Franchises: Godzilla. Shin Godzilla (2016)

While Godzilla 2014 was ultimately a major disappointment for me, there's no denying that it revived the King of the Monsters in a big way. At the time, I wasn't all that enthused about any sequels to that movie, as Gareth Edwards was still attached and it seemed like he was going to take the same suggestive, teasing approach, but what was both interesting and exciting was the announcement that December that Toho was encouraged by its success to start up again. For the first time ever, we were going to have both Japanese- and Hollywood-produced Godzilla movies releasing around the same time, meaning that if I didn't care for one, the other would pick up the slack. It was truly an amazing time to be a kaiju fan. Over the following couple of years, I heard some interesting tidbits about this movie's production, chief among them being the hiring of Hideaki Anno as writer and director, as well as the notion that this was going to be the first Toho one with no ties at all to the 1954 original. And I also found it amusing how Toho made it a point to stress that this new iteration of Godzilla would be even bigger than the already gigantic Legendary version. In the spring of 2016, I saw the first couple of trailers, which instantly struck me and let me know that this was going to be unlike any Godzilla movie I'd seen before. The first one was especially impactful, with the "Persecution of the Masses" theme making it feel apocalyptic and nightmarish, especially with the glimpses it gave of this iteration of the Big G. Speaking of which, following the second trailer and my first real look at him, I couldn't believe how bizarre and creepy he looked. Though I didn't care for how the small eyes looked in profile, when viewed from straight-on, Godzilla came off as truly intimidating, and I couldn't get over how enormous his tail was, alone. I was now truly chomping at the bit to see the movie, and I did get excited when I heard it was getting a limited theatrical release in North America that October, making it only the second Japanese-produced Godzilla movie to do so in my lifetime, after Godzilla 2000. I had every intention of seeing it on the big screen but, much to my chagrin, it never came anywhere near my area, and I would have to wait until the following summer, when Funimation released it on home media. By that point, I knew it was both a massive critical and commercial success in Japan, usurping King Kong vs. Godzilla to become the highest-grossing entry in its native country. This made waiting for it all the more excruciating, and I was practically salivating when I got my hands on the Blu-Ray in September of 2017.

Boy, was that first-time viewing an experience, to say the least, and one that, like Godzilla 2014, left me with very mixed feelings. First, I found the way the movie starts off to be very disorienting, exacerbated by the sheer deluge of information it throws at you, and made all the more maddening when you're watching the Japanese version and have to read subtitles on top of everything else. Second, the enormous cast of characters, many of whom, I felt, were among the blandest I'd ever seen in any of these movies (which is no mean feat), and were nigh impossible to keep track of. Third, the element that I was truly unprepared for: the politics. I had no idea going in that this was, by far, the most political Godzilla movie, or kaiju movie period, for that matter, ever made, with seemingly endless meetings with the government officials trying to figure out how to cope with this unprecedented situation. And finally, fourth: Godzilla, once again, not having a ton of screentime. Maybe it has always been that way when you really look at it, but that truly seems to have become the norm for just about everything involving him since 2014. That especially disappointed me, as I found this constantly mutating, body-horror take on Godzilla to be really interesting and wanted to see it explored more, instead of spending so much time on politics. In short, Shin Godzilla was not the movie I was expecting when I went into it, and I didn't know how to feel about it for quite a while afterward. Now, by this point, it's a movie that I've watched a fair amount of times, and it has grown on me with each viewing. Also, as I've looked into what the movie is truly about and what it's trying to say about Japan as a country, as well as how it reflects the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, in the same way that the original movie was about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I grew to respect it more. By this point, I can say that Shin Godzilla is a movie that I do like, but in a personal ranking of the entire franchise, it would be kind of low, due purely to my own entertainment preferences.

A small yacht, the Glory-Maru, is found drifting in Tokyo Bay, completely abandoned, and containing only some personal effects. Before the Coast Guard can tow it in, a sudden explosion beneath the water destroys their boat and floods the bay's aqua-line tunnel. Though initially believed to be due to sudden volcanic activity, Rando Yaguchi, the young Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, suggests it could be an enormous aquatic creature on the ocean floor. Though initially scoffed at, his theory is proven correct when news footage shows an enormous tail flailing about in the bay. As the government tries to assuage rapidly growing public concerns, the creature heads up the Nomi River and comes ashore in the Kamata district, crawling on its belly like an enormous snake and wreaking havoc as it heads towards Shinagawa. Due to the government's delayed and ineffectual response, there is an enormous loss of life and property. When it reaches Shinagawa, the creature evolves into a bipedal form and continues its rampage. A squadron of attack helicopters prepares to engage it, but they're forced to abort their attack when civilians are spotted in the combat zone. Suddenly, the creature retreats back to Tokyo Bay. In the aftermath, it's discovered that it's powered by nuclear fission and leaves radioactivity in its wake. Kayaco Anne Patterson, a Japanese-American envoy for the U.S. President, meets with Yaguchi and asks that he find Goro Maki, a missing biologist who worked for the American Department of Energy and foresaw the creature's eventual emergence. It turns out that the boat found floating abandoned in the bay was his. In exchange, Kayoco hands over Maki's notes about the creature, whom he named "Godzilla," an Americanization of the name "Gojira" from Maki's home of Odo Island. Learning from the notes that it was an ancient sea creature which mutated from feeding on nuclear materials dumped in the Pacific by the United States in the 1950's, they theorize it must have an internal cooling system to counteract the heat its constant nuclear fission produces. Yaguchi begins developing a plan to freeze the monster by injecting it with blood coagulant. However, Godzilla soon reemerges, having evolved into an enormous and even more powerful form, and heads straight for Tokyo. Now, the worst disaster imaginable is about to begin, one that will encourage the United States to take the most drastic steps possible to ensure it doesn't happen to them.

While I wouldn't consider myself "otaku," I am a fairly big fan of anime and so, when he was announced as the writer and director of Shin Godzilla, I was already aware of Hideaki Anno thanks to, of course, Neon Genesis Evangelion. So I knew that, if nothing else, this would make for an interesting take on Godzilla. However, I was unaware at the time that Anno had done live-action work before, as I knew him mainly for Evangelion and for having once worked as an animator on Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the

Wind, and it made me wonder if he was up to the task (both Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii, the director of the Ghost in the Shell films, have cameos here, along with Anno himself). Having now looked up his previous live-action work, it seems as though it mostly consisted of little experimental art films, as well as a 2004 adaptation of the 70's manga and anime, Cutie Honey, and nothing near the scale of something like Godzilla (although he did make a kaiju-centered short film, Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo, in 2012). It makes me wonder if that's the reason why he left the special effects work to his friend, Shinji Higuchi, who, by this point, had plenty of experience in the field, having been the effects director on the Heisei Gamera trilogy and director of the live-action Attack on Titan movies (some stars of which appear in this film). Speaking of which, Higuchi's contribution to the movie shouldn't be overlooked, as he's the one who convinced Anno to take job, as he initially turned it down due to a lack of self-confidence and his falling into depression after completing the third Rebuild of Evangelion movie. The success of Shin Godzilla led them to collaborate on Shin Ultraman in 2022, while Anno himself went on to do Shin Kamen Rider in 2023.

While it's not uncommon in kaiju movies, or Japanese movies, in general, to have no one set protagonist or hero, Shin Godzilla takes it to the ultimate extreme, with dozens and dozens of characters, some of whom only appear in one or two scenes, and yet, only a select handful can be described as contributing to the plot or being truly significant. Therefore, I'm not going to try to name every single one of them (although I am glad that the movie is good enough to bring up captions telling us who each one is when they are introduced) or describe what they do, as it would take forever and likely drive me mad. Instead, I'll focus on the most significant characters, as well as bring up those who are played by actors who've appeared in past Godzilla films, as there are a couple here.

The closest we have to a protagonist is Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasegawa), the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, who's actually one of the first characters we are introduced to. Significantly, he's the first to suggest that the disturbance in Tokyo Bay could be caused by an enormous creature on the ocean floor, after seeing online footage of it. Despite being initially dismissed, and advised by Hideki Akasaka, the PM's Special Advisor, to toe the line, he stresses it again during a response council on the disaster, much to the aggravation of the PM and the Chief Cabinet Secretary. He's swiftly proven right when video footage of Godzilla's tail thrashing about in the bay hits the news, and he tries to have intel on the creature and options for capturing, killing, and repelling it collected. Like everyone else, he tries to figure out how they should proceed when Godzilla comes ashore, and when he sees the destruction in Ota ward the next day, he flat-out says that they're to blame because of their delayed response. Akasaka tells him they all did the best they could, given the circumstances, and Yaguchi offers a silent prayer for those who died. He's then made bureau chief for the task force set up to study Godzilla. Because of his disillusionment with how the Japanese government itself works, he has the Nation-First Party Deputy Chairman pick the team, saying he needs, "People with balls." When the team is put together, they learn of Godzilla's radioactive nature, and thanks to Kayoco Ann Patterson, they learn of the monster's origin. They begin working to come up with a way of freezing him with blood coagulant, and Yaguchi and others find it inspiring to see people simply working together to solve a problem, rather than spending time cutting through a bunch of red tape; he comments that it means there's hope for the country. Unfortunately, their plan isn't ready by the time Godzilla reemerges in his enormous, powerful fourth form, and razes Tokyo. Despite how bad the situation is afterward, with much of the city contaminated and the Prime Minister and much of his Cabinet dead, Yaguchi is adamant that they'll just make do with who's left. However, he has to calm himself after having an outburst over this.

