Movie Review: Shin Godzilla

Shin Godzilla (2016) co-written and directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi

A mysterious sea creature rises up from the ocean and attacks ships. It works its way into Tokyo harbor, where it destroys another ship and causes a breach in a transit tunnel under the floor of Tokyo Bay. The government becomes quite active but is slow to respond. A lot of theories are floated by various departments with only one maverick suggesting an enormous sea creature. The prime minister and his main advisors are reluctant to accept such an outlandish theory. The theory soon proves right as a great sea creature starts belly-crawling its way up one of the bay's tributaries. Destruction and mayhem ensue.

The movie focuses more on the government's disaster response, or lack thereof. They poke some fun at bureaucratic inefficiency and infighting as the situation develops. As the incident (set in modern day) spirals out of control, different plans are tried to stop the monster. Most don't do much, forcing Japan to make deals with other countries. Some local scientists have a scheme to stop Godzilla through a chemical process that should shut his body down, but will they get enough time to implement it before the Americans insist on using a nuke to get rid of Godzilla? The drama is okay, with some better moments and some lesser ones. It's interesting as a look at how difficult and sometimes inept a democratic bureaucracy can be. Certainly, it looks like a comment on the Fukushima disaster.

The depiction of Godzilla is very creative, though not in the best way. The creature evolves several times. The initial form is almost unrecognizable (the only hint is the distinctive dorsal fins and the title of the movie). Godzilla goes dormant several times during the movie, letting the human plot have time to react and move forward. Godzilla has some weird biological changes and random powers. Some powers seemed like they were convenient just to keep the plot going. The final resolution is a bit abrupt and unconvincing. I was not quite satisfied with the main character, which is a big problem in any movie, let alone a monster movie.

Only recommended for Godzilla fans/completionists.