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That might be debated: the new computer-generated Godzilla has little of the personality of the rubberized beast. But at least he's faster. Says Devlin: "We realized that the reason behind the whole lumbering Godzilla was that they had to shoot a guy in a heavy-rubber monster suit and film in slow motion to give him some sense of scale." At 20 stories tall, says Devlin, "if you do the math, even if it walked at a gingerly pace, it's covering a lot of territory quickly." Adds Emmerich: "Godzilla can outrun any taxi, and that was the core idea for the movie. No one can catch it. Dean and I realized we could make a different Godzilla, a movie about a hunt, about hide-and-seek."
In the Toho board, the Sony delegation had argued that there was precedent for the revisions, pointing out that Godzilla's looks shifted with each movie. For example, the eyes, originally on the side of the monster's head, migrated to the front (they've moved back to the side for this version). The original 1954 Godzilla, wild and untamable, is physically different from the relatively benign creature that does battle with the triple-headed King Ghidorah in Destroy All Monsters (1968), from the oversize Japanese nationalist who takes on a visiting American ape in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) and from the wholesome environmentalist wrestling a mess of sludge in Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1972). Poor thing. With apologies to Sondheim: "First you're everyone's rough-hide scamp; then the other monster; then you're camp."
But maybe not as campy as all that. After watching the original 1954 Japanese Gojira, Devlin and Emmerich came away with newfound respect for the old film. "It was not meant to be campy at all," says Devlin. "In fact, it was a mighty dramatic movie. Surprisingly, the special effects, done in the rain, in black-and-white, shot at night, were done very well, even by today's standards."
And it was a movie with a message, one that the new film at least repeats. Godzilla was a towering warning against nuclear war, its indelible subtext being Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Appropriately, the new, more naturalistic Godzilla, stepping on taxis in New York City, comes on the scene just as the world is dealing with another nuclear threat. Perhaps Godzilla will get back his fire in the belly for a sequel set in New Delhi and Islamabad.
--Reported by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles