UPDATE: This trailer has been removed at the request of the studio. Apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.
The enigmatic first moving images of the upcoming Godzilla reboot were unveiled for all to see today in a tantalizingly brief teaser trailer, which eradicates with numbing ease the memory of the cataclysmic failure that was Roland Emmerich’s 1998-version of the titular monster.
Originally screened at this year’s Comic-Con, the brief snippet is set against a backdrop of massive destruction which depicts a cityscape decimated by full-on Kaiju-warfare. A mournful voice-over quotes scripture and laments the demise of the world that we once knew as the camera pans over a battlefield strewn with the enormous carcasses of assorted monsters that have been dispatched by the big green lizard.
Clouds of acrid smoke permeate the trailer up until the money shot: A lovingly staged low camera angle pulls in tight to reveal the reptilian tail of the titular radioactive monstrosity and pans upward until the big reveal of Godzilla’s facial features. At the very end, the enormous creature lets out a roar, giving us just the slightest tease of what we’re in for.
Set to star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston and more, the Gareth Edwards-directed reboot looks fantastic. It’s almost like the director took the best parts of this past summer’s Pacific Rim, but then made them less cartoony and more gritty and realistic, which seems to be working out great here. The film will also feature other monsters who will face off against the titular lizard, so there will be plenty of destruction and mayhem on display here. It looks like the excitement and buzz surrounding this one is going to pay off in spades.
Godzilla marches into theatres on May 16, 2014. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments.