GojiBean
Your resident irradiated Kaiju King
Welcome to Story Analysis with GojiBean
Hoyo peeps!!
So, I'm here to start a new thread for you (and for myself) where I'll be taking some of my favorite stories from films, tv series, books, and video games, and critically analyzing them to break down all the best and worst elements that went into making them what they are.
This is meant both as a personal practice for me as a writer to brush up on my skills with analyzing stories, and hopefully it'll also serve as a good source of information for younger and inexperienced writers who want to see breakdowns like this where the "do's" and "don'ts" of writing are made very clear, and can help you take your writing to the next level.
Mind you, some sections are definitely going to seem like I'm ranting. And it's because I will be. However, at the core of every rant is going to be a strong focus on how the subject of the rant doesn't properly service the narrative of the story that's being analyzed, or serves directly to undermine the narrative and/or serve as a detriment to the quality of the writing and, by proxy, the story overall.
So, hopefully you'll be able to bear with me when I go off the rails from time to time. Lol.
I will probably only be posting her once a week, sometimes less. Work life. You know how it is. But I'll aim for one analysis post per week.
Personal Note: If you would like to respond to this thread and provide your own insights and/or point out anything that you feel I missed in my analysis, please do contribute! I'm always up to learn something new and would welcome any additions to what I've already provided!
However, if you reply please be sure to keep it civil and on topic. This is a thread that's meant to be educational, for both me and you, and there's nothing educational about personal attacks, or defensive and opinion-filled rants unrelated to the subject matter at hand (story analysis).
Thank you!
And I hope you enjoy!
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
Obviously, I'm a huge Godzilla fan. My username is GojiBean, after all.
Anywho, this film was both a majorly fun ride for me as a Godzilla fan (when I turned my brain off)... And a major disappointment for me as a writer.
Michael Dougherty, as the lead writer and the director of the film, did a few things right and a whole lot wrong in his quest to bring the "classic" Godzilla vibe back to the big screen and capture as much nostalgia as possible.
And yes, I realize the Novelization was slightly different. But we're going to focus on the film version only, disregarding any differences the Novelization brings.
So, let's dive into the positives first!
What Was Done Right!
1) The Visuals, and Visual Storytelling
2) The Sound Design
3) The Music (dear lord, Bear McCreary NAILED the music!!!)
Let's talk about these in order!
The Visuals, and Visual Storytelling
Visuals are tremendously important in all visual storytelling mediums such as films, tv, video games, etc. The reason being is because of "visual storytelling," and this concept is heavily utilized in everything that we see on the screen from facial expressions, outfits/wardrobe, special effects, camera angles, etc.
A great example would be Godzilla's change of design from 2014 to KOTM where his head shrunk a tiny bit (which further helps emphasize his massive size and bulk as a being of "power") and the change in the designs of his spines on his back. Michael Dougherty took the spines of 1954's Gojira creature and put them on this version, and it worked out beautifully. And Dougherty put it perfectly when he said "his spines are like his crown." And I'm inclined to agree.
Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah all looked spectacular. But let's focus on Mothra for a second.
Some fans have argued Mothra was "too small," but remember she's an insect in a world of reptilian colossi in this film. Godzilla, Rodan, and Ghidorah are all reptilian in nature. And in any realistic natural environment she should be considered prey to these beasts. But more than that, her smaller size immediately makes you concerned for her as an underdog who you instinctively know cannot hope to match the physical strength or destructive power of the others around her. She has no eye beams. She has no mouth beam. She has no electric storms. All she has is her stinger, her forearms (which are very mantis-like, which I'm all for), and her silk. Not exactly a "powerhouse" of the Titan world. But here she is taking to the front lines against one of Godzilla's most iconic foes. If not THE most iconic (talking about Ghidorah, by the way).
This all comes back to visual storytelling. Mothra is a smaller genus of Titan (ignoring her wingspan since that's not "size," but length), and as stated before this immediately makes her an underdog and gets the audience on her side. Any time you make one of your main characters physically smaller than their opposition, you put the audience on their side. Why? Because we instinctively know what a bully looks like. Bullies are large, physical, loud, and obnoxious. Mothra is the antithesis of all of those traits. She's small, lithe, quiet (by comparison to the others), and beautiful. Even the fact that fans think "she's too small" is indicative of them being instinctively protective of her and wanting her to be in a better position to protect herself.
However, I highly urge you to resist the temptation to do that. Don't make your protagonist larger or more capable. Keep them small. Keep them weak and vulnerable.
When you have a smaller protagonist, or one who is in any way weaker or less endowed with special abilities to their opposition, this is one of your greatest weapons as a storyteller to grab your audience by the lapels, pull them in and say, "This is who you root for." You don't have to waste any dialogue saying things like "Oh my gawsh! They're so much smaller! They don't have a chance!" The visuals do that for you.