Yaguchi and his team continue working on a way to freeze Godzilla, sharing their information and samples with others for as many viewpoints as possible; thus, when a U.S.-Japan research coalition is established, he figures that the more knowledge they have, the better off they'll be. But then, the stakes are raised when he learns that the U.S. plans to hit Godzilla with a devastating nuclear warhead while he stands dormant in the middle of Tokyo. Unable to accept this, he tries to

convince Akasaka to either delay or prevent the bombing, but he's told it's the only way to save Japan, despite how catastrophic it will be. Regardless, Yaguchi implores his team not to give up on their country, and they make a breakthrough in figuring out how to make the coagulant effective. Working around the clock, they get the acting PM's permission to go ahead with the plan, Operation Yashiori, and also get France to convince the UN Security Council to delay the

bombing by a day in order to get the amount of coagulant necessary. When the time comes, Yaguchi personally supervises the operation, giving those involved a speech, telling them of the danger involved but that the future of Japan rests with them. It ultimately proves successful, and in the aftermath, Yaguchi intends to help rebuild the government correctly, having suggested before that he may run for Prime Minister himself within ten years. Though he does agree to the countdown starting from where it left off once Godzilla

resumes activity, he intends to make sure it doesn't go that way again, adding that mankind must learn to coexist with the creature. He also admits to Kayoco that he shared their "confidential" data about Godzilla with the rest of the world, and that he doesn't regret it. Ultimately, he says he takes accountability for the lives lost in Operation Yashiori, as, "Accountability comes with this job. A politician must decide to own it or not. I myself choose to own it."

Kayoco Ann Patterson (Satomi Ishihara) is introduced during the second act as the young, ambitious daughter of a U.S. senator and acts as a special envoy for the President. Like Rando Yaguchi, she's not adverse to using her father's connections, but is much more blatant about it, and often talks about her hope to become President by the time she's in her 40's. When she arrives in Japan, she tasks Yaguchi with finding the whereabouts of Goro Maki, offering to trade intel the U.S. has on Godzilla. She keeps her promise upon their learning that Maki's yacht was found abandoned in Tokyo Bay, and Yaguchi's task force learns of Godzilla's origin, his radioactive nature, and his incredible self-mutating and adaptive capabilities. Throughout her first couple of scenes, Kayoco, despite her determination, is also shown to have some superficial qualities about her, likely as a result of her being half-American (although, when she speaks in English, it's clear it's not her native language at all). When she first meets with Yaguchi, she's dressed very nicely and fancily, and comments, like a debutante, "I rushed to Yokota straight from a party, so I didn't have time to change." Then, when Yaguchi provides her with the information about Maki, she comments, "My grandmother's country sure works fast." And during the first meeting between her and Yaguchi's team, she asks him if they can speak informally, as she's not good at Japanese honorifics. But this somewhat flippant demeanor erodes during the third act, when she learns of the U.S.'s plan to blast Godzilla with a nuclear warhead while he's immobile in Tokyo. When she tells Yaguchi, she adds that she's been told to evacuate, but isn't going to, intending instead to continuing helping with his plan to freeze Godzilla, saying, "I won't see a third bomb dropped on the country of my grandmother, who lived through it." Even though an American ambassador warns her that doing this will endanger both her family's reputation and her chances of becoming President, Kayoco stays to do so, even securing the use of American drones as part of it. After the operation proves successful, Kayoco warns Yaguchi that the countdown will begin again when Godzilla starts to move. She also says that, even though he shared their intel with the rest of the world, she like his approach and thinks he would make for a good Japanese counterpart to her when she's President.

If Yaguchi can be seen as a sort of young rebel who goes against the Japanese government's usual way of doing things, then Hideki Akasaka (Yutaka Takenouchi), the PM's Special Advisor, as well as something of a mentor to Yaguchi, is a traditionalist. When Yaguchi first suggests that the disaster in Tokyo Bay could be the result of a giant sea creature, Akasaka tells him not to stir things up, saying, "It's good to be a rebel, but think of the guy who got you here." But just a little later, when they see news footage of Godzilla's tail in the bay, Akasaka remarks that Yaguchi was right. Still, throughout the movie, he's prepared to do things the old-fashioned way. He's also reluctant to meet with Kayoco, telling Cabinet Secretary Azuma that, because she uses her father's connections, "She's the political type. Like Yaguchi." Akasaka is the one member of the PM's cabinet who escapes death from Godzilla's major rampage, as he was at the American Embassy at the time. During the third act, when the decision is made to try to destroy Godzilla with a nuclear warhead, as horrified as Akasaka is, he makes it clear to Yaguchi that he feels it's the only way to proceed, and that his freezing plan has too many unknown variables. He also tells him that Japan has been a tributary state ever since the end of World War II and that they must put their faith in the U.N., telling him, "My job is to think about what to do for Japan after Gojira has been destroyed... This is the reality. All else is just a dream." But when Operation Yashiori progresses after a breakthrough, and they ask the acting Prime Minister to approve it, Akasaka suggests, "Perhaps it's time we did as we wanted." Following the operation's success, he tells Yaguchi that they must now rebuild the Cabinet, but do it correctly this time.

Shin Godzilla is one of a small handful of Godzilla films where the Japanese prime minister plays a large part in the story. Like his predecessors in those movies, Prime Minister Seiji Okouchi (Ren Osugi) is depicted in a positive light, shown to be a sincere man who finds himself caught up in an unprecedented situation and tries to deal with it as best as he can. Like the others in his Cabinet, he's initially skeptical of Yaguchi's idea about a giant sea creature, getting irritable with him when he brings it up during a response council, but when he realizes it's true, he tries to figure how best to go about it. He's quite irritated when the three biologists that are brought in prove to be no help whatsoever, demanding they get somebody who knows what they're talking about. While making a press conference to assure the public, Okouchi goes off-script and says that there's no way Godzilla can come on land... and is then told he has and is making his way through Kamata. Outraged that he was proven a liar on television, Okouchi is then faced with having to decide to mobilize the Self-Defense Forces, which hasn't happened since World War II. He's reluctant to, one, essentially mobilize the country for war, and two, order an attack unless he's assured there will be no civilian casualties. In the end, he does allow for the mobilization of attack helicopters, but when civilians are, indeed, seen in the battle-zone, Okouchi terminates the attack. But when Godzilla reappears in his enormous and powerful fourth form, and Yaguchi says his freezing plan isn't ready, Okouchi gives the order to mobilize the SDF. Moreover, when their machine guns have no effect, the PM orders the use of all weapons. Later, with Godzilla approaching the heart of Tokyo, and the United States planning to bomb him, the PM is ordered to evacuate his residence, as it's right in the monster's path. Though reluctant to abandon the people of Tokyo during such a desperate hour, he is convinced to leave. This proves fatal for both him and nearly his entire Cabinet, as their helicopter gets caught up in Godzilla's atomic blast.

As far as Okouchi's Cabinet goes, there's a familiar face among them: Akira Emoto, who played Major Yuki in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, is Chief Cabinet Secretary Ryuta Azuma. He, notably, tries to get everyone to decide what's causing the disturbance in Tokyo Bay through process of elimination and, like Okouchi, is irked when Yaguchi continues insisting it's a giant creature. Another notable one is Defense Minister Hanamori (Kimiko Yo), the one who often presses Okouchi to

launch the SDF against Godzilla. Another familiar face to fans is Jun Kunimura, who appeared in Godzilla: Final Wars, as Joint Chief of Staff Zaizen (I initially thought Kunimura was Akira Nakao, who was in three of the Heisei movies and two of the Millennium ones). During the battle sequences, he's the one who relays the military's updates and requests to Okouchi and the Cabinet. Yaguchi also meets with him late in the film to make final preparations for Operation Yashiori.

One guy who I feel particularly sorry for is Yusuke Satomi (Sei Hiraizumi), initially the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, but is made acting Prime Minister after Okouchi is killed. Even though his introductory scene is a humorous one, having him complain that his noodles got soggy during a discussion, groaning, "I knew this job wouldn't be easy," it quickly becomes clear that this poor old man is in way over his head. He not only looks and sounds ancient and tired, but he's then forced to authorize the firing of a powerful

nuclear warhead at Tokyo, moaning in a horribly defeated manner, "I didn't want to go down in history for anything like this." However, he's later asked to approve Operation Yashiori, something he's initially reluctant to do, given the UN's decision, but does agree, and is very happy that he did when it proves successful.

As for the group who come to help Yaguchi study and find a way to stop Godzilla, among it is Yusuke Shimura (Kengo Kora), the Executive Secretary to the Chief Cabinet Deputy Secretary, another young man like Yaguchi. He, at one point, says he finds working with the group to be very inspiring. He contacts a free-lance journalist and has him find any personal information he can on Goro Maki, promising him an exclusive in exchange. This eventually proves fruitful, as the

reporter uncovers information about Maki's disdain for nuclear materials. Also, when the biologists who initially meet with the Prime Minister prove unhelpful, Shimura brings in Hiromi Ogashira (Mikako Ichikawa) from the Environment Ministry. She analyzes the first video footage of Godzilla and determines that, despite his aquatic nature, he could come on land. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister takes the word of her superior, who tells him that couldn't happen, as Godzilla's feet 

would be crushed under his weight, and is proven wrong right after he announces this to the public. This happens again to Hiromi, when she suggests that Godzilla's energy source could be nuclear fission. She's dismissed by Yasuda (Issey Takahashi), the MEXT Basic Research Promotion Division Chief, but just a minute later, she's proven correct when it's discovered the monster left traces of radioactivity in his wake. Memorably, Yasuda absolutely freaks out when he discovers this and shares what he finds with Yaguchi and Hiromi,

then apologizes to the latter for doubting her. I also remember Hazama (Shinya Tsukamoto), a biologist from Johoku University, mainly because this guy always has a pink towel draped across his shoulders. He also, correctly, figures that Godzilla will go through more mutations. Yaguchi has another ally in Shuichi Izumi (Satoru Matsuo), Deputy Chairman of the Nation First Party, who helps set up his task force. Later in the movie, after Godzilla has destroyed much of Tokyo and killed the PM and his Cabinet, Izumi begins working 

more directly with Yaguchi, at one point telling him to get a hold of himself when he loses his temper over the gravity of the situation. When Yaguchi hints that he may run for Prime Minister within the next ten years, Izumi offers to help him, in exchange for a substantial position in the Cabinet. And when Yaguchi shrugs off the notion that his career is being boosted by this situation, Izumi asks him why he became a politician if he has such disdain for them; Yaguchi answers that he likes the simplicity of it being either friend or foe. In his new capacity as Special Advisor to Prime Minister Satomi, Izumi personally asks him for his approval of Operation Yashiori.

