Creature Appreciation: Zilla
My friend @theload birthday is today, and for her birthday I’m appreciating a kaiju we feel deserves some love: Zilla!
I feel it’s been said enough times how much the 98 Godzilla movie isn’t Godzilla, and I agree. But that does not mean there’s nothing good about Zilla himself, as I intend to talk about here. I want to avoid comparing Zilla with Godzilla, since that has been done numerous times, and this post is about appreciating Zilla on his own merits. I could easily compare and contrast the two, but that’s not what this is about.
Zilla is an interesting kaiju with some elements we don’t see a lot of. For one, he’s built differently. A lot of bipedal kaiju stand upright, but despite being, at best, semi quadrupedal, he’s hunched over. He’s less vertical and more horizontal. In my opinion, this brings attention to the design of his spines, which I really like. Their shape and color go together really well, especially being forward facing instead of straight or going with the slope of his back.
Zilla’s abilities are another place where his unique aspects come into play, namely in how he moves and fights compared to other kaiju. His relatively thin build means he moves very quickly, probably among the fastest running speeds of kaiju we’ve seen. His agility is so pronounced that he’s able to weave in between buildings, which might not seem like a big deal, but consider how stealthy he is while doing so in the movie. He may have some of the best stealth tactics available to a kaiju in a city setting. Zilla is a ninja in a world of heavyweight champions. Sure he could get taken down with some well placed hits, but good luck catching him before he strikes.
The threat Zilla displays isn’t something completely unique, as many movies have the plot of a monsters offspring taking over the world, but is that something done commonly in kaiju movies? Zilla as a species is able to be killed by conventional(though still difficult) means, but the greatest threat they represent is how one could make hundreds. You only need to lose once for Zilla to rule the earth.
A friend of mine once said that the 98 Godzilla movie would have been taken so much better had it not been a Godzilla movie, and I completely agree. Zilla has plenty of things of his own that make him stand out, and it’s such a shame that so many people hate the big lizard. While things are definitely better now than they once were, his appearance in the comic being a highlight for him, I hope one day there’s enough good will to give him another chance. Also, he’s a giant lizard, and sometimes that’s all you need.