Hail to the King Baby!!!: A Godzilla Retrospective Part 4

Previously: Godzilla roared back onto the silver screen 9 years after the end of the Showa Era with The Return of Godzilla in 1984.  What followed was a seven film saga connected across ten years of spectacular Monster throwdowns while also returning Godzilla to his more menacing atomic horror roots.  But film studios across the sea wanted to take a crack at their own Godzilla film and Toho decided to send the King of the Monsters out in a fashion so epic that it made headlines worldwide.  The King was dead, Long Live the King.

 
With the Hesei Era of Godzilla concluded, the stage was all clear for Tri Star Pictures to put their spin on the wicked lizard into production.  Hot off the success of their blockbuster megahit, Independence Day, Director Roland Emmerich and Producer Dean Devlin were selected to helm the film with a target Summer 1998 release locked in.  This Americanized Godzilla feature was set to be the first in a new trilogy and thanks to a impressive marketing campaign, hype for the film built to a fever pitch…and then the film came out.  1998’s Godzilla was panned by both critics and hardcore Godzilla fans alike.  More than the story or boring characters and performances, Godzilla himself was the number one target of criticism, from his slim design to his lack of super abilities to his penchant for running away from the military rather than destroying it.  While the film did make money, it was considered a box office disappointment and the planned trilogy was scrapped in favor of a much better received Animated Series follow up. 

Japan took notice of this disaster and well…as the old saying goes, “If you want something done right…”.  In many ways, 1999’s Godzilla 2000 wasn’t just the beginning of the Third Age of Godzilla, the Millenium Era, it’s purpose was to show the world that THIS was how Godzilla is supposed to be done (even if they did always intend to bring him back a la DC’s The Death & Return of Superman).  The film continued the Hesei Era’s reclassification of Godzilla as an unstoppable titanic menace more than hero.  They even gave him a new foe to fight in an alien spacecraft that could also change into it’s own Godzilla inspired form, Orga.  While not the greatest film in the franchise, Godzilla 2000 did its job right and reminded the world of who Godzilla was, what he was capable of and how fun it could be to watch him tear things up.  Tri Star even released Godzilla 2000 theatrically the following year in the Summer of 2000.  

With the Millenium Era underway, Toho next found itself repeating similar storytelling tactics used in the previous Hesei Era.  While Godzilla did fight Orga in Godzilla 2000, he’d get his first Versus match in 2000’s Godzilla vs. Megagirus (the only Vs. title in the Millenium Era).  Like Biollante before it, fans and audiences didn’t gravitate to Megagirus and the film was released to a mixed reception.  Once more, Toho returned to the Rogues Gallery for a boost and did they ever get one the following year with 2001’s very lengthy titled Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack (GMK for short).  The films unique depiction of Godzilla and a ultra level face off against two of his most beloved adversaries proved to be a huge hit and a contender for a spot on any fans Best of Godzilla List. 

It should be noted that unlike the previous eras of Godzilla, the Millenium Era was not concerned with any kind of continuity (for the most part, more on that in a second).  Godzilla 2000, Godzilla vs. Megagirus and GMK were all set in different continuities from each other, each acting as their own independent sequel to the original 1954 Gojira.  It lacked the loose cohesion of the Showa Era and the episodic nature of the Heisei Era.  However, the Millenium Era proved a more creative time period for the franchise, doing new an unique things with Godzilla never attempted before.  One example is GMK having Godzilla being possessed by the vengeful spirits of those killed in the Pacific Campaigns of World War II.  And in the only two connected films in this era, 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (couldn’t name it Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla III to complete that trifecta?) and 2003’s Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, Mechagodzilla’s creation included the skeletal remains of the original Godzilla, causing the unit to periodically become possessed by the first King of the Monsters. 

However, the Millenium Era would end up becoming the shortest run of any Godzilla Era thus far, compared to the 15 movies over 21 years for the Showa Era and 7 films over 11 years for the Hesei Era.  2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars marked both the conclusion of the Millenium Era and the 50^th Anniversary film for the franchise.  The film itself is seen as a modern day remake of Destroy All Monsters with Godzilla facing off against pretty much every major villain he’s faced in the last 50 years including updated versions of Gaigan and King Ghidorah…and even a quick beatdown of the 98 Godzilla (now known as Zilla) for good measure (No Mechagodzilla though since he’d appeared in two back to back films before this one).  Most of the film, however, is more focused on a Super Sentai/Matrix style action film with genetically enhanced special forces fighting to stop the Aliens that started the worldwide Kaiju rampages in the first place.  Final Wars is a love it or hate it entry for many fans but you cant say they didn’t pull out all of the stops to give Godzilla an epic level 50^th Birthday. 

And that was it, for a time anyway.  Godzilla would return to a dormant state for the next decade.  When he’d next awaken, he’d not only find his footing in Japan was about to become stronger than ever but he was about to set up an even stronger presence in the US.  Next Week we’ll be looking at both ongoing Eras, the Japanese Reiwa Era and the US Monsterverse Saga in the Series Finale of Hail to the King Baby!!!: A Godzilla Retrospective right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.