Destroy All Monsters
The Showa-era “Godzilla” films set a template after the haunted 1954 original- introducing new antagonists, building out the world, rinse and repeat the formula until it’s time to reinvent. In a way, this is the same philosophy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the difference is, the background characters- by and large- have all of the dialogue, and the main pulls for the films emote through screeches and growls. I’ve had Criterion’s Showa-era box set for a few years, but have not quite dug as deeply into it as I wanted to. Before DragonCon seemed like a good opportunity to knock one of the films off of my must-see list.
The creation of the new monsters for Godzilla to take on came with the commercialization of the franchise as a long-running concern for Toho, but one of the thinks I love so much about these films- as I’ve seen more of them- is the worldbuilding. Each creature has its own backstory and sense of personality that stays relatively consistent with each new film. Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and the rest of them serve a specific purpose in the story, whether it’s as a true ally (Mothra), an all-around villain (Ghidorah) or a creature that can go either way (Rodan). Here, we are introduced to a world where the monsters are in a controlled environment on an island, where they are free to roam, and do no destroy humanity. One day, a race of beings known as the Kilaaks appear, and find a way to unleash the monsters on the world. It’s up to the scientists in charge to work on a solution, and reign in the monsters before the shit hits the fan.
“Destroy All Monsters” is very much a silly adventure movie, but that is the charm of a lot of Godzilla, and kaiju, films. I really appreciate that Ishiro Honda, who directed the original “Godzilla,” remained a part of the franchise even as it transitioned from the haunted, profound metaphor of a country reckoning with being his by nuclear bombs to a series of films that seemed to relish in their silliness as the years went on. I do think there remained part of that original metaphor in the first few films, especially when it comes to how the humans learn to co-exist with the monsters, much in the way the world has tried to wrestle with managing nuclear energy in the eight decades since the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US. First and foremost, however, this is just a fun movie to watch, and it’s one of the strongest from this era that I’ve seen.
