Shin Godzilla is a film that is so dense and complicated as a work of cinema, it's difficult choosing where to start.
It's very clear from the outset of the film that it will be heavy in political commentary, and thus, a myriad of relevant modern day political topics are brought into the forefront. Questions are raised with regards to the post-war agreement made between the US and Japan, the particularly hot-button topic of expanding the role of the Japanese Self Defense Force, suggestive criticism of the use of nuclear energy, as well as commentary on the way the Japanese government operates in times of natural disaster.
Shin Godzilla invokes imagery from the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami and the resulting radioactive fallout from the meltdown of the nuclear reactors in Fukushima. In this way, I couldn't help but see Shin Godzilla as somewhat of a Japanese cinematic equivalent to Steven Spielberg's invocation of 9/11 imagery in War of the Worlds. Both films are similar in that, as the tripods are in War of the Worlds, Godzilla cannot be destroyed despite all offensive and defensive military efforts. The emphasis of the horror aspect of Godzilla is also, not only similar to War of the Worlds, but also the original 1954 Godzilla film. Indeed, a lot of effort was put in to this design of Godzilla as it is horrifying when fully in frame.
This film has a lot going for it as far as thematic depth is concerned. But it is heavily hindered by certain aspects of the writing, editing, cinematography, etc. that recur increasingly frequently as the film progresses that it can't be ignored.
This film is incredibly dialogue heavy where jargon is thrown about here and there constantly. In the beginning of the film, it's fine because that's part of the political satire of the way the Japanese government operates. But it's when things start going into the "scientific" jargon that it starts to become a bit much. The problem when you invent a creature like Godzilla that has the potential for unlimited power and is virtually unstoppable is that you write yourself into a corner. All of the scenes where the team of characters work to figure out a way to stop Godzilla feels more like the writers trying to squirm out of the corner they wrote themselves into by the creature's premise alone. We have many long sequences where we have characters speaking paragraphs-long explanations of scientific jargon related to Godzilla's biological principles or how to stop him and it gets very tiring to listen to. At points it feels like it dips into the realm of science fiction B-movie, not only with the writing, but also the acting and the technical aspects of how those scenes are shot.
The acting is alright for the most part, though it does get a little over-the-top when the science team quickly deliberate their mumbo jumbo amongst each other. Their line delivery gives off the impression that it's supposed to be funny, as I'm pretty sure there are a number of sequences like those in the Japanese comedy film Virgin Psychics. There is one scene that is probably between 1-2 seconds long that is shot in such a campy, B-movie way of one of the characters saying something like"What!?" and it honestly brought the film to level of B-movie schlock I'd expect from a director like Lewis Schoenbrun.
The editing for Shin Godzilla is another mixed bag. The editing is very fast-paced. It is hectic through the majority of the film's runtime and, in the beginning, it works. There are a lot of cuts and short shots of people deliberating policy and it works to serve as a satirical take on the way the Japanese government operates. But it maintains the frantic style, which wouldn't be an inherently bad thing if it wasn't for the fact that so much of this film is spent writing itself out of a hole. It goes from looking like a clever political satire to an unintentional satire of itself.
The special effects are about as scattershot in quality as a splatter painting. The effects look their best when CG assets are looked at with wide angle shots from far away. Unfortunately, however, those good looking shots are the exception, not the rule. There are so many closeups of CG elements in this film which looked like something out of an film by The Asylum. The effects used in the initial attack by Godzilla looked unfinished and incredibly fake. It seems like there was a little too much ambition for what the budget would allow but they went through with it anyway. For a film with an, otherwise, less-is-more mentality when it comes to the destruction and battle scenes, it seems that they really wanted to show little Godzilla running around before he became the big, imposing monster. It looks silly and not in an aged sort of way, but even when it was new.
There are a number of audio issues in this film as well. I understand that they wanted to use the original recorded Godzilla theme for this film but its 1954 recording fidelity results in the track being buried by the modern sound design, completely neutering its effect. There are also a number of scenes where there are explosions from either bombs or rockets or cannons being fired that sound awfully low fidelity that, again clash with the other recorded audio from the film. It's baffling how scooped the explosion sound effects are and, once again, it takes away from the experience. It sounds like a low budget affair B-movie.
Shin Godzilla is a film that has a lot of potential to be an amazing film. And while it does have a certain thematic depth to it that is undeniable, unfortunately it is diluted by a number of issues that, while small, happen very frequently and repeatedly. I reckon, however, that fans of this character and franchise might find some enjoyment in those aspects of this film since a lot of people go into such depth about how powerful each incarnation of Godzilla is relative to each other and other characters from different universes, but as a standalone work of film, aside from fans of this genre or people who are curious about it, I can't say I feel a very strong recommendation here. It's alright, though in a disappointing way.
