In the recent weeks, the much talked about SAG-AFTRA/ WGA strike finally came to end. The intricacies of what kinds of people this strike affected was lost on those who were not involved in anyway with the entertainment industry. For example, there is a false image that the strike only affected the rich or well of celebrities. While that is true to an extent, many did not realize the the majority of union actors are not rich, work other multiple jobs, and play roles ranging from supporting characters to featured extras. The effects of out of work actors trickled down to many working behind the scenes: blue collard set builders, crew members, and editors that didn’t have many projects to work with. One person affected by the strike was my brother who works as a sound editor. Many within the industry weren’t allowed to promote their more recent endeavors. As a result, the compensation were various events held within union buildings. One such was an early screening of the first episode of the upcoming Godzilla TV show MONARCH: Legacy of Monsters. The screening was held inside The Director’s Guild of America in Hollywood, a week before the DGA hosted the American red carpet premiere of GODZILLA: MINUS ONE. My brother was invited and brought me along since Godzilla was an integral part of our childhood.
The DGA and event organizers held a Q&A after the screening of the episode with some of the show’s creators. These included: Showrunner & Executive Producer Chris Black; VFX Supervisor Sean Konrad; Casting Director Ronna Kress; Sound Designer Benjamin L. Cook; and Composer Leo (Leopold) Ross. Any hopes of an in depth panel were cut short on time due an alleged fire that broke out earlier in the middle of the episode.
Halfway into the episode were scenes of people evacuating into the subways of Tokyo as Godzilla approaches. The refugees wait patiently for the attack to subside, lights flicker in the station, people are huddled, the attack ends. A voice on the subway speaker urges citizens to go back and enjoy their daily life. A few scenes later, the movie screen goes blank. Strobe lights flash all around the screening room and then, an alarm. For those first few seconds there are some nervous giggles among the audience. It finally registers collectively that this is the real thing and not a gimmick as part of the show. The majority begin to evacuate from where they first entered. I scan the front near the screen to see if there are any exits closer. There is, and no one is using it. I lean in to tell my brother, “Keep an eye on that exit. If this isn’t a false alarm, we’re going to leave through there.” He agrees, the situation doesn’t change, we make for the nearest exit which to which are surprise no one was using. It wasn’t until my brother and I got to the door that only small handful of people followed suit to an underground tunnel. It feels like something out of CLOVERFIELD. It feels just like the episode we just watched.
All of the invited guests reconvened at the front steps of the DGA as fire trucks arrive ready to assess the situation. It seemed like a good half hour standing outside in the cold, dry autumn air. Every now and then, staff members would peek from the lobby as guests eagerly awaited to hear of any information. Everyone on those steps were on a watch and wait basis. But the wait was not a long one. One employee stepped out to give us an update but, before he could start his sentence, the front of the crowd began to hastily move forward towards the entrance before they were stopped by the employee. My brother and I commented on how disheartening it was to see grown individuals in their 30’s and 40’s being extremely impatient. One particular individual, a tall gentleman wearing a white baseball cap and his significant other who was elegantly dressed, could not wait to get back inside the building acting as if his life depended on it. This happened repeatedly with the individual inching more and more after every stop from the staff member. Finally, we were let back in and the episode continued from the spot where it left off. Word circulated that a fire had erupted in a garage behind the DGA building. Because of this incident, the Q&A segment had to be truncated for time as there was an after party reception to follow.
As for the episode itself, my brother and I were quite surprised with how dark it was. One particular moment that shocked us took place during Godzilla’s attack on the Golden Gate Bridge in 2014. It was the kind of moment I hadn’t seen since the 1954 original and we were taken aback that the creators went there. Godzilla appears briefly in the first episode but one has to be reminded, this is a TV with multiple episodes to come to tell a larger story. It is in this medium that the writing really benefits, something that has been a constant critique with the Monsterverse’s cinematic counterparts. With film you only have, at most, 2 hours to tell a story. A good portion of that run time is dedicated to the Monsters themselves. Therefore, filmmakers have often found it difficult to balance the action with compelling human characters to move the narrative forward. The benefit of episodic television is the comfort of knowing you have the time to breath to really engage your audience and gradually develop your characters with rich results.
