GODZILLA: One Year Later

It's amazing when you stop and think about how things come together over the years. I remember when the first announcement came that Legendary Pictures had acquired the rights to Godzilla to produce a new American film. After the 1998 disaster, many were rightfully skeptical. Four years later it arrived and put to rest any worries. Despite personal preferences, most agreed it was a well-made film.

The Godzilla fanbase is passionate. It's much like Star Wars when if you engage someone whom has years of knowledge, prepare yourself for an extensive conversation. Unlike Star Wars however, prior to the new film Godzilla was more of a niche in the States. Many associated G with being cheesy, a joke, and nothing to be taken seriously. That's why fans such as myself were looking forward to this movie, because with a new, serious adaption, the monster could finally have much needed respect in America. That, and the fact it would be the first G film since Final Wars back in 2004.

I was a bit skeptical when it was confirmed that Gareth Edwards would be directing. He had previously directed the independent film MONSTERS. That movie upon first watching was disappointing because the marketing portrayed it as a big monster flick. The alien creatures have very little screen time. It's essentially a drama with a monster backdrop. In retrospect it's a quality film, but at the time it was easy to see why many were skeptical. The Japanese Godzilla films pride themselves for its monster destruction, so there was some fear that Edwards would do the something like he did with MONSTERS. Thankfully, by the time the end credits had rolled, most viewers were convinced that the big G was in good hands.

The first ever look we got of G, back in 2012

I remember when the first teaser came out, and only a select few were able to view it since it was Comic Con exclusive. Eventually it was leaked online and everyone in the world quickly absorbed it. It was quite ominous, presenting G as a rather horrific figure against the Oppenheimer "Destroyer of Worlds" audio. This is perhaps the most infamous thing about the movie. Almost all of the marketing portrayed G as a terrifying, relentless monster of destruction, much like the original 1954 film. The movie shocked me and many others when Godzilla emerged as a hero, with even the words, "King of the Monsters - savior of our city?" displayed near the ending. Many were disappointed that G wouldn't be returning to his horror roots, while others like myself enjoyed the portrayal. Personally, I find Godzilla's heroic days in the 60's/70's to be the most entertaining era of the Japanese films. Legendary's portrayal in my opinion was a perfect blend of the heroic Godzilla from that era and the destructive force seen in films like Return of Godzilla and GODZILLA 2000.

The design for G was kept under wraps for a very long time. Arguably, it was the most hyped aspect. When fully unveiled, no major complaints were had. Still, some didn't like the elephant-like feet, and how little his eyes were. Any complaints I personally had were rendered moot when he was in motion. Right when he entered the airport to battle the Muto the design quickly became one of my favorites.

Speaking of Muto, one of the most intriguing parts of marketing was its reluctance to showcase the antagonist monster. When the film finally arrived, viewers were treated to very unique and awesome creatures for G to do battle with. The fights in this movie to me were a bit more on the mixed side. When G first arrives to battle Muto, it looks like a grand battle was about to take place but instead it's reduced to being on the news for a few seconds. This was funny the first time around in the theater, but in subsequent viewings it's a disappointment. The second fight is also a tease. The climax is very exciting, but suffers a little from the fact that it cuts away to the soldiers too often. Still, it's hard to deny the greatness of such scenes like G using his tail to slap the male Muto into a building and the first time he uses his atomic blast. (Both scenes garnered great cheer from the audience in the theater.) While the climax could have been better, it nonetheless was one of the more thematic battles of 2014 and showed what a modern Godzilla brawl can look like.

Contrary to popular belief, there are many Godzilla movies with top notch acting performances. Films like MONSTER ZERO and Gojira have Oscar worthy portrayals. While the new film doesn't have any award winners, the cast is nonetheless solid. Many were dismayed when the film killed off Bryan Cranston's character Joe Brody early on, whom according to many was easily the best character. His son Ford took center stage from then on. Many said he was too dull, with little emotion. While I can agree, I think it's important to remember that could be his character as part of being military. Either way, I think if he comes back for the sequel he'll be better.

It's already been confirmed that we'll getting two sequels, one of which is coming in 2018. The awesome part is that Legendary has the rights to classic TOHO monsters Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah for use. It's an exciting time for G fans, and will continue to be so as other companies capitalize. (TOHO themselves will be releasing a brand new film in the Japanese series next year!)

One year later has gone by, and every Godzilla fan remembers it like it was yesterday. It is unfortunate that the film only made $528 million worldwide. That may sound like a lot, but Transformers: Age of Extinction from that same year and the new Fast and the Furious both have made over $1 billion. GODZILLA doesn't rely on mindless explosions, sexual appeal, or sarcastic wit to tell a story. But, modern American audiences want the three things just listed rather than a serious adventure, which is disappointing. This doesn't change the fact that G was still a hit and will remain engraved in film culture. Now a fan can go around asking others, "hey have you seen Godzilla?"and get into good conversations, even though they might not have seen the Japanese films.

It was all thanks to this day, May 16th, last year that Godzilla has a resurgence of popularity worldwide. I look forward to seeing what Edwards and Legendary bring to the table in three years.

Jack the Giant Slayer Review

Jack the Giant Slayer was not a very well hyped film. The trailers did nothing for people. The posters were incredibly lame, showcasing shots of the rather off-putting giants. I'll be honest, I didn't have any real expectations for it. Everything pointed to it being a very generic action movie, like Battleship. (And I didn't have kind words for that film.) Honestly, it should have been rewritten to be Jack and the Beanstalk. It doesn't really know what kind of movie it wants to be. The PG-13 rating keeps it from being called a kids movie, but with some rather odd comedy like a giant picking his nose and one cutting the cheese, you have to wonder what kind of audience the film was trying to attract. It has too little substance for adults to get into, yet Director Bryan Singer didn't seem to have a kids movie in mind either. Nonetheless, Jack the Giant Slayer was definitely better than expected. It's far from being good, but it's at least decent. (Which I really can't call Battleship.)

