"Shin-Godzilla" made the era of post-Kaiju movies

I saw “Shin-Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence)” on cinema. It was an amazing and truly suggestive work.

By the way, “Shin” seems deliberately expressed in Katakana character. It has several meanings such as “true,” “new,” and “God.”

Godzilla is a traditional Japanese Kaiju character created by Toei Company. It is a gigantic beast with a figure like a tyrannosaurus. Originally, it was born under the influence of a nuclear experiment, and so it can take a nuclear fire breath. Thus, the original Godzilla had a message of anti-nuclear weapon. “Shin-Godzilla” succeeds these profiles from the original one.

However, “Shin-Godzilla” is clearly different from other Godzilla movies.

In this film, persons are never described as heroic. Even Yaguchi, a politician as the main personnel, loses his temper and is scolded by his colleague at the middle of the story. The Prime Minister is a weak and timid and indirective person. Experiencing the catastrophe, he becomes a little brave. But in the middle of the story, he is attacked by Godzilla, to be lost. Another person replaces the seat of the Prime Minister, but he is also coward and irresponsible until the last battle.

Several politicians, officials, and researchers struggle to find the way to defeat Godzilla. However, their personality is hardly described in this film. Even family members of them do not appear at all, despite familial relationship and conflict of the heroes are frequently described for making them impressive and humane in many Hollywood movies.

Compared to the US as the nation of the President, Japan is often recognized as a nation of organizations. Many unnamed officials and labors collaboratively make efforts for the great performance. In other films, a well-organized team whose components are ordinal persons often overcomes the tough challenge. In this term, Shin-Godzilla is a typical Japanese movie. It is a good contrast of "Independence Day," a typical American movie in which President fights bravely against an external threat.

In this film, a Japanese team plans to freeze Godzilla with a medical component. In contrast, the US army and the multinational alliance of the United Nations do not hesitate to use nuclear weapons to destroy Godzilla. The US government has a rational but arrogant attitude to Japan, concealing the responsibility on Godzilla's reborn, requesting Japan to give the whole data of Godzilla, and finally demand to Japan accepting the bombing. I wonder how do American people feel about such descriptions.

Anyway, Shin-Godzilla is an amazing movie. It has completely redefined the Kaiju movie or panic films. In recent years, victims of heroes' activities are sometimes described, for example in "Captain America: Civil War," and "Batman v. Superman: The Dawn of Justice." Shin-Godzilla achieved to shed light to the agony of citizens forced to evacuate and the endeavor of many people with no particular superpower. These descriptions made the story realistic. After Shin-Godzilla, films without such perspectives will no more survive.

Personal Rating: 5 (excellent)