A very significant character who never appears onscreen physically is Goro Maki, seen only in a photograph (Kihachi Okamoto). His yacht, the Glory-Maru, is found abandoned in Tokyo Bay, with some personal effects, and his shoes found right beside each other on the floor, heavily suggesting that he committed suicide. The significance of this discovery is gradually revealed when Kayoco first arrives and asks Yaguchi to find Maki, as he was someone who foresaw Godzilla's emergence years before. You learn that Maki was a former biologist who was expelled from his university and thereafter left Japan to work for the American Department of Energy. While studying the effects of the U.S.'s unsanctioned dumping of nuclear waste in the Pacific, he discovered that an ancient marine creature had found itself surrounded by these materials, fed on them, and evolved into a completely different life-form. He even gave the creature both the Japanese name of "Gojira," from his home of Odo Island, and the English one of "Godzilla." It's eventually revealed that Maki's expulsion and exile were due to his wife dying from radiation sickness, and he likely despised the Japanese government for doing nothing to save her. He'd hoped to find a way to make radioactive materials harmless, but feared that the military would get their hands on it and redacted his data. In the end, among the items he left aboard his yacht was a paper envelope with the note, "I did as I pleased. Now, you do the same," containing a molecular schematic that no one can make sense of, at first. But then they find that, by folding the schematic like origami, it reveals just how Godzilla converts air and water into a radioactive isotope, allowing them to make the blood coagulant effective against him. Yaguchi suggests at point that Maki may have deliberately unleashed Godzilla as a test for Japan, and over the course of the movie, everyone takes his suggestion that they do as they please to heart when it comes to their country.

Shin Godzilla is a movie that's very unforgiving for first-time viewers, especially non-Japanese ones, as it drops you right in the middle of the action and gives you precious little time to get your bearings. Following the title, you suddenly find yourself in Tokyo Bay, when the Coast Guard discovers the drifting yacht, and you're then onboard with them when they investigate, only for them to get knocked off their feet by a massive explosion in the

water next to them. Then, we cut to a big mass of blood raining down through the roof in the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line tunnel, and we're immediately introduced to Rando Yaguchi and Yusuke Shimura at the PM's residence, as they discuss what's happening. We next go to the Crisis Management Center's Operation Room in the building's basement, before we go into the first of the many, many meetings strewn throughout the story, as the

officials discuss what could be going on, while also seeing the attempts to evacuate those onshore and in the Aqua Line. This is, no joke, all within the first five or so minutes, and we don't even get our first real look at Godzilla until around fifteen minutes, with his initial rampage lasting until the thirty-minute mark. It's meant to make you feel the way the characters do, as they're constantly swamped with ever-changing information, and show how quickly a disastrous situation can

suddenly turn worse, but when I first watched it, I thought to myself, "I don't know if I can take two hours of this." Fortunately, the movie's pace does simmer down after Godzilla retreats back into the bay, but you're still having so much information tossed at you, with how the government reorganizes to deal with Godzilla's sudden appearance, how Yaguchi's task force uncovers Godzilla's energy source and radioactive nature, what they learn from Goro Maki's files, and their

attempt to come up with their freezing method, all while the government also deals with the United States' sudden entry into the drama and how best to share their information with the public. Then, of course, we have all the chaos Godzilla's reappearance causes and the U.S.'s intention to bomb both him and Tokyo.

And then, there are the constant captions for every new person and location that comes onscreen. Like I said in the opening, I do appreciate those that identify the numerous characters who appear throughout the movie, but I feel that those which tell us the locations, right down to the very room and floor of whatever building we're in, or what type of ship or aircraft we're looking at, is overkill. All the locations I've named so far, and will go on

to name, I only know because of these captions, and while I guess they did prove beneficial for the sake of this review, at the time, I was thinking, "I don't need to know this!" It felt like just more crap for me to keep up with, as I was having to read subtitles on top of everything else. I found myself constantly having to split my attention between reading the information on top of the screen and the subtitles down on the bottom, and it was

beyond crazy-making, especially since these characters tend to talk really fast (Hideaki Anno is said to have directed the actors that way in order to make them sound like actual politicians), meaning the subtitles are sometimes onscreen for but a few seconds. Fortunately, Funimation's English dub proved to be quite good and faithful to the original dialogue, and now, I just concentrate on the subtitles when watching the Japanese version, but I had never felt so overburdened when watching a foreign movie before.

Another contributing factor to this feeling of being overwhelmed is the way the movie is often shot and edited during these particular sequences. The cutting tends to be very quick, going back and forth from close-ups of the characters' faces to the information they're being presented with and wide shots of them standing or moving around in their conference rooms, and there are times where we see this rapid editing combined with unorthodox ways of shooting stuff. For instance, at the beginning of the movie, right after we've seen the

disaster in the Aqua-Line Tunnel, we cut to the exterior of the PM's residence, then a shot looking upward at Shimura, as he hangs up a phone, before he meets with Yaguchi out in the hallway. Following that, we see a similar shot of a bunch of ink pens being taken from a container, and large boxes being picked up and carted around, before we then see Yaguchi and Shimura walk in and then learn we're in the Crisis Management Center's Operation Room. Later, when Yaguchi's task force is put together, we see a conference room being put

together as their command center, which consists of two men exchanging identities, close-up of them lifting something out of the way, a POV shot from one of a number of rolling chairs being pushed into place, a shot from within the legs of folded up tables that are being put into place, a wide shot of this action, quick shots of laptops and printers being set up, and finally, a wide shot of the room, as it now serves as Yaguchi introduces himself and tells them how they're going to operate. It doesn't

stop there, as when another man tells everyone why they've been called in, we get a very fast montage made up of close-ups of their faces, before they're quickly introduced one by one. But the way in which certain information is shared can be the most disorienting of all. During Godzilla's first appearance, as they're trying to decide whether or not this qualifies as the type of attack they can defend themselves against under the Security Treaty, we see the treaty's text plastered on the

screen as the situation is being discussed, ostensibly from the Treaty's POV. When Godzilla's radioactive nature is discovered, we see that the information has already spread across the internet, as we get close-ups of posts on it (unfortunately, they're not translated in either version). When the task force is first shown Maki's incomprehensible molecular diagram, we're treated to very quickly edited shots of it, making it all the more confusing to look at. And near the end of the movie, when they crack it, we, again, see the data from its POV, looking at them.

Sometimes, the film will even break with the idea of it being a straightforward film narrative. Early on, during the Response Council, the film suddenly goes to black, with the caption, "Following abbreviated," as if what we're seeing is some sort of video document or reenactment that's been made easier for public consumption. And later, when Kayoco talks about how she doesn't want to see her grandmother's country suffer from another atomic

bombing, we cut to actual photos of the ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but with no context other than to remind us of them, as no one in the movie is looking at them. It's not all that surprising if you're familiar with Anno's work, as instances like the former do happen throughout Neon Genesis Evangelion (far from the strangest things in that anime), but I can't help but get confused when it does happen.

Despite how frustrating it can be to watch on your first time, the movie does display true live-action filmmaking talents on Anno's part. For one, I like the look of the film, as it's an example of color-correction and timing that I can get behind. I'm probably going to be laughed and jeered at for this, but I'll just go ahead and say it: the look of many of the interiors, which ranges from a clean, white aesthetic to a sort of desaturated, lime-green and brownish one, kind of reminds me of the way such scenes look in David Fincher's films (laugh if you

will, but Fincher is a filmmaker I love, and it's a similarity I do see). There are also instances early on when the movie briefly goes the "found footage" route, shot from the point-of-view of the Coast Guard's cameras when they investigate the abandoned yacht, when the civilians are filming the ongoing disturbance in the bay, leading to the footage of Godzilla's tail that convinces the government officials of what they're up against, and when they're being evacuated in the Aqua Line Tunnel (a possible reference to Cloverfield).

Speaking of point-of-view, there are some nice ones from behind a car's windshield when the blood crashes through the tunnel's roof, and from within the cockpit of the attack helicopters when they're attacking Godzilla. As for Godzilla himself, he's often shot in very effective ways, from down low when he's crawling around in his initial form, to big wide shots to show off the expanse of the havoc he's causing. This film is also one of the best at getting across how enormous he is, with both

those wide vistas and many low-angle shots looking up at him, with the camera sometimes shuddering from his footsteps. When he comes ashore in his gigantic fourth form, he truly looks like a walking mountain, and those shots of his tail sweeping right above the houses in this little coastal town is breathtaking. And when he's standing amid Tokyo after he's set a huge chunk of the city on fire, those shots are just as beautiful as they are horrific and haunting. Finally, during the

third act, when it's revealed that the U.S. is planning to blast Godzilla while he's in Tokyo, there are some extremely wide shots of the characters as they stand around, discussing the situation, alluding to the sheer enormity of it. Sometimes, the camera pulls back from a close-up of them, into these wide shots, showing how much it's weighing on them.