It's very clear from the outset of the film that it will be heavy in political commentary, and thus, a myriad of relevant modern day political topics are brought into the forefront. Questions are raised with regards to the post-war agreement made between the US and Japan, the particularly hot-button topic of expanding the role of the Japanese Self Defense Force, suggestive criticism of the use of nuclear energy, as well as commentary on the way the Japanese government operates in times of natural disaster.
Shin Godzilla invokes imagery from the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami and the resulting radioactive fallout from the meltdown of the nuclear reactors in Fukushima. In this way, I couldn't help but see Shin Godzilla as somewhat of a Japanese cinematic equivalent to Steven Spielberg's invocation of 9/11 imagery in War of the Worlds. Both films are similar in that, as the tripods are in War of the Worlds, Godzilla cannot be destroyed despite all offensive and defensive military efforts. The emphasis of the horror aspect of Godzilla is also, not only similar to War of the Worlds, but also the original 1954 Godzilla film. Indeed, a lot of effort was put in to this design of Godzilla as it is horrifying when fully in frame.
This film has a lot going for it as far as thematic depth is concerned. But it is heavily hindered by certain aspects of the writing, editing, cinematography, etc. that recur increasingly frequently as the film progresses that it can't be ignored.
This film is incredibly dialogue heavy where jargon is thrown about here and there constantly. In the beginning of the film, it's fine because that's part of the political satire of the way the Japanese government operates. But it's when things start going into the "scientific" jargon that it starts to become a bit much. The problem when you invent a creature like Godzilla that has the potential for unlimited power and is virtually unstoppable is that you write yourself into a corner. All of the scenes where the team of characters work to figure out a way to stop Godzilla feels more like the writers trying to squirm out of the corner they wrote themselves into by the creature's premise alone. We have many long sequences where we have characters speaking paragraphs-long explanations of scientific jargon related to Godzilla's biological principles or how to stop him and it gets very tiring to listen to. At points it feels like it dips into the realm of science fiction B-movie, not only with the writing, but also the acting and the technical aspects of how those scenes are shot.
The acting is alright for the most part, though it does get a little over-the-top when the science team quickly deliberate their mumbo jumbo amongst each other. Their line delivery gives off the impression that it's supposed to be funny, as I'm pretty sure there are a number of sequences like those in the Japanese comedy film Virgin Psychics. There is one scene that is probably between 1-2 seconds long that is shot in such a campy, B-movie way of one of the characters saying something like"What!?" and it honestly brought the film to level of B-movie schlock I'd expect from a director like Lewis Schoenbrun.
The editing for Shin Godzilla is another mixed bag. The editing is very fast-paced. It is hectic through the majority of the film's runtime and, in the beginning, it works. There are a lot of cuts and short shots of people deliberating policy and it works to serve as a satirical take on the way the Japanese government operates. But it maintains the frantic style, which wouldn't be an inherently bad thing if it wasn't for the fact that so much of this film is spent writing itself out of a hole. It goes from looking like a clever political satire to an unintentional satire of itself.
The special effects are about as scattershot in quality as a splatter painting. The effects look their best when CG assets are looked at with wide angle shots from far away. Unfortunately, however, those good looking shots are the exception, not the rule. There are so many closeups of CG elements in this film which looked like something out of an film by The Asylum. The effects used in the initial attack by Godzilla looked unfinished and incredibly fake. It seems like there was a little too much ambition for what the budget would allow but they went through with it anyway. For a film with an, otherwise, less-is-more mentality when it comes to the destruction and battle scenes, it seems that they really wanted to show little Godzilla running around before he became the big, imposing monster. It looks silly and not in an aged sort of way, but even when it was new.
There are a number of audio issues in this film as well. I understand that they wanted to use the original recorded Godzilla theme for this film but its 1954 recording fidelity results in the track being buried by the modern sound design, completely neutering its effect. There are also a number of scenes where there are explosions from either bombs or rockets or cannons being fired that sound awfully low fidelity that, again clash with the other recorded audio from the film. It's baffling how scooped the explosion sound effects are and, once again, it takes away from the experience. It sounds like a low budget affair B-movie.
Shin Godzilla is a film that has a lot of potential to be an amazing film. And while it does have a certain thematic depth to it that is undeniable, unfortunately it is diluted by a number of issues that, while small, happen very frequently and repeatedly. I reckon, however, that fans of this character and franchise might find some enjoyment in those aspects of this film since a lot of people go into such depth about how powerful each incarnation of Godzilla is relative to each other and other characters from different universes, but as a standalone work of film, aside from fans of this genre or people who are curious about it, I can't say I feel a very strong recommendation here. It's alright, though in a disappointing way.