The first Godzilla movie came out in 1954. Ever since then, Godzilla has been represented in various different ways and forms. But his most recent appearance may be the strangest interpretation of the God of Destruction. But then again, what can you expect from the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion? I'm just glad Godzilla didn't turn into orange goo at the end. Anyway, let's review Shin Gojira.

Godzilla's new look.

Background and BTS:

The last Japanese Godzilla movie before this one was Godzilla Final Wars in 2004. After that, Godzilla took a 10 year break before another Godzilla movie was announced for release in 2014. But this one wasn't made by Toho, but American movie studio Legendary, who produced Pacific Rim a few years earlier. After the success of Godzilla 2014, Toho immediately began work on a new Japanese Godzilla film. While it would have been easy to bring Godzilla back in his homeland, Toho chose to take a new direction with the franchise, and reboot Godzilla once again. While previous reboots acknowledge previous movies, this latest instalment is a full reboot, and not at all related to the original Godzilla, or Godzilla 2014. They also brought on the director of Neon Genesis Evangelion to write the film, to the delight of many anime fans. The new design of Godzilla was kept in secret for a long time. Unfortunately, when the design was released, it wasn't met with the warmest welcome. The drastic change included tiny sunken-in eyes and a deformed jaw with a long string of teeth going past the elongated mouth. But after a full image of the new Godzilla suit was leaked, Godzilla fans understood that this Godzilla wasn't someone to root for like in previous films. Like in the original 1954 Godzilla, this Godzilla was a monster. His only purpose is to destroy. And most people loved it.

The new Atomic Breath. I don't think Godzilla's ever been purple before.  

Plot Summary:

This movie is a complete hard reboot, ignoring every previous Godzilla movie. It's in no way related to Godzilla 2014, and exists in its own film universe.

In modern day Japan, the government is informed of a massive creature breaching in Tokyo Bay. While the PM assures the public the creature will not come on land, of course, it comes on land. The massive creature crawls along the ground with two back legs while the city is evacuated. After causing some destruction, the creature begins to evolve. It stands up on its back legs, grows tiny arms, and stands fully upright, along with it's pale skin becoming red. The creature makes its way back into the ocean while the government meets to discuss what should be done about this beast.

The meeting doesn't go over easily. Some want to kill the creature, some want to capture it, others want to let it be and keep it away from Japan. A group of scientists meet to discuss what the creature is, and find some notes that another scientist took about the creature. In his research, he dubbed the creature "Godzilla". While they study Godzilla, they find that it has been consuming radiation and growing on the bottom of the ocean for years, and that everywhere it goes becomes extremely contaminated. As they discuss this, Godzilla appears again. This time, he's bigger and badder. He's nearly 400 feet tall, and his skin has gone a dark charcoal grey. His tail is also way longer (and no, there is no face in the tip of the tail... at least not yet.) After getting attacked by planes and tanks, he begins to glow purple and releases a massive blast of smoke from his mouth, which he lights into a massive explosion.The flames from his mouth condenses into a purple laser that he uses to cut through buildings, knocking them down in an instant. This is the most destruction Godzilla has ever caused in one setting.

Eventually, after the destruction has passed and Godzilla has retreated again, the government puts together a plan to administer a drug that will freeze Godzilla in place using tanker trucks. This is proven more difficult after Godzilla comes back, and reveals two new abilities. He can fire lasers out of his back to stop planes from attacking from above, and he can fire a laser from his tail at the same time as his mouth to fire two beams at the same time. The government sends trains containing explosives to knock him down, and then fill Godzilla's mouth with the drug. Eventually, Godzilla gets back up and freezes in place.

After a brief scene, we see Godzilla again, this time focussing on his tail. But something's off. Something is actually coming out of his tail. Multiple skeletal humanoid beings with dorsal plates on their backs are emerging from his tail. And yes, if you look closely, there is not only a face, but a fully formed eyeball in the tip of the tail. Before we can get a better look at these things, the credits roll.