How about Ghidorah? He has three heads, two tails, massive wings, and bio-electric storm powers. If there were a more intimidating antagonist for almost any kind of story, I don't think I've yet seen it. By all means please point out to me anything that you think is more intimidating than Ghidorah. I'll want to sample that story for myself!
Anyway, what else is there about Ghidorah that suits the art of visual storytelling? Well, how about the way he holds his heads? It's such a simple thing that it goes literally unspoken throughout the entire Godzilla fandom. But the way he holds his heads up straight most of the time is indicative of not just his anatomy. It's pride. It's arrogance. He's literally and metaphorically looking down on the world and creatures around him. It's like when someone you know at work or school tilts their head back when they speak to you. They're turning their head so they look down their nose at you. Looking down on you. Speaking down to you. They're putting you beneath them.
Notice in the film that Ghidorah never once lowers his heads in anything except moments of curiosity and to protect himself from incoming attacks. Otherwise, he's upright with all three heads looking down at everything around them. Even Godzilla.
Other elements of this film where it comes to visual storytelling which work very well are the way Dougherty framed many of the more recognizable moments of the film such as the Rebirth scene where Doctor Serizawa (played brilliantly by Ken Watanabe) sacrifices himself to detonate the nuke to revitalize Godzilla. The scene begins with a wide shot and shows just how small Serizawa is as he ascends the steps of the pyramid structure Godzilla is laying on top of in his chambers within the Hollow Earth. Every shot gets closer and closer to Serizawa until it gives us a closeup of his face as he says "Sayonara, tomoyo" ("Goodbye friend," mistranslated in the film's subtitles as "old friend"). The nuke goes off, and silence fills the scene save for the beautifully haunting music composed by McCreary (tremendous gushing about him later). Godzilla's revitalization and his rise to the ocean's surface afterward is the highlight of the entire film for me personally.
There's more I could cover. But I think you get the point. And if I go on any longer this post will never end. XD
The Sound Design
What does sound design have to do with storytelling?
Well, a lot, actually!
Try to imagine what sound a "Godzilla" makes. For those who know, pretend you've never heard his roar before from any of the films. What would/could/should he sound like?
... You don't have an answer, do you?
However, when you put this to Godzilla: Godzilla's Monsterverse Roar... Suddenly, you understand instinctively that he's a force to be reckoned with.
That sharp impact at the beginning of the roar is almost like a slap in the face. Like someone just grabbed your shit and shouted "HEY!! LISTEN TO ME!!"
The rest of the roar is a long, almost serpentine shriek with the hiss similar to that of a snake or an alligator, and a cadence with a deep, low rumbling that, when heard in a movie theater environment, literally shakes the seats. I would know. I experienced that myself when this film came out in theaters.
When you know that Godzilla is labeled "King of the Monsters," you can start to understand why just from this kind of roar alone. It commands your attention, and doesn't let go until the roar fades and you're left with the reverberations until the silence takes old when it's well and truly over.
The same can be said of Mothra and Ghidorah (Rodan, sadly, was nothing special this time around, and this makes me sad). But Mothra's shriek is high, clear, and very feminine which perfectly suits her as the Dougherty-proclaimed "Queen of the Monsters."
(dear lord, Dougherty doesn't know what he unleashed with that... All the fanfiction of a Godzilla x Mothra interspecies romance... *Shudder*)
AHEM!!
... Anyway, you get the idea!
Ghidorah's a similar story. His sound design is shrill, dissonant, and almost like a cackle. Like he's constantly laughing in the face of his enemies. Even Godzilla. And this too fits his pride and arrogance as an Alpha class Titan from the stars looking down on the pathetic beings of Earth whom he sees as nothing more than subjects or enemies in need of killing.
Hopefully this has shed a bit of light on the importance of sound design. One of the reasons so many video games, films, and tv series fail is because of bad sound design. High fantasy games with weak sound design fail to impress or properly capture the essence of the races and creatures within it, and that thereby fails to get the audience engaged and immersed in what they're seeing.
Poor sound design is a disconnect for the audience, and it's an important bridge between what is seen and what is felt within your story.
The Music
As a musician and composer of orchestral music, I cannot gush enough about the music produced by Bear McCreary. And not just in this film. But over his entire work history as a composer. God of War on the PS4 is another classic example of McCreary just nailing a soundtrack and the vibe of a project in ways few other working composers can.
But more than simply being an element of visual support, music can also be an element of storytelling.
Take, for example, the scene of Serizawa's sacrifice. And just listen to this piece: Goodbye Old Friend.
