Take 30: Shin Godzilla
Turns out Shin Godzilla isn’t exactly a new movie, rather a 4K re-release of the 2016 Japanese film. After 30some previous Godzilla films, this one sets out to reboot the franchise yet again in its own style. This time around, the approach is vastly different. This movie starts with one Godzilla and ends with a decidedly different one. In the early scenes of the movie, there is literally blood in the water. The culprit is a huge, odd goofy looking creature heading towards Tokyo. People do what people tend to do and they attack what they don’t understand it. These government led attacks lead the creature to begin to evolve and mutate, making it more ferocious and stronger every time. As the threat continues to grow, the governmental and scientific agencies of Tokyo must figure out how to contain or eliminate Godzilla if they hope to have a Tokyo left to rebuild in the aftermath.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure of what to make of this? Prior to this, the last Godzilla movie I had seen was Godzilla Minus One. Sure I had seen some of the other, the much maligned 1998 film and the recent US versions that ended up crossing over with King Kong, but that was my first exposure to the Japanese movies (okay, as a kid, I am pretty sure I saw some of the REALLY old ones, but I don’t remember jack about them so I don’t even count those.) Minus One was PHENOMENAL. It was quite possibly one of the best movies I had seen in 2024 when I saw it. Definitely the best Godzilla movie I had seen, not even close, subtitles and all. I guess in my mind, from Japan and with English subtitles, and it was a release, something obviously worthy of an improved presentation!?! Oh, this was about to be LIT!!!
This wasn’t IT.
Don’t get me wrong. There was a lot to like. It was very grounded in a weird way. It captured the scope of destruction something like this would cause. It truly was devastating to see. It’s totally relatable. I also really appreciated the bureaucratic stuff this movie takes its time in developing. It is interesting to see what goes into the thought process of how the Powers That Be would have to undergo to deal with this type of threat. When does it become necessary to overlook a couple of people’s lives for the great good? Does it ever?
It’s also not slave to CGI which was both refreshing and off-putting at the same time. A lot of the practical effect were almost comical in how apparent they were, but things like the destruction were spot on and stuck the landing. The appearance of Godzilla was the hardest thing for me to get past at first. When I tell you he looked goofy at first… It was like a big, mutant Fraggle Rock creature of something. It almost looked like it was running from something which I thought was part of the plot. But no, it just looked weird. This is it turns out intentional as Godzilla becomes something more akin to what we expect, but even by his final evolution the fact that he didn’t blink and the movement of his mouth was minimal…. Can we get a happy balance of practical and CGI when necessary?
And then there was a love story hinted at toward the end. Like what?
This one it me out of left field. Typically there is a lot of action in these. Not so much here. Usually Godzilla is somewhat heroic or at least seems to have some motives you can relate to. Again, not so much here. Yes, it makes you think when is never a bad thing, but do I want to think THAT much during a Godzilla flick?
Not especially. My score: 7
Am I being a a total monster in my criticism? Let me know in the comments. And until next time…
