3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Shin Godzilla

2016,  Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi -- download

Of note, I will park this write-up until Kent reaches this stage of his Godzilla Mega Watch.

It's getting close. Kent will soon publish a post about this era of Godzilla. TBH I had not realized there had been so many eras of Gojira, assuming it had pretty much died out in the 80s and this movie was an attempt to resurrect it, in wake of the American movie.

Kent's posts have been fascinating, but pretty much turned out how I expected (but not sure I wanted that confirmation) in that they are generally Not Very Good. Godzilla's continued existence is a product of genre obsession by its fans and the Japanese people. I have probably never watched a single one (there is a remote chance I saw one or two on the late night Bangor. Maine "classic movie" spotlight back in the 80s, but I don't recall; it does seem likely) in its entirety before this one. I have seen plenty on Saturday afternoons as they played on genre or rerun channels, but always in passing. I was always curious. Are they all as bad as the glimpses I got? 

Kent affirms they pretty much are.

But this one, this one was a reboot of a different sort, chasing not the continue legacy but seeking something new. It is part of a tokusatsu style of film making, where they harken back to practical effects. By now CGI, and decent presentations of such, are ubiquitous. So, I assume this was supposed to be a new Godzilla movie with a guy in a suit. Alas...

Kent's is posted ! Yeah, We Agree.

So, Japan, Tokyo. There is no history of Godzilla, this is all new, and no pop culture aspect of Godzilla either. Something happens in an under-bay tunnel, and steam is pouring forth from. What is going on? The news is postulating, the local government is slow to respond, and in typical Japanese (based on my moderate exposure to anime, manga, TV and movies) fashion, any response is mired in protocol, documentation and a desire to save face. That response, or lack thereof, is the entire focus of the movie, a bigger monster than the goo-ey thing that wreaks havoc on the city.

The plot is pretty direct: monster comes ashore, the government is pretty much suffering analysis paralysis, makes a few missteps so a minor adjunct steps up (but still on the sidelines) with a plan devised by outliers & fringe scientists. He is more concerned with the people of Tokyo & Japan, while other government officials seem more concerned with how they are perceived, and how they will end up. Its very stereotypical satirical commentary on inept governing, further complicated by Japanese culture. Meanwhile, Godzilla, a massive, blobby, red and spiky creature is rampaging for unknown reasons, with unknown goals. The JDF, or Japanese Defense Force has to respond, but in reality, has never responded to anything in force before -- a standing army curtailed by the world & history (i.e. the US). Eventually the outliers prevail and the monster is stopped.

Godzilla itself. It starts as this horrible looking, floppy, bulging-eyed fish-lizard that crawls and pushes is immense bulk through the city. It spews forth red goo from its gills which starts taking on a life of its own. Beyond the destruction, it is also emitting radiation. Eventually it evolves, and pushes itself upright, becoming the more familiar creature of movies past. After dozens of renditions of Godzilla, reimagined and traditional, I could see they were going for something that was properly horrifying while still being familiar.

The response. Ineptitude personified. And then the world, represented by America, sticks its nose in with the threat of nuclear retaliation. One does not need to read between any lines, as the movie plays it out clearly. And the American representative, her clownish American posturing (like literally, the way she stood) -- The Peanut Gallery points out, that in Korea and Japan, they often have entirely fluent English-speakers a slightly more garbled (to anglo ears) version of English which the native speakers can absorb more quickly, so it ends up being a mix of communication and effect. It makes me wonder what all the other languages spoken on American TV & movies sounds like to their native speakers. In the end, the Japanese outliers enact their plan before the yanks can nuke Japan again, leaving Godzilla "frozen" from the inside out, stopping his "final-form" before it can happen. While a sequel never happened, we are left with some chilling final images of Godzilla's tail splitting open, revealing strange humanoid creatures, somewhat Alien in appearance.

I rather liked this movie. The depiction of government response actually mirrored what I recall from all the bits & bobs I have seen of the original, classic Godzilla movies -- men gather around tables looking scared, yelling at each other feverishly. But here we see it even more comical, as some members of government sit around a conference table, while others sit nearby, on sofas, looking intense and nervous, everyone either sitting quiet & uncomfortable while others jockey to be heard. Dudes, and dudette, there is a fucking monster coming out of the bay !! Stop fucking about !! The monster creeped me out, as was intended. Ew, ick. What I do wish we had seen more of, maybe via a secondary character or two, was on the ground responses. Alas, that was left to crowds of poorly directed extras reacting to... well, either nothing or maybe sometimes a green-screen. 

Now I wonder, should I see the other Shin movies to see their tonal differences? Like Godzilla, I have not seen much of their sources either, so its not like it would be a compare, but it would still be interesting.