Current Day. Little Ford Brody is all grown up and being played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. He’s a lieutenant in the Navy and is coming home after a 14-month deployment. We are treated to a rushed couple of scenes to establish that Ford has a pretty hot young wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and a surprisingly non-annoying five year old son named Sam (Carson Bolde). They are a happy little family, they missed daddy, etcetera, etcetera. Just as Ford and Elle are about to make up for some lost time, the phone rings and Ford is told that his father, who apparently survived the collapsing nuclear plant, has been arrested and Ford, who hasn’t had a relationship with his father in years, is the only one who can get him out of jail. Elle proves to be movie history’s most understanding wife when she kisses her husband who she hasn’t seen in a year and a half and tells him to hop that plane to Japan and deal with her useless father-in-law.
Japan. After huffing through bailing his dad out of jail, Ford finds himself at Joe’s unusually decorated house. Pictures and newspaper clippings and notes are taped up everywhere. It appears Joe is crazy or obsessed, or both. He isn’t helping matters by poking around in the mess, muttering about earthquakes talking to each other and other oddities. In what is clearly a pity invite, Ford mentions that Joe could come home with him, see his grandson, get away from what is clearly a stressed-out existence. Joe, however, in the infuriating tradition of movies everywhere, is more consumed with what happened to his spouse 15 years ago than what is happening with his own son now (namely, relationship deterioration). He simply must get back to their old house and find his “disks”. And maybe an old picture of his wife. Sigh.
For some reason, Ford decides to help Joe out and tags along. They seem to have no trouble just driving into this restricted zone. They get out of the car wearing protective masks and stare gloomily around what remains of the old neighborhood. A random pack of well-fed dogs gallops past, tails wagging while they act desperately ferocious. Instead of wondering if those dogs are staying fat and happy by feasting on random passersby, Joe whips out a Geiger counter and discovers there is no radiation around here. Suspicious. They take off their masks and head to the house, where we find the house to be basically in the same shape it was before, except now it’s covered in jungle and mud (or maybe soot?). We get random shots of things left behind, including a terrarium with Mothra (shout-out!) written on a piece of tape. Joe finds his little 3.5” hard disks and would probably be wondering where he would be able to find a computer to read this ancient technology except that his attention is caught first by an unscathed photograph of his wife and son, and then by an absolutely remarkably intact Happy Birthday sign that is just construction paper and string and yet managed to survive all these years. Hmph. Oh, and Ford finds an Army action figure, probably a GI Joe of some variety, and sticks it in his pocket.
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