Okay, here are some thoughts on Shin Godzilla. I can put them together into a formal review at a later time.
First, Shin Godzilla is a full reboot. In this film reality none of the prior films have occurred. And actually this turns out to be a good decision in light of the underlying story of the film that deals with the governments response to the appearance of the creature.
Second, this is a talky film. Lots of dialogue scenes and they are not dubbed (the film uses English subtitles). And those talky scenes are VERY politically charged from a Japanese perspective. The film is taking shots at Japanese political culture as well as casting its events in a similar mold to the Tsunami and Fukushima disasters. Indeed, without some knowledge of how the Japanese government is constituted some of the plot is not going to completely make sense.
Third, this is a VERY serious film tonally. People die and it is not sugarcoated. Themes of teamwork, self-sacrifice, honor and duty are in full force. It almost feels at times like a documentary, as we are taken through the processes of defense and governmental function and even how they discover things about Godzilla.
This brings me to....Godzilla.
Godzilla in this universe has a very Science Fiction origin story. He was a very ancient sea creature whose habitat had been contaminated with a large amount of nuclear waste that in the past had been dumped at sea. Well, he adapted to it and started consuming it. He appears in the movie in three different forms:
- Form one is sort of like a huge eel with Godzilla back spines, gills that gush radioactive blood and hind legs he cannot yet use. He literally slithers on his belly destroying things in this form.
- Form two comes into play when form one manages to rise up on its rapidly developing hind legs and we first hear the Godzilla roar. The gills and the rest of the skin start rapidly hardening into an armor like coating. This form then returns to the sea.
- Form three is the one we've seen in the trailers. Looks much more like a traditional Godzilla but the front arms are not fully developed and it has unarmored patches on its body and such. And this form is huge.
Now while Godzilla does not change form again in the film, he does change in that his nuclear breath comes into play. It is by far the most destructive nuclear breath ever seen from Godzilla and is literally like a stream of photons. And he can emit it from a number of places along his body all at the same time (similar to the Heisei Godzilla nuclear pulse).
A nice part of the film is the scientists discovering things about Godzilla as the film goes along. Among these was discovering that his back fins are part of a cooling system he needs because he is in effect nuclear powered. Another nice touch was how they had Godzilla go dormant after large expenditures of energy (like using his nuclear breath at full power).
The producers stated that a goal was to make Godzilla frightening and disturbing like he initially was. Well, the first two forms don't do either but the third form is definitely more "monster" than in the past. There are also scenes involving his tail as well as the gills gushing blood that are creepy.
Acting was decent too. Plot was nicely written and like I said this feels like a documentary at times.
So, what were issues?
Well, for one if you felt Godzilla did not appear enough in Godzilla 2014 get ready to say the same thing again. Lots of Godzilla early and late and little in the middle. Which is basically how Toho always has done it.
Also the effects were inconsistent. Godzilla form three is excellently done overall and the nuclear breath scenes are awesome. Form two wasn't bad but did not feel "real". Form one was rendered kind of silly by the facial construction. But overall it worked.
This was unusual for me to go to a limited release, but it was worth it.