The story follows Jack, whom goes on a journey to rescue Princess Isabelle. Why does she need rescuing? Well, these magical beans sprouted into a giant beanstalk, taking the Princess into the Kingdom of the Giants. Things take a turn for the worst when the Giants figure out a way to come down and wage war with humanity. The story itself is decent enough. The giants early on are painted as legitimate threats. The whole CGI flashback was a bit odd in a live action movie, but it got the point across. At its core, the story is a fairy tale. It has a handsome young guy rescuing a lovely princess from perils and in the end they get married. (Which was very nice to see.) The best scene is the very first Giant scene. The camera angle, the way it moved and snatched up one of the men like nothing, it successfully captured the threat of these guys, Sadly after that they started to lose their mystique.

Jack, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult, is an alright protagonist. (Sadly despite the title calling him a Giant Slayer, he only slays three giants in the course of 114 minutes.) Though, the film doesn't really focus on character development at all. The movie is less about Jack and more about the events happening around him. This is not a bad thing, but character development is rather weak. The lovely Eleanor Tomlinson portrays Princess Isabelle, solid character. But, her plot of not wanting to do an arranged marriage has been done already recently in Brave. It's truly a shame the movie couldn't give her more of a role, she seems like a fighter but was caged up, then on the run for the majority of it. King Brahmwell was a pretty mediocre character. His lines sometimes felt forced, such as not appeasing his daughter. Elmont, the Captain of the Royal Guard, is definitely one of the best characters, with a fun personality. Roderick, the antagonist for half the film, was pretty generic. Thankfully he's killed off so there can be an actual villain to write home about.

The Giants is the main reason why we're here. They don't disappoint early on, but by the end you've just about had it with them. There's only two notable ones, Fallon and Fumm. Fallon is the true antagonist, and ironically had the best acting performance. His opening lines to the Princess were fantastic and pretty funny. Sadly, he is brought down by his second extremely annoying head. Seriously, was there a need for it? And that is the interesting problem with the film. The comedy scenes are greatly juvenile and pretty much out place in what should be a serious story. The climax is mildly exciting, the scene with all the Giants emerging from the forest was pretty cool. It is kind of anticlimactic when Jack comes out with the crown however. The soundtrack is pretty mediocre, you will not remember any of it after you're done watching.

Overall, Jack the Giant Slayer is this year's Battleship, just a little better than the latter. Some scenes are great, such as the beanstalk sprouting and taking Jacks house, the very first scene with a Giant, and some of the climax. Ultimately however it's just another action movie with little redeeming qualities. It's somewhat fun, but lacking substance.

3/5

MAN OF STEEL Review

MAN OF STEEL is the most anticipated film of this year for many reasons. Obviously the primary reason is that it's Superman's first live action appearance since the rather disappointing and boring Superman Returns seven years ago. It makes you think what DC had been doing that whole time with their movies. They had the successful Batman trilogy, but that's it. Green Lantern bombed, and Jonah Hex...you know that story. (It makes you wonder how we got a Jonah Hex movie before Wonder Woman or Flash.) Superman is the original superhero, he will always remain timeless. So it's always the right time for a new movie. This one is a reboot, which is appropriate since by now we could use a clean slate. It's an origin story, which when first announced didn't receive the best response. It's pretty much the same thing with The Amazing Spider-Man, the origin is one of the most well known. Everyone knows how Superman came to be. But, amazingly, after watching it I thought it was actually good they retold the origin. It was done in a whole new way, and thus shows the world what Superman is all about. Zack Snyder directs, he received mixed responses from the beginning. I'm a fan of his work, such as Watchmen and Sucker Punch, but he has a lot of haters. With him and Christopher Nolan of Warner Bros.' The Dark Knight trilogy, this film feels like a combination between the two collaborators. What we have is not only the greatest Superman movie, but a very unique comic book film.

The story follows Kal-El, who was sent away from his dying world Krypton. He crash lands on Earth and is taken in by the Kents, Jonathan and Martha. He learns to cope with his superhuman abilities for 33 years. But when General Zod, escapee from the Phantom Zone, comes to make a new Krypton on our planet, Kal dons the uniform and battles this intergalactic terrorist. This movie could be said as a combination of the first two Donner films and The Dark Knight. It's very serious, much like the Nolan movies. Some may be disappointed since Batman is where the gritty should be, not Superman. But the tone works for this kind of story. The opening on Krypton is one of the best scenes of the entire two hour and 23 minutes. It's remarkable because for the first time in movie history, we get to see a fully realized Krypton. Even in comics has it barely been shown like this. It's truly an insightful and glorious thing to behold. (From creatures to robots, there's plenty to see.) There's some great action here, with Zod and Jor-El. Definitely the most exciting intro in awhile.

Once we head to Earth, things get really interesting. Humanity has always seen Superman as a being above them, someone to look up to and strive to be like. In many cases, as Jor-El states in the beginning, Superman is like a god to humanity. Seemingly invincible and perfect in every way. This reboot spins that in a whole new direction. The story humanizes Superman, showing us he has some of the same emotions we do. The movie does an excellent job showing that through flashbacks to when he was a kid. We see him enjoying the ability to fly, but then crashes like a rookie. This is something that lacked in the Donner films. That's not a bad thing, but it's interesting to see such a take. While this is definitely Superman's story, General Zod's plot is pretty interesting. One of my personal favorite scenes is when the power went out in Metropolis, and Zod appeared on all TV screens throughout demanding that Kal-El surrender. It's reminiscent of the Mandarin's TV screen appearances in Iron Man 3, which is a good thing. It captures the terror of not understanding what's going on.

