I’ve been a Godzilla fan since elementary school, when the local TV station would show the cheesy monster movies in the dead zone between He-Man and the evening news. Oh, I’d call myself a casual fan. There are films I’ve missed. I’ve never been to a G-Fan convention. And I certainly haven’t learned Japanese in order to experience the movies in their native tongue; that would just be weird.
Still, I’m enough of a fan that, when I heard that (a) Toho was doing a new Godzilla movie, and (b) they were doing a limited theatrical run in the US, I rushed online to buy a ticket. And I’m glad I did.
The movie did not disappoint. But it did surprise me.
As the trailer suggests, for every scene of the big G smashing Tokyo, there are three scenes of intense men in dark suits talking quickly to each other. These government officials are trying to figure out how to deal with a rampaging monster while preventing panic and any possible damage to their own political careers. While I’d expect such scenes to be dull, the director does a great job of making them just as compelling as the bits where Godzilla sets whole neighborhoods on fire.
Aside from the “West Wing Versus Kaiju” aspect, the movie also surprised me with its take on Godzilla himself. Without giving too much away, I’ll say that while it’s certainly true to monster’s legacy, it gives us some visuals and concepts we’ve never seen before. It’s definitely an evolution of the beast.
This is not a review. It’s a recommendation. That said, it’s two hours of sub-titles, and probably something like 90 minutes of government officials dramatically talking policy and precedent, so… If either of those things give you pause, you might want to wait until Shin Godzilla comes to Netflix.
