With Godzilla Minus One and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters being released this month, there is much excitement buzzing around how Big G is going to look on the big screen in 2023.
I still remember watching Godzilla for the first time when I was a young lad. I was flipping through the channels and landed on the STARZ channel where Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II was playing. Heck, I can even remember what scene was on when I laid eyes on Godzilla for the first time.
One of the things that captivated me the most about the movie was, natrually, watching a giant lizard dominate the screen. Like most young boys, I had a fondness for dinosaurs. But I had never seen anything like this... An upright giant creature with dorsal fins who shot a blue beam from his mouth.
I was hooked.
One of the many things I always loved about watching Godzilla films was the suit designs. You could always tell how much time and effort was put into making these characters come to life and make no mistake, these are characters. Not just animals in a movie. If you watch a movie, say Hachi: A Dog's Tale, Hachi (the titular dog) is certainly a character in the movie. However, he is just that. A dog. You can see some expression, but he acts as a dog would act. The premise of the movie is centered on the relationship between a man and his loyal dog. So, if the dog acted like anything other than a dog, it would be seem off-putting and unrealistic.
/ ... make no mistake, these are characters.
However, when you watch a Godzilla movie, you don't want to just watch an animal movie. You want to watch a Kaiju film with the baddest kaiju of all at center stage. This is one of the biggest criticisms of Tristar's 1998 Godzilla film. Godzilla was too animalistic, he lacked any of the mystery that surrounds him and was reduced to a giant lizard roaming New York looking to eat and procreate.
Even though Godzilla's origin has historically explained via science with his creation from the radiation of the atomic bomb in 1940s Japan, there is still much mystery around his origins. In Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, we see that Mechagodzilla (Kiryu) is built around the bones of the original 1954 Godzilla and somehow, the original instincts of 1954 takes over throughout the movie when he hears Godzilla's roar. In Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla is depicted as being a container for the souls of those who died during the Pacific War.
Now there are still older movies in the Godzilla franchise that treated Godzilla like an animal - because at the end of the day he was. But through storytelling and design, there was still room for the mystery. Specifically in that Godzilla looked nothing like anything anyone had seen before. He didn't walk, sound, or look like an animal in the known animal kingdom.
A big part of this is because of the use of suitmation in bringing Godzilla to life. If you were to put a dog in a Godzilla suit, it would act like a dog but in a suit. But if you put a human in a Godzilla suit, you have a creature that can only move like a human, but act like a monster. From this, you get an uncanny creature that you can oddly relate to.
Whenever you take Godzilla away from the suit and use tools such as CGI to create him, you gain the ability to have him do and act in ways that a human never could. It makes him lose the relatability that you have when a human is portraying him. He becomes a giant animated lizard that artists have to try and make human. Whereas with suitmation, you have a man in a giant lizard costume trying to make Godzilla seem less human.
What was the once the tool used to bring Godzilla to life became the defining factor of his existence - despite him being a destructive force of nature, us humans are still able to relate and root for him.
Now I understand the reason behind switching to a more CGI in films. It's easier, quicker, and more convenient. If a director or producer does not like the way something looks, they can have someone remodel it digitally. They do not have to wait weeks or months for a new costume or prop to be created. Even moreso, digital files are more secure than physical costumes. Physical props can be damaged and deteriorate over time. Whereas a digital prop can be stored and shared for a theoretical eternity. Also, you can place characters wherever you want through the use of green screens without them ever needing to leave a studio.
I wish that studios would put the time, effort, and money into advancing suitmation and puppetry that they have for CGI. Films such as Jurassic Park franchise, the new Five Nights at Freddy's, and anything created by Christopher Nolan should be more than enough to convince studios that practical effects is a viable option in 2023.
If you separate Godzilla from the suit, you begin to separate Godzilla from his identity. In fact, tokusatsu (the genre of films and television that Godzilla pioneered) literally means 'special filming' with an emphasize on the use of practical effects.
No matter if Godzilla is digital or practical, I will watch and I will love it. However, it would be incredible to see a new Godzilla movie with suitmation that is able to take advantage of the new special effects that studios have at their disposal in today's day and age.
Could you imagine if The Jim Henson Company were to make a Godzilla suit?
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