Obviously this is going to be more about visuals than anything else, as the unspoken contest amongst all Hollywood directors to make the most impressive mayhem continues unabated. We begin with a bunch of soldiers halo-jumping out of a plane with flares attached to their feet, falling through the ocean of smoke raised by the eponymous reptile’s destruction of whatever city it’s set in and leaving vertical red trails in the sky. After that comes more jumping, more smoke, some explosions and a generous amount of heavy breathing and foggy goggles. Godzilla slinks by here and there, mostly out of sight – perhaps an allusion to the allegory for nuclear weapons idea I’ve read so much about on angry forums – and offers us one roar before before we cut to the COMING SOON.
Despite all this, it’s a quiet trailer, following the World War Z-type trend of: silence, loud noise, silence, end. There’s nothing in there about the plot because it doesn’t matter – everyone knows it, and if somehow they’ve forgotten it will become apparent in the first five minutes. There’s nothing about a plucky scientist-based subplot or any ambitious reimaginings – the film is billed as the standard origin story – but one blurb from studio Legendary Pictures hints that other oversized monsters may somehow be involved and that the theme may be something along the lines of malevolent human nature verses disastrous natural forces (Al Gore would approve, as would those who complained that The Day After Tomorrow was too un-subtle).
Presumably the big G dies at the end, but who knows? Not me, and not you. Buy a ticket and find out – if you’re into big visuals and loud noises, that is.