This is the translation:
Goodbye Old Friend
Your peaceful breath slows,
Your eyes gaze upon your world
I offer to you
My strength
Goodbye Old Friend
My hand reaches forth,
Striving for divinity
I offer to you
My love
Goodbye Old Friend
At the steps of your kingdom,
We become one
I offer to you
My life
Chef's Kiss... Perfection.
There's a subtle hint to the Godzilla March as well in this theme. It's in the low strings, and peeks through only once or twice. But it's there. Those infamous three notes that represent Godzilla, and now link him to Serizawa as he sets the nuke's timer for 1 minute before reaching out to make physical contact with Godzilla for the first, and last time while uttering those haunting words of "Sayonara, tomoyo."
It's a truly beautiful moment, made all the more beautiful by this piece of music which perfectly captures in both lyrics and instrumentation the sadness of Serizawa's final goodbye to the creature he's dedicated his life to studying, and to whom he entrusts his faith to defeat Ghidorah and save not just humanity, but the other Titans who have fallen under Ghidorah's control and influence.
... And can we talk about the Godzilla March for a moment?
This piece has served as Godzilla's theme since 1975 when it was played alongside his arrival for the first time in the film Terror of Mechagodzilla. Originally this was a march for the Japanese military against Godzilla in the first few films (Akira) Ifukube composed for. But come 1975 it became an anthem for Godzilla. It has stood the test of time beautifully, and McCreary breathed all new life and energy into it in ways I can't imagine anyone else ever being able to do.
The first half of the piece is the classic Ifukube version brought to life with a modern orchestra and modern orchestration and mixing/mastering techniques in a Hollywood studio. But when the second half of the piece starts and you hear the roll of the Taiko drums, it's all McCreary from there on out. The extra harmonies, the Kakegoe chanting, and the re-orchestration of the theme serving almost as a canon piece where one group plays the theme and holds the final note while other instruments continue playing the theme on top before rotating their roles was pure genius.
This theme truly is Godzilla's theme, through and through, and the musical storytelling of the confidence, pride, and never say die attitude of the King of the Monsters is beautifully captured in McCreary's new rendition of it. So much so that I now hold it as the new standard for Godzilla music moving forward. I like the old version by Ifukube, but this is the new standard that Toho and Legendary should strive for.
At least, in my opinion.
Now...
What Was Done Wrong!
As a die hard Godzilla fan of over 25 years, and a writer, I'm not going to sugar coat this...
1) The Inciting Incident (you know, the thing that literally kicks the story into motion, kinda important)
2) Mothra's Awakening
3) Emma Russell's motivation
4) Mark Russell's character and emotional state
5) The unexplained technological leap from 2014-2019
6) Godzilla's move to Antarctica
7) Godzilla's worldwide movements
8) The Oxygen Destroyer
9) Serizawa's Sacrifice
10) Mothra's Sacrifice
11) Burning Godzilla 2.0
... Yeah. Basically everything that was supposed to be either "cool" or "important" to the story was done wrong in this film and serves as a near textbook example of how NOT to write your stories.
Let's break them down.
The Inciting Incident (you know, the thing that literally kicks the story into motion, kinda important)
The Inciting Incident is the moment where the story kicks into gear. No inciting incident, no story. Period.
In this film, the inciting incident is the very beginning where Jonah and his crew somehow break into a MONARCH facility with no resistance whatsoever despite there being plenty of tech and security to give early warning of the attack, and kidnaps Emma Russel and her daughter Madison after they watch Mothra waking up.
So... How'd he get in?
MONARCH is a government funded organization with billions at its disposal, and this was a Titan observation outpost. This should be one of the most heavily guarded facilities on the planet, with all the necessary tech and personnel to keep the Titan inside contained and the workers safe. Yet Jonah and his crew of miscreants somehow broke in totally undetected and easily brushed aside all the security?
I'm calling bullshit on this right out of the gate. We know later that Emma was working with him, but there's a problem with this scene.
It shows nothing of Emma's working relationship with Jonah. No clues, no foreshadowing, nothing. Jonah's dropped into our laps like the big bad enemy with Emma seemingly a victim, and it's only later that we discover they were working together all along.
This is bad writing etiquette on Dougherty's part. When something like this is meant to serve as a setup, it needs to actually be a setup. There were plenty of opportunities to showcase Emma being somewhat suspicious as she walks the halls of the facility before reaching the chamber where Mothra's egg was located. Just a single glance at the security cameras, and a check of her watch would have been enough to at least showcase that something is probably amiss with her. It would have literally taken 2 seconds to do. But for whatever reason Dougherty couldn't be bothered with it.
And no. "Surprise" is not an excuse as it doesn't explain anything about how Jonah actually got in. Even if you want to hide the fact that they're working together, at least do a brief cutaway to outside the facility where we see someone observing the facility's security and checking their watch or holding up a device with a button on it, as if they're going to set something off.
ANYTHING!!
