By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
After many years a teaser trailer to what purists may call a proper Godzilla film has finally arrived. But will true fans feel the bite of the beast after having dealt with TriStar’s vision of what an American Godzilla should be? With Gareth Edwards keeping a tight lid on the newest feature film in the Godzilla licence, it appears his vision is that of Toho’s. We don’t get a full look at the monster (He’s clouded in smoke) but what can be seen looks promising.
But what worries me is the casting. As much as I love pop culture, the cast reads like a who’s who of Geekdom. While Roland Emmerich’s film cast read like a TV guide, Gareth Edward’s reads like a North American version of Japanese pop idols. Let’s take a look at the list shall we:
Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch – Avengers: Age of Ultron), Bryan Cranston (animation voice actor), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick Ass – Kick Ass 1 and 2), Sally Hawkins (Mrs. Mary Brown – Paddington), Ken Watanabe (Ra’s Al Ghul – Batman Begins), David Strathairn (Arthur Spiderwick – The Spiderwick Chronicles), CJ Adams (Timothy Green – The Odd Life of Timothy Green), Richard T. Jones (Tv’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Brian Markinson (Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome) and Christian Tessier (Underworld: The Awakening and TV’s Lt. Tucker ‘Duck’ Clellan of Battlestar Galactica).
You can see where I am headed with this. The geek/nerd industry is a lucrative one but only when the fans themselves are willing to support it. Suffering the wrath of such people would mean great financial loss. Am I willing to embrace the cast that make up this film? It’s obvious Gareth Edwards knew the people he was directing the film for and needed some recognizable faces to bring older fans of Godzilla into the theatres. At the same time, this director is hoping to create new fans.
Maybe this time, with Edward’s version, the only people running away will be on the silver screen when Godzilla appears.
