Graphic Novel Review: GODZILLA: AWAKENING

It has become a standard in the comic book industry that with every major Hollywood film release there is a comic book adaptation, sequel or prequel to the film to enhance audience’s experience beyond that of the film.  Godzilla: Awakening is one of these original graphic novels that are a prequel to the Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. film. 

Written by Max Borenstein and Greg Borenstein with pencilers Eric Vattle, Yvel Guichet, and Alan Quah this story takes place years before the events depicted in the film so you don’t have to have seen the film in order to enjoy this story.  This is the beginning of the story as we start back in 1980 Japan when Serizawa begins a story to his son Ishiro that will forever change everyone.  Serizawa was there in ’45 when the bomb struck Hiroshima releasing monsters into the world for the very first time.  These monsters would continue to follow and haunt Serizawa throughout his life even as his son grows up to see how obsessed his father has become.

The story follows Serizawa through several key incidents that will eventually lead him to discover the existence of Godzilla and the Mutos (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) which will determine the course of the rest of his life.  The older Serizawa who started the story is trying to tell Ishiro how he became who he is by telling him how his life was ultimately changed by giant monsters, which will then effect the course of his son’s life as well.

This book works as the origin to the film’s Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (played by Ken Wantanabe) who is the grown up son of the Serizawa in this graphic novel.  If you’ve seen the film then you know that the watch that Ishiro carries around with him is the one depicted in this story and that it plays a huge part in how this character has developed since discovering the existence of Godzilla and the Mutos.

Despite being a prequel to the film there is enough Godzilla action to keep the Godzilla fans happy.  Interesting, that this story has nothing to do with the various Godzilla series from IDW Publishing which continue to keep the character relevant despite the lack of any new films until now.  This story is not as action packed and monster filled as the IDW series’ but it does still give it a run for the money and that’s what will ultimately appeal to Godzilla film and comic book fans.

Book Review: KILLER KAIJU MONSTERS: STRANGE BEASTS OF JAPANESE FILM Edited by Ivan Vartanian

Giant monsters have always been a huge draw for horror fans and especially young audiences.  Most of our early association with giant monsters is with the numerous Godzilla films and even Mighty Morphing Power Rangers or Ultraman.  Ivan Vartanian has taken our love of the giant monster (and more specifically the Japanese giant monster) and crafted the book Killer Kaiju Monsters: Strange Beasts of Japanese Film.  Although not a complete and comprehensive guide to Japanese monsters it does give readers a quick overview of some of the most popular starting with the Big G himself – Godzilla. 

Each monster in the book is accompanied with stills from the films that they were featured in as well as a filmography of those films (for the completest that needs to see all the films their favorite giant monster may have appeared in).  You can’t understand what Japanese giant monster films are unless you understand the term “kaiju” and Vartanian does a great job explaining to the casual viewer what a kaiju is and what it meant in the original Japanese giant monster films.  In fact, Vartanian also delves into character design and presents cross sections of kaiju in addition to illustrations and various forms of artwork that has been inspired by the kaiju.  

A real highlight of the book is the look at soft-vinyl figure collecting and the plethora of pictures showcasing the various figures created over the years.  There is even a paper craft kaiju in the book that allows you to put together your own “little” giant monster.  One of the highlights for me was the Japanese illustrated comic at the end depicting kaiju against yokai (spirits and paranormal world creatures) in order to dramatize the thematic and stylistic differences between the two types of characters.  Despite being exclusively in Japanese I can plainly understand what is going on due to the illustrations.

As I mentioned before this is in no way a comprehensive book as it really only focuses on Godzilla and his rogue’s gallery of monsters with a small mention of Gamera.  I could’ve gone for a longer book that had more info on many more overlooked kaiju but this is a great starting on point for those wanting to know more as this is the basics.

Film Review: PACIFIC RIM (2013)

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro has made a career out of crafting fantasy and horror films that are not easily categorized and labeled.  Beginning with his unorthodox take on the vampire film Cronos (1993) and Blade II (2002) and following on to his Spanish ghost story The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and his dark fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and his comic book epics Hellboy (2004) and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008).  All of that experience has culminated in his biggest film to date Pacific Rim (2013).

The world is on the brink of destruction not by an alien race from outer space but from deep below the Pacific Ocean as an inter-dimensional portal has opened allowing giant monsters from another world to enter into our own.  To battle these giant kaiju (as they are called) the nations of the world band together to create giant robots called jaegers that are piloted by two people.  At first the jaegers do a good job of defending the world from the kaiju menace but now the monsters are appearing more frequently leading many to believe that there is an ulterior motive to this invasion.

Anyone who has seen a Godzilla film will be very familiar with the world of giant kaiju and jaegers but in del Toro’s hands the film becomes a full on military exercise done to a big budget, high concept way and he delivers the goods.  Not being just content with a run of the mill action film del Toro crafts a complex ensemble film which touches upon all aspects of the world he has created from the grunt soldiers on the front lines to the smugglers who deal in rare kaiju body parts (played by del Toro regular Ron Pearlman in one of his most entertaining roles).   This film is populated with a lot of relative newcomers and faces you may recognize such as Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba well as Charlie Day and Rinko Kikuchi but these are not the main reason to come see a film like this.  It is the giant robots fighting giant monsters and in del Toro’s hands it is an epic battle with an epic story.  Del Toro is not just concerned with telling a giant monster verses giant robot story but he gives his characters a history and a goal to achieve elevating the film above being just a meager Summer Blockbuster.

The special visual effects are astounding and if you’re lucky enough to see the film in 3D or better yet in IMAX 3D then you are in for a real treat as this is one of the few films of the summer to use both formats adequately.  Pacific Rim is one of the standout summer films and one to be enjoyed on the big screen (and if you need to go even bigger go IMAX big).