Henry Cavill plays the titular character. I really liked his portrayal, perfect for a just starting out Superman. Despite having a grim tone, he retains his sense of humor and matter-of-fact way of speaking. (Such as when he uses his x-ray vision in the questioning scene.) It's good to see since the film is such a serious take. Michael Shannon plays the antagonist, General Zod. While he lacks the charisma of the original from Superman II, (mainly cause he doesn't shout 'kneel' once) it's a solid take on the popular villain. Interestingly, the film goes out its way to say Zod isn't truly evil, rather he's doing what he was bred to do, protect Krypton. It's an interesting dynamic, since there comes a point where Superman has to choose between humanity and his own people. Amy Adams plays Lois Lane. She does have more of a fighter attitude, as opposed to always getting kidnapped then being saved by the hero, which was nice to see. However, I'm sad to say the romance aspect of the film could have been handled better. It's Superman and Lois Lane, we know they're going to get together, so the film doesn't do the best job it could have in establishing the relationship. (Well, at least it beats Thor's awful and forced romance.)

Other characters include the famous Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Much like the Kingpin in Daredevil, ethnicities were changed. He plays the part of Perry well. The other villain is Faora, first officer to Zod. She was definitely a highlight, it's great to see such a strong female villain. There's a third member to Zod's party, but he doesn't do much and isn't named. Kevin Costner plays Jonathan Kent, someone who was influential in Clark's growing up. It's a solid performance with plenty of wise words. But, one part will always bother me and ruin his credibility. He basically tells Clark he should have let the kids on the school bus die as opposed to saving them. I understand what he was saying, but it just came out morally wrong. That will always stick out to me. Diane Lane plays Martha Kent, very solid job. I enjoyed every scene she was in. Russell Crowe plays Jor-El, who has a great presence throughout. Never before has Superman's father been portrayed like this.

The highlight of the movie is definitely the action scenes. The primary problem with Superman Returns was a lack of action, Superman didn't throw a single punch. So when the first blow is felt here, it's monumental. Never before has a movie come close to showing off Superman's power and speed like this. I put emphasis on speed cause it's fully realized here. There are two major action pieces, the one with Faora and the final battle against Zod. Both are amazingly done and extremely satisfying. They put ALL other comic book movie action scenes to shame. Even The Avengers didn't have such great hand-to-hand fights like these. I give credit to Zack Snyder, who has shown he can do some pretty intense action sequences. The soundtrack is pretty solid, nothing great, but acceptable. One of my favorite scenes is when Clark visits a church and asks the pastor for advice. It's rare that we see godliness being portrayed as good in movies today, so it was nice to see.

Overall, Man of Steel is the new definitive Superman movie. This is the most vivid and realistic take on the origin. Never before have we seen Kal-El's journey from confused kid to Earth's defender this well done. The action is by far the best from any superhero movie. It's also great to see the more comic book aspect of the universe, such as the use of the Phantom Zone. The ending is a nice tip of the hat to the franchise and firmly sets up the status quo we all know and love for the sequel. Superman is back, and has never been more real.

4/5

Exactly One Year Until GODZILLA Stomps into Theaters!

Wow, here we are. In one year from now, the King of the Monsters comes to theaters worldwide. It's a pretty surreal thought for a big fan such as myself. I mention Godzilla in one way or another every day, I've seen all the films. The thought of actually going into a theater and actually seeing him on the big screen is a pretty amazing thing. It had a few rough patches among development. Believe it or not, it was originally supposed to come out in 2012. Pretty insane, eh? For awhile there was virtually no news and people thought it would never come to be. Last year's Comic Con was big, because it unveiled a poster, release date, and teaser. (Which for some odd reason still hasn't been uploaded online.) Slowly the ball got rolling. Casting came later, and they're currently filming. It looks like the movie will be here in time for his 60th anniversary after all!

Godzilla getting the big screen treatment means a lot of cool things. For one thing, we can expect plenty of merchandise. How awesome would it be to walk into Wal-Mart and see some G shirts? A DVD section? A watch? And all the new fans which will come out of the cinema. The Avengers made the general public superhero fans, GODZILLA can and hopefully will do the same. This year will be important, because we can expect a trailer, more posters, a website, and marketing. Contrary to popular belief, Godzilla is a household name, you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't know the monster. The 98 film did leave a stain on the franchise, but that was over a decade ago. This new film will wash that away.

I'm confident Gareth Edward's will deliver a film of quality and worthy of the Godzilla name. It's been said countless times already that it will be in the spirit of the original, so we can expect a dark movie. That won't stop it from having monster action of course, since we'll be having two other kaiju. The countdown begins!

On the Recent GODZILLA News and Manga

I will admit that Legendary's GODZILLA is my moat anticipated movie ever. (The record holder use to Spider-Man 3.) Last year was a pretty good year for updates, at the San Diego Comic Con they showed a teaser (which still hasn't been released for the general public) a poster, and a release date of May 16th, 2014. (Can you believe this film was originally meant to come out last year?) 2014 technically makes sense for marketing, it is the big G's 60th anniversary after all. Since then updates have been scarce, but this past week was full of them. Warner Bros. is committed to a March start date, which is just in two months. Casting has begun, no one has been picked yet, but the shortlist includes Henry Cavill (hey maybe Superman will come and try to save the day) and it looks like Aaron Johnson is being sought after now. (Believe it or not Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in discussions but he declined sadly.) All that is minor to these pieces of news...

Frank Darabont of THE WALKING DEAD has been hired to do a 'final re-write.' It's really quite scary seeing how many re-writes this thing has gotten, it definitely shows that TOHO isn't fooling around. It makes perfect sense, they've learned they can't fully put all their trust in us Americans when it comes to the big G. (And we all know why right? 1998 was an interesting year...) With Darabont re-writing, you can tell this film is going to put an emphasis on the gritty part. Now, we already know that Godzilla will fight another monster, but it looks like they'll be a second monster. And the key word here is 'new,' there will be two 'new' monsters. One of the age old questions for this movie was whether or not G would battle another monster from the TOHO universe. Well, it looks like we'll be getting two new monster creations. While I am disappointed that we won't see the likes of Rodan or Anguirus, it'll still be cool to get some new guys. I can't wait to see their official designs and names. 

