SHIN GODZILLA
(Shin Gojira)
(Shin Gojira)
July 29, 2016
A sea organism mutated into a colossal monster by nuclear waste comes ashore in Japan and wreaks unimaginable havoc. In order to save the world, a ragtag team of political outcasts assemble to solve the mysteries of the creature and figure out how to defeat it.
Composing the score was another longtime Hideaki Anno collaborator, Shiro Sagisu. His score is very good at providing haunting tension, and the use of choirs for certain pieces adds a welcome dramatic flair. Both 'Persecution of the Masses' and 'Who Will Know' are now among my favorite Godzilla music pieces.
In addition to Sagisu's score, the film also features several legendary pieces from the great Akira Ifukube, which is sure to put a smile on the faces of many longtime fans. And for Evangelion fans, variations of Sagisu's 'Decisive Battle' theme are also used.
A sea organism mutated into a colossal monster by nuclear waste comes ashore in Japan and wreaks unimaginable havoc. In order to save the world, a ragtag team of political outcasts assemble to solve the mysteries of the creature and figure out how to defeat it.
Toho has quite a history of ending their long running Godzilla series. 1975's 'Terror of Mechagodzilla' was supposed to be the last one after a disappointing box office. In 1984, 'The Return of Godzilla' was released and after a series of successful films, it was decided that the series would end in 1995 with 'Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah' (add link) to make way for an upcoming American production, they even went so far as to kill off Godzilla in that film.
Then 1998 happened and Toho wasn't having any of that. So they started a new Godzilla series the very next year, concluding with 'Godzilla: Final Wars' in 2004. For the longest time that WAS the last Godzilla movie. Although during Godzilla's Walk of Fame ceremony in Hollywood, Producer Shogo Tomiyama proclaimed: "So long as Godzilla fascinates people like you, I believe he will be resurrected by new generations of filmmakers in the future."
Over the last decade or so, history has repeated itself. A new Godzilla movie was released from an American studio, but unlike the 1998 film, 2014's Godzilla was largely successful both financially and critically. This was a great time for me and my buddy Kaiju Kidd as for the first time in a while, Godzilla was popular again. And Toho took notice of this and decided they were going to start making their own movies again.
In the past a new Godzilla movie would be a direct sequel to the 1954 film, but Shin Godzilla is the first real reboot of the series, starting over from scratch and introducing Godzilla for the first time in the modern world.
The production gained an ace by appointing Shinji Higuchi as Special Effects Director and Co-Director. You remember him right? He worked on a few Godzilla movies and the 90's Gamera trilogy and before Shin Godzilla, he directed the live-action Attack on Titan films.
When it came time to find a director to helm Godzilla's latest comeback, Toho decided to reach out to the one and only, Hideaki Anno, creator of the wildly popular anime 'Neon Genesis Evangelion.' Although initially hesitant at first due to his obligations with Evangelion as well as bouts with depression, he was eventually convinced by Higuchi who he had been friends with for a while.
But aside from a resurgence in popularity, Toho had other reasons for bringing back their biggest star and like the original film before it, its roots were based in tragedy.
On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9 undersea earthquake off the coast of the Tohoku region of Japan caused a massive tsunami. The nearly 40 meter waves devastated the Japan coastline, killing over 18,500 people with thousands more injured or missing. As if that wasn't bad enough, the tsunami also triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant resulting in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The effects of both disasters are still being dealt with to this day.
Indeed, it's not hard to spot the parallels with the disasters. Many moments during Godzilla's initial rampage directly mimic the footage of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami. Shin Godzilla also doesn't skimp on the nuclear parallels, but more on that later.
During the aftermath, many Japanese citizens criticized their government for not acting quick enough or making the right decisions, something this movie emulates all too well.
As comical as it may seem to a foreign viewer, the tons of meetings before action and red tape to bypass are an everyday fact of life for a Japanese politician. This feels like a good enough excuse to talk about the characters.
