With reporting by Josh Horowitz
For a movie about a giant lizard, you might be surprised to hear that one of the greatest strengths of “Godzilla” is its restraint.
It’s all in the way director Gareth Edwards decided to handle the classic monster. To make Godzilla seem even more powerful, the audience only hears about him for the first 40 minutes, and then he’s kept just off screen until the grand finale.
The result is one of the most rewarding summer movie experiences in a long time, and it was all by design.
“It was always the intention to incrementally build…” Edwards told MTV News. “Nowadays, you can do absolutely everything in a computer. A lot of films do. Even though, individually, you look at that shot in the trailer and you go ‘Aww, that’s amazing.’ You take this shot, ‘Aww, that’s amazing.’ If you put a thousand of them together, you kind of get a fatigue where you stop caring about what you’re seeing. I was more worried about committing that crime than the crime of ‘It’s 40 minutes. Where is he?’ ”
Edwards has taken up the same method of restraint in regards to any sequel talk as well. He said that he has an idea of where a potential follow-up might go, but he’s waiting for people to see and enjoy “Godzilla” before going down that road.
Perhaps… Mothra?
“Godzilla” opens in theaters on May 16.
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