Shin Godzilla.

Review #2563: Shin Godzilla.

Cast: 

Hiroki Hasegawa (Rando Yaguchi), Yutaka Takenouchi (Hideki Akasaka), Satomi Ishihara (Kayoko Ann Patterson), Ren Ōsugi (Prime Minister Seiji Okochi), Akira Emoto (Ryuta Azuma), Kengo Kôra (Yusuke Shimura, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary), Mikako Ichikawa (Hiromi Ogashira, Deputy Director), Jun Kunimura (Masao Zaizen, Integrated Chief of Staff), Pierre Taki (Saigo, Combat Leader), Kyūsaku Shimada (Katayama, Minister of Foreign Affairs), Ken Mitsuishi (Kozuka, Governor of Tokyo), Shingo Tsurumi (Yajima, Joint Staff Deputy), Kimiko Yo (Reiko Hanamori, Defense Minister), Takumi Saitō (Ikeda, Tank Captain), Takashi Fujiki (Tokyo Lieutenant Governor), Yû Kamio (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), with Suzuki Matsuo (Journalist), Takahiro Miura (Journalist) and Mansai Nomura (Godzilla, motion capture) Directed by Hideaki Anno (#2344 - The End of Evangelion) and Shinji Higuchi.

Review: 

"In the world of fantastical scifi, Godzilla isn’t just an embodiment of hopes and dreams, but a caricature of reality–almost a kind of satirical reflection of the world. Painting present-day Japan in that light is something of a crazy experiment." - Hideaki Anno

"Shin Godzilla is a very different kind of Godzilla movie to its predecessors. So I was bracing for the movie-going audience to say, "Oh, this isn't Godzilla." But they were surprisingly very receptive to what we were trying to do.  They also fully picked up the the intent and nuance I tried to pour into the film." - Shinji Higuchi

Once upon a time, the Godzilla movies were on ice. Godzilla: Final Wars, released in 2004, was the sixth and final movie released by Toho in their third phase of making the films (which is basically split into eras of their emperor with "Shōwa", "Heisei" or, "Godzilla [1998] sucked, let's make movies again" or, uh, "Reiwa, otherwise known as "Godzilla [2014] rocked, let's make movies again"). So, with the success of the 2014 American rendition, Toho moved quickly to announce the resurgence of the series being in production (one with a title that basically can be construed as "new", "true", or "god", as opposed to, say, "Godzilla Resurgence"). The film was directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, who had worked together on Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, both renditions of Neon Genesis Evangelion, along with Love & Pop (1998)*; Higuchi served as VFX director while Anno served as co-editor and writer for the movie, which drew inspiration from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The effect for Godzilla was done with computer-generated imagery that saw motion capture utilized (after debating using a puppet). Released in Japan on July 29, 2016, the movie was a considerable success and a few months later it even got a release in America, the first one for the series since Godzilla 2000 [1999]. Due to the contract signed by Toho and Legendary Entertainment, the next live-action Godzilla movie could not be produced until at least 2020; it couldn't stop them from doing animated films, which is where the animated trilogy (Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters [2017], Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle [2018], Godzilla: The Planet Eater [2018]) comes in before Godzilla Minus One came around in 2023.

