Review of “Shin Godzilla” (Eng. sub.)

* D

Shin Godzilla is a new Japanese Godzilla movie from 2016. It is essentially a reboot. I don’t know if there is an English dub. The version I watched was in Japanese (with a few lines in English) and had English subtitles. The plot was very B movie, with the Japanese doing everything possible to stop the monster as it ravages Tokyo. The climactic conclusion is a race against the clock to stop Godzilla before the Americans nuke it, along with Tokyo.

The acting in the film is limited, though probably not helped by being in Japanese with subtitles. The heroine of the story is a Japanese girl who is the American’s representative, speaks near perfect Japanese, and seems to expect that she will one day be the US president. The hero is a hotheaded young Japanese government official who leads the team of scientists working to stop Godzilla.

Godzilla has some interesting abilities I haven’t seen in previous films. There are many Japanese films, so some of these may have been seen before. The first is its ability to evolve. When it first appears, it is a marine animal. It then transforms into something much more like the iconic original. The second is its ability to emit laser-like beams that wreck havoc on attackers and buildings alike.

In the end, the film failed for me on almost all fronts. The story is weak, Godzilla is plodding and fairly dull, and the characters are wooden. I suggest watching the recent American remake, which though mediocre, is still much more entertaining than this film.

#japanese #moviereview #shingodzilla #tokyo