My "Shin Gojira" Review (No Spoilers) (Patreon)

First allow me to preface this review by saying I have been waiting to see this movie since December 2015 when the first teaser made its way through the internet. Every day since that unseasonably warm winter has been fraught with tension. Only just six months ago I learned that Shin Gojira wouldn't enjoy a US theatrical release, and I watched in horror as its debut in Japan (in July) marked it as THE top grossing Godzilla movies ever made. When at long last I found out it would finally have a ONE WEEK release in the US I underwent a slight aneurysm and proceeded to do whatever possible to purchase tickets and see it opening night. Which I did. SO MUCH PAIN, PEOPLE. GEEZ!

 A little more background if you will. 

This movie saw two celebrity directors in Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi - the folks responsible for two incredibly popular animes "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Attack on Titan" respectively. I can't stress this enough these are massively popular mech animes featuring giant monsters (and yes Attack on Titan is a fleshy mech series).I'll be frank. You either love, tolerate, or dislike mech animes and I frequently find myself in the third category. It seems as though the bulk of mech animes are folks standing around in various offices monologuing (pensively) about lofty abstract concepts (humanity, life, death, nature, the universe). Lots of slow pans across richly detailed empty city-scapes of nothing in particular. Again - you either love this, tolerate it or dislike it. A LOT of people absolutely love it - and hey - eventually there are giant robots! Since day one I was anxious that these two would apply this same formula to Godzilla.

Shin Gojira - What I likedIt was obvious from the trailers that this particular movie was going to take the franchise more seriously than previous iterations. There were nods and references to the original 1954 "Gojira" all over the place - and indeed the atmosphere of this movie is grim and serious. In no other Godzilla movie aside from the original has a director paid such respect to the horrendous destruction (and aftermath in particular) of a such a disaster. In 1954 it was because the bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki had literally been burned into the collective memory of Japanese audiences everywhere. In many way the original "Gojira" was an homage to the ingenuity and tenacity of Japan as well as a fantastically inventive coping mechanism. What better way to characterize a nuclear disaster than by personifying it as a giant unfeeling machine-like god of death?

Anno and Higuchi in many ways attempt to recreate this same feeling - literally referring to Godzilla as a god through out the movie. Furthermore when literal references fall short musical nods frequent movie well - pulled  scores from previous films (mostly notably the original) dot the landscape of Shin Gojira. It's clear that Anno and Higuchi are true fans - their interpretation is most definitely done out of love.

Hands down this is the most menacing Godzilla there is outside of the original. Period. And the angles in which he (it?) is revealed to us are masterful. Godzilla has always been a giant monster but now he really seriously looks like one. There's a scene where his tail sweeps over the rooftops and I genuinely felt nervous. I was totally engrossed!

Shin Gojira - I'm so uncomfortable

This movie is pretty fast paced all things considered. Lots of quick cuts, jogging through corridors, split second decisions making, quick cuts, and quick cuts. One of the movie's main gripes is the bureaucratic inefficiency of Japanese government - as such every single office and official gets a big ol caption whenever a new office or official is introduced (even if it's the same person as before but with a new title). Unfortunately for us English speakers this meant that there were TWO sets of captions - one up top and one on the bottom. Specifically small yellow captions over large white Japanese ones. It was a bit confusing at times, it was also more or less constant.

Aside from the quick cuts? well?  there were lots of slow pans over richly detailed empty city-scapes of nothing in particular and lofty monologuing. What can I say? it felt very much in the same vein as Anno's and Higuchi's respective anime styles (which again is precisely why people LOVE this movie!)Godzilla in particular saw this treatment. I won't give away what exactly makes him so different from previous films but let's just say if it turned out he was some kind of alien robot the whole time I wouldn't have been surprised. But you know, it's Higuchi so... IZZ MORE VLESHY..!

Couple other nit-picks are that the score of the movie goes back and fourth between the medleys of classic Godzilla movies and modern tunes. When the film used the dark operatic choral number from the trailer I was down to hear it throughout the movie. Not so much. It kinda goes all over the place - the most distinct being odd metal guitar riffs. It felt kind haphazard to be totally honest.

Lastly there's the English speaking roles. I don't know what it is with Toho and choosing a random bunch of American expats to  croak out their lines in a single take. Honestly it was really distracting every time there were English lines. There was a part of the movie where people were speaking German and it sounded totally fluid (probably because I don't speak German) - weird weird weird.

Shin Gojira - Overall? 

So OF COURSE I'm going to watch this again. And maybe it's because I was literally dreaming about this movie all last night? but my initial discomfort with this movie has melted into a gooey syrup that I would happily pour over my breakfast regardless of the type of food I'm eating.

Eggs? poor on the Godzilla syrup. Reheated chicken wings? gimme that syrup. A bowl of tartar sauce, mayo, and frozen  peas? gimmdatsyrup!

Maybe it's because I haven't seen a Japanese made Godzilla movie in actual theaters for 12 years? but I found the treatment refreshing overall. I honestly can't say it made it into my top 5? but who cares? I'm a cranky old crank who doesn't like mech animes. My opinion is mute.In many ways it was a standard Godzilla flick. It's kinda boring? lot of talking? monster takes up 5-15% of the actual flick. But you know - - this time it's different because - - it's really fucking weird!