The other piece of news and arguably biggest is the story will be about a soldier and that the film will be 'really different' than the TOHO movies. When I heard about the soldier part, Half Century War instantly came to mind. That mini-series follows a soldier as he narrates Godzilla's destruction over the years. This soldier will most likely narrate Godzilla's destruction too I would imagine. Now the second part, where it says it'll be 'really different' than the TOHO films is interesting. It might not have been the greatest thing to say, but I understand it. I do think this film should be its own unique thing, I'm not sure if it should be too different than the Japanese films, because we longtime fans still want to see the true Godzilla on the big screen. When they say TOHO they're most likely referring to the late 60s and 70s movies. They really want people knowing that this will be a very serious movie. With Gareth Edwards directing, I have a feeling we'll also have a strong human character. Unlike MONSTERS however, GODZILLA has to be about the title character, not just a plot device or an obstacle, but a character. I hope we'll see that.

While all that could be considered as good news, the bad news is that two producers have left the project, Dan Lin and Roy Lee. Now here comes the interesting part...they're actually attempting to stop the film from going forward. I've read the complaint and it doesn't look like they're going to win, but still a pretty intense thought. As you can see it's really all about the money, forget about the fans whom have been waiting since this was first announced four years ago. The case hasn't exactly happened yet, so it'll be interesting to see how much this sets back production.

Remember the Godzilla manga I talked about not too long ago? The one where it's set five years after Terror of Mechagodzilla? Well it turns out that it's actually a fan manga. It's a little un-surprising, since TOHO would probably never want to revisit the Showa timeline. Still, it's pretty impressive for a fan manga and shows there are still dedicated fans out there.

GODZILLA Gets a Release Date!

So I come home from the first night of AWANA and hit up Twitter. Right when I enter I see some people talking abut a GODZILLA update and that I should be extremely pleased about it. A few moments later I see that the release date has been unveiled. May 16th, 2014. I will admit that I haven't had much optimism in this being released, but now I have a strong confidence. Just check out this snippet from the press release.

Warner Bros. will return the character to its epic roots with a gritty, realistic actioner.

Epic roots? Gritty? Realistic actioner? Sounds like everything the 98 film wasn't. You can tell this is going to be ultra series with pretty much no humor, like the original film. Also since MONSTERS is Gareth Edward's only other film, I can see a tone similar to that. Anything else I have to say will just be pure speculation. We'll probably get a trailer with Pacific Rim next year, then the internet will really explode.

GODZILLA Is Moving Forward!

A few weeks ago it was 'announced' thanks to Latino Review that there would would be a surprise Godzilla appearance at Legendary Studios' panel July 14th. After the update that wasn't an update a few months back, we were all ready for this. Now here comes the ironic part, that day (now yesterday) I would be out for the majority of it. My followers on Twitter whom some don't even know what Gojira is would hear about it first. It was exactly 7:13 p.m. when my dad had text me the news that there was a trailer. I was like "Oh my gosh!" I was one excited person coming home that day. When I got there, my e-mail was engulfed with Twitter tweets from some of my followers wondering where I was when all this madness was taking place. Yesterday they showed a teaser for the film, which hasn't been leaked yet, Though strangely, my dad had told me he saw the trailer at his job. I still haven't figured out if that was a video which was leaked, cause later we couldn't find the video. But we did get a teaser description, and a screencap. I won't talk about the first impressions until I actually see the teaser. However, while the video wasn't released, the first official poster was! Isn't it awesome? It's simple, but effective. Now for that screencap.

Look closely, doesn't it remind you of the 2000 design? Just seeing that gets my eyes wide with excitement. GODZILLA is moving forward, which is the best news in a long time. 

Godzilla Gets an Update.....or Does it?

This weekend was the yearly London Kapow event. It's a comic con. What was so special about this particular one? Why am I even writing about it you ask? Well you see, Gareth Edwards had attended. The name may not mean much to the average reader, but it does to me, this guy is currently directing the upcoming GODZILLA film. So this was pretty big, it looked like we were finally going to have an update. It had been literally months since the last one. I don't know about you, but I was really anticipating this. I was expecting a huge update. Something along the lines such as when filming would begin, or who the opponent is. We would at least get a rough release date, right? Well....

"It's going great and I'm genuinely excited about it. We're just working really hard with Legendary, who have been fantastic. Thomas Tull has just been an absolute pleasure and nothing like the experience they warn you about when you go to Hollywood. I can't say much other than I hope that we'll have some proper news soon. So you won't have to wait too long at all."

Yes, that's it. That's what we got. Do you know what that really translates to? That's just a professional way of saying "No update." You think I'm being selfish? I mean, since at least there's word, I should be happy? We're still at SQUARE ONE people. Development? Filming? Casting? A stinking release date? None of that. It could be years before Legendary puts this as a priority. Did you know that this film is still technically targeted to come out this year? Yeah, there was no comment on that either. That quote is nothing but a joke. He 'hopes there will be some proper news soon.' Not 'there will be news soon' he hopes there will be news soon. I don't blame Edwards, I blame Legendary Studios. This whole thing is turning into a big joke. Legendary Studios paid a lot of money to able to use Godzilla, so technically they want to make a film. But watch, one of these days, we're going to hear that this film is being canned. That, or it'll take years like with TriStar and their film.

GODZILLA

Alright, here we go. The thing you are about to read is a story I've written for the Legendary Studios Godzilla reboot. Over the past couple of weeks this idea hit me. I've made King Ghidorah the villain, cause he's the one American audiences are familiar with the most. This Godzilla is not a hero, nor is he a villain like in GMK, a little more toward the ladder, but mostly like his Heisei incarnation. This is not an origin story, rather more akin to Godzilla 2000 Millennuim. I'd say it's mixture of Godzilla 2000, the 98 film, (in that it takes place in New York) and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. Rather than write out the fight between the two monsters, I decided to make an animated video for it. Now, onto the reading.