Anna Sawai who, in brief instances, bears a small resemblance to Showa era Toho actress Akiko Wakabayashi, gives a strong performance that carries the story forward. Sawai’s lead protagonist was a survivor of the 2014 attack in San Francisco. We follow her journey as she begins to unravel family secrets that may link her lineage with the Monarch organization. One things the show does well is touch upon the trauma from a monster attack. Far fetched you say? Not quite as the creators made the Monster attacks palpable by executing them to be the equivalent to a disaster or terrorist attack and the PTSD that stems from living through such an ordeal. One funny exchange occurs between Sawai and a Japanese cab driver about the possibility of Godzilla being fake. The cab driver, unaware Sawai was a survivor, mentions that he believes the attack in San Francisco was a hoax, used with CGI, and on his off hours, he devotes his time to a self produced podcast to discuss such conspiracy theories.
The show’s underlying themes play double meaning to the word Legacy. In one respect, how long Monarch has been around and growing as an organization and the underlying themes of family.
If Wyatt Russell’s intent was to have the cadence and sound of the kinds of roles his real life father played in his collaborations with John Carpenter, then in this regard he succeeded. From an acting stand point, it is a valid choice since real life father and son are playing the same person in different eras. Though my brother and I did get nervous as to how he was holding/ positioning the barrel of his gun while loading it in the back seat of a jeep. “Was he going to kill or carjack the driver? Hold him hostage?” my brother and I pondered.
The lights came up and the entire audience erupted with an enthusiastic applause. Many commented on the clever use of the Kurt/ Wyatt Russell name “…as Lee Shaw” in the opening credits. During the Q&A, Casting Director Ronna Kress talked about how Kurt and Wyatt had always wanted to work together. “They were always offered Father and Son roles but this was different in that they were playing the same role”, commented Kress.
The rest of the cast is solid, the material is treated seriously, and the visual effects helmed by Sean Konrad are on par, if not better, than the theatrical entries. In fact, Konrad has been involved with the Monsterverse since the 2014 Gareth Edwards GODZILLA. To everyone’s surprise, Konrad revealed that John Goodman actually did a great deal of his own running in the prologue where Goodman reprised his KONG: SKULL ISLAND role of Bill Randa in a cameo. At the Q&A, it was stated that Konrad was a sort of designated, unofficial consultant. According to show runner Chris Black, “He (Konrad) would come in and tell us, ‘those dorsal fins are not right’.”
Music Composer Leopold Ross jumped at the chance, and signed onto the project without knowing anything about it. This was due to the fact that he had such a good working relationship with Chris Black on the show SEVERANCE. Ross said he became even more excited after the fact when he was told it had something to do with Godzilla.
As mentioned earlier, due to the fire, the Q&A panel was cut short to make time for the reception that followed. In addition to free goodies such as posters and “Godzilla evacuation” sticker signs, many of the food items consisted of a delightfully themed Monster Eggs and Nitro covered popcorn. The latter, allowing guests to spew smoke from their mouths like their favorite fire breathing monster.
During the after party, I got a chance to briefly chat with Show Runner/ Executive Producer Chris Black. Black came on board to develop the show in March of 2020 thinking that the pandemic would blow over in a few months. At the Q&A, Black had mentioned that all of the guests on that panel were fans.
CG: “You said everyone came from a place of fandom. What was the first Godzilla movie you ever saw?”
CB: “It was one with Mecha-Godzilla. Probably GODZILLA VS. MECHA-GODZILLA or TERROR OF MECHA-GODZILLA. We went back to some of the older films and as you know those films were much darker.
CG: “How much of the episode was actually shot in Tokyo?”
CB: “All of it. All the streets, noodle shops, train tracks above the streets were all real.”
CG: “You mentioned Toho treated these monsters just like characters, with personalities. You want to do the same. Does this mean we will see other familiar creatures from Toho’s roster?”
With a grin, Black states, “…I can neither confirm nor deny.”
This is Christopher Gomez. Signing off from the DGA.
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