The Non-Fan's Guide to Godzilla Films

This series is the culmination of everything that went before, taking what made each era of Godzilla films great. I've said similar things before, and it was true, but it's also true here. Produced by Hollywood, what we have here is what could have gone right with the 1998 film, finally done right. Excellent effects, an outstanding cast, recurring characters, and locales that aren't just (yawn) Japan or the Pacific.

Godzilla (2014)

Truly, Hollywood went all-in on this one. Look at that cast. Bryan Cranston, star of "Breaking Bad," right after that show reached its conclusion; Elizabeth Olsen, slated to star as Scarlet Witch in the Avengers franchise; plus other high-profile actors such as Juliette Binoche and Ken Watanabe. This is a far cry from Matthew Broderick and other people you couldn't quite remember, or Raymond Burr and just Raymond Burr. The effects are top-notch, the acting is good, and as noted earlier, we have Godzilla in different locales and different situations.

As with many of the 29 other Godzilla films preceding this one, the original 1954 is referenced, but with a few changes. This time around, it's indicated that there was an attack by a monster at that time, and nuclears "tests" since then were all attempts to kill it. Also, as with some of the reboot series, a task force has been organized to investigate activity by Godzilla and other giant creatures. However this time around that task force, Monarch, is more similar to a secret paramilitary scientific research organization and is global in scale.

Godzilla isn't seen until later in the film, continuing the tradition of foreshadowing and building up to his dramatic appearance. When he does come on the scene after decades in hibernation, it's to fight two new monsters who feed off of nuclear radiation. While Godzilla is clearly a threat humans have been trying to control or eliminate for decades, these monsters are worse and the question is made whether Godzilla isn't actually a kind of savior.

This film is a great jumping-on point. It's not hokey at all, and requires no knowledge of the previous films. Just sit back and enjoy.

Shin Godzilla (2016)

This film is not part of the current Hollywood series, but is the start of a new reboot done by Toho in Japan, with more traditional effects. Unlike other reboots, including the American series, there is no reference to the 1954 original. Instead, it takes place entirely in present-day Japan, as Godzilla destroys a boat and attacks Japan. This time around, his form evolves and Godzilla grows, more than doubling in size over the course of the film.

While Godzilla's form and abilities change slightly in this film, what Godzilla symbolizes also takes a turn. For decades Godzilla was the living symbol of the problem with atomic weapons, then nuclear weapons. This time around he's a symbol of the problem of nuclear power in general, particularly in the wake of the Fukashima disaster.

It's always good to see Godzilla films with a darker tone like this one. And as much as I enjoy seeing CGI push the limits of the imagination, there's always a sense of unreality about CGI. In this case, having a Godzilla that's actually physically real is like a breath of fresh air.

In addition to that, this is an honestly great film. In talking to other Godzilla fans recently, those who, like me have seen all of them, every single one of us grouped this film among their top 3-5 favorites. It's smart, it's sometimes funny, and it says a lot about the Japanese political system as well as international politics while not being too heavy-handed. Must see.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

As with the previous series of Godzilla films, the current series has included the best characters and parts of the previous series and cut out all the crap. Case in point: the baddest Godzilla villain of all, King Ghidorah.

Set 5 years after the previous film, which actually was 5 years earlier, the existence of Godzilla and other monsters, now called "Titans" is now public knowledge, but Monarch still operates largely secretly, and most titans are dormant. A team goes to Antarctica to awaken Monster Zero aka King Ghidorah, while Rodan is awakened in Mexico. Eventually the classic match-up of Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan versus King Ghidorah takes place, while other Titans are assembled for the final battle.

This chapter of the series brings in even more well-known stars, including Vera "Bates Motel" Farmiga and Millie Bobbie Brown, better known as Eleven from "Stranger Things." The humans provide support and intrigue, and the monster action is excellent, plus, in what is now the traditional Marvel-style end credits scene, we have foreshadowing of the next film, another conflict between Godzilla and an ancient foe - Kong.

