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"THE UNDERTAKER!!!"
I know, indulge me
For decades, the Undertaker was this horror-themed
Supposedly supernatural wrestler
A dead man walking who feels no pain
Every time he got punched
He'd stare at his victim
Like a killer from a slasher movie
Every time he was down
He'd get back up
Like a freshly resurrected vampire
There was this inhuman aura around him that is mesmerizing
Just look at him...
It sounds like a ridiculously cheesy gimmick
That's because it is
Yes, everybody knew it was fake
Wrestling fans aren't brain dead morons
Nobody believes the Undertaker was anything but a dude from Texas
But that didn't matter
Every time he walked in
He brought with him a fantasy
A story
A promise of spectacle beyond this world
And at that moment
We want to believe
That is what sets Godzilla vs. Kong apart from many kaiju films
Sure, the concept is cheesy and gimmicky
But that doesn't matter
Just like the Undertaker
Godzilla vs. Kong walks into the ring with such confidence
With such sincerity
It makes us want to believe
But to really understand what I mean
We'll have to journey back to the beginning of the monster film genre
And see how things have changed
From then
To now
[THEN VS. NOW: DIFFERENCES IN STORY PHILOSOPHY - PART 2]
[CHAPTER ONE]
In 1933
A humble little film changed cinema, forever
King Kong was such a revolutionary film
It's often considered to be the first kaiju movie
And kickstarted the giant monster genre
Except, it didn't
For a decade after King Kong
Giant monsters remained a rarity in cinema
The genre wouldn't start properly until the 1950s
In truth, Kong is much more of a gothic monster
Like Dracula
And the wolfman
Freaks of nature, all came out around the same time
Back then, these monsters were fantastical
Existing in their own surreal reality
Their existence is rarely justified
Even when science is involved
It's mad, fantasy science
There's a reason why Frankenstein is remembered as a horror classic
And not a sci-fi classic
These weren't meant to be believable
They were escapist entertainment
They transport you into another world
An unfamiliar world
*Nuclear explosions*
And then, everything changed
After WWII
Fear of the unknown gave way to the horrors of real life
In The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
A fictional dinosaur is awakened by nuclear testing
And goes on a rampage in New York City
The hook of the movie sounds similar to King Kong
But the implication is very different
King Kong's rampage is about the spectacle
You are watching from a safe distance
But when the beast attacks New York City
It is meant to be attacking the very same New York in our world
King Kong is fantasy
This is science-fiction
That would be the general trend for monster movies onward
Instead of bringing you to another world
Monster films began to bring them to our world
They became rooted in reality
Sometimes they are regular animals
Sometimes they are human beings
Nowadays, we often judge the quality of a horror film
By how real it felt
We forgot that one upon a time
Realism wasn't the only way
And so the trend hit its peak with the found footage genre
Even giant monsters are doing it now
This trend is one of the reasons
Why the original King Kong vs. Godzilla was re-edited for the US market
Additional news segments were added
In an attempt to make it more serious and epic
It is also the reason why Godzilla 1998 looks like this
No fire-breathing
No invincibility
This pursue of quote-unquote "gritty realism"
Sucks the fun out of a lot of movies
Movies with escapist premises
It's the equivalent of trying to convince people that wrestling is real
By stop doing all the fancy moves like piledrivers
Why don't I just watch MMA then!?
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[CHAPTER TWO]
Perhaps as a reaction to this realism trend
In the 2010s, some movies began to bounce back
And they bounced all the way to the other end of the spectrum
The one example everyone knows is phase 3 MCU movies
These movies are stylistic and fantastical
Which is great
The only problem
Is that these movies seem ashamed of their own fantasy
Maybe because the Academy Award favors realistic films
Or because people mock you for believing in childlike fantasy
Whatever the reasons
In US cinema
We put way too much value on realism
As a result, escapist films become unwilling
To embrace their own make-believe
"Do you guys just put the word 'quantum' in front of everything?"
They have to lampshade every ounce of sincerity
By Interrupt every single emotional moment
With jokes
As if to say
"Haha, we know this is silly"
"We are self-aware!"
One thing that took me a while to understand
Is why critics love Godzilla vs. Kong
But hated King of the Monsters
And I think this is the reason
KotM is unwilling to commit to its own mythos
It's always cracking jokes about itself
"My god..."
