Godzilla Minus One
He's a lizard, a real star. That was the reaction in Japan, where the 70-year-old stalwart of the local film industry received his first-ever Oscar nomination. The shortlisted lizard was born Gojira in 1954. However, he is better known to the rest of the world as Godzilla. And now, as he makes his way through cities around the world, he has finally broken his Academy Awards curse with a Best Visual Effects nomination for Godzilla Minus One.
At Toho Studios headquarters, located near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the reaction was one of boundless joy. A livestream of the creators of Godzilla Minus One jumping for joy after the Oscar nomination was announced has gone viral. Much of the focus was on the stoic rows of Godzilla models, who keep their cool even as confetti rains down. Even in the Hollywood Hall, when Godzilla's nomination was announced, it was greeted with the loudest reception of the entire ceremony — even louder than the applause that greeted Oppenheimer.
Considering Godzilla's influence on popular culture—inspiring films, cartoons, music, video games, and paving the way for Japan's all-conquering anime culture—it's surprising that the big guy had to wait until now to wink at the Oscars. In some ways, this is the biggest story from the 2024 Academy Awards. From a pop culture perspective, this is more important than loving Oppenheimer or disdaining Barbie.
#Oscars still matter!
Let's enjoy this thread of nominees reacting to an announcement that could change their lives.
First, we have the team of Godzilla Minus One, nominated for Best Visual Effects. pic.twitter.com/WTzXWHyj2Q
— Ronaldo Trancoso Jr. (@ronaldotrancoso), January 23, 2024
Oscar recognition — Godzilla faces off against the Creator, the Guardians of the Galaxy. 3, Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning. Part One» and «Napoleon» are also somewhat ironic. The first Japanese entry in the franchise since 2016's satirical Shin Godzilla, Godzilla Minus One is fantastically entertaining. But the special effects are perhaps the least impressive element. The film's budget was approximately $10 million (accounts vary) and Godzilla's role in the film is scant. It must be said that it does not have a large range. He mostly hangs around Tokyo's Ginza district, looking like he has his back out and doesn't want to cause any more damage.
Godzilla Minus One succeeded because of its human characters. The action takes place after World War II. It tells the story of disgraced kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), who fled the conflict rather than sacrifice his life for a doomed cause. Godzilla is an almost literal manifestation of Shikishima's guilt. The film is a crude metaphor for Japan's struggle to exorcise its war demons (in the form of Godzilla) and perhaps should have been nominated for Best International Feature as well.
“Post-war Japan lost everything. The film depicts an existence that causes unprecedented despair,” explained director Takashi Yamasaki. “The title Godzilla Minus One was created with this in mind. To portray this, the team and I worked together to create an environment where Godzilla looks like «fear» itself is coming towards us, and where despair is layered on top of despair.»
Godzilla Minus One is a remarkable achievement. A common complaint about loud, stomping “creature features” is that the people are the least exciting part of the story. In the case of “Minus One” this is not at all the case. Take away G-Diddy and the film still effectively tugs at the heartstrings.
Still, that doesn't take away from the fact that Godzilla's Oscar moment is long overdue. Consider that his grunting nemesis King Kong received seven Oscar nominations, split between the 1976 Dino De Laurentiis remake and the 2005 Peter Jackson remake.
The Oscar nomination is also vindication for Hollywood's Legendary Pictures. It succeeded where other studios had failed, launching an expanded Monsterverse with Godzilla and Kong at the center. But it's important to note that Godzilla Minus One is not part of this franchise; Toho Studios, which created the monster in 1954, is busy creating its own Japanese-language Godzillas. Still, Oscar's wink underscores the extent to which the giant, lumbering lizard has become a box office hit.
Apple TV Monarch : Legacy of Monsters
The monster universe began with Gareth Edwards' 2014 Godzilla and continues this year with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (taking away Roland Emmerich's terrible Godzilla, which was set in 1998 New York). While the action scenes were fantastic, Edwards' Godzilla received poor reviews, and the performances from Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen were underwhelming. To add insult to injury, he pulled a cheap prank on the audience by killing off his supposed star, Bryan Cranston, in 40 minutes. Even worse was 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which featured messy special effects and boring human characters played by Millie Bobby Brown. and Kyle Chandler and others.
But the films resonated with audiences, grossing more than $2 billion at the box office, including nearly $500 million for 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong. Thus, Monster Universe went where Warner and Universal Pictures failed in their woeful attempts to create the DC Extended Universe (recent flops included The Flash, Aquaman 2) and the dead-on-arrival Dark Universe. The latter was unveiled in 2017 with a terrifying photoshopped image of Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp shoulder to shoulder with a grim look.
Alas, Cruise's Mummy was such a disaster that plans for a shared universe were promptly buried in an unmarked grave. Two more monster films have been released: The Invisible Man in 2020 and the Nicolas Cage comedy Dracula Renfield in 2023. However, the studio was careful not to hint at an excessive connection.
Scene from Godzilla Minus One
Monsterverse, on the other hand, is thriving. For a large animal, he is nimble. Last year's Apple TV spin-off Monarch: Monster Legacy, for example, was a touching meditation on age and loss, starring Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt playing the same character decades apart. Meanwhile, blockbuster Godzilla vs. Kong gave audiences the no-frills monster punch they didn't even know they needed. Kong and Gorilla will reunite on March 29th in «New Empire.» Early trailers suggest it will be even more outlandish than its predecessor.
Godzilla will also take his place among cinema's greatest at the Oscars in March. Win or lose, this promises to be another night of triumph for the monster from the deep as he continues to soar higher and higher.
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