SDCC this year caused ripples of excitement for all walks of the geek community, one such ripple was stirred by Legendary Pictures’ CEO, Thomas Tull, as he announced their newest upcoming film, Skull Island. The name itself sends shivers of excitement through many fans with the realisation of a new big screen visit to the home of the decades long famous King Kong! A trailer shown at the 2014 comic convention showed a small teaser for its panel audience which showed the titular named island itself with a tease at the presence of the incredible king of the island, Kong.
The titan gorilla became one of the champions of the monster
movie franchise in 1933 with the release of the original black and white film,
King Kong, which went on to become one of the largest franchises in terms of
remakes, sequels, spin-offs and even more. Some of his most notable adventures
being his 2005 film with Peter Jackson at the helm and also in 1962 when the
famous giant squaring off with his rival of the spotlight, Godzilla! Godzilla too has had its own reboot this year from the same
producers and directed by Gareth Edwards which in the same panel has had a
sequel confirmed! Could we be seeing a new King Kong versus Godzilla coming up
in our film future?
Godzilla 2 isn’t the only giant monster sequel us nerds have
to look forwards to. Pacific Rim 2 has
left thousands excited in anticipation for giant robot and kaiju fighting
action similar to what captured our interest with amazing fights, effects and
characters in its incredible Kaiju vs robot fight extravaganza! But we’re
definitely seeing a trend here aren’t we? In the past few decades giant monster
movies have not done incredibly well in terms of critic ratings with films such
as 2008's Cloverfield and 1998’s failed attempt at revitalising the Godzilla franchise.
The question is why is it in the recent couple of years we’ve seen an
increasing trend for Kaiju films and why do we love them so?
Well for a start there's no subtle difference in terms of visual and aesthetic quality between the standards of today's movie monsters and the Kong of 1933. From puppetry and men in costumes the standards needed to meet to keep the illusion of reality has become a harder target to reach. But with the incredible visuals displayed in the acclaimed Pacific Rim and the high definition epic Kaiju monsters that ravage the world of humanity of our screens. It's no surprise that this newest generation of Kaiju centric films is being given such a warm reception when our monsters are able to be portrayed in the true epicness that their original writers intended for them to be portrayed in.
In overall it is understandable why our love for our big screen kaiju has been rejuvinated by the recent successes and it is highly expected that this trend will increase in popularity as more films are introduced to our local cinemas over the next few years. And with the sequel to Pacific Rim being something for movie goers to look forwards to it will be no surprise if we have another box office success on our horizon thanks to the return of the Guillermo del Toro's blockbuster expected to rise from the depths 2017.
Well for a start there's no subtle difference in terms of visual and aesthetic quality between the standards of today's movie monsters and the Kong of 1933. From puppetry and men in costumes the standards needed to meet to keep the illusion of reality has become a harder target to reach. But with the incredible visuals displayed in the acclaimed Pacific Rim and the high definition epic Kaiju monsters that ravage the world of humanity of our screens. It's no surprise that this newest generation of Kaiju centric films is being given such a warm reception when our monsters are able to be portrayed in the true epicness that their original writers intended for them to be portrayed in.
In overall it is understandable why our love for our big screen kaiju has been rejuvinated by the recent successes and it is highly expected that this trend will increase in popularity as more films are introduced to our local cinemas over the next few years. And with the sequel to Pacific Rim being something for movie goers to look forwards to it will be no surprise if we have another box office success on our horizon thanks to the return of the Guillermo del Toro's blockbuster expected to rise from the depths 2017.
