his life. Sally Hawkins also returns as his assistant. The rest of the cast are all new characters.

The setting is five years after the first film, and Godzilla has remained virtually unseen since. Monarch has tracked and located other “Titans”, who of course are the kaiju we’ve seen in the trailers. When you add in the military who want to destroy these creatures, plus other groups who want to free and/or use them, and it’s easy to see where the story goes from there.

If you’re a fan of classic Godzilla, and other kaiju movies, you will see where a lot of material is inspired from. There are story elements from the original 1954 Gojira, 1964’s Ghidorah, 1968’s Destroy All Monsters, 1991’s Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, and 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destroyah. If you’ve seen those films, you’ll get an idea of what you’re in store for.

To say this is the best American made Godzilla film may seem like a punchline at first, given there have only been three made. In the end, G:KoTM is a movie about Giant Monsters. If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. It was awesome finally seeing justice done to such classic kaiju as King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan. There are still plenty more monsters in Toho’s toybox to pull from, so the best may yet to come.

And in case you’re asking, yes, stay after the credits.