Kaiju film assessment 2

1. FilmStudiesAssignment2
Genre:Kaiju
Kaijufilmsare partof a genre that involvessomekindof monsterorcreature,usuallyattacking
majorcities.The wordkaijuisa Japanese wordthatroughlytranslatesto"strange creature",
"monster"or"giant monster".
Hollywoodfilm:Godzilla(2014)
The recentGodzillaremake wasa HollywoodblockbusterproducedbydirectedbyLegendary
PicturesanddistributedinJapanbyToho,the original ownersof the Godzillaconcept,howeverit
was distributedworldwide byWarnerBros.The filmwasdirectedbyGareth Edwards,an Englishfilm
directorwhoisalso knownforworkingonthe independentKaijufilm'Monsters'anddirectingother
well-knownfilmssuchas'Rogue One'.The budgetforthe filmsproductionwasroughly$160 million
and a promotionandadvertisingbudgetof $65 million,bringingthe total toan estimated$225
million.The filmthenmade aworldwidegrossof $529.1 millioninthe box office.Inthisfilm
Edward's made an efforttoincorporate more underlyingthemesonhumanity,lookingatthe
mistakeswe've made,the kindof relationshipswe have anddifferentsocial andpolitical themes
rather thanjustmakingit an actionfilm.Thisissimilartothe film'Monsters'that Edwardsworked
on,where themesof humanslivingalongside the creaturesare explored.Addingheavythemeslike
thisto a US blockbusterisagood wayof trickingthe audience intothinkingmore aboutsociety's
ownunderlyingissueswhentheyoriginallyprobablyjustexpectedamindlessactionmovie.Inlarge
blockbustersit'squite importanttocast actors that are well established,asaudienceswouldlikely
be more comfortable payingtowatchan actor theyare at leasta little familiarwithandwill trustto
be entertaining.Forexample inGodzillaone of the maincharacterswere playedbyAaronTaylor-
Johnson,whoisknownfromthe film'Kickass'andMarvel filmssuchas 'CaptainAmerica:The Winter
Soldier'.
Britishfilm:AttackThe Block(2011)
Attack the Blockisan independentfilmthatwasdirectedbyJoe Cornish,aBritishwriteranddirector
whois alsoknownforworkingonthe films'Ant-Man'and 'The Adventuresof Tintin'.AttackThe
Blockalsohad a lotof differentcompaniesinvolvedsuchasthe UK FilmCouncil,BigTalkPictures,
Film4 and StudioCanal,whichhelpedwiththe fundingandproductionof the film.Most
independentfilmsneedalotof companiessupportwithfundingsothe creatorshave enoughbudget
and support.The budgetforthe filmwas£8 million,mostof whichwasusedtocreate the CGI
effectsinpost-productionforthe monsterstomake themlookmore alienandscary,as originally,
theywere justpeople incostumes.The locationforthe filmwascheapasit was mostlysetin
Londonina council flatestate,however,the blockinparticularthatthe storyis setinis fictional and
there wasn'tenoughbudgettocreate a CGI aerial shotof the block.So ratherthan spendthe money
theyshowedashot of a mapof the estate afterthe introscene to give the audience aclearideaof
the layout.Inthe box office,AttackThe Blockonlymade£4.1million,despitebeingcritically
acclaimed.However,afteritsfirstweekthe filmmanagedtoclimbintothe topthree inthe box
office,evenaftercompetingagainstblockbusterssuchasThor, whichevensharessimilargenresof
sci-fi andfantasy.The because the filmisindependentthe castingrequiredatleastone popular
actor who audienceswouldwanttosee.ForAttack The Blocktheycast NickFrost, whoisvery

