Speaking of the most popular movie in theaters recently, it must be "Godzilla vs. Kong 2: Rise of an Empire". The film has topped the box office for three consecutive days. As of press time, the cumulative box office has exceeded 330 million yuan, and it is very popular among movie fans. Speaking of which, Godzilla and King Kong have always been regarded as "top monsters". They had already fought against each other in the movie "King Kong vs. Godzilla " in the 1960s.
Godzilla fights King Kong again, why can he become the champion?
From " Godzilla " (2014), " Kong: Skull Island " (2017), "Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters" ( From 2019) to " Godzilla vs. King Kong " (2021), the Godzilla and King Kong series of movies are deeply loved by movie fans for their explosive scenes and cool special effects. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the "Monsterverse" film series produced by Legendary Pictures, "Godzilla vs. Kong 2: Rise of an Empire" (hereinafter referred to as "Godzilla vs. Kong 2") returns domineeringly.
In "Godzilla vs. Kong 2", there are many new mysterious monster characters taking turns to attack, staging super high-powered, large-scale monster melee scenes that are famous in the century. Godzilla and King Kong changed from tit-for-tat opponents to partners fighting side by side, working together to fight against a huge threat lurking in the world, and gradually exploring the origins of the giant beasts and the mysteries of Skull Island and other places. At the same time, the ancient battle will be revealed, and it was that battle that created these extraordinary creatures and profoundly affected the fate of the human world. In the
film, the two monsters have new equipment in addition to their classic images: Godzilla has a pink dorsal fin, and King Kong wears mechanical gloves. In addition, the debut of "Mini King Kong" and the latest villain "Scar King" are also eye-catching.
In 2021, the movie "Godzilla vs. Kong" was also released at the end of March, with a box office of 1.232 billion yuan, and was also the box office champion of imported science fiction films in the mainland that year. Three years later, Godzilla and King Kong teamed up again and are still favored by movie fans.
Reporters noticed that compared with the Douban score of 6.3 points for the previous game in the series, the reputation of "Godzilla vs. Kong 2" has improved significantly, and the current Douban score is 7.1 points. The most criticized thing about the previous film of
was that the drama was weak. In this film, the drama was compressed and the visual effects were further emphasized. Especially at the beginning of the film, it is the spectacle that fans are looking forward to. It is cut from the perspective of a monster, which makes the audience's attention. The sense of substitution and immersion is full. The daily emphasis on Godzilla and King Kong in the film, such as King Kong bathing in waterfalls, King Kong having cavities, Godzilla fighting monsters underwater, etc., also makes the images of these two monsters more three-dimensional. As a Hollywood narrative monster film that focuses on "refreshingness", it undoubtedly meets the audience's viewing needs. It can "break out" from the recent movie theaters, and it is reasonable to win the Japanese crown for three consecutive days.
King Kong: The "Grandmaster" of Monster Movies
In fact, as early as 1933, the first "King Kong " had already come out. Now it seems that the film was not well-made, and it was not even shot in continuous shots, but a still frame animation. King Kong was also built by the production team using wood, steel wire and plastic foam.
But its influence on later generations is very profound, and it can be called the "grandfather" of monster movies. King Kong in 1933 was born during the Great Depression in the United States. In the movie, a group of people who are in financial crisis go on an adventure to a mysterious island. Not long after the heroine lands on the island, she is captured by the natives who want to give her to the "god" King Kong. Unexpectedly, King Kong fell in love with her and dueled with dinosaurs for her. But this group of people designed to capture King Kong and brought it back to New York. After King Kong escaped, he climbed up the Empire State Building with the beauty, and was eventually killed by aircraft bullets.
After the birth of the first "King Kong", because it catered to people's escapist psychology during the "Great Depression" and its groundbreaking visual impact, the film became a great success. In the decades since, countless sequels, parodies, spin-offs, etc. have been produced, but there are only three remakes.
Although the 1976 version of "King Kong: The Legend Reborn" directed by French John Guillermin ended in failure, King Kong's monster appearance continued, and this version began to try to add richer facial expressions to King Kong, focusing on depicting his humanity. and feelings.
The 2005 version of "King Kong" recreated the legend of the original "King Kong". It was directed by New Zealand director Peter Jackson. The duration also increased from the original 100 minutes to more than 3 hours.
With the help of 21st century special effects technology, King Kong has become an even more amazing "visual spectacle", and the movie further emphasizes King Kong's rich emotions. In the film, it loves the heroine deeply, but it can never enter the human world, which also adds a bit of tragedy to it.
In the 2017 "King Kong: Skull Island", King Kong has also changed from a prehistoric beast that symbolized primitiveness and instinct to a positive image that upholds the natural order. King Kong incarnates as the patron saint of Skull Island, fighting side by side with mankind against the "anti-human" evil forces.
Godzilla: Became associated with King Kong from the very beginning.
Godzilla, the Japanese monster born in the 1950s, has been inseparable from King Kong since his birth.
In 1954, with Tomoyuki Tanaka as the producer, Eiji Tsuburaya as the stunt director, and the movie "Godzilla" directed by Inoshiro Honda, it was born. The movie tells the story of Godzilla, a monster sleeping in the deep sea, who awakened from human hydrogen bomb experiments and landed in Japan to wreak havoc on the city. He was eventually wiped out by chemical weapons developed by human scientists.
As the first of the Godzilla series of films, the original idea for this film was proposed by Eiji Tsuburaya. He once said that after watching the American movie "King Kong" a long time ago, he wanted to create a movie about giant creatures that surpass human cognition and attack humans.
director Inoshiro Honda also incorporated anti-war and technological fear themes into the film. This theme has also become one of the main features that distinguishes "Godzilla" from "King Kong".
Godzilla's Japanese name is a combination of "gorilla" and "big whale", so this monster has the dual characteristics of King Kong and a whale. It stands upright, with thick and powerful upper limbs, a strong tail and armor, and its skin is full of cracks. It is very scary. This classic image has continued for decades.
Starting with "Godzilla" in 1954, a total of 32 monster movies with Godzilla as the protagonist have been filmed around the world, of which 29 were filmed by Japan's Toho Company and the United States in 1998, 2014 and In 2019, each filmed a Godzilla-themed movie.
During this period, Godzilla's image also underwent tremendous changes.
The appearance of the 1962 movie "King Kong vs. Godzilla" completely eliminated the serious meaning of Godzilla, and it began to be saturated with entertainment colors. Since then, most of the "Godzilla" series of movies have been named "Godzilla vs. xxx". During this time, Godzilla's image also changed from a terrifying monster to a warrior protecting the natural world.
The American version of the movie "Godzilla" directed by American director Roland Emmerich in 1998 completely changed the cultural connotation of Godzilla. Some fans commented: "This movie has the flavor of a blockbuster rather than the flavor of Godzilla." , the second half directly turned into "Jurassic Park". In 2014, the movie "Godzilla" directed by Gareth Edwards completely became a classic Hollywood "superhero movie."
Hyundai Express/Modern + Reporter Li Yiheng
(Picture source: Official poster)