Godzilla vs. Kong (2020)

While the first match-up between King Kong and Godzilla was perhaps the best film in the original series, this one is the better matchup between them, and one of the best films featuring either of the characters. Here, we have a direct cross-over between both film series, continuing on from "Godzilla King of the Monsters" and the Kong film "Skull Island," creating a shared universe that ultimately features all the classic giant monsters as well as new ones.

The question this film asks is, "If Godzilla is King of the Monsters, then what is King Kong king of?" or, "Can there be more than one king?" And, we do get an answer. Over the course of the film we learn that Godzilla and Kong's species were always rivals. We also learn that rumors of the Earth being hollow are true, and Monarch is aware of that fact.

Now that he has been revived, Godzilla is interested in proving once and for all that he truly is the king of monsters, so her pursues Kong on land and sea. But Kong has become attached to a group of humans, in particular a young girl, and by attacking Kong Godzilla also threatens the humans around him, and Kong is put in the position of defending them as much as they are trying to defend him.

As tends to be the case when two icons square off against each other, eventually they do unite against a common, even worse enemy. In this case, the newly created nightmare Mechagodzilla.

Thanks to CGI, this film shows us things we've never seen before in a Godzilla or Kong film. Things we couldn't have seen in the age of human actors wearing monster suits, smashing miniature cities. Things like Godzilla and Kong fighting in the open ocean, leapfrogging across aircraft carriers, or Kong and Godzilla fighting in a city, hiding behind skyscrapers and ambushing each other. Fantastic stuff that leaves you eagerly awaiting the next film.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Earlier, I mentioned a discussion I had with other Godzilla fans about their favorite Godzilla films of all time. This was the other film every single one of them mentioned, often ranking in the top 2, if not the best. I totally agree. This film shares a few things in common with "Shin Godzilla". Both films are outside the normal series, both show Godzilla actively mutating, and both make excellent use of the human characters.

It's this last point that makes Minus One such a good film. Essentially Minus One takes us full circle to the themes of the original film, which showed the aftereffects of dropping the atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But in this case, the film is really about the journey of a Japanese kamikaze pilot as he redeems himself after the war. The film opens in the final days of the war, as the pilot returns to base, citing mechanical issues. Kamikazes aren't supposed to return. They were suicide pilots using their airplanes as a weapon.

After the pilot returns to camp, Godzilla a monster well-known in local legend, attacks the base. Far different from the creature we know, it's only about the size of a two story house, and it has a tough but not impregnable hide. The pilot has the chance to cut it down with the guns of his fighter plane, but doesn't either out of cowardice or mercy. As a result, many men are killed.

After the war, the pilot returns home and makes a lucrative living on a ship disarming explosive mines in the sea. He meets a homeless woman and the two raise an orphaned baby, living as a family though the two never marry nor have a romantic relationship. This is the heart of the film, as we see the Japanese community try to recover after the devastation of the war.

Eventually, Godzilla returns, now massive and mutating due to the effects of the atomic bombs. As he lays waste to Japan with repeated attacks on land and sea, the Japanese people must band together for the first time since before the war to combat the atomic-powered threat or face extinction. Must-see.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

At this point, the series has established that the Earth is hollow, and that there are giant creatures lying dormant in various areas of the world. Or, if they're not dormant, they mind their own business unless provoked. At the end of the last film, Godzilla and Kong formed an uneasy truce. Each were kings of their own right, with Godzilla ruling the surface world while Kong lived in the ape's paradise that is the inner earth, fighting and eating other giant creatures as giant apes will do.

This time around, we see much more of Kong's life, and it's very much a Kong film, where the previous film was split pretty evenly between Kong and Godzilla. We learn there are other apes inside the Earth, and not all of them are good. Some hold others captive and use them as slaves. When Kong encounters them and is badly injured, he turns to both Godzilla and the humans for help. We learn a lot about the history of the super monsters, and of ancient Earth. In a very interesting scene, Kong has to try to communicate with Godzilla, indicating he's not there to fight, but to ask for help. Unlike other films back in the 60s, it's not implied that the monsters actually understand each other's grunts and roars. They actually have to communicate through action and sign, which brings an added level of realism to the film. This has been a component of the entire modern series, in which the monsters are injured, and things happen that ground the film despite other very fantastic elements.