Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

I think the Heisei series got off on the right foot by actually portraying Godzilla with a sense of menace and contempt. The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Biollante, and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah all feature instances of Godzilla directly attacking people and killing them. And in all of these films, as well as Godzilla vs. Mothra, he destroys cities and attacks other monsters not because he's defending himself or they're blocking him from an ulterior motive, but simply because he can, and he really seems to relish it. Look at the way he tears into Battra's neck or the gleeful smile on his mug after he fries the Futurians.

But the later movies seemed to forsake this malignant nature about Godzilla and just seemed to use him as a plot device, making his actions motivated more by what the movie called for than by his nature as a character himself. I'd say they do portray him more as a wild animal in the later Heisei films. In Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, he's just trying to get to Baby Godzilla. In Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla, he's just living on an island and only attacks Spacegodzilla because he was attacked first. And in Godzilla vs. Destroyer, his destructive tendencies are fueled entirely by the pain of his meltdown crisis.

So Ray, I'd say the answer to your question would be 'yes' for the earlier flicks, 'no' for the later ones.

Personally, the only movie I feel Godzilla was truly portrayed as being a malevolent force in was GMK, the rest of the time I feel he is animalistic in nature and behaves the way he does because it's in his nature to do so.