PROLOGUE

It opens up in space, a shot of Venus. The camera slowly zooms into the planet's surface. Beings identical to Earth's humans, except they have a third arm, run rampant. Buildings on fire, the beings are screaming as they run wherever they could. Chaos. A mother and child attempt to take cover behind a destroyed building while the beings shout things in their native tongues. The woman holds her child close as a noise from above is heard. A large shadow passes over the entire colony. Lightning bolts strike as the shadow passes. They strike all over the colony. Buildings explode, the beings are dying. The mother closes her and her child's eyes as she stands by the destroyed building. After the dying screams of the people stopped, she looked upon the destruction. Everything was destroyed, the colony, the people, everything, She and her child were the sole survivors. Holding the baby, she ventured out. It was dead silent. Until she heard a noise behind her. She turned around slowly. Something was hovering above her. She knew it was death. The thing roared. She muttered something before the thing crushed her and her child where they stood. The sole survivor of the colony was dead.

Venus was destroyed.

The thing roared and looked back at the deceased planet as it flew away. It turned it's attention to the nearest planet, earth.

Prologue ends, opening credits begin.

ACT 1


It opens abruptly, camera zoomed in on the sand of Manhatten Beach, Brooklyn. The focus is a giant footprint engraved in the sand. Police officers make up most of the scene, with two agents from Washington D.C. in the footprint. Being from the same unit, they looked indentical, black suits, a tie, and pitch-black sunglasses. The only thing that seperated them was the color of their hair, one had blond, the other black. The one with black hair spoke first.

"Are you done looking it over Malcom?"

The other one, Malcom, answered.

"I've gone over it a hundred times since we arrived, I've found nothing new since we started."

"Cover it up, we cannot let the public see it and get crazy ideas. This is obviously some sort of big prank, it wouldn't be too hard to accomplish." The blond one, Joe, said.

It was midnight, pitch-black, the beach was closed off to the public. After Joe gave a signal, the officers started filling the footprint with sand. He and Malcom started to walk away from the scene toward their black vehicles. Being with the ladder for over ten years in service, Joe knew when his partner was deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?"

"That footprint is similar of that from a Tyrannosaurus Rex. However, the largest creature that roamed the earth was the Spinosaurus, and that footprint was over five times bigger."

"Someone must have a lot of time on their hands. Either way, cameras will be installed within the week."

They arrive at their vehicles, black Pontiacs, and drove away toward their homes.

ACT 2


That same night, a boat travels the Upper New York Bay. The Staten Island Ferry is en route to Manhattan, carrying over five hundred sleepy passengers. That sleepiness is destroyed when the boat is shaken. The alerted passangers are calmed when the captain's voice is heard over the intercom saying, "It was just a large wave, there is no need for panic, thank you." The passengers relax, but the boat is rocked again more violently. People fall to the ground, a baby cries, and then silence. A loud noise is then heard, and the people rush to the windows. Some stand in shock while others run as a long object strikes the side of the boat. People go flying as glass breaks. The ferry tips over onto its other side. The noise is heard again, and the passengers see a blast of something blue coming toward them. It blasts right through the boat, disintegrating anyone remotely close. The boat then explodes and the noise is heard again.

ACT 3


Malcom arrived at address 387, his home. While he was paid hansomely from his job, he never bought a mansion, rather a medium size house in downtown Brooklyn. It was 5 p.m. when he knocked on the door. His lovely Latin wife, Selena, greeted him and let him in. As they walked down the hall, Malcom, despite the rule of not telling bystanders, told her about the footprint and everything. He always told her everything, despite protocol. The living room was the largest room in the house, Malcom sat on the recliner as a pair of footsteps walked down the stairs to the living room. His 16 year old son, Dan entered.

"Welcome back Dad, how long are you staying for?"

"About four days, then I head back to D.C. on Wednesday. What have you been up to son?"

"I was just watching an old monster movie about a giant moth."

"The original, or the 90's remake?"

"The original."

"Ah, yes. I saw that in the theater when I was about your age. Wait, Selena, up the volume on the TV."

Selena put the volume on the remote. The reporter from News12 was talking about something that had happened in the Upper New York Bay.

"And police are having no word other than that a Staten Island ferry en route to Manhattan was destroyed by an unknown object or force. As you can see, thanks to our helicopter, the ferry is still burning from an explosion. There are no reports of any survivors of the 525 passangers, wait, we are getting a report that one man has been found. His injuries are severe and it is not yet known if he will make it out alive. He is currently being rushed to the nearest hospital. We will have more updates as this story develops. Mary Shackle, News12."

Malcom turned off the TV and rushed to the phone in the kitchen.

"What are you doing Mal?" Selena asked.

"I'm sorry hon, but I have to check this out, I'm calling Joe. A ferry just doesn't explode in the middle of the ocean, we have to talk to the survivor, something isn't right." Malcom said from the kitchen.

There was silence in the living room as Malcom talked to Joe about the situation. After about five minutes, he was on his way to the door. Before leaving, he said, "I'll be back, I promise." He shut the door behind him.

ACT 4

The local Brooklyn hospital was always crazy, but more so right now. Reporters and photographers were there, attempting to get acess to the patient. No one was allowed, unless of course you were a governemt agent. Both Malcom and Joe cleared the way thanks to their badges. They walked in the room housing the patient and shut the door. It was a small room, all white with one large window. The patient lay in bed all bandaged up, his dark brown eyes was the only thing that wasn't bandaged. A doctor entered the room from a side door.

"Will he make it?" Joe asked.

The doctor sighed and looked at the patient's vital signs.

"His burns are too deep. In fact, they aren't even burns, it's atomic radiation, and it has poisoned his system. He probably won't live the hour." He said.

"We'd like a few words with him regarding the incident, if you could step out for a few minutes." Joe said.

"Of course."

The doctor left and the agents faced the survivor.

"Mr. John Wright, I am Agent Joe and this is Agent Malcom. We know that you cannot talk very well right now, but we have a few questions that you need to answer. First, what exactly did you see? What made the boat tip over, explode, and sink?"

John coughed and started to talk, albeit with a raspy voice.

"I saw it! I saw the whole thing! It was huge! I stared directly into its eyes in the water. It had scales on its back, and it was the tail that knocked over the boat. I saw the scales glow, and it shot something right through it! And it's noise, my word, it was ear-piercing. That thing was death, I stared death directly in the eyes. It-"

He stopped talking and eyes slowly closed. Joe looked at his vital signs.

He was dead.

Joe and Malcom exited the room and brushed aside all of the press. They walked outside in the cool November air to their cars. Malcom was the first to speak.

"I think it's a bit of a coincidence."

"You actually think that prank is linked to this event? It's largely possible that Mr. Wright sabatoged the boat with some sort of radioactive bomb."

"Yes, that could be it, or one of the other passengers. But that story he told...."

"You saw him, he was delusional."

"Maybe. I think we should pay a visit to Old Man Johnson."

"Why? That old kook is a bit delusional himself with all those books of legends."

"I think we should tell him about the thing Mr. Wright claimed that he saw. You're probably right that there's no connection, but I think it's worth a look into."

Joe sighed.

"Alright Mal. We'll do this, but let's make it quick, we'll go now."

They went into their vehicles and rode down the street to the house of Old Man Johnson.


ACT 5


Old Man Johnson lived on the outskirts of Brooklyn, where barely anyone else lived. His house was small and damaged, one of the oldest houses in the borough. It was one of the few areas where it was remotely quiet in the city. It was 8 o' clock when the agents parked and knocked on the door. Old Man Johnson, a bald man of fifty five years of age who resembled a monk, opened the door. Joe was the first to speak.

"Mr. Johnson, I am Agent Joe, and this is Agent Malcom, we have something to ask you."

Old Man Johnson seemed to hesitate before answering.

"Am, am I in trouble?"

"No, we just want to ask you something. So if you could just let us in."

"Of course Agent Joe, right this way please."

The agents walked into the house and shut the door behind them. The space was very cramped, there were statues of strange looking beasts and angels throughout. Old Man Johnson led the agents to a very small living room with a couch and recliner. The agents sat sat down on the sofa.


"Can I get you anything to drink?" Johnson asked.

"We're fine, we're going to be leaving in a few minutes anyway."

Joe then nodded to Malcom.


"Mr. Johnson, does this ring a bell? A thing that has plates on its back which glows when it shoots some kind of radiation?"

Johnson seemed taken aback by what Malcom said.


"That sounds like Gojira."

"Go-what?" Joe asked.

"Gojira, a Japanese demon."

Johnson went into the nearby bookcase and pulled out a blank book. He opened it and showed a page to the agents.

"What on earth?" Joe said.

The black-and-white picture showed some kind of a dinosaur-like creature biting a train. Old Man Johnson sat down and started to talk.

"It is said that in 1954, a Japanese demon known as Gojira destroyed all of Japan. So much was destroyed that only this picture remains. It is unknown what happened after it destroyed the country, many say it went into the ocean and fell into a deep slumber, which hasn't been awoken."

Both agents looked at each other then back at Johnson.

"Why do you wish to-"

"Thank you for your time Mr. Johnson, we'll be on our way now, good night." Joe cut in.

They got up and started walking to the door.

"Gojira is an unstoppable force that no man-made weapons could beat. It is death." Johnson said.

The agents closes the door behind them. Outside, Malcom was the first to talk.

"So what do you make of that?"

"I think he's a lunatic, but that image does match up with what Mr. Wright said. It's interesting."

"We should report all of this to Captain Williams."

"Go home to your wife and kid Mal, we'll report all of this to the captain in the morning."

They went their vehicles and drove away.

ACT 6


At the same time the agents were driving to their homes, back at the Manhattan Beach, two teenagers hopped the fence onto the sand. They both were carrying torches. The smaller one spoke.

"Are you sure about this man, it's late and it's Brooklyn!"

"You're such a wuss, Kevin. I saw a bunch of law enforcement here. They're hiding something, and I'm going to find out what it is."

The two walked deeper into the beach until they hit the water. A loud noise was heard from within it.

"What was that?!" Kevin asked.

The water started to rise. Both heads of the boys looked up as a dark object emerged from the water.

"Is that.....a dinosaur?" Kevin asked.

The 'dinosaur' roared and the boys started to run back from where they came from. The beast looked down and saw the torch lights running. Not knowing exactly what they were, the beast took it as a threat and shot a blast of blue atomic radiation. It destroyed the little torch lights and the people carrying them. It roared once again and stepped out of the water. It could see the lights coming up ahead and it heard nonstop noises. Curious, it walked toward the city that never sleeps.

ACT 7

Malcom was hearing the radio as he was driving when a special announcement came on.

"There is mass panic in the street as something that appears to be a dinosaur is roaming the streets. It has plates on its back. This is not a trick, I repeat, this is not a trick! Our helicopter is following it, it appears-"

Malcom had been dialing Joe's number as the reporter was reporting. Joe picked up.

"Are you listening to the news?!" Malcom shouted.

"I am, but I'm not believing it. I'm heading toward the scene right now."

"I'm going to call Captain Williams now, I'll join you as soon as I can."

Malcom hanged up and dialed his superior officer's number, the captain of his unit.

Captain Williams answered.

"Agent Malcom, what in blazes is happening over there?!"

"Some kind of monster has entered New York, I'm driving toward the scene."

