As much as we love the Massachusetts film scene, we do have to say it’s seriously lacking in one major category: kaiju films. Besides the Wahlbergs, our major contribution to the giant-monster genre was that scene in One Crazy Summer where Bobcat Goldthwait gets stuck in a Godzilla suit and crashes the Nantucket preppy party. But maybe, just maybe, somebody will be inspired to fix that situation after this week’s run of the original Japanese version of Godzilla at the Somerville Theatre.
This isn’t just any Godzilla movie, either. This is Gojira, the terrifying original, the nuclear horror that spawned a thousand franchises. It is not Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the 1956 Americanized re-edit starring Raymond Burr that polished off the politics and strapped on a clunky narrative. There will be no appearances from Godzooky, Ghidorah, or those annoying fucking twins. No Mechagodzilla, SpaceGodzilla or Minilla. Nope, no bullshit in this Godzilla film—just oversized horror and Tokyo-trashing good times.
In the sixty years, thirtysomething films, two cartoons and countless toys, video games and knick knacks since the Bad Boy of Odo Island hit shores, it has been easy to forget what a powerful work the original was. The series wandered far from its origins as treatise on the collective psychology of post-Hiroshima Japanese (cough, Godzooky, cough) and maybe became a bit of a joke (cough, Godzooky, cough), but it doesn’t diminish the intensity and genius of the original. And while we have the highest of hopes for the new American installment—the trailers have been great and Bryan Cranston looks awesomely Bryan Cranston-y—we’re more than happy to kick back with the original and hope it inspires our resident filmmakers to do something great. And by great, we mean something with giant monsters.
GODZILLA. SOMERVILLE THEATRE, 55 DAVIS SQUARE, SOMERVILLE. FRI 5.2 – THU 5.8. MULTIPLE SHOWTIMES/$6+. SOMERVILLETHEATREONLINE.COM