"Zilla"
Making light of the situation
And it backfires
In this scene, Watanabe's character is heading out on a suicide mission
To resurrect Godzilla
It should've been a sad moment
And the actors acted as much
But we can't take it seriously
Because throughout the entire film
No matter how grave the situation is
"Ghidora"
"Did she just say gonorrhea?"
SOMEONE IS THERE TO MAKE JOKES!
We are told to not take this movie seriously
We are told to not be emotionally invested
How am I supposed to escape to another world
If you don't want me to believe
[CHAPTER THREE]
Quick question
Who's the main character in the Sherlock Holmes book series?
It's not a trick question
It is, indeed, Holmes
But, many people and adaptations seem to forget that
The stories were told through the perspective of Holmes' assistance
Dr. Watson
In Godzilla vs. Kong
We follow the perspective of Dr. Ilene Andrews
And her effort in finding a safe haven for Kong
Supposedly, Kong and Godzilla were ancient enemies
And now, Godzilla is out hunting for Kong
Destroying everything in his path
Living in captivity for too long
Kong grows more and more agitated
So Dr. Andrews and other fellow humans decide to take a gamble
Transport Kong to Antarctica
Find an entrance to the Hollow Earth
A place where Kong may find a new home
Or even find other titans like him
But it has a catch
The moment they make a move
They'll have to make sure they can outrun Godzilla
Most Godzilla films in the past feature a human story
Both Godzilla 2016 and King of the Monsters center around a broken family
And how their relationships are healed in a disaster scenario
These are relatable elements that were supposed to anchor the film
Making it feel more realistic
This is where Godzilla vs. Kong differs greatly
While Dr. Andrews is the primary character
Make no mistake
Kong is, with no ambiguity, the only protagonist in this film
All humans are supporting characters in this journey
None of them have an arc
Instead, we quickly learn to feel for Kong
In this scene, Kong is being transported
He's chained to a ship, in the rain
He is suffering, distressed
Noticing this
His only friend in the world, a little girl name Jia, reaches out
And at that moment
You can see the desperation on Kong's face
You can see how much he needed her
Being the last of his kind
Kong longs for not just a home
But a family
"Home"
He speaks
We know he is a giant CGI creature
We know
But our emotions don't
There is a half-hearted joke that follows
"Did the monkey just talk?"
But the film wisely downplays it
Because we don't need the reminder that this is silly and impossible
We want to believe
This movie is full of wondrous moments like this
Elements that don't make any logical sense
But a spectacle to behold
For the rest of the movie
We see the world through the eyes of Kong
The fights are told through his perspective
With plenty of reaction shots for Kong
But not Godzilla
Kong is the only one we are rooting for
We experience the wonders of the Hollow Earth through him
We can feel his curiosity
His sense of freedom
He sees a giant hand carved out of rocks
And how he realizes
This is the place he belongs
Kong is like the Undertaker
Full of personality
Full of sincerity
The story doesn't try to make him "realistic"
There are no news segments trying to justify the science of Kong
There are also no self-aware jokes
No need to make fun of him
It is committed, 100%, in its own fantasy
It's a subtle thing
But it makes a world of difference
And so, Kong finds an ancient temple
Built to worship his ancestors
He sits on a throne
The imagery is silly
But nevertheless
The movie celebrates it
The movie revels in it
As if it is the coolest thing in the world
And at that moment
The movie believes in its own fantasy
And I want to believe it, too
[CONCLUSION]
I grew up watching a lot of Kaiju media
Primarily the Ultraman series
But also both Power Rangers and Super Sentai
Whenever the Godzilla films were on TV
Which, mind you, were pretty rare occasions
I would glue myself to it
I still remember watching them with my mom at home, in the evening
Sitting about a foot from the TV screen
It was some of my fondest memories
Kaiju has always been this nerdy thing that people make fun of
Like wrestling
Everyone trashes you for watching fake and cheesy fights
So you can imagine my catharsis
When I realize, for the first time in my life
The mainstream audience loves a Kaiju film
Finally, it's cool to be a nerd
Godzilla vs. Kong is a reminder to the audience
That sometimes, it's okay to daydream
The childlike heart is powerful
It can bring us to another world
Experience infinite possibilities
It's called imaginations
And I think we should start celebrating it again