Shin Godzilla

This is an excellent show that differs from the standard hack-and- slash and action-driven natures of other recent films (Independence Day 2 etc.). It is one of the most narrative-driven films that I've watched in the last 2 years.

PROS:

• The acting was great as a whole, comprising of much seriousness and focus, typical of the exigency of a nation-wide disaster, in the top politicians of the diet.

• It is full of political irony, satire of the Japanese government's and bureaucracy's indecision and red-taping. There is great intelligence imbued into movie, and it shows that much research has been done prior to filming. It also shows the way in which foreign and indigenous affairs have been interwoven together in governmental decision-making. I greatly appreciate this as a whole, as the narration is full of meaning and subtlety.

• The special effects of Godzilla were absolutely wonderful, portraying both scale and grandeur in Godzilla's size and style. I greatly enjoyed the four main scenes where Godzilla made its appearance, especially its climax at the latter two.

• The pacing was fast-paced, and little time was wasted. A lot of content had been packaged into a duration of just 120 minutes. While watching, I thought that the film lasted for 4 hours, as there were so many occurrences!

• The style and pace also remains true to the original Godzilla classics. So is the provenance of Godzilla.

CONS

• Ishihara would not have fooled us into thinking that she is a Japanese-American English speaker!

• Overall, it is very dialogue-heavy. This is both a strength and weakness. A strength as there is much character development, but also excessive to the point that it sometimes can be dreary and draggy. This is the greatest setback of the film, and could have been further streamlined. Minus 1 star for this.

CONCLUSION:

• As a whole, I rate it 9 out of 10, and will watch it again.

• Most people who have an appreciation for subtlety and nuance, and also of vivid storytelling will like this film.

• However, those who prefer a CGI roller-coaster like Independence Day 2 or 2012 may be turned off by the extremely heavy dialogue.

This movie, hands down, is one of the best representations of Godzilla. I recommend you watch in sub for the best experience because the audio mixing isn't the greatest for the English dub, and trust me, it's noticeable. Suck it up if you don't like to read. I mean, you're reading now, aren't you? Godzilla ultimately steals the show, and you'd hope so from a Godzilla movie. The visuals at times can be shoddy, but in the scenes where the lighting is just right, it's a glorious moment to behold truly horrifying visuals (in a good way). The plot, however, is where it kind of suffers the most for me.

'Shin Godzilla' isn't Toho's vainglorious attempt at re-capturing the success of recent Hollywood adaptations of its iconic Japanese monster. Quite the contrary, co-directors Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi know better than try to outdo their Western counterparts in terms of spectacle, and instead have made the astute decision to make a distinctly Japanese 'Godzilla' that will most certainly resonate with their home audience, even at the expense of alienating some non-Japanese viewers without the same cultural or historical context. In fact, we dare say that their film has the unique distinction of being both political allegory as well as real-world horror, and is surprisingly effective on either count.

No other recent event has been so seared in the Japanese consciousness as that of the 2011 Tohoko earthquake and tsunami as well as the consequent Fukushima nuclear disaster, not just because of the hundreds of thousands of people affected but also because it exposed how terribly unprepared the Japanese government was with handling a crisis of such proportions. The parallels here are unmistakable – from an indecisive Prime Minister (Ren Ôsugi) to the frustratingly bureaucratic attitude of his Cabinet ministers to the embarrassing revelation of his poor judgment (such as during a live press conference where Godzilla makes landfall right after he specifically tells the people that the creature will not) – and indeed meant no less than a searing indictment of just how inept the Naoto Kan's administration was during 3/11.

Yet it isn't hard to imagine how a movie based solely on such criticism would quickly turn monotonous, not least because the lead characters here are all political/ Government figures – among them, Hiroki Hasegawa's outspoken and gutsy Deputy Chief of Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi, Yutaka Takenouchi's opportunistic Aide to the Prime Minister Hideki Akasaka, and Satomi Ishihara's Special Envoy for the United States Kayoko Ann Patterson – and each is defined only in terms of his or her role and ambition in relation to the ongoing calamity. None too subtle is the point, emphatically and unequivocally made, that while politicians wield the ingenuity and authority it takes to manage an unprecedented catastrophe, each is also simultaneously weighting the cost or opportunity of every decision or maneuver to his or her political futures.

Just as illuminating, especially to the Japanese, is the strengths or limits of its military might post-WWII, seeing as how it has never yet seen the need to invoke the use of its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) or call in the help of the US military under the US-Japan Security Treaty. Under the pretense of exterminating Godzilla, Anno's screenplay imagines what it would take not just for the SDF to be activated but also how US intervention would likely come with some strings attached. How and if at all it is meant to play into the current Shinzo Abe's push for an expansion of the SDF role is quite perceptively left up to the audience's interpretation, but there is no doubting that the introduction of the United Nations late into the film is meant to demonstrate how powerless nations not on its Security Council may be to resolutions passed by its five members on non-member countries.

