SasquaDash,
That's certainly what happens in the movies, but that's not what they're about.
Even Adam Wingard said, "politics are out the window," for Godzilla vs. Kong. The movie has no real meaning--It isn't about anything. It's dumb escapism, amped up to 11. Which is fine, to an extent, but there's even a line in the movie where a character says, "It's so stupid," a moment of meta-realization that makes me question whether or not the filmmakers are laughing at or with the movie.
Certainly other Godzilla movies have gunned strictly for nonsense, but even then there's a trace amount of meaning, regardless of how forced. (Godzilla vs. Megalon's anti-nuclear lip service against nuclear testing accidentally starting a war, for example.) But there's just not much to come back to. A movie without something to say is less interesting to me and frankly All Monsters Attack has a lot more to say.
Yes, Ichiro makes friends with Minilla in his dreams. Yes, it's through stock footage. But why? Because All Monsters Attack is about the deconstruction of the Japanese nuclear family during an economically trying period.
In the late 60s, with everyone trying to move closer to the city for work, Japanese families were sandwiched into tiny padlock-esque living situations. (As seen in the movie.) Just to make rent, both parents were forced to work two jobs and children were forced to fend for themselves--Ala, every kid we see in the film.
Crime was effected by these conditions, so Ichiro's run-in with criminals was a commentary on that rise as well. The movie transforms into a somber coming of age tale about a child forced to take care of himself because economic conditions won't allow his parents to help him.
One of the saddest moments in the Godzilla series comes when Ichiro leaves his mother crying by the tail end of the film. (In one cut of the movie, this is the final shot before it fades to credits.) She's not crying because her son could've been killed. She's crying because he said he didn't need her. He's grown out of a need for her protection and she missed him coming of age because of the job she had to work. Forget "sad" moments like Godzilla dying, or Serizawa sacrificing his life to booster shot Godzilla with a nuke--This is real. This was, and is, a real moment that everyday people go through and it's gut-wrenching.
I suppose that's what All Monsters Attack comes down to. Ishiro Honda, director of the original film, directed this movie as a story he had always wanted to direct--A story about, "normal people in normal Japanese life." It's what he always wanted to do before being shoehorned into monster and sci-fi movies. Here he uses the Godzilla series for that opportunity. It's unique because there's no villainous monster attacking. No alien invasion. No secret organization. Nope, Godzilla is just a movie series for a kid escaping reality--Hence the stock footage.
With that, you could say All Monsters Attack gives even Godzilla vs. Kong some form of reason to exist.
"'Nostalgic' does not equal 'good,' and 'standards' does not equal 'elitism.'" "Being offended is inevitable. Living offended is your choice."