Shin Godzilla boasts a huge cast of characters, so much so that it may be overwhelming to first time viewers. There's also no real effort to give the characters backstories or major arcs and while some may see that as a negative, I don't think that's a bad thing because that's not what the story is about. This is an ensemble cast responding to a problem and their efforts to deal with it, this film puts you in those moments as a witness and I greatly appreciate how the movie feels very documentary inspired, it adds to the drama as well as provides a throwback to Ishiro Honda's approach to the 1954 film. Even if you don't remember half the characters names, many of them do leave a lasting impression.
Our de facto main character is Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasegawa) a Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary who's the first to go against the consensus of the government and suggest that a monster is behind the strange events at the beginning of the film. After that, he is put in charge of a special team to figure out how to combat the colossal creature threatening their country. I like Yaguchi, he's everything a politician should be: talk AND action. We could of used more people like him and his team around the the start of March 2020.
Another notable character is Kayoco Anne Patterson (Satomi Ishihara) A Japanese-American Envoy for the United States. She is a career driven, dedicated woman who may have some questionable motives at first, but in the end, she's willing to do whatever it takes to help save the world even if it puts her ambitions to be President of the United States at risk.
I mean, I'd still vote for her.
Another thing I appreciate about the characters is how they don't outright villainize the government. Even in the impossibly chaotic situations the Prime Minister (Ren Osugi) finds himself having to make decisions around, you always feel like he tries to do the right thing even as the rest of his Cabinet make ludicrous claims only to be contradicted or continue to deliberate through their circus of a bureaucracy.
The Big G has had several different makeovers and interpretations in his near 60 year career, but none have been more drastic than this one. In this universe, Godzilla began his life as some random undersea creature mutated by radioactive waste into a nearly indestructible monster that goes through multiple mutations as it adapts to survive. If it sounds like I just described Hedorah's origin, well that's because I did.
But despite how different and admittedly goofy the first few forms look, it'll slowly start to seep in how terrifying this creature really is. The fourth form is when the creature starts to undeniably become Godzilla, albeit a more terrifying, zombie looking version and over time, it's really grown on me and now I love this design. The only thing I'm not really fond of with this Godzilla is the use of the 60's roar for the final form, it does not fit. I feel they should have kept the 1954 roar while also implementing the 84 roar or just make an entirely different roar.
This Godzilla has a few new tricks up his sleeve including a new variation of his Atomic Breath which he can fire from more places than just his mouth.
Speaking of, both scenes of Godzilla unleashing his atomic power were standout moments from both 2014's Godzilla and Shin Godzilla. Seeing Godzilla unleash his Atomic Breath for the first time against the Muto's was an amazing theater moment, I and everybody else cheered at that moment.
But during Shin, no one was cheering as Godzilla turned the heart of Tokyo into a sea of fire with thousands lying dead or dying beneath the flames. There were only slack jaws and silence.
Not only does this harken back to the nuclear destruction metaphor as well as fire bombing imagery, it may also portray the worst case scenario of the Fukushima meltdown.
I'm pretty sure most of fanbase said a variation of the same thing after they saw the first trailer: "Wow, that suit looks incredible!"
But the fact of the matter is, it was never a suit. There was an animatronic made and there is footage of it in action, but for one reason or another it ended up not being used in the film at all. The only physical prop of Godzilla used on screen is seen in the final shot of the movie.
For the first time in a Japanese film, Godzilla is fully CGI with motion capture performed by Mansai Nomura, who did his actions wearing a wooden Godzilla mask which he was not asked to do but did it anyway and that is amazing.
I cannot overstate enough how amazing the CGI looks for Godzilla! After all, most of us confused it for a suit! There are maybe like a handful of shots you could pick out that look slightly wonky, but that should not deter any of that praise.
Aside from creature effects, Higuchi and his team worked long and hard to ensure that the art of miniatures and practical effects for city destruction were used to great effect in this film and those look amazing as well.
