It fully embraces the cheesiness of the originals - there were multiple scenes that still looked like a man in a rubber suit knocking over miniatures - while updating it for the modern day with some good effects.
It's the first Godzilla movie since possibly the original to have a compelling human story which is a welcome addition. Also, updating the "Godzilla" metaphor from nuclear weapons to the potential dangers of nuclear power post-Fukushima was a nice touch.
By far the best Godzilla movie yet and the best Godzilla yet. Man, this movie makes the American 2014 reboot look terrible in comparison. GODZILLA LOOKED SO COOL.
Shin Godzilla gives us a governments eye view of how damn frustrating it is to deal with a kaiju in Japan.
Regarding the monster himself, this movie takes a fresh approach that shouldn't be spoiled if you care about those kinds of things. This is a pretty good movie to introduce someone to the series, as it stands alone and covers a lot of the themes of the Godzilla films as a whole.
Shin Gojira gets a lot of points for presenting a different take on everyone's favorite Kaiju. One rooted in the Monster Movie tradition of the original and not the anti-hero version we've had ever since. In fact, there are moments where this Godzilla is downright creepy, seeming much more animal and driven by some near mechanical instinct.
Framing the monster action is an almost OCD fixation on the bureaucratic machinations that the Japanese Government undertakes in order to deal with the disaster. Often funny, often fascinatingly inside baseball, the movie is propulsive enough to actually make this stuff compelling. (If not also frustratingly dense on occasion)
And one of this films handful of problems is that over abundance of exposition. Particularly in the opening act of the film, so many subtitles, location names, characters and their titles get thrown at the viewer, that it's trying to one's patients (I don't need to be told what floor a stairwell is on). And there is so much political and scientific chatter, that very few characters stand out as anything more than archetypes. (Don't get me started on the cartoonish way that Americans are portrayed.)
The effects are often quite good and then sometime quite cheesy (The first time I saw Godzilla's face I actually guffawed). The score is generally very effective though, making fine use of and expanding on the original films eerie music and sound design.
In the end, despite my criticisms, Shin Gojira is actually a really fun movie. One that I actually consider more interesting than Legendaries last big production (Even if it's a bit rougher around the edges). Any self respecting Godzilla fan will definitely enjoy.
I'd heard a lot of good things about Shin Godzilla, but I'm sorry, while not a bad kaiju film, I think it's a pretty terrible GODZILLA film. On the one hand, I appreciate the procedural feel of the film, showing how Japan would react to such an emergency. The 1954 original was a lot like that too. And it updates the original metaphor (the atomic bomb) to resonate with more contemporary events, like nuclear meltdowns. HOWEVER. Its redesigned Godzilla is a beady-eyed, personality-less, overwrought monster, and I don't particular like the revelations about its life cycle which just gives us even uglier, stupider Godzillas. It's hard to care for any of the wide cast given the film's structure, but one is particularly irritating. Satomi Ishihara plays an American whose grandmother immigrated to the U.S. and who is on the fast track to become president some day, but her heavily-accented English tells a different story, not that her J-pop acting in any way redeems it. The one thing it does better than the latest American version is its use of the Godzilla and army themes from the classic films, but they're thrown in along with so many other styles that the movie really has no musical identity. I watched it with a near perpetual frown, and that's just no fun.
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Caerus
What a great reboot.It fully embraces the cheesiness of the originals - there were multiple scenes that still looked like a man in a rubber suit knocking over miniatures - while updating it for the modern day with some good effects.
It's the first Godzilla movie since possibly the original to have a compelling human story which is a welcome addition. Also, updating the "Godzilla" metaphor from nuclear weapons to the potential dangers of nuclear power post-Fukushima was a nice touch.
Jashezilla
By far the best Godzilla movie yet and the best Godzilla yet. Man, this movie makes the American 2014 reboot look terrible in comparison. GODZILLA LOOKED SO COOL.HyliaFischer
Kaiju action meets political satire - Big recommend!DogbaneDan
Shin Godzilla gives us a governments eye view of how damn frustrating it is to deal with a kaiju in Japan.Regarding the monster himself, this movie takes a fresh approach that shouldn't be spoiled if you care about those kinds of things. This is a pretty good movie to introduce someone to the series, as it stands alone and covers a lot of the themes of the Godzilla films as a whole.
fonz
Godzilla doesn't blinkMrtrick
Shin Gojira gets a lot of points for presenting a different take on everyone's favorite Kaiju. One rooted in the Monster Movie tradition of the original and not the anti-hero version we've had ever since. In fact, there are moments where this Godzilla is downright creepy, seeming much more animal and driven by some near mechanical instinct.Framing the monster action is an almost OCD fixation on the bureaucratic machinations that the Japanese Government undertakes in order to deal with the disaster. Often funny, often fascinatingly inside baseball, the movie is propulsive enough to actually make this stuff compelling. (If not also frustratingly dense on occasion)
And one of this films handful of problems is that over abundance of exposition. Particularly in the opening act of the film, so many subtitles, location names, characters and their titles get thrown at the viewer, that it's trying to one's patients (I don't need to be told what floor a stairwell is on). And there is so much political and scientific chatter, that very few characters stand out as anything more than archetypes. (Don't get me started on the cartoonish way that Americans are portrayed.)
The effects are often quite good and then sometime quite cheesy (The first time I saw Godzilla's face I actually guffawed). The score is generally very effective though, making fine use of and expanding on the original films eerie music and sound design.
In the end, despite my criticisms, Shin Gojira is actually a really fun movie. One that I actually consider more interesting than Legendaries last big production (Even if it's a bit rougher around the edges). Any self respecting Godzilla fan will definitely enjoy.
Siskoid
I'd heard a lot of good things about Shin Godzilla, but I'm sorry, while not a bad kaiju film, I think it's a pretty terrible GODZILLA film. On the one hand, I appreciate the procedural feel of the film, showing how Japan would react to such an emergency. The 1954 original was a lot like that too. And it updates the original metaphor (the atomic bomb) to resonate with more contemporary events, like nuclear meltdowns. HOWEVER. Its redesigned Godzilla is a beady-eyed, personality-less, overwrought monster, and I don't particular like the revelations about its life cycle which just gives us even uglier, stupider Godzillas. It's hard to care for any of the wide cast given the film's structure, but one is particularly irritating. Satomi Ishihara plays an American whose grandmother immigrated to the U.S. and who is on the fast track to become president some day, but her heavily-accented English tells a different story, not that her J-pop acting in any way redeems it. The one thing it does better than the latest American version is its use of the Godzilla and army themes from the classic films, but they're thrown in along with so many other styles that the movie really has no musical identity. I watched it with a near perpetual frown, and that's just no fun.