Those Who Don't Remember History Are Doomed To Repeat It

Next summer Legendary Pictures is releasing a brand new Godzilla movie, directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, Sally Hawkins and Ken Watanabe. 

Should I be concerned that I only recognize 25% of those names? Apparently they're not squandering the budget on acting talent.

For the record, this is the second American attempt at cranking out a Godzilla film. Why we don't just leave it to the Japanese, I have no idea. We tried this once before and I don't need to remind anyone how that turned out, do I?

This week Legendary unveiled Godzilla's new design at the San Diego Comic-Con. It looks OK I guess. Pretty much the way you'd expect a Godzilla design to look. A bit more muscular than previous incarnations perhaps, but overall not bad.

Unfortunately, this time the Big G won't be portrayed by a man in a suit-- he'll be an all CGI creation. I don't much like the sound of that. Part of the charm of these films is watching a guy in a rubber dinosaur suit tromping around the intricate city miniatures while fighting a giant moth on a string. 

I can't imagine a CGI version will have even half the personality of the man-in-suit version. A CGI Godzilla won't have the solidity and realism (for want of a better word) as a man in a suit. 

And how much do you want to bet that all the monster scenes will take place at night, in the middle of an imperfection-obscuring rainstorm? I know, I know, get off my lawn.

Then again, now that I think of it, I suppose it couldn't possibly be any worse than this version...