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Godzilla: King of the Monsters Director Talks Embracing a More "Fantastical Element" Plus 4 New Images

Published Wed, 06 Mar 2019 10:56:59 -0600

Last updated Wed, 06 Mar 2019 11:55:12 -0600

Legendary is looking for a win this coming summer. While the MonsterVerse series of movies haven't been flops by any stretch of the word but they also haven't been smash hits. It's going to be interesting to see if this movie can find a place in the packed summer blockbuster season. Legendary has been doing an interesting job at marketing the movie with a good viral campaign and plenty of new images and magazine covers. We have another one of those cover stories from Total Film who have released 4 new images from the movie and spoke to director Michael Dougherty about what was essentially the second cinematic universe after the Universal Monsters.

"When you think about it, Toho [the Japanese studio behind the original Godzilla franchise] started building these cinematic universes back in the 1960s and '70s. Really, the '50s, if you want to go back further."

The idea of a cinematic universe seems so modern that we sometimes forget that this type of movie making has been going on for decades. This universe is two movies in and Dougherty spoke about what the other movies brought to the table.

"What I loved about Gareth's approach was that it was very grounded and very real," he says. "It felt like something you would see if you looked out your window. And then Jordan [Vogt-Roberts] pushed that further, and brought a lot of colour and vibrancy into his frames."

Dougherty sees what he is doing with Godzilla: King of the Monsters as the next step in the evolution of these movies and relents that you can only be so realistic when you're dealing with a three-headed dragon that shoots lightning or a giant moth.

"I wanted to continue that evolution," continues Dougherty."You know, portraying the creatures as very realistic, but at the same time embracing the colour that they could bring – especially when you had a three-headed dragon that shoots lightning. You sort of have to embrace a more fantastical element when you bring in a giant moth, or a giant bird born out of a volcano. You try to keep it as grounded as you can, so that it feels real. But at the same time, you're talking about very fantastical creatures."

The gritty realism aspect of Godzilla was one of the things that some people didn't like about the movie. That's why the part where Godzilla kills the MUTO with its Atomic Breath is often cited at the best part of the movie. It's utterly ridiculous and incredibly awesome. If Godzilla: King of the Monsters can strike that perfect balance of realism, ridiculousness, and being awesome the movie might stand a decent chance.

Summary: The next chapter in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' cinematic MonsterVerse: an epic action-adventure that pits Godzilla against some of the most popular monsters in pop culture history.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters, directed by Michael Dougherty, stars Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Kyle Chandler, and Thomas Middleditch.

It's gonna roar into theaters on May 31st, 2019.

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