"I'm calling in some of our troops and airforce, they're actually showing this thing from camera, it's being broadcast on TV."

"It's Gojira."

"What?!"

"It's a long story sir, I believe the thing that is attacking the city is Gojira, a Japanese demon."

"I don't care what it is, and I can't even pronounce that, we'll call it Godzilla or something, my men will blow this thing to Hell before it could do any real damage."

Before Malcom replied, he saw something burning outside his left window.

It was his home.

"No."

He dropped the phone and went outside. His home was destroyed, the roof completely taken off. It was slowly burning to nothing. He could see a skeleton's hand on the ground in the house. He went toward it, then the fire burned even more. He fell to his knees and heard the roar. He looked behind. He could see the monster in the distance, walking, creating more destruction. More lives were facing death.

"Darn you Godzilla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He shouted into the air.


Godzilla couldn't hear that, he could only hear the little people beneath him scream and the beeping from the cars. He then heard something and looked up. A bunch of fighter jets were closing in on him. They shot a couple of missiles at the monster. They struck him, but it was nothing. He shot a blast of atomic radiation. It destroyed both jets. Godzilla roared then felt something from the ground attack him. Tanks were rolling in as people fled. They shot large missiles at the monster. They struck, but like the jets, had zero effect. Godzilla shot radiation, which destroyed all the tanks in front of him. He roared and walked deeper into the city, smashing buildings with his enormous tail. Way in back of the beast was Joe's car. He parked and stepped out.

"This can't be happening." He said as he looked at the gargantuan beast.

He dialed Malcom, but no one picked up. He then dialed Captain Williams.

"Captain Williams, are you there?"

"Yes, Joe, I am watching all of it."

"According to the news, it shrugged off all the missiles, we're going to need something more powerful."

"I am aware, but there's nothing we can shoot that won't bring such collateral damage that won't be felt for the near cities."

"We have to do something, sir! This lizard will destroy all of New York if we don't put it down."

Indeed, Godzilla had ravaged a part of Brooklyn already. He looked to his right and saw something that caught his interest. The Brooklyn Bridge. The beast started to make his way there. In his car, Joe followed. He dialed Captain Williams again.

"Sir, I have a plan."

Godzilla was right in front of the Bridge. There were many cars still attempting to get out, but due to the chaos, they kept crashing into one another. The monster opened its mouth to blast the bridge in half when he heard before behind him. With a grunt, he turned around. A fighter jet was there, carrying a rather large missile. Godzilla once again opened to blast the jet to ashes. The jet shot the missile into Godzilla's mouth and quickly retreated. At first, the behemoth felt nothing, and then slowly, he started feel a sense of tiredness and the need to sleep. He fell to the ground and went into a slumber. Joe pulled up near the monster and stepped out of his car. He could see the awesome sight of the beast in full. He opened up his phone.

"Sir, I believe my plan worked."

"How long will the sleeping gas have effect?"

"On a regular animal, it would knock them out for a few days, I'm not sure how long this creature will be affected."

"That's fine, now we can sit down and think of a strategy. And where in blazes is Malcom? He doesn't answer."

"He doesn't answer me either, sir, I'm going to go find him."

Joe hanged up the phone and took one last look at the sleeping behemoth before driving toward Malcom's house.

ACT 8


The morning brought a startling realization to the citizens of New York. Over half of Brooklyn lay in shambles. There were still many things on fire, which kept the fire department busy. Godzilla lay dormant in front of the bridge, but for how long? That's what the citizens wanted to know, a lot we're not taking chances, they had left the city completely. Joe kept driving around and had called Malcom ten times before the ladder answered. He had said he was at the cemetery, Joe had just arrived. He found his partner sitting on a bench.

"Malcom, where in the heck have you been? Both the captain and I have been trying to reach you all night."

"They're both dead, Joe."

"Who is?"

"My wife and my son are dead."

It then hit Joe why his partner was like this.

"How do you know they're dead Mal?"

"My house was burning."

"I'm sorry Mal, but that doesn't mean that they're dead.  They could still be out there, don't give up hope on that. Now we have a job to do, searching will be later."

"Godzilla has to pay."

"Godzilla?"

"It's the name the captain gave it, let's go."

They started to walk from the grim cemetery.

"I listened to all of it on the radio, so a ton of sleeping gas is keeping Godzilla dormant near the Brooklyn Bridge?"

"Yes, though I'm not sure how long it will last. Honestly, he could wake at any moment, that's why we need a plan."

While they were talking, way above them, the thing that had destroyed Venus was entering Earth's atmosphere. It spotted a machine hovering near it. The United States satellite. With one blast of its gravity beam, the satellite was destroyed. It then made its way into earth's surface. It sensed a powerful presence emitting from within, and it was hungry for the destruction of another world.

ACT 9


Normally things would be peaceful at NASA, but not at this moment. People were scrambling to and fro from their work stations. Ever since they lost contact with the satellite, there has been nothing but chaos. One young man of about twenty shouted from his station,

"Sir, we have an unidentified object coming really fast toward the States, it's the biggest thing our sensors have ever detected."

"Could it be the thing that took out our satellite?" The Captain of NASA said as he looked at the red dot on the screen approaching.

"Affirmative, sir."

"What's its trajectory?"

"New York City, sir."

This caught the Captain by surprise, considering that that the borough had just been attacked.

"Call the airforce, we need to send a jet to intercept, it's probably just a very large meteorite." He said.

Not long after, a fighter jet was launched. The pilot looked at his control panel. The red dot was approaching at a fast pace. He picked up his communicator. Back at NASA, there was silence as the pilot was heard through the main computer. The Captain picked up his communicator.

"What do you see soldier?"

The pilot answered,

"I am approaching the object now, it's golden, it's-what the?!"

"Come in soldier, what do you see?"

