Even after 66 years and 35 movies, the Godzilla franchise is still going strong. Despite the numerous flops and bombs in the series, audiences in both the US and Japan still continue to flock to the latest major films starring the famous monster. Later this March, we’re even getting an all-new crossover film: Godzilla vs. Kong.
Amid all this hype over the American Godzilla films, most people here in the States have probably missed out on the best of the modern Godzilla movies: 2016’s Shin Godzilla directed by Hideaki Anno.
While it was highly praised by Japanese critics, the film has gone unappreciated by American viewers and critics alike.
Shin Godzilla (also titled Godzilla Resurgence) is almost a retelling of the 1954 original. It focuses on a group of scientists and politicians as they argue about how to respond to the impending destruction of Japan by the titular monster. As Godzilla begins to evolve rapidly, the government begins to take drastic military and diplomatic measures.
Shin Godzilla is a masterpiece of two genres. It’s both a great monster movie and a great disaster film.
As a disaster film, Shin Godzilla works well because we’re shown all the ways in which Godzilla’s rampage has affected the citizens of Japan. There’s clear parallels to the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami.
We see scenes of people evacuating their homes, staying in emergency shelters, and fighting to escape quickly.
As someone who’s directed action spectacles in the past, Hideaki Anno also ensures that Shin Godzilla is a great monster movie. The scenes wherein the Japanese and U.S. militaries fight Godzilla are all well-shot and exciting.
Although they’re small compared to the monster, there’s a constant sense of suspense that causes us to believe that these human weapons may have a chance against it.
Most importantly, Shin Godzilla gets the core message of the Godzilla series: nuclear weapons will destroy us if we aren’t careful. Tomoyuki Tanaka (the producer of the early Godzilla films) described the films like this: “The theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the [atomic] bomb. Mankind had created the bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind.”
A major plotline in Shin Godzilla focuses on the scientist faction trying to dissuade the U.S. from dropping a nuke on Japan to kill Godzilla. The role of nuclear waste in creating Godzilla is heavily-emphasized. The scenes of citizens fleeing their city also hearken back to the horrors of World War II.
In many ways, Shin Godzilla is similar to Nolan’s Batman films. It takes an old, recognizable franchise that was somewhat out-of-fashion and uses a small amount of realism to elevate it.
More than just Godzilla, the film has themes of nationalism, bureaucracy, diplomacy, and globalism. Even with all this, the contrast between political satire and monster spectacle never becomes jarring. There’s a sense of coherency and cause-and-effect to it.
Despite all my praise for it, the film does have some flaws. Godzilla’s early forms look fairly googly-eyed and silly, and the ending will probably be unsatisfying for many viewers. While I do think a sequel would be appropriate, I feel that the ending (which I will not spoil) was fitting.
I also can’t recommend Shin Godzilla to viewers who are expecting more of the monster. Like the 2014 Godzilla, Godzilla’s screentime is a bit lacking in this film. I felt that the pacing and editing of the movie made each Godzilla scene feel fresh, but others may feel cheated.
Shin Godzilla is a monster film almost anyone can enjoy. It has enough DNA from the original to please old fans, but it’s still a good film for those who may not be at all familiar with the kaiju genre.
While the American Godzilla films do have their good qualities, I think Shin Godzilla shows that Godzilla’s home country understands him best. This film will certainly go on to be a monster classic in the future. If the franchise still goes strong, I’m hoping to see a direct sequel in the future.