... But no. What we got was a completely innocent scene devoice of any legitimate reasons or logic behind Jonah's infiltration. And the explanations offered later on his history in British special forces are no excuse either. We still need to be given a reason to suspend our disbelief that he could and would be able to break into what should be one of the most secure facilities on the face of the planet. But we got nothing.
This inciting incident, while definitely being a brief action packed scene, is devoid of any substance whatsoever which is in proper service to the narrative of the film.
Mothra's Awakening
When Mothra awakens right before Jonah's infiltration, we get the sense that the "Alpha Frequency" is supposed to be special to her as it immediately calms her down after she was aggravated by the security forces who tried to stun gun her into submission.
Instead, the Alpha Frequency from the Orca pacifies her and she immediately turns her attention to Emma and Madison...
WHY?!?!
Michael Dougherty made a big deal on Twitter and interviews leading up to the release of this film that Godzilla and Mothra shared a special symbiotic relationship in this film. But he did next to nothing to quantify or qualify it. And this was a perfect opportunity to do just that.
The fans were screaming "too much human drama" the whole time, and this is why.
Emma and Madison should NOT be the focal point of this scene. They're irrelevant.
The focus is on Mothra and the ORCA device that's emitting the Alpha Frequency. Who's the Alpha?
Who do you think?
Godzilla. Duh.
Mothra's focus should have stayed on the ORCA. She should have stared at it, listened to it pulsing with Godzilla's frequency, and responded in some way. Her body was shown to be able to glow with a red light when aggravated, and a blue light when passive. Have her body flash after one of the ORCA's pulses. The next time it pulses, she flashes again a little bit more quickly. And on the third or fourth attempt she flashes in unison with the pulse.
Synchronizing with Godzilla's Alpha Frequency.
Remember, Mothra was just born. By all rights this Alpha Frequency should terrify her into fleeing. Godzilla's a massive Alpha reptilian colossus of a Titan, and Mothra's currently a tiny caterpillar barely larger than two school busses from end to end. Instinctively, and by any natural logic, she should be terrified.
But she's not.
She's synchronizing with his call and even going so far as to lay down and rest, proving her comfort and familiarity with this call which she should not understand.
This could cause a lot of confusion in the human characters who are watching, Emma and Madison included, and serve as the basis for the big reveal later when they go to the Hollow Earth to revitalize Godzilla and see more of his shared history with Mothra predating any of their old records from MONARCH's archives.
... But no. We got a scene focusing on Emma and Madison because... Reasons.
If you're going to make a big deal about something being important in your story, make it a focal point and keep the focus where it belongs.
Emma Russell's motivation
So... Villains/Antagonists are supposed to have motivations for doing what they do, right?
Well, Emma doesn't.
At all.
Supposedly, her motivation is that she sees humanity as a disease in need of cleansing, just like Jonah (which is why they work together, even though they don't really like each other). But... How did she get there?
The opening sequence of the film shows her carrying a younger Madison during the 2014 events in San Francisco, and Godzilla walks by, terrifying her, and it's largely presumed that Godzilla's the one responsible for the destruction of her home in San Francisco as well as the death of her son Andrew.
Everything is set up for her to hate Godzilla and the Titans for what they took from her, but instead... She's a die hard fanatic who thinks the Titans are the true rulers of this world and that humanity has to give the world back to them.
WHY?!?!
Where and when did she change or experience something that overpowered the grief that she suffered losing her son and her home?
After Andrew's death Mark, her husband, descended into alcoholism and they divorced. Another tragic loss of her family life caused by the Titans. Indirectly. But no less their fault.
So where and when did she become a fanatic in support of them?
... Shoulder Shrug...
I honestly have no idea how Emma Russel ended up the way she did. The film makes absolutely no mention, and makes no effort, to properly set her up as a villain with any kind of believable motivation based on the experiences that they showed us up until the big reveal of her plans.
This is very, very poor writing.
Your antagonist must have a clear and understandable goal that runs counter to the protagonist's goals in order for your story to maximize the potential of the conflict that will inevitably arise between them.
Do not make Dougherty's mistake here. Give your antagonist a motivation that makes sense, and actually has some legitimacy based on the experiences you give them prior to revealing what those motivations are.
Mark Russell's character and emotional state
Mark Russell... Oh goodness gracious me, Mark Russell...
This poor man's character was absolutely butchered by his own creators, and his potential left completely unexplored and unrealized.
The man lost his only son, Andrew, during the Godzilla vs MUTO battle of the 2014 film's events, for which he fully blames Godzilla for, and descended into alcoholism which caused Emma to divorce him. Now he's a single man buried in his work who only gets to talk to Madison a once or twice every few months going by their email communications at the start of the film.
In the film, once we're introduced to him, he learns that his ex-wife and his daughter, the only person he really still loves, have been taken by armed terrorists.
