Japanese film studio Toho Productions introduced us to the monster to end all monsters, Godzilla, in 1954. Toho specialised in B-grade, low budget, limited special effects films with messages about the dangers of nuclear weapons and their radioactive aftermath.
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While Toho launched a behemoth monster series equal to the ginormous stature of their headline monster, Godzilla, Hollywood has grabbed Godzilla and generated their own series of modern blockbusters immortalising the radioactive, fire-spewing Godzilla who tramples cities in a merciless rage.
He represents the hidden fear of our ability to create and unleash horrific weapons of death and destruction, such as the atomic bombs that decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The earliest Toho Godzilla films featured a human actor in a rubber Godzilla suit trampling miniature sets of Tokyo, while Godzilla II: King of the Monsters (Gdz2) ramps up the special effects with contemporary, jet-fuelled surround sound.
Godzilla's raspy metallic roar hasn't changed. It's unmistakable.
There's not much to say about the storyline. Gdz2 is monster mayhem.
Godzilla resurfaces to confront his archnemesis King Ghidorah, a three headed flying serpent, similar to the Hydra from Greek mythology. They are joined by Rodan, a gigantic flaming pteranodon spawned from a volcanic lair, and Mothra, an irradiated giant moth.
That should give you enough information to decide whether this is your kind of film or not.
These mega-monsters have lain quietly in subterranean slumber until they are awakened by agents at Monarch, who are assigned the task of assuring these creatures are kept alive, yet prevented from devouring the planet.
Monarch's Dr Russell joins forces with eco-warrior Jonah Allen to unleash these creatures on the planet in a bid to refresh the earth by ridding it of a raging pest-humans.
When Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Mothra and Rodan rampage, nothing and nobody is safe. Rather than Tokyo being trampled underfoot, it is Boston's turn to be obliterated.
The message about nuclear proliferation has been bolstered with an additional message about how humans are decimating the planet through our consumption of natural resources and the resulting pollution and degradation of the only planet we have.
If you get a sense that I have been entranced by Godzilla films for many years, you are correct. There's something compelling about B-grade monster trash at the movies.
Gdz2 is a tribute to and a reignition of the Toho monster era. Don't overthink Gdz2. It's monsters. It's mayhem. It's loud.
Interestingly, the credits state that Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Rodan and Mothra starred as themselves and they stamp their mark on their roles. Rest assured that no monsters were harmed in the making of Gdz2. They will return in the next instalment of monster mayhem.
