Five Things We Want in Godzilla 2

Luke Owen looks at what we’d like to see in the Godzilla sequel…. Like all good summer blockbusters, Legendary Pictures “epic” reboot to the Godzilla franchise has split opinions. Godzilla fans enjoyed its dark and gritty tone as well as its obvious ties to Ishiro Honda’s 1954 b-movie masterpiece while others felt it was a bit of a bore with dowdy human characters.But whatever your thoughts, the box office figures show that we want to see more of The King of the Monsters. As such, it was announced shortly after the movie’s release that a sequel was in the works.You can read our reviews of Godzilla here and here and listen to the podcast here.So, what would we like to see in the next Godzilla film? Let’s take a look… 5. Better human charactersFor all the good Gareth Edwards did with Godzilla in terms of harking back to the dark and ominous tone of Honda’s original movie, it was let down somewhat by the lack of decent human characters.Godzilla may be the titular character, but humans should play a pivotal role in a Godzilla movie as much as the King of the Monsters does. As we discussed on the Flickering Myth Podcast, if you look at Mothra vs. Godzilla (aka Godzilla vs. The Thing), you could easily make the argument that Mr. Tako is as much of a villain in the movie as The Big G is. Furthermore, you need likeable human characters to root for as they move the story forward. We need to care about them, we need to cheer for them and we should want to see them survive. Bryan Cranston was likeable enough, but Aaron Taylor-Johnson had all the personality of a wet flannel. As such, the drama in the final reel didn’t have the same impact it could have had.For Godzilla 2, we need the opposite of this. Bring back Ken Watanabe’s Dr. Serizawa and Sally Hawkins’ Vivienne Graham (although she needs to be fleshed out more) but give us a host of new human characters to follow as Godzilla smashes around in the background.Just, please make them interesting. 4. Less militaryAlright, enough already. We’ve seen the military angle in these types of movies a fair amount now, let’s try something new.There was nothing wrong with Gareth Edwards and co focusing on military characters for this movie, but it would be more interesting for the next instalment to follow a different sector. The media, doctors, scientists – anyone but the military. This opens the door for new characters, new motivations and new connections to Godzilla as a character. If they were to use military characters again, we would have the same film with the same scenes we’ve seen in other movies. In short, it would be a waste of time.It does mean we’ll lose war room scenes which are always fun, but you have to take the rough with the smooth. 3. A non-American settingWe’ve seen Godzilla tear through Tokyo and other parts of Asia for the last 60 years and we’ve seen giant monsters travel across the pond to have a muck around in places like New York and San Francisco. But wouldn’t it be nice for the King of the Monsters to take a trip to other far and distant lands?In 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, we saw him do just that. Before he disposes of them, we see some of his advisories destroy the likes of Sydney, Paris, Tokai and even Phoenix, Arizona. It really added to the “whole world in peril” element of the movie and it was nice to see Godzilla do a bit of a World Tour on what would be his final run for a decade.Perhaps it’s because I am a resident of the country, but wouldn’t it be great if Godzilla 2 was set in the UK?Although it would be the cliché option, it would be a great visual to see Godzilla taking down a fellow monster across London’s iconic buildings. Big Ben, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge – just some of the recognisable places to destroy!Just somewhere other than America or Japan would be a nice change of pace. Plus, if a certain British director returns to the the chair, it would make sense. Speaking of which… 2. Gareth EdwardsLet’s be honest, without Mr. Edwards in the director’s chair, Godzilla might not have been the success it was. Not in terms of financial results (it was always going to be a hit), but in terms of the quality of filmmakng. Ignoring the failings of the script and character, Edwards did everything right in Godzilla and he needs to return for the next instalment.He is a man who understands the franchise and what the character should and should not be. He ‘gets’ Godzilla. His vision is what made this 2014 reboot the visual spectacle it was.Of course, there is always a chance that Edwards won’t take on the role for Godzilla 2. After all, he accomplished what he set out to do with Godzilla and he’s laid down the groundwork for a franchise to be built off the back of it. He may want to move on to bigger and, perhaps, better things. Or maybe even return to his indie roots.But his presence would be missed. In the hands of a lesser talent, Godzilla would be nothing more than a Transformers knock-off with “in your face” visuals that offer more bang for your buck as opposed to the patient, bugs-eye view spectacle we were given with this instalment. Edward’s influence sets Godzilla apart from the other big budget summer blockbusters and it would be great to see him return for another outing. 1. An already existing Godzilla villain to fightMUTO were good villains and they were the perfect vehicle to kick start this new franchise. It was nice to see a new monster and it was good for Edwards not to dive into the already existing back catalogue. However, he (and she) have had some flak from the hardcore fan community for being poorly designed creatures and they were criticised for being simply 21st Century versions of Hedorah, a character that is much maligned by the masses and Toho themselves (the character was banned from being used in movies until his cameo in 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars). They may have been new, but there wasn’t much “new” about them.The sequel would be a good time to bring back a classic villain.There is a rich history of bad guys to pick from Godzilla’s 60-year run and many of them would work for Legendary Picture’s “real world” setting. This of course cuts out the likes of King Ghidorah and Gigan as they’re aliens, but the likes of Mothra, Rodan and even lesser known bad guys like Ebirah can be used in this Universe they’ve created.Of course, there is nothing stopping them doing alien creatures…However, the best villain in terms of storytelling would be the technical titan terror: Mechagodzilla. Taking a leaf from the fan’s proposed plot for the Man of Steel sequel, have a powerful billionaire stand up and complain about Godzilla being seen as a “saviour” because he levelled half of San Francisco and then build a robot version of Godzilla to fight against him when he next shows up on our shores. It practically writes itself.—So, there you have it. What would you like to see in the Godzilla sequel?Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.

Five Things We Want in Godzilla 2

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