kaijusaurus:

Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) // Shin Godzilla (2016)

A pleasure boat is found abandoned and adrift in the ocean just outside a major city. Upon investigation, recent signs of habitation are found within the craft. The authorities’ investigation is cut short by the sudden appearance of a gruesome monster, kick-starting the events of the movie.

Last night I went to see “Shin Godzilla” (or “Godzilla: Resurgence” as it was advertised as for a while). And I have to say I have mixed feelings about it and don’t quite know what to make of it. 

In this review I will have some spoilers. So be warned.

The first thing that surprised me was they actually released it subtitled. Even for a limited release film that seems bold.  

When you first see Godzilla, he is in the form of a derpy-eyed, walleyed sea creature pushing itself around on land with its hind legs. He actually looks kind of ridiculous. But, I reserved judgement and sure enough, Godzilla began to mutate and evolve into the form you see on the movie poster. 

I was not crazy about the new Godzilla design. With his spindly arms and beady eyes. But I later found out that his scabby looking skin has a similar effect to the “Burning Godzilla” from “Godzilla vs Destoroyah”, glowing an angry red from the nuclear reactions going on inside his body. There were a few shots where they actually made him look scary and menacing. But I still think it lost the fearsome and down right cool appearance of the Hesei and Millennium era designs. I’ve said it before, but I think the new Godzilla design kind of looks like the monster from the 1983 film “The Being”. 

They gave Godzilla some new powers too. He can mutate at will to adapt to new situations. He can fire his atomic ray out of his spines. He can fire it out of his tail too, which I thought was a bit much. And he has a type of electromagnetic radar that alerts him to the presence of enemies. He can also spew a flammable gas from his mouth that he can then ignite. He used it to set about half a city ward on fire.   

I found this film was almost as talky as the ‘98 American Godzilla film, with not much action. I suppose this was to show the almost absurd labyrinth bureaucracy and chain of command inside the Japanese government. There is actually a scene where attack helicopters are deployed and the order has to go through six different officials and commanders before it gets to the pilots. And that order is, of course, stand down. Any and all tension is defused before it builds. This film is filled with these moments. Including having Godzilla fall asleep standing up.  

On the other hand, their are a couple of fierce battles between Godzilla and the JDSF, but they are relatively short. 

There is also a political angle to the film. When it is decided that Godzilla is a threat ti the existence of the human race, the UN, under the pressure of China and Russia, authorizes the United States to deploy nuclear weapons on Tokyo to kill Godzilla. Godzilla has gone to sleep to replenish his energy reserves and they have 15 days before Tokyo is bombed. There is the discussion of what to do with the refugees from Tokyo, the environmental and economic impact of the bombing, and Japan’s place on the world stage. 

They succeed by immobilizing Godzilla with collapsing buildings and force feeding him a coagulant that freezes him and the nuclear reaction inside his body, leaving him as basically a giant statue in the middle of Tokyo. The last shot is a little unsettling. As the camera pans along Godzilla’s tail, the convolution start to form the shapes of skeletal bodies. These skeletal forms look human, but have tails, dorsal fins and muzzles. They look like some type of Godzilla/human hybrid budding out from Godzilla’s tail. They did mention that being able to self evolve and mutate meant that Godzilla had the potential for asexual reproduction. So, maybe the next step in his evolution is bring forth a race of Godzilla/Human hybrids. 

Its an ambiguous ending from the same guy who directed “Evangeleon”, which had the ultimate in ambiguous, mind-fuck endings. 

 Overall, I thought it was like the 2014 Godzilla movie. It was OK. It had some plot and pacing issues and I was not crazy out the redesign of Godzilla, but in the end I will get a copy anyway because I am a completist and it made me appreciate the older films much more. 

If you want Godzilla films with heavy political overtones that does not skimp on the action, try “The Return of Godzilla” (aka “Godzilla 1985″), “Godzilla vs Biollante” and both “Godzilla vs Mothra” films.