2. popularamongBritishaudiences,whowerethe mainaudienceinitially,andhasa very
distinguishable styleinhisrolessothe viewersare givenanideaonthe kindof filmitwouldbe.
Otherwell-knownfilmsFrosthasbeenininclude 'HotFuzz'and'Shaun of the Dead', whichwere also
producedbyBig TalkPictures,whichshowsthatan actors connectionwithindependentcompanies
can go a longwayfor indie filmcreators.Asforthe restof the cast,thisfilmwastheirdebut,
includingJohnBoyega,the mainprotagonistwholaterwentonthe star in'Star Wars: The Force
Awakens'.SimilarlytootherKaijumovies,AttackThe Blockincludesunderlyingsocial issuesthat
relate tothe protagonists.Forexample,the filmhighlightsthe issuesof youthgangsandcrime ina
verydetailedmanner.The audience atfirstisgivenaninsightintothe gangof teensas needlessly
violentanduneducated,howeverasthe filmgoesonwe are showntheirownlivesandissuesand
endup warmingupto theircharacters,givingusthe reminderthatpeople whodobadthingsaren't
necessarilybadpeople.
US Indie film:Colossal (2017)
Colossal wasa filmdirectedandwrittenbyNachoVigalondo,aSpanishdirectorwhopredominantly
writesshortfilms.DespiteittechnicallybeingaUS film, Vigalondoworkedalongside companiessuch
as BrightlightPictures,aCanadianproductioncompanyandSakyaProductions,aSouthKorean
productioncompany,due tothe fact that a large portionof the filmtakesplace inSeoul andis
filmedinVancouver.OtherAmericancompaniesthathelpedfundthe filmwere Voltage Picturesand
Route One Entertainment.Alltogetherincludinginternational fundingthe budgetwas$15 million,
whichismarginallylowerthanbudgetsforblockbusterssuchasGodzillabutmuchhigherthanthe
budgetforotherindie filmssuchasAttackThe Block.Despite the higherbudgetthanAttackThe
Block,Colossal onlymade $4.7 millioninthe box office,yetdidverywellinonlinesalesandwas
mostlygivenquite goodratings.Because the filmisindependentlyproduced,Vigalondowasgiven
the opportunitytoinclude muchmore intense themesthatwouldbe tooriskyfora blockbusterfilm
to approach.Colossal managedtotackle themesthatare verysensitive,suchasabuse and
alcoholism,thatwouldputoff ablockbustersaudience,butgota mostlygoodresponse from
audiences,especiallydue tothe star-powerof the leadactressAnnHathaway.
Social themes
Whilstmostpeople atfirstglance assume kaijufilmsare justblandsci-fi oractionfilms,eachof
these filmsall tackledthemesof importantsocial issueswithinthe plot.Godzillahadtoapproach
thistechnique more subtly,asalarge blockbusterusuallyhastokeepthingseasilyconsumabletoa
large audience,yetstill highlightedthe issuesof the waygovernmentsfunctionandcommunicate to
the publicandreflectshowhumanstreatthe planet.Next,AttackThe Blockcallsattentiontoyouth
violence inawaythat opensupthe audience tothe offendersside of things,showingthatthese
youngpeople are broughtupinlivesthatforce themintomore dangerousanddelinquentlifestyles.
Theyhave verylittle moneyandtheirrole modelsare drugdealersinthe areaas these are the only
influencestheyhave thatcanofferthema life withmoneyandcomfort.However,asthe filmgoes
on the group of teensendupsavingthe neighbourhoodthattheywere originallyadisturbance to.
Andlastly,Colossal pushesevenfurtherintopersonalandemotionalsocial issuesthatrevolve
aroundreliance onalcohol andvariousformsof abuse.The protagonistGloriaisshownto have
issueswithalcoholismveryearlyoninthe filmandiskickedoutbyher boyfriendandforcedto
move home.The monsterthatattacks Seoul,whichwe findoutlaterisactuallycontrolledbyGloria,

3. isa representationof howalcoholismaffectsthe peoplearoundher,andthateventhoughshe
thoughtshe was onlyruiningherownlife,butalsothousandsof otherswithheractionsinavery
literal way.However,once she realisesthisshe triestomotivate herselftorecover.Thisrepresents
the strugglesof an alcoholicandthe people aroundthemandshowsina ratherstrange way that
recoveryispossible once the suffererrealisesthe consequencesof theiractions.