I'll Catch Up Tomorrow

For now, my revisit of 2016's Shin Godzilla, thankfully experienced again theatrically and thankfully something I still love: 

Even babies love Godzilla!

I saw Shin Godzilla in October 2016, theatrically; wrote up a glowing review for it and all. Never revisited it despite my high rating—thus, when GKIDS randomly decided to wide release a 4K version of this film into cinemas across the United States-to advertise their upcoming UHD release-I couldn't turn down the opportunity. OK, maybe it's not “random”--Godzilla Minus One was an unexpected hit here so why not try for that magic yourself? Yes, there was a baby at the screening I attended last night; that did not turn into a horror story but more on that at the end. To my relief, the film both looked & sounded tremendous.

I feel as if I can be less vague than in the OG review. As the original Gojira tackled nuclear fears and rebuilding after World War II, Shin tackled the awful 2011 Japan had between the earthquake, the subsequent tsunami then the subsequent Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown. The implication is that the Japanese government in '11 was mired in bureaucracy & red tape, full of woefully unprepared, panicked leaders apprehensive in how to properly handle those tragedies. Thus, when an unknown googly-eyed creature (it's still a little odd that it sported this appearance in its first two forms, but alright then) appeared in Tokyo, there were plenty of meetings and press conferences, along with the audience being introduced to what seemed like dozens & dozens of characters.

It's not overwhelming at all; rather, that message was satire, usually not subtle yet that's OK. The focus narrows down to a broad but manageable amount of characters (mainly on the lower rungs of the hierarchy) who attempt to stop an unstoppable creature. There were two aspects that weren't stressed in my original review. When there's Godzilla action, there is plenty of destruction, especially during the “holy crap!” scene of the picture. As there's plenty of time spent w/ the humans, the drama was solid along w/ interesting. The leads are mad at their own government for being spineless along w/ the Americans for their interference and interjecting themselves; insert your own comments if you wish.

It was heartwarming to see a wide variety of different people coming together in an attempt to avoid tragedy and enact a risky plan to save the day. Shin was filmed in a vibrant manner, buttressed by one heck of a score that used both motifs from Akira Ifukube's iconic music and bold music from Shiro Sagisu. A bold interpretation of a film like this won't be for all G fans; personally, I can enjoy (or not enjoy) every kind of Gojira movie, silly to serious. CG that doesn't always look great-especially compared w/ another epic franchise entry, Minus One-I won't wait so long to revisit this at home.

As mentioned in the beginning, a literal baby (its age unknown to me; eyes weren't laid on the little tyke) was heard in the crowd during the film. It was only on a few occasions and no crying occurred. As the most noise happened during the picture's biggest, most epic rousing speech, the leap will be made that the baby loved Shin Godzilla!