What's his reaction?
(whispering) "I shoudla been there for em."
... That's it. "I shoulda been there for em."
Um... WHAT?!?!
Bruh, I'm not a father. But your only daughter is being shown on a security cam footage reel to be walked out of the "secure" MONARCH facility (whom Mark used to work for, btw), with guns pointed at the back of her head.
WHERE IS YOUR FATHERLY RAGE AND FEAR?!?!
Does ANYONE know a father who's lost so much and would react so calmly to seeing his baby girl with guns pointed at the back of her head while being taken away from a "secure" facility from the people you used to work for, with people from that very organization you used to work for now being the ones to give you the news? Like, "Sorry Mark. We screwed up. Now your family's gone."
Even though I'm not a father I know that I would have taken the tablet they showed me the footage on and thrown it at the wall, shattering the damn thing. There would have been a reaction. The people I used to work for, who belong to a major government funded organization, and whose facilities should have been able to prevent this from happening, are showing me footage that my family has been taken by terrorists. There's gonna be a reaction to that.
So where's Mark's?
This guy was an alcoholic when his son died, and supposedly he's beaten the alcoholism since then.
THAT. IS. A. MISTAKE!!!
Don't have him beat the alcoholism. Have him still fighting it for goodness sake!! Have him throw the tablet and scream at Doctor Serizawa and Doctor Graham who delivered the news, accusing them of not taking the proper precautions and now potentially costing him the rest of his family after Andrew's death in 2014. Have him go to the fridge in his cabin and take out a water bottle, but pause to stare at a single beer in the back of the top shelf. Just stare at it. He doesn't have to grab it. Just stare at it. Close his eyes, then close the fridge door.
He wanted it. He wanted the alcohol. He's still drawn to the alcohol. But losing his family before is making him fight the urge. And, for now at least, it's winning that internal war. But for how long?
We now know that it's a legitimate question. Mark is vulnerable to the substance that he abused which lost him his marriage and his right to be a full time father to his only remaining child.
This sets up the expectation that he will either lose this battle later, or he will come dangerously close before making a full-blown stop and recovering to do the right thing.
THAT should have been his journey. THAT should have been his struggle.
But instead we got a Mark Russell who was a somewhat obnoxious know-it-all with a single-minded purpose of getting his daughter back. The second half, I get. That should still be there. But the first half of it? Why? He could have been so much more! He could have been the former alcoholic still struggling to fully overcome his addiction who only descends more and more as the film goes on and continues to deny him his goal until he comes to a realization that the death of his son, while certainly a tragic side effect of the conflict, was not Godzilla's fault. This can vault him from the depths of despair into an epiphany where he's able to think more calmly and clearly, and puts together the pieces of the puzzle when they need him to do so the most and help figure out where Godzilla is and how to revitalize him after the Oxygen Destroyer incident.
But that's only what could have been. What we got was... Something far less. Something far more mundane, irritating, and uninteresting.
Don't let your leading protagonist be a Mark Russell.
The unexplained technological leap from 2014-2019
Anyone know how we go from 2014, where everything is based in reality with no "futuristic" technology, to being a full blown old school scifi fantasy with futuristic tech out the wazoo in only a 5 year time span?
Case in point, the Castle Bravo facility in the Pacific (meant to study Godzilla in his natural habitat deep beneath the surface of the ocean), was built when, exactly? And how?
We don't have ways to build such a massive facility on the ocean floor in the Pacific TODAY! How in the world did they manage this between the events of 2014 and 2019?
We shall never know. They overcame the physics of water pressure, time and resource management, how to actually build the damn thing, wire it, power it, get communications working, etc.
Literally nothing about the Castle Bravo facility makes sense, nor is any of it explained. Similarly, the ARGO air base that they use is a similar piece of technology with tech that shouldn't exist on board.
Where did this tech come from? How did they make it in only 5 years?
None of it goes explained. And this is the last thing you should ever do when making a story that spans years of time.
Never forget that any newly introduced elements, such as technology, need an explanation. Especially if they run counter to the previous installment.
Godzilla's move to Antarctica
This is admittedly a small gripe, but an important one.
Supposedly, Godzilla sensed "Ghidorah" in Antarctica and raced out to confront him.
However... He did this before there were any signs of Ghidorah awakening.
Godzilla sure as hell didn't sense the human activity of Jonah and his crew (along with Emma) trying to wake Ghidorah. How could he? (if he can, there's no explanation for this either)
Also, the ORCA device is able to scan audio frequencies in order to reproduce them.
... How was Ghidorah producing audio frequencies which could be analyzed when he was in a state of suspended animation beneath the ice of Antarctica? I know he's an alien. So he probably has abilities we don't know about. But even alien abilities do not overcome the laws of acoustic physics.