"It's not a meteor, I repeat, IT'S NOT A METEOR! It's some kind of monster, IT HAS THREE HEADS! It-"
A sound that was almost like a cackle cut him off, then the com went dead. There was silence for a few moments, until someone said,

"Sir, it's entered Manhattan's airspace."

The thing had entered Manhattan. KING GHIDORAH had arrived.

ACT 10


It was truly unexpected for the citizens of Manhattan. They heard strange noises coming from above, and in a flash, they saw a giant golden dragon with three heads pass over them. When it passed over, cars went flying, along with people. The dragon shot gravity beams at the buildings as it passed. In his mind, he considered the people running beneath him nothing more than ants, he would destroy every single one of them, but first he wanted to find the intense power he was sensing. Something caught his attention, the Empire State Building. The intense power could wait, the structure was too tempting not to break down.

Meanwhile, soldiers were next to Godzilla, keeping any curious onlookers at bay. However, everyone was busy running away when they heard the cackling of King Ghidorah in the distance. The soldiers stood their ground, but they soon joined the fleeing citizens once they saw Godzilla open his eyes. The gargantuan heard the call, another monster. A challenge. He started to rise and then roared. He looked ahead.  He could feel an intense power coming toward the tall structure ahead. In the way was the Brooklyn Bridge. A minor annoyance. He shot a blast of atomic radiation into the center of it. It broke in half. The King of Monsters started to walk toward the tall structure.

ACT 11


Malcom and Joe had been hearing the reports on the radio when Captain Williams called in.

Joe put his phone on speaker.

"As I'm sure you well know, there's this three-headed dragon heading straight for the Empire State Building! I need you two to go in deep, I'm sending more support." The Captain shouted on the line.

"Please hold on sir." Joe said, as he turned up the volume on the radio.

"We have an official report that the monster that attacked the city earler has awoken and is heading toward the Empire State Building. Mass panic as this other monster with three heads is-oh my-" The reporter was cut off by a cackling sound sound then silence.

"Darn it Joe, what the heck is happening there?!"

Back at NASA, the workers were monitoring everything.

"Godzilla is heading toward the Empire State Building, so is the dragon, sir."

"Do you think...?"

"Yes sir. I think they're going to fight,"

Back on ground-level King Ghidorah stopped near the Empire State Building. It sensed something was coming. Something powerful. He roared in anticipation, all three of its heads. Godzilla emerged from behind the building and was standing face to face with the King of Terror. They roared at each other. Meanwhile, Malcom and Joe had parked their car when they saw they couldn't get across the bridge. Above, a helicopter came down. The pilot open the hanger.

"Agents Malcom and Joe, Captain Williams sent me to escort you into the air to see what is happening."

Malcom and Joe went in the helicopter. It flew toward the battleground. Outside the window, they could see all of what use to be New York City. In under a day, it was a wasteland. Finally they were hovering near the Empire State Building.

"Oh man." Malcom said.

Outside the window, he could see the beasts roaring at each other.

"Whoever wins, it wouldn't matter, cause we lose either way." He said.

King Ghidorah took a step, and they they went at it.

Godzilla had fallen.

Back in the helicopter, there was a dead silence before Malcom spoke.

"So now what?"

Back on the ground, King Ghidorah was kicking the downed Godzilla. The three-headed beast then did a roar that was heard all over the country. After, he started to walk away. A familiar roar forced him to look back. Godzilla was standing up, growling. King Ghidorah turned around and let out a roar. Godzilla then let out a shot of his atomic ray. The dragon was caught off-guard by it as it struck it's middle neck. He let a roar of pain and was dazed. Back in the helicopter, the agents were watching in awe.

"I don't get it, why did Godzilla wait this long to use his atomic energy?" Joe asked.

"Who knows, maybe he wanted to see how powerful the other monster was before letting it out. Now that he knows the monster is a threat, he's taking no chances anymore." Malcom answered.

King Ghidorah was but dazed for a few moments, and turned his attention to Godzilla. Godzilla saw an opening, and once again shot a blast of his atomic ray. It struck King Ghidorah's middle neck again. This time however, the entire head and neck popped out when the blast struck. Green blood splurted out as the head struck the ground. Godzilla roared in triumph. King Ghidorah couldn't function without its lead head, he started to fly away. He had enough and would be back one day. Godzilla on the other hand didn't think like that, he was going to finish off the dragon. He shot another blast of atomic energy. It struck King Ghidorah dead center. He lost consciousness and plummted into the ocean. He fell deeper and deeper into the cold water......

Godzilla roared into the sky and looked around. He was weary of fighting, and wanted to rest. Back in the helicopter, the agents watched as the King of Monsters stomped away.

"What's he going to do now? Attack more of the city?" Joe asked.

"I don't think so, he looks to have had enough." Malcom replied.

"Chopper, land and drop us off." The pilot landed the helicopter and the agents jumped off. They watched Godzilla walk into the water for a deep slumber.

End credits roll.

EPILOGUE 

Malcom and Joe are in an underground facility with Captain Williams in Washington D.C. The ladder was the first to speak out loud.

"Godzilla will be back, we're going to need something to combat him."

A man in a white coat approached them.

"Excuse me sir, I have something that will interest you."

From his pocket, he took out a small glass container. There was something in with a label that read 'G-CELLS.'

"I've managed to get some of Godzilla's cells amidst the destruction. I have more, this is just a sample."

"And how exactly can we use these cells to our advantage doctor?"  Catain Williams said.

The doctor leaned in and whispered in Captain Williams' ear for a few moments. The Captain thought for a few moments about what he just heard, then spoke.

"And you're sure they can be combined with the technology?"

The doctor nodded.

The Captain sighed, then spoke.

"Alright then, it's settled. Project 'Mechagodzilla' is a go.

Screen fades to black.

Well, if you took the time to read the whole thing, I applaud. I know I didn't do a great job with the human characters, but overall I think it came out alright. I think the after-credits scene would be perfect, it would definitely get the fans excited. Well, thanks for reading.