Surprisingly, I don't want this to happen. (I love Matt Frank, btw)

Characters:

I'll be honest, I didn't care about any of the human characters in this movie. In most Godzilla movies, you can at least remember the names. Who could forget Dr. Serizawa or Ford Brody or Douglas Gordon? But the only character I really remember was Kayoko, but only because I though she was really cute.

Godzilla on the other hand, was fantastic. The thing I love about modern Kaiju, like Pacific Rim or Godzilla 2014, is that the writers actually make an effort to explain the monster's biology. Before, it was fine to just say "he's a radioactive dinosaur" or "she's a divine butterfly goddess". But now, the explanation for this new Godzilla takes a few minutes at least. I love his various forms, but as a Pokemon fan, I couldn't help but make a bit of a comparison. One other thing I had a problem with was his tail beam. It just looks silly. The back lasers cut it close, but they're not as strange looking as the tail beam.

The two main characters... what were their names again?

Good and Bad:

First of all, it's obviously awesome to see Godzilla in his homeland again. This is a very different take on Godzilla, and it's something we've never seen before. The closest to this version of Godzilla we've ever seen before was the original Godzilla from 1954. This Godzilla is a monster through and through. I honestly couldn't see this Godzilla fighting other monsters, and that's kind of a good thing. We've been seeing the same Godzilla over and over again, so it's refreshing to see a brand new take on such an iconic character. Already, Shin Gojira has been accepted alongside other fan favourite Godzilla designs. I really liked the idea of Godzilla evolving from an eel-like creature into his regular form. His first on-screen form has been nicknamed Kamata-Kun by fans, and most of the fan art of him is adorable somehow. The new atomic breath and Godzilla's new powers are really cool. The purple lasers shooting out of his mouth, back, and tail are awesome looking, and really set this Godzilla design apart from the others. Aside from Legendary's Godzilla, I think this might be my favourite Godzilla.

One major part of any Godzilla movie is the human element. It's easier for humans to identify with humans than it is for them to identify with giant monsters. However, the human scenes in Shin Gojira were pretty boring to me for the most part. Maybe it's just because I saw the Japanese version and I can't speak Japanese, so part of the dialogue's weight was taken away since I had to read it in subtitles. Some of the characters speak English randomly throughout the movie, which I thought was a little weird. Also, even thought I love the new Godzilla design, the CG is pretty bad. Yep, Godzilla is CG in this movie. Well, that's not entirely true. He's partially an animatronic puppet, and he's also portrayed by a guy in a motion capture Godzilla suit. I know Toho doesn't have as big of a special effects budget as most American film companies, but the scene in which Godzilla changes from his first form to his second looked a little bit weird. Also, I would have liked to hear a revamped version of the iconic Godzilla roar, rather than a recycled one from past movies. But that's just me, I guess.

Part of the promotion for Shin Gojira included a crossover episode of the anime Crayon Shin-Chan. 

Final Verdict:

The way I see it, there are two types of Godzilla movies. There are the ones which focus on the humans and their struggle trying to survive a massive tragedy, and there are the ones which depict two monsters smacking into each other until one of them dies. Personally, I prefer the latter, so this movie wasn't exactly for me. But what I came to realize is that Japan and North America have different ideals when it comes to Godzilla. Japan likes the story, and North America likes the fights. And I think that's what's happening now with both Shin Gojira and Legendary's Monsterverse. While Toho makes the heavy, horror, story-driven Godzilla movies, Legendary will make the epic monster vs monster action movies. Two different movies for the two different types of fans. And if you're a fan of both, even better, you get two awesome movies to watch. So while I didn't like Shin Gojira much, it's by no means a bad movie. It's a fantastic movie, but it's for different types of Godzilla fans then me.

I smell a sequel! A terrifying, horribly disturbing sequel!

Final Grade: B+