Shin Godzilla is the thirty first installment in the famous series. This film was directed by Anno Hideaki(Neon Genesis Evangelion) along with Higuchi Shinji . One of them wrote the script while the other created the special effects. Toho theater distribution company also helped to produce the film. A super star cast of Hasegawa Hiroki, Kora Kengo, Kunimura Jun, Saito Takumi, Ishihara Satomi, and Takenouchi Yutaka were asked to be in the film. I'm surprised a little bit at how well this film did in the Japanese box-office last year. It became the highest grossing film of 2016 in Japan and even challenged Your Name for top spot after being in the theater for a few weeks. The directors and actors continued to bathe the films successful reception by winning a landslide of awards, including film of the year.
I watched Shin Godzilla or Godzilla: Resurgence with a mindset full of what I know about Godzilla based on the other films in the franchise. Thinking that using these films for reference alright was not a good idea. The thoughts caused me to think that Shin Godzilla would be a film that consisted of scenes where Godzilla destroyed all of Japan. These scenes would make up maybe 90% of what I would see. Sadly, instead I go a strangely paced plot that leaves the viewer in bewilderment before asking for more. Godzilla makes his presence known pretty earlier on in the film then doesn't miss a beat causing damage. Differences that this Godzilla brings to the series has to do with the monster's evolution. He looked funny during his first appearance but when you realize whats going on, Godzilla becomes as terrifying as his older versions. Big signs of deeper meanings are prevalent in the film using Godzilla as a symbol to represent the 2011 tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan back then. Many Japanese viewers will connect to the damage shown that the monster does since its almost a replica of the devastating reality. My issue with Shin Godzilla is that the plot doesn't utilize the monster enough to me. After a certain point in the film, the plot becomes very dialogue heavy. Not that this is a bad thing if you have enough patience to watch these scenes. It's not boring but Godzilla takes a back seat to all the Japanese patriotism on top of random wacky jokes. Action fans will not like the dynamics of the new development so I say to play the waiting game till the action returns. Godzilla did less than what the characters took half the film discussing what they thought the thing would do. Shit does go down long enough to be rememberable considering how the American Air forces tries to stop Godzilla's lovely stroll through Japan. Gosh, he just wanted to go sightsee in Tokyo……. I don't see why Japan couldn't let that happen…… Ok. Please, feel free to face palm my sarcasm. A canning resemblance to Korean film called The Host comes up based on the traits of the two monsters in both films. Godzilla being inactive took me out of the film a bit. Only because his inactivity allowed the dialogue of the characters to drag on turning this film into more drama than horror. At least the cast gave their best performances to give Godzilla time to start destroying stuff again.
I would have never pick up a copy of Shin Godzilla if it had not been for the cast. This film almost went back on the self in the store but thoughtfully, I looked up more about the film on my phone then saw the cast and was sold. I've seen almost everyone in this film in other Japanese productions so i'm well aquatinted with them. Three languages are spoken in the film with Japanese being the dominate language. Some characters don't need to be speaking in English if it makes their acting cringe worthy. What got me was that the characters that were suppose to be born in Japan had better pronunciation than the character that was Japanese American. Interactions between the characters were similar to watching a debate. Every character had an opinion and the leaders in charge might as well have not even been there. My favorite parts of the action had to do with them going out in the field to Godzilla. Scenes like these were a nice break from all the talking. From a Japanese standpoint, I can see why their acting was praised so much. Japanese culture is referenced all over the script that translated over perfectly to it's target audience thanks to each actor's portrayal.
Higuchi does Godzilla justice in the CGI showcase of the film. I actually thought that the special effects looked like a project that Hollywood could have worked on. Mind you, a few shots didn't get the best angles of our monster making him look a bit cheap however, Big G's battle scenes are ones for the money, if production just had the budget to make more of them.
Shin Godzilla wasn't bad nor was the film fantastic. I personally had little problems with the film but nothing too awful that would cause me to hate my viewing experience. Things that go against my expectations to still turn out alright kill me. I'm done now…….
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