by Armand Vaquer
Even before the final reel of TriStar's Godzilla (1998) was even finished, it was my opinion that the movie was a big dog. I left the now-gone Mann's Tarzana Theaters very disappointed.
Although the special effects were pretty decent (except for a few things like the baby Godzilla chase in Madison Square Garden) and the marketing campaign was fantastic, the movie did not live up to its expectations.
What killed Godzilla (known by G-fandom as GINO, Godzilla In Name Only) was the story and script. It was basically a first-draft script and it showed. I could've forgiven the design of the monster had it been a good movie. But it wasn't. Besides not looking like Godzilla, it didn't act like Godzilla. To this day, that fiasco of a movie still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of G-fandom.
It has been announced this week that David S. Goyer is the new writer for Legendary Pictures/Warner Brothers' Godzilla movie, now slated for a 2014 release. 2014 will also be the 60th anniversary of Toho's first Godzilla. It has been reported that Goyer will write the screenplay from a draft written by David Callaham.
Goyer wrote the screenplays for the upcoming Ghost Rider sequel, Zack Snyder's Superman: Man of Steel and Chris Nolan's Batman scripts, including the forthcoming The Dark Knight Rises. The Godzilla movie will be directed by Gareth Edwards.
Given Goyer's track record and the fact that his scripts successfully re-booted the Batman franchise, I find the news of his assignment to Godzilla to be excellent news. Hopefully, Goyer will do for Godzilla what he did for Batman.
It appears we'll have to wait a little longer for Godzilla (it was originally targeted for 2012). But if it turns out to be an excellent movie, the wait will be worth it.
I guess we'll have to start calling it Godzilla 2014.