While many of the Godzilla movies have served as allegories and satires of various aspects of Japan's history and culture, Shin Godzilla is, without a doubt, the first one since the original to directly address a major event that shook the country to its core: in this case, the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and the resulting Fukushima nuclear disaster. I can still remember how horrendous that was and, being someone who, despite having never visited the country or having any real personal ties to it, is such a fan of its

cinema and popular culture, it hit me kind of hard. Naturally, that's nothing compared to all the death, destruction, and forced relocation the Japanese themselves had to endure, and it really put things in perspective for me at the time, as my problems felt microscopic in comparison, but still, I truly hated seeing the country go through that. In fact, I was one of those who criticized Gilbert Gottfried for that joke he tweeted about it, thinking, "Dude, I know your shtick is to be edgy and all, but that was just shitty." In any case, when Godzilla first comes

ashore, pushing up through the Nomi River, displacing tons of water and piling up numerous boats and debris, which then wash down the street, the visuals actively reflect the effects of the tsunami, as it does when Godzilla is slowly crawling through Kamata district, sending people who initially thought they were safe running for their lives. Parallels are also made by the blue jumpsuits the government officials wear whenever they make a press conference or visit the site of the

destruction, mirroring the uniforms worn by those responding to the disaster. And the aftermath of this initial rampage reflects what the tsunami left in its wake, with the shot of Rando Yaguchi standing amid the debris in stunned silence reflecting photographs taken afterward, to say nothing of the scenes of countless refugees who've been left homeless. Meanwhile, Godzilla's destruction and contamination of much of Tokyo at the halfway point is best described as the Fukushima Disaster dialed up to the tenth power, especially given how Godzilla himself is depicted as a virtual living nuclear reactor, as well as the fear of radioactive contamination, in general, taken to its ultimate extreme.

As a result of this allegory, I think that, more than any other Godzilla movie, including the original, this one really makes you sympathize with the Japanese, both in their plight of having to live in an area often beset by earthquakes and typhoons, and how the specter of the atomic bombings, though not always in the forefront of everyone's mind, does still hang over them. While not as explicit as in the original or as gruesome as Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Shin Godzilla doesn't downplay the human casualties of monster rampages. Most

notably, during his initial one, Godzilla crawls along the back of this apartment building and it collapses under his weight, killing this small family who are trying to evacuate. We also learn of numerous other casualties afterward, but that's nothing compared to the aftermath of his fourth form's attack, where we're told that, along with all the deaths, including the PM and his Cabinet, literally millions have been left homeless, and the radiation levels are dangerously high. We see how the shelters and evacuation centers are basically

overflowing, with people being forced to wear face-masks and are served bowls of food like at a soup kitchen. And then, when the nuclear strike is commissioned, the government is faced with the impossible challenge of evacuating and relocating the 3.6 million citizens of Tokyo, not to mention millions more in neighboring prefectures, in just two weeks. We see people being forcibly uprooted from their home and led onto planes and buses (the latter completely cramming the highways leading

into the countryside), again really making you feel for them. Yet, this movie, despite how much it may criticize the Japanese government for its inaction and bowing to foreign pressure, can also be seen as something of a testament to the Japanese's resilience. After Godzilla's first rampage, life is seen progressing like normal the next day, and once he's been frozen and the nuclear strike suspended, we get a sense that things are going to return to normal soon and will turn around for the homeless

and the evacuees. It's akin to something I noticed in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake: as devastating as it and the Fukushima disaster were, the Japanese seemed to kind of take it in stride and just set about putting things back together. That's not to downplay all of the death, destruction, and personal tragedies that occurred, but it seems like the Japanese are just kind of used to monumental events like this. As Akasaka tells Yaguchi at the end, "This country rose up through scrap-and-build. It'll be done again."

Despite everything it's best known for, the movie isn't a 100% dour affair. There are a few notable humorous moments, such as Yasuda's over-the-top freak-out upon realizing that Godzilla is radioactive, Satomi moaning about how his noodles got soggy and that he didn't figure his job as acting Prime Minister would be this hard, and, despite the horror it leads into, the way Minister Okouchi reacts when he's told that Godzilla has come on land, right after assuring the public it's impossible. The most blatantly funny moment is

when, after his group works all through the night, Yaguchi is told his shirt is starting to smell. He's so taken aback by this that he sniffs himself and asks, "Really?" Hiromi Ogashira adds, "A shower would do you good," and Yaguchi sniffs himself again. In the next cut, we see that his shirt has now been cleaned and pressed, while he's asleep at his desk. Again, this is offset by what happens next, but it is still a sudden and humorous moment. There's even a bit of subtle humor in how, each time he gets a

promotion, the captions that designate his position get longer; the last time we see them, he's now, "Cabinet Minister of State for Special Missions, Giant Unidentified Creature Unified Response Task Force HQ Bureau Chief and Deputy Director, Rando Yaguchi."

Somewhere, my government and humanities teachers are laughing at me, as those are the classes I tend to zone out during, especially the former. I never cared about politics when I was in high school or college, and while I do care about it more nowadays, it's still not something I'm all that invested in, even though I do have some fairly strong opinions. So, imagine my surprise when Shin Godzilla turns out to be 85%, maybe even 90%, political drama, a focus I found especially disappointing, given the very unique take on

Godzilla himself that we have here. While I look forward to whatever allegory and satire future movies delve into, I hope none go into it as aggressively as this one did, as I come to these movies for the kaiju, first and foremost. That's also one of the reasons why I put off doing this one for so long, as I found its political density to be daunting, and needed to watch it a few more times than usual. Still, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate what the filmmakers are trying to say, which is that Japan's bureaucratic government is

badly out-of-date and incapable of dealing with a major disaster. Throughout the opening, as Godzilla slowly but surely emerges from Tokyo Bay, the government officials hold meeting after meeting after meeting, sometimes going back and forth between the same two rooms for no reason other than what it is they're discussing. They go from trying to figure out what's causing the disturbance, to wondering how best to respond to the realization that it's a giant monster, and even

discuss whether such a situation falls under the Security Treaty, and if the United States can deal with it for them. Just like with the real-life, delayed response to the Fukushima Disaster, by the time the government orders an evacuation, Godzilla has already killed lots of people, caused an egregious amount of property damage, and is closer to the heart of Tokyo. In fact, we see this ongoing rampage as Azuma holds a conference about the measures supposedly being taken against Godzilla

and how they're coordinating evacuation; there's also a shot of a major traffic snarl in Shinagawa right after it's said they'll try to prevent it. And when they finally mobilize the SDF and attack Godzilla when he reappears, he's evolved into a form that's virtually indestructible. An especially telling moment in all this commentary is the aforementioned moment when the Prime Minister holds a press conference to assure the people that Godzilla can't come ashore, only to then be told

he's done exactly that. Mind you, Minister Okouchi and his Cabinet aren't depicted as intentionally negligent or bumbling fools, with Okouchi's going off-script and giving the people unverified information simply being a sincere attempt to assuage public fears, it still shows how, as William Tsutsui wrote in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, this ancient government is quite possibly Japan's biggest threat.

The film also delves into Japan's national identity and how it's viewed by other nations. For instance, one of the incentives for finally launching an attack on Godzilla comes from Kawamata, one of Tokyo's vice-governors, suggesting that they don't want to be deemed as timid internationally. Then, of course, we have the situation during the third act where the U.S. opts to blast him with a nuclear warhead, a decision approved by the UN. As much as they're abhorred by it, the older officials, including PM Satomi, feel that, due to Japan's

tributary-state status, they have no choice but to go along with it. When Akasaka tells Yaguchi of this, he says, "All countries have pledged their support to a complete rebuilding effort if we sign on. If we can't destroy Gojira with certainty, we lose the world's trust. We must put our fate in the UN's hands... The city's economy is in a free-fall. If bonds and stocks continue to plummet, the nation will go into default. Japan needs international sympathy and funding." Then, when Operation

Yashiori is given government approval, there's a risk of it damaging Japan's international relations, especially when they get France to petition to delay the countdown by a day. And as I said before, Kayoco is told that supporting the operation could both smear her family's reputation and ruin her hopes of becoming President one day.

While I don't believe there was any anti-American sentiment intended, given how Kayoco is Japanese-American, and Cussley, the U.S. official who warns her of the consequences of supporting Operation Yashiori, is still sympathetic to her, I have to say that the United States is depicted as rather shady here. Case in point, it's portrayed in a nearly faceless manner, since there are no scenes set over here, the President is never seen or even heard, and almost all of the full-on American characters are shot in a manner where their faces

are either obscured or hidden. Moreover, when the U.S. diplomat and Kayoco first arrive, there's a lot of talk about how the U.S. has ulterior motives for sharing their intel about Godzilla, with one person saying they plan to use it as a "diplomatic card." Not only is it revealed that they prevented Goro Maki from publishing his findings about the U.S.'s illicit dumping of radioactive materials in the Pacific created Godzilla, but it's highly suggested that the nuclear strike is nothing but a quick and easy way to destroy him and bury their hand in his 

creation forever. Basically, the U.S. is forcing Japan to undergo another nuclear catastrophe like Hiroshima and Nagasaki for their own self-gain. History is also on the verge of repeating itself, as the U.S. is then proposing to, along with other countries, help rebuild afterward, as was the case after the atomic bombings. And this is a catastrophe Japan must agree to or risk losing international support and standing. As Izumi rightly says, it's deplorable, especially since, as

they go into, evacuating and relocating so many people within such a short period of time is an impossible task, to say the least. Moreover, when Akasaka says, "If it were in New York, they say the same would apply," you can't help but doubt that sentiment. Again, I don't think this movie was meant to be wholly anti-American, especially since, aside from the moments I've mentioned, when the countdown begins, some men at the 

embassy are clearly uneasy about this course of action; rather, it shows how Japan, in its current state, is unable to stand up to foreign pressure. Still, given our nation's history of handling certain situations abroad, I'm not sure this scenario is entirely that farfetched (I'm not trying to start a political debate but, come on).

