Many of the best things in life have twin cravings: the more elevated side of things, and those versions that are just a big ball of crowd pleasing fun. The world of kaiju movies certainly adheres to that theory, through the existence of both the harrowing drama of Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One and director Adam Wingard’s 2024 movie Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
With Wingard helping hype his own movie up by reacting to the one of the best Sci-Fi movies of recent times, I absolutely have to agree with his assessment on why the movie rocks so hard. As Empire caught up with Godzilla x Kong's helmer as part of the advanced press for March’s new MonsterVerse match, the recent success of Godzilla Minus One was on the table.
Adam Wingard certainly wasn't shy about his enthusiasm, summing up his feelings about the Toho-produced prequel as follows:
It was fantastic. It's one of the best Godzilla movies I've ever seen. Their take on Godzilla is so different than mine. I'm following the later '60s, 70s Showa pattern, where Godzilla is the hero character. In Minus One, Godzilla reacts in a way that's metaphorical to what the characters are going through. It's such a different movie than ours tonally. You're getting more Godzilla now than ever, but you're seeing all sides of him. It's really super-cool.
That tonal difference is certainly key to everything from Godzilla Minus One’s important post-war setting to how the creature himself is handled. When I spoke with Takashi Yamazaki for the December release of his wildly successful prequel, he highlighted a handful of Godzilla movies as important Minus One influences.
Meanwhile, Adam Wingard's Lethal Weapon influences definitely harken back to the more popcorn incarnation of Godzilla. Fully acknowledging that shows just how fandom is the common thread that binds both halves of the franchise currently in operation. Adam even goes as far as citing the specific difference in Godzilla movie eras that he and Takashi claim to be their respective inspirations.
That only makes Adam Wingard's praise for Godzilla Minus One doubly valid. Which one could definitely pick out while watching Godzilla x Kong’s second trailer, provided below for context:
As Adam Wingard has now joined the choir of MonsterVerse creatives holding Godzilla Minus One up as a triumph, that’s just another reason to revel in the fact that there’s room for two different flavors on the market. If anyone needs further proof of that fact, they should consult Godzilla director Gareth Edwards’ comments on why Takashi Yamazaki’s entry beats even his own reboot as his favorite chapter overall. As well as the fact that when asked about his opinion of the MonsterVerse, Yamazaki was equally complimentary.
Fans and creatives alike are hyped for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, as the film takes aim for crowning glory in the MonsterVerse, starting March 29th. Those of you looking to catch up with the most recent installment, Godzilla vs. Kong, can decrypt that top secret Monarch intel through the decryption key known as a Max subscription.