For sounds to be produced, there must be a physical source. When you're in suspended animation, nothing moves. You're totally frozen. Your mind is asleep. Your body is asleep. There is no movement. Let alone in your vocal cords. So how in the blazing hells did the ORCA detect audio frequencies from Ghidorah when he wasn't moving or producing anything that would generate a sound to analyze in the first place?
This also runs counter to Godzilla sensing him. If he's in suspended animation, he can't make any sounds or send any audio frequencies. If he can't do that, how is Godzilla sensing him or in any way suddenly in the know about the fact that he might be close to waking up?
None of this is properly explained in the film, nor does it make any sort of logical sense either.
(You'll notice that lacking of logical sense being a running theme in this film)
Godzilla's worldwide movements
Godzilla is supposed to be able to use the tunnels of the Hollow Earth like "short cuts" to travel ultra long distances.
... Bullshit.
Once again, reality takes a back seat.
These tunnel entrances are all under water on the ocean floor, and they run INTO the crust of the Earth, and they are not straight lines. Godzilla still has to swim DOWN through the ocean, DOWN into the tunnels, NAVIGATE those tunnels, swim UP from the tunnels into the ocean, and swim UP from the ocean depths to the surface before he reaches his destination.
... What part about all of that makes for a good "short cut?"
None of it. "Fast water currents" be damned because that's not how water works. You don't get magical watery wind tunnels down beneath the surface of the Earth just because the director said we do. That's literally not how water works. If water is going to increase its flowing speed, there are reasons why and how that would be possible, such as conflicting current directions, temperatures, etc.
Winding underground tunnels filled with water would have ZERO current.
Secondly, and this is the big one... After his first fight with Ghidorah in Antarctica, Godzilla somehow catches up to Ghidorah as he's chasing the ARGO air base, and sharks him out of the air and into the water where he starts going to town on Ghidorah.
Awesome to watch, but... How?
Ghidorah was flying in all but a straight line from Antarctica to the Atlantic Ocean and Outpost 56 where Rodan was, which is on the Isla De Mona off the coast of Puerto Rico.
How. In. The. Flying. Blue. Fuck. Did. Godzilla. Swim. Through. The. Hollow. Earth. Faster. Than. Ghidorah. Could. Fly. In. A. Straight. Line. To. That. Region?
FROM ANTARCTICA!?!?!
Not to mention Ghidorah was chasing the ARGO hundreds of feet in the air. How did Godzilla swim fast enough to breach his 99,000 tons of reptilian flesh hundreds of feet up to shark him out of the air?
... No explanation.
You're just expected to see it, accept it, and move on.
NO!!!
Don't do a Dougherty here and completely disregard reality for the sake of a "cool shot." It's poor writing, and very poor direction on his part.
The Oxygen Destroyer
For longtime fans of the franchise, the Oxygen Destroyer is known as "The device that killed Godzilla."
It worked in 1954, reducing Godzilla literally to bones, and then to nothing. It worked in the Singular Point anime series Toho recently released, crystallizing the red mist Godzilla was basically made of and thereby killing him.
But in 2019's King of the Monsters, the device conveniently failed. You could argue it was because it was a "prototype," but I would argue that doesn't matter.
The Oxygen Destroyer is designed to do one thing: eliminate all oxygen molecules within its blast radius. What does that mean for any biological creatures with blood running in their veins, like Godzilla?
No oxygen in your body means no oxygen in your blood. No oxygen in your blood means your organs are not getting what they need to function. Your organs not getting what they need to function means they shut down (very quickly, I might add). Your organs shutting down mean YOU FUCKIN' DEAD, BRUH!!!
The Oxygen Destroyer should have killed Godzilla, even if it was a prototype.
But, in order to simply serve the purpose of weakening Godzilla so the plot could continue, Michael Dougherty turned one of the franchise's most iconic weapons which served as the representation of humanity's one and only true victory against Godzilla... Into a fuckin' McGuffin.
He said on Twitter and in interviews that the Oxygen Destroyer would not be a McGuffin. He either lied, or he's not the writer we'd like to think he is and doesn't know the definition of a McGuffin.
A McGuffin is, quote, "an object or device in a movie or a book that serves merely as a trigger for the plot."
(waves his hand over the name "Oxygen Destroyer" as he points to his previous statement about Dougherty using the Oxygen Destroyer simply to weaken Godzilla so the plot could move forward)
The Oxygen Destroyer was turned into a McGuffin to weaken Godzilla so he could extend the duration of the film and get the ending he wanted. He even admitted in an interview after the film came out that if the OD hadn't been used that Godzilla would have killed Ghidorah there in the water after sharking him out of the air.
Let me say that again. Dougherty, the lead writer and director of the film, admitted that Godzilla would have won the battle then and there in the water if the OD hadn't been used.