I'm glad that, in this film, not only is the United States involved but also the world at large. While not a big deal for me personally, there's no denying that, typically, especially throughout much of the Heisei and Millennium series, it seems as though the appearance of Godzilla and other kaiju are treated as Japan's problem and no one else's. It's something that Ishiro Honda himself complained about not too long before he died. But here, not only does the United States realize what a global threat Godzilla is but other countries pledge their

support for the nuclear bombing and the plan to rebuild afterward, while also helping with analysis of Godzilla's biology, the defense of Tokyo, and, thanks to Kayoco, the use of American drones during Operation Yashiori. It's another element that helps the movie feel just a bit more realistic.

All throughout the movie, Yaguchi and Kayoco are seen as young, rebellious voices against the expected and old-fashioned way of doing things. Yaguchi especially exemplifies this, from his continued assertion that a giant creature is causing the disturbance in Tokyo Bay at the beginning, to how he puts together a task force to study Godzilla, seeing to it that it's made up of people who will speak their minds rather than be handcuffed by bureaucracy. During their first meeting, Yaguchi tells the task force's members that titles and

seniority won't be factored into their discussions and that everyone can speak freely. More to the point, another man describes them as a group of, "Lone wolves, nerds, troublemakers, outcasts, academic heretics, and general pains-in-the-bureaucracy." By working together in this way, with no red tape to impede their progress, and often pulling all-nighters, still at work in their personal HQ even before the Prime Minister himself has come in, they slowly but surely develop a viable plan to stop Godzilla. Even when faced with a

massive disaster, the deaths of many colleagues, and the impending threat of a nuclear strike, they continue working, despite the UN Security Council having approved the bombing and after the countdown has begun. Then there's Kayoco, who refuses to evacuate back to the United States, and instead stays to help with the plan, despite the personal ramifications it may have for her, as she doesn't wish to see her grandmother's country suffer a third atomic bombing. It culminates in the 

scene where Shuichi Izumi goes before Minister Satomi for his official approval of Operation Yashiori. Satomi says, "So you're saying, act unilaterally on humanitarian principle," and Akasaka adds that it may be time for Japan to do as it pleases. Not only that, but the film is also about all of humanity coming together and working to find a solution to a great crisis. From within Yaguchi's task group, that notion expands to the military recovering pieces of Godzilla's flesh for 

study, the private companies they have develop the blood coagulant, the arranging of its transport and acquisition of vehicles to do so (some of which come from Shanghai), a German computer laboratory being contacted so its supercomputers can find a way to ensure that the plan is effective (one of the scientists has to convince her colleague to have faith in his fellow man when he fears the Japanese will steal their data), and France convincing the UN to delay the bombing. Even the U.S. pitches in, with some American scientists aiding in a joint research operation, and the use of the drones.

In the end, this coming together works in both stopping Godzilla and saving Tokyo from being nuked. Moreover, it's revealed that Godzilla's radioactive isotopes have a very short half-life, and the contamination will rapidly diminish with time. We then see life slowly returning to normal, as the equipment used in the operation is decontaminated, Satomi thanks Morelli, Japan's French ambassador, for his country's role in the success, the refugees wait until they can return home, and Akasaka and Yaguchi talk about properly rebuilding the Cabinet.

It shows that there is, indeed, hope for both Japan, and the world at large. But at the same time, while it's certainly a more optimistic ending than the bleak one of the original Godzilla, it's also a cautionary one, with Yaguchi having truly just delayed the inevitable, with Godzilla now a permanent fixture in Tokyo, as he stands there frozen, with the countdown set to begin from where it left off the moment he begins to thaw. Yaguchi himself realizes as much, saying that

mankind must learn to co-exist with Godzilla and that this is no time for him to quit his position. And the movie's bizarre and unsettling final shot suggests both that they came very close to ultimate disaster and that, when Godzilla does finally regain mobility, mankind will face an even greater challenge in stopping him.

Despite the glimpses in the trailers, I truly had no idea what a radical and freakish reinvention this would be of Godzilla. While I knew he looked downright horrifying from those trailers, and I had heard something about him continually mutating throughout the movie, I was totally unprepared for the shock of seeing his initial forms, and just how far the movie would push those body-horror aspects. For one, they did something that had never been done before, which was reconfigure his origin. Here, rather than a prehistoric creature awakened and irradiated by nuclear testing, he's some sort of ancient sea creature that fed on nuclear waste dumped in the Pacific, mutating until he evolved into a completely new form of life. He has a bizarre and unique ability to self-mutate for any situation, be it to go from an aquatic to a terrestrial creature, and vice-versa, or to better defend himself against attack. Powered by nuclear fission, with isotopes unique to him, Godzilla is also said to be something of a living reactor, with his blood acting as coolant and open spots around his spines as heating vents. During his first rampage, he eventually senses that he's beginning to overheat as a result of the fission and quickly retreats back to the ocean in order to cool down. What's more, as devastatingly powerful as it is, his atomic blast depletes his energy, and he goes into a state of suspended animation in the middle of Tokyo in order to recharge. This knowledge is what allows them to ultimately freeze him by pumping him full of blood coagulant, forcing him to go into a "reactor scram" in order to stay alive. Also, while mostly as impervious to weapons as per usual, this Godzilla is not completely invulnerable, as several Stealth Bombers manage to blast him in those heating vents, causing him pain and sending blood raining down on the streets below. And during Operation Yashiori, he clearly hasn't completely recovered his energy, as they're able to knock him to the ground and he stays down long enough for them to pump the coagulant in through his mouth.

Among a number of firsts, this is the first Japanese movie where a distinction is made between the names "Godzilla" and "Gojira." Before, when Caucasian characters appeared in these movies, they would refer to him as "Godzilla," while the Japanese would continue calling him "Gojira." It's the same scenario in the first two MonsterVerse films, with Dr. Serizawa being the first character in Godzilla 2014 to give him a name: Gojira, while everyone else refers to him as Godzilla, with no explanation for the difference. In Shin Godzilla,

however, Goro Maki's notes refer to him as both, with "Godzilla" being an Americanized version of "Gojira," said to come from Maki's home of Odo Island and meaning, "God incarnate," and used as the Department of Energy's official code-name. (The only movie beforehand to make a distinction like this was Godzilla 1998, where the monster's name is actually "Gojira," but it becomes mispronounced as "Godzilla.") Very interesting, as it kind of takes the real-world way in which the

Americanized name came about and makes it part of the story. Moreover, in both the subtitles and the English dubbing, he's referred to as Gojira, for the most part, which is another first, while Kayoco goes back and forth between the two.  (However, I'm going to continue referring to him as Godzilla, for reasons I explained back when I first started reviewing these movies.) As for the movie's title, which is also Toho's official name for this version of Godzilla, I've read that the word "Shin" can be translated to "new," but it can also be seen as "true" or "god," among others I'm probably forgetting.

Strangely, for as disturbing as his various forms and mutating capabilities are, this Godzilla could have the most passive temperament of them all. Unlike the angry, intentional bringer of destruction or indifferent, instinct-driven animal he's often been portrayed as in the past, the danger here mostly comes from just his mere presence and radioactive nature. Most of the death and destruction he causes during his initial rampages is unintentional, a result of him simply crawling through Kamata and Shinagawa, and walking

towards and through Tokyo. And unlike the Legendary Pictures Godzilla, who pays little mind to humans, this iteration mostly doesn't even seem to register their existence, be it when they're running from him or when the JSDF aircraft and land vehicles fire upon him, save for when he sends a big chunk of a bridge flying upward, which then crushes a tank. He doesn't even roar that much, which is very unusual (and the near complete silence adds an air of creepiness to him). 

The only times he truly becomes enraged and attacks is when the Stealth Bombers hit those heating vents and when he's attacked during Operation Yashiori; in other words, he's acting in self-defense. Though, normally, this portrayal would result in him being kind of boring, it instead makes Godzilla come off as utterly inhuman, unknowable, and thus, truly scary.

All we see of Godzilla's first form is the tail, when it's seen flailing around in Tokyo Bay, and a bit of the back when he first makes his way up the Nomi River; both are a rather gross, tan color. The second form, seen when he comes on land, is absolute nightmare fuel: a light-brown, wide-eyed, stumpy-armed monstrosity that moves parallel to the ground, supported by a pair of large hind legs as he crawls along, almost like a huge snake. The big, googly-eyes and vacant expression, with the constantly open mouth, are really unsettling, and it

genuinely startled me the first time I saw it. This form also has big, bulging gills that nastily spew out blood at one point. When he reaches Shinagawa, Godzilla evolves into his third form, which can best be described as a David Cronenberg take on the classic design, with disturbing horror anime elements and a bit of Clive Barker thrown in for good measure. His legs and feet elongate so he can stand upright, and his stubby, almost larva-like arms develop into actual limbs, albeit still very

short. He becomes dark red in color, his spines start to become white, and the area between them running down his back become blood red and glow when he begins to overheat. It's also in this form that he roars for the first time, although it doesn't make him any less unsettling, as he still has those big eyes and blank expression.

After retreating back into the ocean, Godzilla returns around the movie's halfway point, now in a fourth form that, in my opinion, is incredible. In fact, while I may be just kind of so-so on the movie itself, I love this form so much that I dropped $200 at G-Fest in 2023 to get a large figure of it. This is a direction I've wanted them to embrace with Godzilla for a long time: go with the idea that he is a nuclear mutant and make him truly ugly and horrifying. It takes some cues from the 1954 original design, notably the bumpy, scarred flesh (which appear to be pure black, this time, rather than the traditional charcoal-gray), but it also adds a number of red lesions, black dorsal plates, a

very sharp, pointed sternum to his chest, arms that, while more developed than in the previous forms, are still small overall, with the palms and fingers held upside down, truly strong, muscular legs that make it seems as though he's walking on a pair of tree trunks, and dinosaur-like feet. The head and face are especially striking. The head is round, with small, beady eyes, and the mouth has no tongue and is full of long, crooked teeth, some of which seem to protruding from the flesh outside of the

mouth. When he fires his atomic blast, his lower jaw not only unhinges, causing his mouth to look like Pac-Man when seen in profile, but actually splits apart! And finally, not only did Toho promise that this Godzilla would be the biggest one to date, but the filmmakers make you feel how huge he is with the way they shoot him. His body is like a mountain and the tail is ridiculously long, constantly suspended in midair, and flopping about behind him, rather than dragging along the ground. Its tip is red and bloody, and has bones that appear to form another head, suggesting that the tail may be a separate organism all its own.