The production gained an ace by appointing Shinji Higuchi as Special Effects Director and Co-Director. You remember him right? He worked on a few Godzilla movies and the 90's Gamera trilogy and before Shin Godzilla, he directed the live-action Attack on Titan films.
When it came time to find a director to helm Godzilla's latest comeback, Toho decided to reach out to the one and only, Hideaki Anno, creator of the wildly popular anime 'Neon Genesis Evangelion.' Although initially hesitant at first due to his obligations with Evangelion as well as bouts with depression, he was eventually convinced by Higuchi who he had been friends with for a while.
But aside from a resurgence in popularity, Toho had other reasons for bringing back their biggest star and like the original film before it, its roots were based in tragedy.
Indeed, it's not hard to spot the parallels with the disasters. Many moments during Godzilla's initial rampage directly mimic the footage of the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami. Shin Godzilla also doesn't skimp on the nuclear parallels, but more on that later.
During the aftermath, many Japanese citizens criticized their government for not acting quick enough or making the right decisions, something this movie emulates all too well.
As comical as it may seem to a foreign viewer, the tons of meetings before action and red tape to bypass are an everyday fact of life for a Japanese politician. This feels like a good enough excuse to talk about the characters.
Shin Godzilla boasts a huge cast of characters, so much so that it may be overwhelming to first time viewers. There's also no real effort to give the characters backstories or major arcs and while some may see that as a negative, I don't think that's a bad thing because that's not what the story is about. This is an ensemble cast responding to a problem and their efforts to deal with it, this film puts you in those moments as a witness and I greatly appreciate how the movie feels very documentary inspired, it adds to the drama as well as provides a throwback to Ishiro Honda's approach to the 1954 film. Even if you don't remember half the characters names, many of them do leave a lasting impression.
Another notable character is Kayoco Anne Patterson (Satomi Ishihara) A Japanese-American Envoy for the United States. She is a career driven, dedicated woman who may have some questionable motives at first, but in the end, she's willing to do whatever it takes to help save the world even if it puts her ambitions to be President of the United States at risk.
I mean, I'd still vote for her.
Another thing I appreciate about the characters is how they don't outright villainize the government. Even in the impossibly chaotic situations the Prime Minister (Ren Osugi) finds himself having to make decisions around, you always feel like he tries to do the right thing even as the rest of his Cabinet make ludicrous claims only to be contradicted or continue to deliberate through their circus of a bureaucracy.
But despite how different and admittedly goofy the first few forms look, it'll slowly start to seep in how terrifying this creature really is. The fourth form is when the creature starts to undeniably become Godzilla, albeit a more terrifying, zombie looking version and over time, it's really grown on me and now I love this design. The only thing I'm not really fond of with this Godzilla is the use of the 60's roar for the final form, it does not fit. I feel they should have kept the 1954 roar while also implementing the 84 roar or just make an entirely different roar.
Speaking of, both scenes of Godzilla unleashing his atomic power were standout moments from both 2014's Godzilla and Shin Godzilla. Seeing Godzilla unleash his Atomic Breath for the first time against the Muto's was an amazing theater moment, I and everybody else cheered at that moment.
But during Shin, no one was cheering as Godzilla turned the heart of Tokyo into a sea of fire with thousands lying dead or dying beneath the flames. There were only slack jaws and silence.
Not only does this harken back to the nuclear destruction metaphor as well as fire bombing imagery, it may also portray the worst case scenario of the Fukushima meltdown.
I'm pretty sure most of fanbase said a variation of the same thing after they saw the first trailer: "Wow, that suit looks incredible!"
But the fact of the matter is, it was never a suit. There was an animatronic made and there is footage of it in action, but for one reason or another it ended up not being used in the film at all. The only physical prop of Godzilla used on screen is seen in the final shot of the movie.
I cannot overstate enough how amazing the CGI looks for Godzilla! After all, most of us confused it for a suit! There are maybe like a handful of shots you could pick out that look slightly wonky, but that should not deter any of that praise.