This. Is. Pathetic.
Dougherty is breaking every rule and guideline of writing purely for the sake of grabbing hold of nostalgia and forcing moments that he wants to see come back as a megafan of the franchise.
And it gets worse in that it didn't have to be the Oxygen Destroyer. The goal was to weaken Godzilla. What did audiences say there was too much of? Human Drama. They wanted more monster action.
After beating Rodan, Ghidorah could have landed on the volcano, woken up the Titans, Godzilla could have tried and failed to get the Titans back on his side, and Ghidorah could have called other Titans to his side. Godzilla gets to the island and fights Ghidorah and Rodan, does well, but can't beat them before other Titans show up and turn it into an all out Godzilla beat down. Godzilla gets humbled, critically wounded, and collapses into the ocean with the waters turning red with his blood as his silhouette fades into the gloom. His vitals on the ARGO's sensors go flatline.
Godzilla is dead... Or so it seems.
This would have been a MUCH STRONGER way to do the scene, and to weaken Godzilla. Not only does it give Godzilla more character and give him a moment to be an underdog who lost and now needs to redeem himself, but it also emphasizes how dangerous Ghidorah is to be able to wrest and maintain control over the other Titans despite Godzilla trying to use his own Alpha status to stop that from happening. It puts Godzilla clearly in the underdog position. And what do audiences love? Underdogs.
... But no.
For the sake of nostalgia, Dougherty put the legacy of the Oxygen Destroyer in a blender and pushed puree.
If you establish something like an Oxygen Destroyer in your story as an important piece of your story world's history, never do what Dougherty did to the Oxygen Destroyer.
Serizawa's Sacrifice
This is the big one for me. The granddaddy of all Michael Dougherty's mistakes in this film.
Let's set the scene.
Godzilla's been weakened by the OD, and is now recovering in the Hollow Earth. We don't know that until Mothra shows up during the low point of the film and calls to Godzilla. They trace her calls and realize he's alive. They ask what they can do, and Mark Russel, genius that he is (sarcasm) asks "how many nukes do you have?"
All well and good so far. But remember they're talking about a nuke. It's important in just a minute.
They go down in a military submarine and find Godzilla's chamber in the Hollow Earth. It's too radioactive and hot to basically not melt a human being in a matter of minutes, so it's "too dangerous" to go inside.
They have a nuke.
Serizawa, who knows more about nukes and the Titans (specifically Godzilla) and how they feed on radiation, says "I'll go."
They have a nuke.
But Serizawa says "I'll go." The man who carries a broken watch stopped at 8:15am, 8/06/1945, the day of the Hiroshima bombing of Japan by the US in WWII, and who's studied Godzilla all his adult life, says "I'll go."
THEY! HAVE! A! NUKE!!
This isn't a cherry bomb with a limited blast range!! It's a fucking NUKE!!
The nuke is on an analogue timer. You can see the physical mechanism turning the numbers on a gear-system, powered by a battery, in the actual scene. It's unaffected by the radiation of the chamber.
Put that sucker on a 20 minute timer, wrap it in a water-tight seal, and drop it from a hatch on the sub, and get the fuck outta there!!!
Literally NOBODY needs to sacrifice themselves here!! Let alone a character as important and beloved as Serizawa!!
... breathe, Goji...
Seriously though. What was Dougherty thinking with this one? There's nothing about this scene that points to them needing to sacrifice anyone. If they want the nuke closer to Godzilla, even though it doesn't need to be that close to have the intended effect, take the explosive head out of a torpedo, put the nuke in the empty casing, and fire into the chamber so it beaches itself on the steps of the pyramid and lands right next to Godzilla.
Bing. Bang. Boom. We get the same result without anyone dying.
What. The actual. Fuck. Dougherty?
He forced Serizawa, the character audiences (and fans especially) care most about in this film, to sacrifice him purely for the sake of nostalgia.
The scene literally has no emotion for me because of this. In fact, I skip it entirely and go straight to Godzilla's emergence on the ocean's surface because I can't stand watching this scene anymore because of how bad the writing is and how forced the nostalgia is.
I love Ken Watanabe's performance, and I love McCreary's music. But outside of those two things, the entire scene lacks any substance or meaning outside of "This is nostalgic. Love it."
I can't love it. I won't love it. It's entirely meaningless and does nothing to service the story being told other than to needlessly waste one of the best characters for one man's desire for nostalgia.
Don't be like Dougherty.
If you're going to sacrifice one of your most important characters, there must be no other way the final outcome of the story could happen.
Let me repeat that with a slight rephrasing: If you are going to sacrifice one of your most important characters, the final outcome of the story must only be realized because of the sacrifice.
If you can remove that sacrifice and still have other ways to accomplish whatever it was meant to do, don't sacrifice your character.
Mothra's Sacrifice
For those who've watched the film, you know Mothra sacrificed herself in an attempt to buy Godzilla time to recover from Ghidorah's attacks. This is fine. It's what comes after the moment of her sacrifice that I can't stand.
Her energy floats above Godzilla for a moment, and then flows down into him.
This. Is. Not. How. Energy. Works. Mothra mysticism be damned.
When a body is vaporized like Mothra's in this scene, guess what we'd see?
... Nothing.
Energy that comes from a living organism is not visible. Even in Titan form. It's invisible to the naked eye, and it would not so conveniently float down in a nice collected ball into Godzilla. It would scatter from the force of whatever vaporized the host body.
Furthermore, it's heavily implied that this transfer of power was done post-mortem on Mothra's part, and that she had control over this.
... How?
How do you control where your energy goes when you're DEAD?!?!
Answer: You can't.
When you're dead, you're dead. You have no control over your body's energy. Again, Mothra mysticism be damned.
Why? Because this isn't the Toho Mothra who was revered by the native tribes of Infant Island as s deity. This Mothra is a Titan. A oversized animal with abnormally high intelligence. Nothing more. Nothing less. She's not a Goddess or a Deity of any kind. She's an animal.
Animals, no matter how big or how smart, cannot control their energy post mortem. Not in the real world. And this Monsterverse series is presented as being in the real world. Physics, and the laws of reality and nature, still apply, regardless of how often Dougherty dismisses them for the sake of a "cool shot."
This energy transfer should not have happened. Period.
Burning Godzilla 2.0
In 1995, a film called Godzilla vs Destoroyah was released. In it, Godzilla had been exposed to the destruction of his home island which was due to pockets of uranium exploding, which released enormous levels of radiation. Godzilla's body absorbed too much power, and was going to explode. Hence the fiery veins all over his body in that design.
This was awesome, and it made sense given the nature of the worldbuilding of this franchise up until that point. Godzilla's heart is like a nuclear reactor. Too much radiation, it overflows in power and explodes or has a meltdown.
In 2019's KOTM film, Godzilla absorbed too much power from the nuke that revitalized him during Serizawa's "sacrifice," and he was going to explode like a nuke himself. All well and good, since they establish that this Godzilla feeds on radiation. So his body would need to be able to have ways to safely absorb, harness, and convert that energy into a useable source of power.
However, when Mothra sacrificed herself she let her energy flow down into him giving him more power. Sure, Ghidorah dropped him from the stratosphere. So that'll hurt. However, where in the film did they say Godzilla was no longer in danger of exploding after that?
... Nowhere.
Not one person said "no more explosion" after he was dropped. So, presumably, he was still going to explode. And Mothra's sacrifice adds fuel to that fire, but somehow it helps him control that power and focus it in nuclear pulses while in Burning Godzilla 2.0 form in order to defeat Ghidorah?
Yeah, I'm calling bullshit on this.
What happens to a balloon that's filled to capacity with air, and you give it one more breath?
It pops.
What should have happened to Godzilla? As soon as Mothra gave him her energy, he should have exploded all but immediately. Adding fuel to the fire that was his runaway radioactive power should have resulted in the explosion being expedited. It would not, and should not, have resulted in Godzilla magically controlling all that out of control power to use in nuclear pulses to destroy Ghidorah and win the day.
This is beyond Deus Ex Machina levels of ridiculous at this point, what with all the various ways Dougherty violated almost every rule of good writing in order to get his "cool shots" and nostalgic moments.
... Phew...
Despite how much I gripe about this film, I still enjoy watching it.
Except the Serizawa sacrifice scene. I still fast forward through that.
But overall, despite its flaws, it's a fun film to watch. But you have to turn your brain off to enjoy it. Turn your brain on for any length of time and you'll be able to see all the flaws in the writing which will ruin your experience in a heartbeat.
In short, this entire analysis boils down to one message: Do not be like Michael Dougherty.
Do not overlook the importance of making sure your antagonist has a clear, understandable motivation for doing what they do. And show us where that motivation comes from.
Do not overlook the importance of your primary protagonist having a clear goal of their own, and having personal obstacles arise in obtaining that goal. Mark Russell has no personal obstacles in this film. They're all external and circumstantial, and they do nothing in service of the narrative of the story.
Do not ignore a logical progression of events which actually flow into one another and service the overall narrative, unlike the Jonah breach, the focus on Emma/Madison instead of Mothra when she hatched, Godzilla's travels, etc.
Do not brush aside the worldbuilding of your story's setting purely for nostalgia or "cool" moments.
And do not, under any circumstances, sacrifice one of your most important characters without a damn good reason for doing so which, if altered, would change the entire outcome of the story.
Cheers!