Even his atomic blast is depicted in a much different manner. When he charges up for it, his spines and the lesions on his body emit a purple glow, and initially, he spews out thick plumes of smoke, then a powerful fire breath that devastates much of Tokyo in and of itself. The flames are concentrated into a narrow, purple-colored beam that's able to slice right through swathes of buildings. When he fires it, he covers his eyes with a special membrane he used before, when he was bombed from above, suggesting that its intense

heat and brightness could potentially damage them. After using it to the max,  the beam turns back into fire before it extinguishes completely, forcing Godzilla to go into a sort of hibernation in order to recharge. Besides firing the beam out of his mouth, he's also able to concentrate the energy and fire multiple beams out of his back to prevent attacks from above, and out of the tip of his tail, through the "mouth" of that bony head-like structure. Unlike his dorsal beams, he's able to do this in

tandem with the ray from his mouth, allowing him to hit multiple targets in different directions. Even when he's in hibernation, Godzilla can still deter any attacks, using a biological "phased array radar" to detect and then shoot down some drones attempting to observe him.

It's hinted that what we see in the movie is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Godzilla's abilities. At one point, when analyzing a piece of his flesh recovered by the military, it's discovered that it and other parts of him that are blown off could evolve and become living creatures all their own, akin to how the cells of the Frankenstein monster in Frankenstein Conquers the World and the Gargantuas in The War of the Gargantuas could form all new monsters when blown off. (Moreover, there was a deleted moment where the pieces of

flesh the military discovers are already growing eyes and teeth, taking Godzilla's biology into territory akin to that of John Carpenter's The Thing.) This, along with the revelation that he could also potentially develop wings and fly to other countries, is what prompts the United States to try to destroy him as quickly as possible. And at the very end of the movie, we get a glimpse of these other abilities with that freakish final shot of small, humanoid creatures, with his dorsal spines

running down their backs, frozen while emerging from the tip of his tail. That especially got to me, as it took this character that I've loved since childhood and made him into a true Eldritch abomination. That's also why I wish they'd focused more on Godzilla himself and his constantly mutating and evolving abilities, rather than the politics, and why I'm disappointed there won't be a direct sequel, as I wanted to see those creatures get loose from his tail and wreak havoc. (At the same

time, I'm glad they cut it off where they did, as there are supplementary materials suggesting further forms that get a little too crazy for my taste, such as the ability to travel through space, create a universe within itself, and finally truly become a god, able to transcend reality.)

Though he doesn't roar that much, when he does, he runs through several vocalizations heard across the series. In his third form, he lets out one of the roars from the original film, while his fourth form mainly has the roar heard throughout the rest of Showa era. As his most well-known and iconic vocalization, hearing that come out of this disturbing, body-horror take on him is truly disconcerting and unsettling. And right as he's frozen, he lets out the roar heard in the first three Heisei films. I have to say, though, that I do find it

a bit disappointing that they didn't give this version his own, unique roar. Before, every new incarnation of Godzilla throughout the various eras, including in 1998 film and the Monsterverse, has had its own roar, helping to give it something of an identity. I'm sure they could've come up with a truly unsettling and terrifying roar to go with this equally unsettling incarnation. But, then again, the use of previous roars was likely part of the filmmakers' ways of hearkening back to Godzilla's history.

In fact, the roars are just one of many ways in which they do so. Staying on the audio level, they use many of the classic sound effects from the Showa era, like explosions, buildings crumbling, tanks firing, rumbling from the monsters' movements, the loud bangs from them hitting the ground, and the sound of Godzilla's thunderous footsteps from the original film. The sound effect for Godzilla's atomic blast is also one I've heard before, making me think of how it sounded in Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth, as well

as the sound of Destoroyah's Oxygen Beam. Also, as we'll get into later, a good number of Akira Ifukube's classic themes are used in the score. The film has many ties to the 1954 original, with the way it begins with three stomps and the title, written in white kanji over a black background and accompanied by Godzilla's roar. The first shot is also identical to that of the original, with churning water trailing behind a boat, as is the opening scene involving the boat getting attacked. Of course, Goro Maki's home of Odo Island is where the

legend of Godzilla originates in that movie. In fact, previous characters in the series have also been named Goro Maki. And in the lead up to the opening, we see both Toho's modern day logo and the way it looked back in the Showa era. There are ties to The Return of Godzilla as well, mostly in plot points. The United States' intention to hit Godzilla with a nuclear warhead is akin to how, in that movie, both the American and Russian ambassadors try to pressure the Prime Minister to

allow them to use nuclear weapons. There are also similar questions raised concerning the ethics of such an act, with the PM, offscreen, diffusing the situation by asking the American and Russian leaders if they would use nuclear weapons if Godzilla appeared in their countries, and the members of his Cabinet also make the argument that they will become diplomatically isolated if they refuse to cooperate. Moreover, the "ticking clock" of the countdown to the bombing here is

similar to the struggle to destroy the nuclear missile accidentally fired at Tokyo in that movie. The plan to freeze Godzilla with the blood coagulant can also be seen as akin to how they tried to neutralize him with having the Super-X shoot cadmium shells down his throat. Finally, the name of said operation, Yashiori, is taken from a story in Japanese mythology involving the eight-headed dragon, Yamata no Orochi, which was the inspiration for King Ghidorah.

In another first, Shin Godzilla is the first Toho film where Godzilla is portrayed entirely through CGI, although still with an actor's touch in the form of motion-capture, courtesy of Mansai Nomura. Now, you'd have a right to initially cringe over that fact, given the franchise's not so good history with CGI when it was used in the Millennium films, but the screenshots should leave no doubt that this is a whole other kettle of fish. For 90% of the movie, they managed to make Godzilla look completely convincing and photo-realistic, including in the

many close-ups of him. I was actually shocked at how good this looked, sometimes rivaling the CGI in the MonsterVerse movies, and with a fraction of the budget, no less. What's more the compositing of these effects with real actors and locations is probably the best this franchise has ever seen, and as I said before, those wide shots of Godzilla walking through the countryside and Tokyo are breathtaking. However, the digital effects aren't perfect, particularly during the latter half, and specifically starting with Godzilla blowing up

much of Tokyo. As awesome as that sequence is, the shots of him on the ground when firing dorsal beams at the bombs and when he resumes firing the one out of his mouth, like when he turns to his right and destroys some buildings, look a little janky. They're miles better than the CGI shot of him swimming underwater in Godzilla 2000 and other such effects in the Millennium series, but still don't look that great. The effects especially suffer during the climactic Operation Yashiori, like

in the shots of the trains sent to collide with Godzilla and awaken him (those almost are Millennium-level), and when he's firing his beams to defend himself. And as successful as the CGI is overall, it's still kind of sad, as you know it marks the death knell for the suitmation techniques this franchise and kaiju films, in general, were built upon. However, that doesn't mean the filmmakers completely abandoned the old-school ways. The final shot of the tip of Godzilla's tail at the end was

a nicely-designed prop (there was also an animatronic of Godzilla's upper-body but no shots of it were used in the movie, which is a shame, because it looks good in behind-the-scenes photos), there are some miniature buildings and houses that get destroyed, and some shots of the flood Godzilla causes in his first appearance are very practical.

As I've said, the movie starts by dropping you straight into the action, when the Japanese Coast Guard finds a yacht drifting just offshore of Haneda in Tokyo Bay. They go aboard but find no sign of anyone, save for some personal effects, a map with some glasses lying atop it, and a pair of shoes placed neatly on the floor. They prepare to tow it in, when the boat is suddenly rocked violently, throwing them off-balance. A massive explosion happens in the center of the bay, causing

a big waterspout, and in the Aqua-Line Tunnel, a huge torrent of what appears to be blood breaks through the ceiling and comes down right in front of a car. While the government officials try to figure out what's happening, they're shown footage of the unfolding incident in the Crisis Management Center's conference room: a huge plume of steam is emitting from the bay, surrounded by boiling water that's a reddish color. A Coast Guard helicopter attempts to observe what's going on, but 

is unable to make out anything due to the steam and churning water. The bay is sealed off, and a coastal evacuation advisory is sent out; despite this, people on the man-made island of Kisarazu are filming the disturbance. Meanwhile, the Aqua-Line tunnel, which has suffered a number of vehicle collisions, is evacuated, with civilians filming themselves heading down the emergency escape slope. They're taken to a chamber down below, which is shaken by a series of loud rumbles; they realize that something is above them. Back on

Kisarazu, the civilians are continuing to film the mass of steam, when they see something move within it. Their footage immediately hits the internet, where Rando Yaguchi sees it right before a meeting in the Prime Minister's office. This prompts him to suggest a giant creature is the cause of the disturbance, but he's ignored, only for the movie to cut to an enormous tail emerging from the bay. And during a Disaster Response Council in the main conference room, Chief Cabinet Secretary Ryuta Azuma is told of a development that's being

reported on television. He says the meeting must be suspended and the television is turned on to news footage of the tail flailing around in the water. With that, they adjourn back to the PM's office, where they discuss learning what this creature is and how to deal with it. The plume of steam is then reported moving towards the mouth of the Tama River, flooding the Bay-shore Expressway.

