紐時賞析／有政治意涵？ 哥吉拉與金剛：人類死活誰在乎？

「哥吉拉與金剛 : 新帝國」是最新一部以哥吉拉爲主角的電影。（美聯社）

In ‘Godzilla x Kong,’ They Came. They Pounced. Who Suffers?

哥吉拉與金剛：人類死活誰在乎？

By the end of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” the latest in the so-called Monsterverse franchise from Warner Bros., multiple cities around the world have been rendered essentially uninhabitable and treasured monuments have been turned to dust. Godzilla, Kong and their adversaries flatten sections of Rio de Janeiro, ripping buildings in half during their climactic brawl, as a monster that can shoot ice from its mouth coats the coastal setting, presumably freezing a bunch of citizens as well.

華納兄弟推出的所謂「怪獸宇宙」系列最新作品「哥吉拉與金剛：新帝國」結尾時，世界各地多座城市都被搞得根本不宜人居，多個珍貴地標化爲齏粉。哥吉拉、金剛與牠們的敵手將里約熱內盧多處夷爲平地，在最終高潮鬥毆時將建築劈成兩半，同時有一隻能口吐寒冰的怪獸冰封海岸場景，想必也凍住一堆民衆。

Earlier, the two big guys punch their way through the pyramids in Cairo as tourists and locals scramble away from falling rocks. On top of that, at one point, Godzilla also takes up temporary residence in the Colosseum in Rome after he stomps through that locale. It’s frankly pretty cute the way he curls up to nap in the ancient amphitheater like a puppy, but the fact that he probably killed thousands of people getting to his makeshift bed isn’t really addressed.

先前，這兩隻龐然大物還一路打到開羅金字塔，遊客和當地人倉皇躲避墜落的石塊。不僅如此，在某個片段，哥吉拉還在大步闖進羅馬圓形競技場後，於該地暫時住下。他像只小狗般蜷曲身體，在這座古老劇場裡小寐的模樣着實相當可愛，但他在到達他的臨時牀鋪途中，大概殺了成千上萬的人，此一事實卻沒有好好處理。

Over the years, films starring Godzilla and his pals have varied wildly in how they deal with the creatures’ victims — they have been serious and outright silly. While sometimes, Godzilla can be a way to explore very human fears, at other times, he’s just an outlet to watch things go boom. “Godzilla x Kong” puts him firmly in this noisy camp, which makes the treatment of death just seem careless.

這些年來以哥吉拉和他的夥伴們爲主角的電影，在處理這些怪物的受害者時，方式各自迥異，從嚴肅以對到徹底滑稽都有。雖然有時哥吉拉可以是探索真正人性恐懼的方式，但其他時候，他可能只是要看到萬物失控的宣泄口。「哥吉拉與金剛」確實的把哥吉拉放入這個紛鬧的陣營裡，讓其對死亡的刻畫顯得漫不經心。

But as the Monsterverse has gone on, the material has gotten goofier, landing us where we are with “Godzilla x Kong.” It’s a pattern that also occurs in the original run of Japanese Godzilla films. Yes, Ishiro Honda’s 1954 original is a reflection of nuclear anxiety made in the shadow of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But by 1968, Honda made the bonkers “Destroy All Monsters,” in which Godzilla and his kaiju buddies on an island known as Monsterland are released by an alien species known as Kilaaks and attack global hubs such as Moscow and Paris.

但隨着「怪獸宇宙」持續發展，這個題材變得日益滑稽可笑，讓我們到達「哥吉拉與金剛」這個境地。這個模式也發生在日本原作哥吉拉系列電影。是的，導演本多豬四郎在1954年的原作是一部對核子焦慮感的反思，誕生於廣島與長崎所受轟炸的陰影下。但到1968年，本多拍了無釐頭的「怪獸總進擊」，劇中哥吉拉和他的怪獸同伴，被叫做「基拉剋星人」的外星物種從名爲「怪獸島」的島嶼釋放，並襲擊莫斯科、巴黎等全球重鎮。

“Godzilla x Kong” also has something else in common with the superhero genre: In this movie, Godzilla and Kong are supposed to be the good guys stopping monsters that are more evil than they are. If so, why does no one care that they kill so many people in the process? The audience might, but no one on screen gives a damn.

「哥吉拉與金剛」也和超級英雄電影有其他共通點：電影裡哥吉拉和金剛理應是阻止比牠們更邪惡怪獸的好人。若如此，爲何沒人在意牠們過程中奪走這麼多性命？觀衆可能在意，但螢幕上沒人理會。

文／Esther Zuckerman 譯／高詣軒