Yes, if it isn't yet clear, there is no intent here to highlight the human dimension of such an event; rather, it is domestic politics as well as the global world order that forms the basis of this re- incarnation of Godzilla. As a reboot, 'Shin Godzilla' starts on a clean slate, beginning with an underwater disturbance that briefly makes its way onto shore before going back out to sea, then returning as a much more highly evolved organism that grows and grows ever more fearsome. Fans though will not be disappointed – as with past iterations of Godzilla, this latest version not only has the ability to radiate highly destructive atomic rays from its dorsal fins, it also can set streets of buildings ablaze by spewing fire out of its mouth. It does take time to get used to the new 'ShinGoji' design, but rest assured that this beast is every bit as terrifying as it should be.

In fact, that palpable sense of fear is twofold – first, in tying the origins of Godzilla to Japan's ignominious nuclear history; and second, in showing with utmost realism the wanton destruction of notable landmarks in Tokyo by the monster. The former has to do as much with the United States' alleged dumping of radioactive waste in Tokyo Bay in the 1950s and 1960s as accusations of Japan's own disposal of toxic ash from the burning of Fukushima's nuclear waste into the same waters. The latter, on the other hand, sees entire districts in Tokyo ripped or flattened by Godzilla's rampage, impressively staged by co-director cum VFX supervisor Anno (also known for last summer's 'Attack of Titan') using a mix of old- fashioned puppetry and modern CGI. In particular, the combined US- Japan military assault on Godzilla along the banks of the Kano River and the finale in downtown Shinjuku is stunning, especially in imagining the magnitude of destruction that Godzilla could inflict on modern-day Japan.

Yet if the promotional materials have given the impression that 'Shin Godzilla' is an action-packed blockbuster like its most recent Hollywood predecessors, you'll do best to temper those expectations. Sure, there are beautiful sequences of Godzilla wreaking havoc, but because the focus is on displaying different types of political personalities and their responses towards such a crisis of proportions, there is a lot of talking (as well as 'talking heads') throughout the film and especially in the beginning. By tapping into the paranoia, fear and frustration of their fellow Japanese following their own recent real-life crises, Anno and Higuchi have made a contemporary 'Godzilla' that is sure to roar loud with their home crowd – and by that count, this is as its Japanese title suggests, a new and true incarnation as relevant as it is frightening.

First of all, if you are expecting the stereotypical monster movie where the point of it is just watching a monster destroy stuff and watch people running around, you WILL be disappointed. The majority of this film takes place in offices and meeting rooms.

Japan just went through a nation-wide Earthquake that took more than 15,000 lives, and triggered the second worst nuclear meltdown in history, both just five years ago. And this is a clear satire on the sociopolitical events since.

The film takes us through what goes on in the government when a unprecedented crisis hits the nation. It's a bunch of long meetings, finger-pointing, paperwork, and slow decision-making. It is the epitome of dysfunctional bureaucracy.

On top of all that, you start to see the US government and other UN nations start to poke their heads into the matter, treating the hometown of 15 million Japanese people like just another battleground for just another war.

There are no clear-cut heroes; Just a group of normal people who are experts in their own fields, doing their best to contribute and put this disaster to an end. They have to fight the politics more than the actual monster.

The reality of all of this is astonishing, and completely believable. It starts to feel like a crisis simulation film.

But of course, the center of it all is Godzilla:

Godzilla himself is truly awe-inspiring in this film. What they have done with the monster is totally new, different from any of the Godzillas in the past (be careful of spoilers out there on the web if you want to experience the amazement). It's personally my favorite by far. Throughout the film, Godzilla is dubbed as "The truly perfect organism", "The most evolved being on the planet", and "A god". So that is the level which you should expect. His crazy power is far beyond belief, so you can safely immerse yourself into this fictional monster.

The tag-line for "Godzilla Resurgence" in Japan reads: "Reality(Japan) V.S. Fiction(Godzilla)". So you are witnessing the fault line between reality and fiction.

When Godzilla is turning the city of Tokyo into rubble, the Japanese don't see fiction. They see the events of 2011/03/11. The director clearly took measures to parallel the tsunamis, the rubble, and the fear of radiation to the events in real life.

Put that together with the bureaucratic mess, the international politics, and terror/awesomeness of the devastating monster Godzilla; The result is this masterpiece. It's a movie clearly wouldn't have come out from the Hollywood scene.

It does have it's faults (like Satomi Ishihara's cartoonish character), but the impact and significance of the film far surpasses its faults.

A must-watch.

"Shin Godzilla" is a far departure from the usual Godzilla movie. With a darker tone and vastly different design of the titular monster, this movie isn't afraid to set itself aside from the more traditional monster movie, focusing more on the political side of things. While I at first thought this was unnecessary, it's important to note that this film was a representation of Japanese tragedies. Similar to how the original film was representative of the nuclear bombings of Japan, this film is representative of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, events heavily involved in political controversy. This isn't a perfect movie in any way, but I admire that bold steps it took to change. Honestly, probably one of the best Godzilla movies.