I wonder how this would've felt in 2016, with a 19-year-old* me, one who had only seen the 1954 movie and the 2014 American film at the time, I really do. Maybe I would've got a big kick out seeing it in a theater in the same way that Godzilla Minus One rocked my imagination years later. But this is 2026, I'm nearly 30, and at the end of the day, this is just an okay Godzilla movie that is not nearly as interesting as it believes itself to be for the approach that they aimed for.  This isn't even a complaint about what I wanted the movie to be, this is merely just me believing that things really haven't changed that much from the sequences in 1960s Godzilla movies in conference table discussion. Sure, the camera angles are sometimes neat, and there are little moments to chuckle with amidst the endless displays of who is who. But at a certain point, you can imagine someone watching the film at home (not in theaters, heaven forbid yelling there) and going, "who cares?" I suppose there is a bit of imagination need to believe there was something in their lives besides the minutiae of conference rooms just like with the older ones; I'll give it the pass that the entertainment value mostly overrides the middling characters.² Would the movie be higher on the supposed "bleak scale" some people label it, if, say, the National Diet had been vaporized? (I had a feeling that one of the Godzilla films of the past few decades had a different type of ending, and what do you know, Godzilla 2000 ends with Godzilla going through Tokyo). Going through conference rooms may be exciting to you in hearing what someone might do in the event of a disaster (do you also love doing your taxes?), but being outside feels freer for a movie. The atomic breath sequence is fun not only because it dispenses with one piece of the "who cares?" puzzle but also because, wait for it, it involves Godzilla being cool as hell in destruction. Sure, some folks probably loved it for being, say, complimentary of the Self-Defense Forces, but the real attraction is what you see of its monster, the eventual method of containment (face it, you know no matter what, the movie will not end like Terminator 3) and then, maybe remembering the face of one of the people in the movie. It really is a movie of adaptability: Godzilla adapts into multiple forms (some of them are pretty neat, arguably), the politicians either have to adapt for their country's sake or die (with or without the American government looming) and you either adapt to the film's rhythm for two hours or fall by the wayside.

There are moments with Hasegawa that does invite curiosity in juggling ambition and, well, actually being clever enough to listen and also lead people around him. In theory, the best one to tag along in the discussion part of the film (i.e., stuck in a room with nerds rather than political nerds*) is Ichikawa, mainly because they sound incisive...sure is a shame they only pop up here and there. Apparently, Ishihara felt the pressure in having to deal with the amount of lines in English (as one does when playing an American senior official) that ends up as pretty jarring (reading subtitles is one thing, imagine if you suddenly hear English all of a sudden) when compared to everyone else in vague nature anyway. Arguably, Minus One and this movie share a handful of aspects: both involve a fresh take involving the nature of man when confronting a great threat (bureaucrats in one circle, folks coming off the end of a war in another), both set themselves apart as a fresh reboot that doesn't involve introducing a second monster (the only other non-monster mash Godzilla movie in the last few decades was The Return of Godzilla back in 1984, although that one acted as a "direct sequel" to the first film), and both involve an ending inviting the possibility of a follow-up emergence(^). I felt like I cared more about what I saw in Minus One than what happened with this movie (the milage may vary when it comes to that 2014 American one), but I feel like I should be fairer to the 2016 movie for basically accomplishing its goal of a distinct take on a creature and government going in tandem in adaptability. As a whole, Shin Godzilla is basically fine, surely inspiring curiosity for its place within modern renditions of monster movies from the people that like its pacing and ones who don't have as much fun with it. At a certain point, I had to realize, yeah, this movie did achieve the goals set out on the scale and ambition required in a Japanese movie. Regardless, it has enough entertainment value worth recommending at least once for a movie that is now ten years old.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*Incidentally, Anno wrote Higuchi's Shin Ultraman (2022) and later wrote and directed Shin Kamen Rider (2023).

*December birthdays stay undefeated.

²People love giving the Legendary Pictures Godzilla movies shit for their middling characterization in the face of monster mashes, which to me is funny as hell because brother, what do you think I'm here for in a theater? At a certain point for some movies, the line between "I wanted to see X in the movie" and "I wanted to be interested in the movie" collapses for some movies.

*People who are nerdy about politics are the biggest dweebs imaginable, change my mind. At least the guys who are weird about the lore of movies keep it roughly on the level. 

[^] Higuchi did mention a few small parallels with The Return of Godzilla - SHIN GODZILLA Interview with Shinji Higuchi, Discussing THE RETURN OF GODZILLA and SHIN GODZILLA's Shocking Finale - Daily Dead

Oddly, both also have an available version where you can see the movie in black and white. Also, good god, imagine a Shin Godzilla sequel that has actually *not* focus on the bureaucracy for a moment and actually care about people in the city? The horror! It almost feels like the reverse of my slight bone to pick with Evangelion: at a certain point, I did roll my eyes at Shinji's inner life and wanted to aim my eyes anywhere else. Specifically, Misato. 

