FLOP CULTURE

Size over substance, CG over character. Why Roland Emmerich’s reboot remains a radioactive test case of how to mistreat loved source material.

Ahead of Godzilla’s bigscreen return, we look back at Roland Emmerich’s 1998 mega-flop.

Why it was a good idea (on paper)

In 1998, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin united with Toho’s godlike gecko to re-indulge

Independence Day’s appetite for destruction. Supersized guilty pleasures surely beckoned.

What went wrong?

As Devlin later revealed, Emmerich was no fan of the original Godzilla films. And it showed, not least when he tried to bridge that gap in understanding with what he did like: Jurassic Park, Jaws and ‘SIZE’. It ‘DOES MATTER’, trumpeted the trailers, even though the title star’s size fluctuated randomly on screen.

In action, Emmerich’s leaden emphasis on CG-enhanced scale flattened all hopes of Spielbergian suspense – and he offered no grasp of creature-based character to compensate. While Toho’s Godzilla was god, myth, metaphor and more, Emmerich simply hatched a big lizard. “He’s just an animal,” said Matthew Broderick, with a literal thud. As co-star Maria Pitillo said of asexual reproduction, “Where’s the fun in that?” And the awe, the shock, the wit… Redeeming features

Count ’em: use two fingers if you like. Jean Reno’s off-piste performance entertains, while David Arnold’s Holst-indebted score summons the majesty that Emmerich failed to.

What happened next?

Opening returns were decent, but ticket sales plummeted badly for a film so supersized. Grand trilogy plans were quietly canned and Toho responded to fans’ clamours for an authentic take with Godzilla 2000.

Later, Godzilla: Final Wars featured Emmerich’s renamed (‘God’-less, notably) ‘Zilla’ as a feeble opponent of the real Godzilla. Meanwhile, Devlin and Emmerich visited less delicate disaster-buster turf with climate-carnage epic The Day After Tomorrow.

Should it be remade?

Gareth Edwards made a better fist of 2014’s Godzilla, though the box-office slump of Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King Of The

Monsters now ramps up the pressure. Can Godzilla Vs. Kong restore fans’ faith? KH