Godzilla begins making his way up the Nomi River in Ota Ward, pushing forward a huge mass of small boats and smashing through the Asahi Bridge as he goes. While the government remains gridlocked, and as Prime Minister Okouchi prepares to hold a press conference to reassure the public, Godzilla reaches the New Nomi Bridge, smashing through it and causing massive flooding and damage from all the water and boats he's displacing. We get a look at one of his big, wide eyes as he passes by. That's

when Okouchi's press conference is interrupted, as he's told that Godzilla has come on land. We cut to Kamata, where people are running in abject fear, and get our first real look at Godzilla's second form, as he crawls up the street behind them. (I will never forget the first time I saw this part, as my jaw nearly hit the floor in disbelief at what I was seeing.) Blood spills out of his bloated gills as he moves, while Azuma holds another press conference, this time to assure everyone that the

government is coordinating a response, which includes evacuation procedures. Meanwhile, Godzilla continues moving along, crashing through houses in his path, as he heads for Shinagawa. Despite his slow pace, Yaguchi figures he could reach Tokyo within three hours. During the evacuation, highways in Shinagawa are completely jammed with cars, as the citizens are forced to abandon them. As the ward is evacuated, Godzilla continues crawling through the streets, pushing up

mounds of cars and flinging them around as he swings his head back and forth. He then crawls up the back of an apartment building, rests his head atop it, only for the structure to collapse beneath his weight, killing a family inside, as he clumsily slams down onto the ground. Watching this chaos from the Tokyo Disaster Control HQ in the Metropolitan Government Building, Kozuka, Tokyo's governor, requests that the Self-Defense Forces be mobilized to destroy him.

After considering the repercussions, Okouchi declares a state of emergency and calls for the SDF's mobilization. Eventually, a squadron of four attack helicopters lift off from Kisarazu Base in Chiba. Meanwhile, in North Shinagawa, people are evacuated as Godzilla continues on his path, but with mobile evacuation centers now useless, those in charge don't know where to send the people. All of sudden, Godzilla halts, raises up, then slams his body down completely. As everyone wonders why

he stopped, he undergoes a hideous transformation: his feet elongate, allowing him to slowly stand up straight, his stubby arms develop into actual ones, with hands and fingers, albeit still very small, and the texture and color of his skin change. He body stands straight up and lets out a couple of deafening roars. Walking around rather clumsily, he wanders into the center of Shinagawa, as civilians take cover at a nearby shrine. As he stumbles, he unintentionally swipes a train at

Kita-Shinagawa Station, sending it flying until it crashes and skids across the road. As those at the shrine watch, he approaches the Yatsuyama Rail Bridge. The squadron of helicopters arrive, but the pilots are thrown off by how different he now looks. They fly off to several hundred feet away and hover, waiting for further instructions. Hearing that residents have been evacuated, Okouchi gives the order for them to open fire. But just as the helicopters target Godzilla's head and prepare to let loose with their machine guns, another voice

suddenly comes over the radio, telling them to hold their fire. Those in the Crisis Management Center wonder why they aren't shooting, when a surveyor in a scout helicopter reports that there are some civilians down below: an old man carrying an old woman on his back. The question of whether or not they should fire makes its way through the channels until it reaches the Crisis Management Center. Okouchi orders the attack aborted and, with that, the helicopters move back into holding positions. Godzilla's back begins glowing bright

red and, after noticing this, he roars, then smashes through a building and books it, heading back to the bay. Soon, he's gone, having disappeared back under the water and leaving a trail of steam in his wake. The smoking trail of destruction he left behind in Ota Ward remains visible even when night falls, but the next day, life is pretty much normal again, with the trains running, the expressways filled with cars, and the stock exchange open as usual. 

After the Government Damage Survey Corps visit the landing site in Ota, destroyer battleships are shown in Sagami Bay, as a search helicopter dips a sonar buoy down into the water. Things slow down, as the officials try to prepare for Godzilla's possible reappearance, Yaguchi assembles his task force, meets Kayoco Ann Patterson, and she tells them of Goro Maki, as well as of Godzilla's origin and unusual nature. They eventually begin formulating the plan to freeze him with blood

coagulant, and there's an interesting moment where, as the task force works overnight on the plan, there are people protesting in the streets, chanting, "Gojira is god!" Things start to pick back up around the fifty-minute mark, when Yusuke Shimura bursts into Yaguchi's office while he's taking a nap to tell him that Godzilla has resurfaced in Sagami Bay and is coming ashore. Sure enough, we then see him, in his massive fourth form, wading towards Kamakura City in

Kanagawa. The civilians run for it as he comes ashore, and his enormous tail waves right above a small village of panicking people as he slowly makes his way further inland. When Okouchi enters the Crisis Management Center, they all see footage of Godzilla's advance and realize just how much he's changed since they last saw him. He enters the city of Yokodai in the Isogo Ward of Yokohama, as the people are told to get off the streets. He crushes everything in his path, leaving a trail of burning wreckage in his wake, as those in

the Crisis Center are told he'll reach Tokyo within three hours. He passes by a large refinery in Kawasaki City, with an alarm blaring in the background. Upon learning that Yaguchi's freezing plan isn't ready, Okouchi orders the SDF to go into action again. At the Ministry of Defense's HQ, they decide to make Kawasaki the battlefield, with the Tama River the absolute defense line. F-2 fighter jets are deployed from Misawa Air Base in Aomori, while attack helicopters lift off from both Kisarazu and Tachikawa Base in Tokyo, and a

platoon of tanks and other vehicles set up near the Maruko Bridge, on the bank of the Tama River. A command post is also set up at the Tamagawa Sengen Shrine. The helicopter squadron arrives and confronts Godzilla, as he approaches the city's interior. Okouchi gives permission for them to open fire and they unleash with their machine guns, hitting Godzilla in the face. However, the bullets merely bounces off, and he doesn't even seem to register the hits. The Apache Longbows then try their 30mm guns but, again, they do nothing. Missile use is requested, but Okouchi, instead, authorizes the use of all weapons.

With that, the helicopters switch over to missiles, one of them firing multiple rockets at Godzilla's head. Though all of them hit their target dead-on, he's, again, not fazed or injured whatsoever, much to the horror of everyone at Defense HQ and the Crisis Center. Those in command of the operation switch to Phase Two, with the tank unit by the river taking aim at his legs. They all open fire and when they hit him, his speed does decrease. That attack is then followed up by artillery fire from Howitzers

along the bank. Their shells hit Godzilla in the head, as do shots from several missile launchers, while the tanks travel parallel to him and blast his legs again. He turns and heads towards the river, with multiple rocket and missile launchers firing at him. With both his head and legs being blasted at the same time, he suddenly halts. They then head into Phase Three, which involves an aerial assault. The tanks shift into their positions for this phase, as the F-2s appear overhead and two of them each

drops a pair of bombs down at Godzilla. One hits him in the knee, and the others explode around his face, but he shields his eyes right before the latter. The explosions cause a bit of a shock-wave, and Godzilla suddenly turns northwest. Everyone seems to think they've made him give up on his advance towards Tokyo, as more bombs are dropped down at him, exploding around him and engulfing him in a large cloud of smoke and a plume of fire. But just when everyone thinks they've won, he sends a large chunk of the Maruko

Bridge flying into the air. The tanks attempt to retreat, but the large part of the wreckage lands upright in the river, the force of the impact damaging the nearby command post and knocking everyone off their feet. The wreckage falls towards the shore, right on top of one of the tanks. Godzilla then resumes his trek to Tokyo, as the command post is evacuated and they report that their munitions have been depleted and their tanks are out of commission. His entry into wards that haven't been evacuated yet also makes them decide against any other type of attack. They instead decide to try to speed up the evacuation, while the news of this defeat makes Yaguchi and his team realize just what they're up against.

As dusk settles in, Godzilla enters Tokyo's Meguro Ward; at the same time, Okouchi and everyone else in the Crisis Center learn that a squadron of American stealth bombers is en route. Azuma quickly holds a press conference to tell the public of this, but in the middle of it, Godzilla's rampage cuts off much of the ward's power, first shown in an effective scene where the lights suddenly go out on a store clerk who's watching the press conference on the television sets in the electronics

section. With much of the city now in complete darkness, the only light is now the red glow emitting from within Godzilla himself. Meanwhile, those in the Crisis Management Center's Operation Room learn that the U.S.'s intended bombing zone is shockingly wide. Thus, the civilians outside are evacuated underground, into the subway tunnels, only to find themselves plunged into darkness from the widening blackout. Godzilla plows through buildings, lighting up the darkness with the glow of

resulting fires, while Okouchi is warned to evacuate his residence, as it's in the monster's path. As the PM waits to be lifted out by chopper, Yaguchi and his team leave by vehicle. However, Yaguchi and Shimura find themselves caught up in a massive traffic snarl in Minato Ward. With the airstrike inbound, they decide to abandon their cars and get to safety. Yaguchi catches a glimpse of Godzilla behind the skyline across from him, when Shimura tells him that the strike is going to happen ahead of schedule. Two missiles drop down and hit

Godzilla in the section between his spines. The explosion causes him to recoil and sends blood raining down on the street below. On the roof of the PM's residence, Okouchi and his Cabinet are told of the hit and its effectiveness. Okouchi watches the continued bombing, when he's told that the helicopters have arrived. That's when Godzilla lets out an angry roar, then bends down and begins emitting a purple glow from his spines and within his flesh. Yaguchi sees the glow just as he and his team are being taken down into a subway station. Godzilla opens his mouth, unhinges and splits his lower jaw, as the glow builds up in the back of his throat. Before he boards his chopper, the PM is told of this development.

