godzilla: King of the Monsters

Michael Dougherty feels that he is going to ramp up the action and emotion in ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ from the 2014 first chapter to the MonsterVerse and thinks fans will agree. He feels so strongly about this that he “would call it the Aliens to Gareth’s Alien.” That isn’t just a bold statement but hints at what kind of a tone shift we can expect when the movie is released later this year.

To describe what he is putting together, instead of the “slow burn” of the original ‘Godzilla’ movie directed by Gareth Edwards, we see Dougherty describing his sequel as a more comprehensive film:

“It’s a bit more on an ensemble film. Whereas the first movie was really about Brody’s character kind of weaving his way through that adventure and Monarch kind of was the backdrop for that. Here Monarch is the focus because I find that concept really fascinating. The idea that there is a secret agency that tracks giant monsters – that is a dream come true for me too. I think if the government said to me, ‘Tomorrow you have to fake your own death and abandon every one you know to go hunt the paranormal,’ I would be gone in a heartbeat.

So I felt there was an opportunity to sort of craft Monarch as a group of humanists, who unlike a lot of top-secret government agencies where they have their own nefarious mission statements, Monarch has a very positive outlook on what these creatures are and what they represent. And the idea of a team of heroes who are scientists really appealed to me. This isn’t a Marvel film where you people in mech suits or with superpowers getting into endless fist fights. These are just very intelligent, capable people, who are up against impossible odds. So in a time where, in our current climate, where science is being constantly questioned and targeted, the idea of creating a film where scientists are heroes, I thought was really important.”

Another interesting fact about the movie he revealed is that “this film roughly takes place in real time. So we are placing that first film in 2014, and we are saying this film takes place roughly five years after, so in 2019.”

Also, the Kaiju aren’t going to be just appearing out of nowhere:

“It’s not like the monsters are suddenly popping out of nowhere, they’ve always been here. They were here before we were. So the concept we’re running with is that this world belonged to them. If anything, we’re the invasive species, and we’ve simply rediscovered something that’s always been there and that they are in some ways, the old gods. The first gods. And that’s something we’re also trying to bring to this film for a more mythological, almost biblical, backdrop to the creatures, and it’s called Godzilla…the idea that these creatures were once worshipped by some ancient civilization. I really love that about the old movies in that Mothra was this deity. It really opened up the mythology. So if Mothra existed thousands of years ago, and Godzilla existed thousands of years ago, and Mothra was worshipped by some ancient civilization, as was Kong, that would make sense that the other creatures probably had some contact with human beings at some point too.”

The reason he went this route is one of the most inspiring reasons to me as to why I want to see this film because the director shared that “as a kid, it always bummed me out that dinosaurs never actually crossed paths. After years of Harry Hausen films, that was such a heartbreaking truth to discover. So I’m saying fuck that. No. At some point, ancient humans that we have forgotten about somehow did interact with these ancient beasts.”

This is the kind of fun movie logic I can get behind!

What do you think about the hints of how ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ will differ from the original? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ will roar into theaters on May 31st, 2019!

Source: Collider