Aside from creature effects, Higuchi and his team worked long and hard to ensure that the art of miniatures and practical effects for city destruction were used to great effect in this film and those look amazing as well.
Composing the score was another longtime Hideaki Anno collaborator, Shiro Sagisu. His score is very good at providing haunting tension, and the use of choirs for certain pieces adds a welcome dramatic flair. Both 'Persecution of the Masses' and 'Who Will Know' are now among my favorite Godzilla music pieces.
In addition to Sagisu's score, the film also features several legendary pieces from the great Akira Ifukube, which is sure to put a smile on the faces of many longtime fans. And for Evangelion fans, variations of Sagisu's 'Decisive Battle' theme are also used.
Shin Godzilla premiered in Japan on July 29th 2016 to a highly positive critical reception and an outstanding box office performance.
Even more impressively, the film won several awards at the 40th Japan Academy Film Prize (their Oscars), including Picture of the Year! It may seem hard to believe given that more than a decade before, Godzilla seemed to be losing popularity only to now be embraced by Japan like never before.
Of course, I and many other fans in the United States were eager to get a glimpse of this new film.
Initially retitled "Godzilla Resurgence" it was picked up for distribution by Funimation who instead went for the original title of 'Shin Godzilla' and released the film with no major re-edits or changes to the soundtrack, something that hadn't been done to a widely theatrically released Godzilla film since the late Showa Era.
Showings were limited to only a few cities, but luckily my local Cinemark theater was showing it. When I went to see it, I must admit I wasn't sure what to make of this New Godzilla. The subtitles, new forms, new powers and political mumbo jumbo were all overwhelming.
It took me seeing the movie again during a special screening at the Famous Monsters Convention in Dallas in May 2017 to realize that I may have made too many rash judgements about it. The screening was followed by a presentation and Q&A with Shinji Higuchi himself as well as the Special Effects Cinematographer, Keiichi Sakurai. The panel revealed many behind the scenes secrets, most of which we were sworn to secrecy for and it only help to reshape my view of the film.
A couple rewatches on Blu-ray later, I've gone from not knowing whether to place this movie among my favorites to loving the hell out of it and actively showing it to my friends not only as a great Godzilla movie, but a remarkable movie, period.
Even more impressively, the film won several awards at the 40th Japan Academy Film Prize (their Oscars), including Picture of the Year! It may seem hard to believe given that more than a decade before, Godzilla seemed to be losing popularity only to now be embraced by Japan like never before.
Of course, I and many other fans in the United States were eager to get a glimpse of this new film.
Initially retitled "Godzilla Resurgence" it was picked up for distribution by Funimation who instead went for the original title of 'Shin Godzilla' and released the film with no major re-edits or changes to the soundtrack, something that hadn't been done to a widely theatrically released Godzilla film since the late Showa Era.
Showings were limited to only a few cities, but luckily my local Cinemark theater was showing it. When I went to see it, I must admit I wasn't sure what to make of this New Godzilla. The subtitles, new forms, new powers and political mumbo jumbo were all overwhelming.
It took me seeing the movie again during a special screening at the Famous Monsters Convention in Dallas in May 2017 to realize that I may have made too many rash judgements about it. The screening was followed by a presentation and Q&A with Shinji Higuchi himself as well as the Special Effects Cinematographer, Keiichi Sakurai. The panel revealed many behind the scenes secrets, most of which we were sworn to secrecy for and it only help to reshape my view of the film.
A couple rewatches on Blu-ray later, I've gone from not knowing whether to place this movie among my favorites to loving the hell out of it and actively showing it to my friends not only as a great Godzilla movie, but a remarkable movie, period.
Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...
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I remember when Shin Godzilla was released in the US. My local theatre showed it, so of course I went to see it... twice. I enjoyed it the first time and have only grown to like it more with each viewing. At the first screening, the theatre erupted into applause at the end of the film (it was a largely Japanese audience). Shin Godzilla really is a great film.
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