After shielding his eyes, Godzilla blows out his flame breath, which sets numerous blocks blazing all its own, before focusing it into the purple-colored ray. He lifts his head, aiming it straight up into the sky, destroying one of the stealth bombers. Yaguchi watches from the entrance to his makeshift shelter, before Shimura tells him to get down; elsewhere, in Fussa City, the U.S. Ambassador learns of the one plane's destruction. Kayoco, who's riding with him, comments,

"Godzilla. Truly a god incarnate." Two other bombers drop their own payloads but Godzilla, finding he can't hit them with his mouth beam, deploys beams out of his spines. He easily destroys the bombs before they can hit him, then destroys another of the bombers. He resumes firing his mouth beam, this time at the city itself, destroying huge swaths of buildings and also blowing up the PM's chopper when it lifts off. The beam cuts through Hamamatsucho in Minato, a wall of fire 

erupts through Shimbashi, and the beam then cuts through an intersection in Chuo Ward (one of the buildings it destroys has a clock atop it, and I'm pretty sure it's the same one Godzilla roared at and then crumbled in the original 1954 film). It reverts back to a flame and, as various parts of the city burn, including Chiyoda Ward, where the Diet Building is, Godzilla continues spewing it until he uses up every last bit. Slowly, the energy glowing within him dies down and he comes to a stop near Tokyo Station in Chiyoda, entering his hibernation

state. In the ensuing chaos, the news of high radiation levels and the apparent deaths of Minister Okouchi and his Cabinet is reported. Hearing this, Yaguchi, who was somehow injured slightly, with some scrapes on his forehead, has a silenced but anguished reaction in his shelter. 

The movie slows down for a while again, as the focus becomes the attempt carry on with the government with a new PM, while Yaguchi and his team try to finalize the freezing plan. Surveillance is kept on Godzilla, who continues slumbering in Chiyoda for many days. His natural phased array radar is demonstrated when an attempt to get close with an unmanned surveillance system is suddenly thwarted and the video signal is cut off. Also, while investigating the strike grounds in Minato, a Special Weapons Defense Unit finds pieces of his

flesh that were blasted off, leading to the revelation about his asexual reproductive capabilities. Then, when the plan to bomb him with a nuclear warhead is unveiled, it becomes a race against time to finish the freezing plan. Things come together on the very day of the bombing and, with only hours to go, Operation Yashiori commences, with Yaguchi personally supervising from a rooftop. Two unmanned bullet trains head down the tracks at Godzilla, hitting and exploding around his feet, awakening him with a roar. The second phase,

consisting of the American drones brought in by Kayoco, commences. They move in and bomb Godzilla from above. Like before, he fires his dorsal beams, exploding both the bombs and some of the drones themselves. The drones then fire missiles, which he also destroys, along with the tops of several buildings around him. Despite the growing radioactive contamination from this, they carry on with the operation. The drones fire more missiles and Godzilla, while trying to hit them,

ends up destroying more buildings. The beams suddenly stop, right before the missiles hit him and explode all across his upper body. He then focuses his energy into discharging the beam from the tip of his tail, while also firing from his mouth. He swings both around, causing more property damage, as he tries to target the drones. He manages to blow up some more missiles, but his beam quickly dies off. With that, they begin Phase Three, detonating explosives placed in some of the

buildings around him. The top halves off the buildings are blown off and topple onto him, forcing him down to the ground. A destroyer in the ocean fires its cruise missiles, hitting the larger buildings and blowing nearly their entire lengths onto him, truly pinning him down (I do appreciate the irony that, after being famous for destroying buildings, buildings themselves are now being used as makeshift weapons against him).

With that, the first Crane Platoon moves in. The vehicles deploy their cranes, with connected hoses, as they approach Godzilla, who lies stunned atop the rubble, and place the tips into his open mouth. They then connect the lines to a platoon of tank trucks behind them, and begin injecting the blood coagulant. They quickly administer 20%, then 30%, when Godzilla's spines glow purple again. He lifts his head and blasts his beam right down the street, instantly obliterating the platoon. He stands

up with a roar and begins moving, but his movements are slower due to the coagulant. A number of unmanned trains, loaded with explosives, are deployed and explode against his feet when he walks across the tracks, then get blasted upwards and explode all the way up to his head. This knocks him over and he falls across the top of a small building. The second and third Crane Platoons are quickly deployed and administer more of the coagulant. The 50% mark is quickly reached, depleting the first twenty tanks and prompting

them to switch over to the rest. Within seconds, they manage to administer 75%, surpassing the projected minimum, and then hit 90, with Godzilla's still raised tail dropping to the ground. Finally, they use all of it, and note that his skin appears to be stiffening. His tail rises up, only to crash back down again. Everyone holds their breath, wondering if it worked, when the building collapses beneath Godzilla's weight and he rises up, lifting some of the cranes before letting them 

drop. His spines start to glow again and the troops are ordered to evacuate to the holding area. He takes a few steps, plowing through another building, when he suddenly freezes solid. Seeing that his internal temperature has dropped to -196 degrees, they declare the operation a success... with just under an hour left until the bombing. (Admittedly, on my first viewing, I didn't like how they defeat him fairly easily, all things considered, but I now understand the deeper meaning behind it, 

about its being a testament to everyone coming together for the greater good.) Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and things slowly wrap up, as they prepare to rebuild both the city and the government. However, the movie ends on that optimistic but cautious note, given the news that the countdown will resume the minute Godzilla starts to move, and the final shot of the tip of his tail.

Shiro Sagisu, who'd done the music for Neon Genesis Evangelion and other Gainax productions, did the original music for Shin Godzilla, and his work is quite memorable. His two most memorable pieces are "Persecution of the Masses" and "Who Will Know?", both of which I first heard in the two trailers I saw. The former, and my favorite of the two, which plays during the first part of Godzilla's initial rampage when he comes ashore, is an unsettling, haunting, and very grim song, with lyrics that are basically a prayer for protection. Who Will Know?, which plays when Godzilla unleashes his atomic blast upon Tokyo, is a similarly melancholic tune, meant to be Godzilla's own inner lament, with lyrics like, "If I die in this world/Who will know something of me?/I am lost, no one knows/There's no trace of my yearning," and, "I wear a void/Not even hope/A downward slope/Is all I see." Similarly unsettling is the piece, "Defeat is No Option," which plays when Godzilla, after defeating the SDF, enters Tokyo as night falls. With a constant, staccato electronic beat, eventually accompanied by chanting voices, it really makes you feel the calamity that's about to befall the city. Sagisu also comes up with some really thrilling music for the battle scenes, repeating the same one for the helicopters' initial aborted attack for the latter part of Operation Yashiori, only slowed down, and scoring the SDF's attempt to halt Godzilla's progress with a theme that uses a lot of loud brass to get across his might and how this is not a battle they can win. Sagisu comes up with a smooth, relaxed horn piece for the day after the initial rampage, getting across how it's back to business as usual, regardless of the death and damage, and at the end of the movie, when Godzilla has been frozen and things slowly return to normal, the music is very calming and reassuring. In addition to all the new music, Sagisu uses some remixed versions of his popular "Decisive Battle" theme from Evangelion during many of the briefing scenes with Yaguchi's task force, which I instantly recognized the first time I heard it.

Speaking of recycled music, a large number of Akira Ifukube's well-known tracks are used throughout the movie. When Godzilla evolves into his first upright form, they use the dark, ominous music from his landings and rampages through Tokyo in the original Godzilla. When he first reappears in his fourth form, the initial version of his theme from King Kong vs. Godzilla plays, then transitions into the familiar march first heard in the original movie. The first phases of Operation Yashiori are played to the upbeat military theme first heard in Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, aka Invasion of Astro-Monster, combined with another theme that I first heard in Frankenstein Conquers the World. And the ending credits are a veritable symphony of Ifukube's themes, playing the main titles from the original Godzilla, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.

Originally intended to be re-titled Godzilla: Resurgence, but changed at Toho's insistence (because that title was never officially used, I didn't include it in the tags), the movie was released theatrically, in 440 theaters over the course of a week in October of 2016 (there were encore screenings later in the month, thanks to popular demand), and then on home video in North America by Funimation, who also dubbed it into English for the latter. Their dubbing is quite good, although that's not too surprising, given the company's track record, and pretty accurate to the original dialogue, despite some changes here and there (a notable one that I picked up on was, when Shuichi Izumi proposes Operation Yashiori to Minister Yusuke Satomi, they didn't go with Izumi's charge that what the United States was attempting to accomplish with the bombing was deplorable). Also, I have to say that it is kind of weird hearing a number of voices I've heard in Funimation's anime dubbing here, including Todd Haberkorn as Yaguchi, J. Michael Tatum as Akasaka, Charlie Campbell as Satomi, and Christopher Sabat, as he often does, voicing various roles.

I was expecting a very different type of Godzilla movie from Hideaki Anno and, for better or worse, Shin Godzilla did turn out to be exactly that. While I would definitely rate it higher than other movies in the franchise, like Godzilla Raids Again or All Monsters Attack, some of the more run-of-the-mill entries in the Heisei and Millennium series, and especially that excruciating anime trilogy that followed it, it's a movie that I'm mixed on. On the plus side, it's certainly well-made, with a really nice look and feel to the cinematography, great special effects, for the most part, a memorable music score, both in the original material and classic themes used, the allegory is effective, there's a real sense of dread over what's befalling Japan and empathy for those going through it, and this depiction of Godzilla himself is definitely the most unique that's ever been done, with his destructive power and might emphasized in a manner that only a scant few other movies have matched. But, on the other hand, the movie's first act or so can be a very disorienting and unforgiving viewing experiencing for first-time watchers, especially those who don't speak Japanese, with an onslaught information, rapid cutting, and unusual shooting methods. What's more, there are numerous characters to keep track of, with few of them leaving any sort of meaningful impression, and the movie's emphasis on politics and commentary on the ineffectiveness of Japan's governmental system, as well as its national identity, may be interesting to a number of people but, if you're like me and come to these movies for the monsters, first and foremost, it can be a bit frustrating. All in all, it definitely stands out amid the franchise, but there are many, many others I would rather watch.