Shin GodzillaIs it worse to act with urgency and run the risk of reprisal or failure, or to hesitate and fail to seize the initiative, and to be condemned for cowardice in hindsight? Shin Godzilla is a kaiju monster/disaster movie--and retelling of the genre-defining classic, Godzilla--about a colossal, radioactive reptile that emerges from off of the Japanese coast to wreak havoc upon Tokyo as the Japanese government struggles to contain the escalating catastrophe. While the overly bureaucratic government debates strategy and speculates about the future, they lose sight of the present, and the people they are charged to defend suffer in the meantime.
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It could be said that Shin Godzilla is a rare example of a satire and disaster movie simultaneously. Despite moving at breakneck speed with a vast list of characters introduced rapid-fire, these politicians do little to nothing for a significant part of the movie to try to stop the rampaging monster that is literally beating down the doors of their nation. Shin Godzilla draws inspiration in its depiction of a devastating cataclysm from the comparatively recent 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and the ensuing tsunami and shutdown of the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant--an event that has been called the costliest natural disaster in history, that left behind damage on par with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While fear of atomic warfare was the inspiration behind the original Godzilla, anxiety that the government is not fully prepared to protect its citizens is at the heart of Shin Godzilla. Despite a cabinet full of politicians with lofty titles, everyone repeatedly just prognosticates about solutions, deflects making commitments, or sends it up the pipeline to the next highest ranking figure instead. The bureaucracy becomes almost as devastating as Godzilla itself. It isn't until the monster has continued to evolve into increasingly destructive forms that a young and decisive Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary named Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasegawa) puts together a team devoid of rank or title, where everyone's input is important in solving the "Godzilla" problem. He and his team pool their knowledge with a liaison to the United States, a strong-willed young woman named Kayoco Anne Patterson (Satomi Ishihara), who dreams of becoming President of the United States one day. Together, they work to stall out the default resolution offered by the United States: dropping a thermonuclear bomb on Godzilla, which is all but implied to be not just ineffective, but that it would only push his evolution further.
Shin Godzilla represents a culmination of the various kaiju movies that followed the original, including its own source material. When Godzilla is first named, it is debated between Kayoco and Rando on how to pronounce his name based on the characters used, that it should be "Godzilla" or "Gojira". (Godzilla has been known as Gojira in Japan since the first movie.) The footage of Godzilla as he stomps through Tokyo occasionally appears archival or shot candidly to give it a more realistic quality, reminiscent of movies like Cloverfield. And the way that Rando and his crew ultimately deal with Godzilla--in a plan named after the deputy secretary--has echos of the "oxygen destroyer" from the very first Godzilla. Shin Godzilla also has aspects in common with contemporary Japanese kaiju films, including a predominance of government and military characters rising up to defend their home against the incursion of titanic monsters. (Coincidentally, Shin Godzilla is written and co-directed by Hideaki Anno, known for creating the apocalyptic anime series, "Neon Genesis Evangelion".) Godzilla is a mysterious threat--an unknown at the start of the strange incidents that precede his first sighting. Politicians speculate as to what these events portend--is it a subterranean volcanic eruption? What is that red stuff that pours over the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line; is it blood, and if so, from what? In this way, Shin Godzilla has some parallels with monster movies like Jaws, where the ultimate reveal of the monster is meant to shock audiences. When the immature Godzilla does slither his way onto the Japanese shore, he resembles an incomplete, almost prenatal version, with gills and without eyelids. (Audiences who were expecting a mature Godzilla to emerge from the ocean were probably a bit disgruntled at this; Godzilla has a very large fan base around the world.) But even when the "King of Monsters" does reach his "fourth form", he has a couple of surprises that make this iteration of the cult classic monster still more than capable of pleasing the die-hard fans.
Recommended for: Fans intrigued by a new spin on the quintessential kaiju monster, with modern themes and ideas about saving Japan and the world. Shin Godzilla is largely appropriate for all ages, since there is little to no offensive language and no brutal or graphic violence. That said, many of the themes and the copious amount of characters may make it challenging for all but the most attentive viewers to keep track of what's going on.
Shin Godzilla represents a culmination of the various kaiju movies that followed the original, including its own source material. When Godzilla is first named, it is debated between Kayoco and Rando on how to pronounce his name based on the characters used, that it should be "Godzilla" or "Gojira". (Godzilla has been known as Gojira in Japan since the first movie.) The footage of Godzilla as he stomps through Tokyo occasionally appears archival or shot candidly to give it a more realistic quality, reminiscent of movies like Cloverfield. And the way that Rando and his crew ultimately deal with Godzilla--in a plan named after the deputy secretary--has echos of the "oxygen destroyer" from the very first Godzilla. Shin Godzilla also has aspects in common with contemporary Japanese kaiju films, including a predominance of government and military characters rising up to defend their home against the incursion of titanic monsters. (Coincidentally, Shin Godzilla is written and co-directed by Hideaki Anno, known for creating the apocalyptic anime series, "Neon Genesis Evangelion".) Godzilla is a mysterious threat--an unknown at the start of the strange incidents that precede his first sighting. Politicians speculate as to what these events portend--is it a subterranean volcanic eruption? What is that red stuff that pours over the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line; is it blood, and if so, from what? In this way, Shin Godzilla has some parallels with monster movies like Jaws, where the ultimate reveal of the monster is meant to shock audiences. When the immature Godzilla does slither his way onto the Japanese shore, he resembles an incomplete, almost prenatal version, with gills and without eyelids. (Audiences who were expecting a mature Godzilla to emerge from the ocean were probably a bit disgruntled at this; Godzilla has a very large fan base around the world.) But even when the "King of Monsters" does reach his "fourth form", he has a couple of surprises that make this iteration of the cult classic monster still more than capable of pleasing the die-hard fans.
Recommended for: Fans intrigued by a new spin on the quintessential kaiju monster, with modern themes and ideas about saving Japan and the world. Shin Godzilla is largely appropriate for all ages, since there is little to no offensive language and no brutal or graphic violence. That said, many of the themes and the copious amount of characters may make it challenging for all but the most attentive viewers to keep track of what's going on.