In fairness to 2014 Godzilla, I remember loving it a bit back then and slightly less the next time I saw it over five years later because, hey, why the hell would you kill off Bryan Cranston's character? 12 years later, you really can ask: Who cares about (or remembers) Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character? 

Obligatory link, i.e. the only review of the movie I ever watched of the film (also, we love old Cinemassacre)

For the purposes of having a reference of previous Godzilla movies, inquire here: 

The original 1954 classic and its decent 1955 sequel

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) - Godzilla fights King Kong to a relative draw.

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) - Mothra joins the mash!

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) - A monster so important it made the title

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) - Nick Adams in: Spaceman's Adventure

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) - Terrorists, lobsters, and more.

Son of Godzilla (1967) - A real family drama

Destroy All Monsters (1968) - Mash like it's 1999 in Monsterland

All Monsters Attack (1969) - Children and Minilla have to fight their own battles instead of Godzilla

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) - Trippy environmentally hip fun for the whole family

Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) - Godzilla towers and a clip show all in one

Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) - The one with Jet Jaguar the robot with a theme song.

I'll get to the ones from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) to Godzilla Final Wars (2004) eventually. Have fun!

Audition (1999).

Review #2167: Audition.

Cast: 

Eihi Shiina (Asami Yamazaki), Ryo Ishibashi (Shigeharu Aoyama), Jun Kunimura (Yasuhisa Yoshikawa), Tetsu Sawaki (Shigehiko Aoyama), Miyuki Matsuda (Ryoko Aoyama), Toshie Negishi (Rie), Shigeru Saiki (Toastmaster), Ken Mitsuishi (Director), Ren Ohsugi (Shimada), and Renji Ishibashi (Old man in wheelchair) Directed by Takashi Miike.

Review: 

“The life of a movie director is a strange one. What one has done in the past determines the future. And I’m grateful to fans who enjoy my genre films. But I try to focus on the things that I like in the present. I like new ventures There could be disappointments for fans. I like to be diverse. And I’ll keep on being diverse in the future.”

Admittedly, there was no real debate about picking Takashi Miike or not when it came to looking for further faces of directorial vision. Born in the Yao in the Osaka Prefecture of Japan to a welder and a seamstress, Miike had a clear interest in film from a young age. He graduated from the Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film (as taught by Shohei Imamura) and worked in film crews before becoming a filmmaker in 1991, which started with a variety of television and direct-to-video work. His early work in features for audiences would be films such as Shinjuku Triad Society (1995), which he labeled as the first of a "Black Society trilogy" involving triads and the yakuza. Of course, Audition, which premiered on the festival circuit beginning in late 1999, became one of his more noted films abroad. His further films over the years have had their varying levels of attention. Ichi the Killer (2001) had a publicity gimmick handing out barf bags on the festival circuit with a resulting "controversy" about the gore, while his samurai film 13 Assassins (2010) was apparently a really well-regarded remake of the 1963 film of the same name, and he has continued with television from time to time such as Connect just two years ago. One particular influence that Miike inspired in his filmography of roughly 100 films was with Eli Roth, as Audition had Roth say "This is where horror's at. This is what I wanna do", with his 2005 film Hostel even having Miike make a cameo appearance. 

The screenplay for the film was done by Daisuke Tenga based on the book of the same name by Ryu Murakami (published in 1997 but only translated in English in 2009). The idea for making the film came by the company Omega Project, who had previously made money with Ring (1998). This film was shot in three weeks. Evidently, the film received attention for something about feminism or its climax when it comes to, well, being one to not miss. A festival screening apparently saw one person say, "You are sick!" during the Q&A session afterwards while another screening saw someone pass out. It is a slow burn of a film for 113 minutes that plays with the audience in its operation of manners that in a different light could have been mistaken for a Hitchcock inspiration that got veered into the realm of Cronenberg. Going into the film with as little surprise as possible is the best way to watch it, because it rules to not be prepared for what goes on for a film that builds the dynamic between Shiina and Ishibashi to interesting degrees of expectations meeting reality. The promotions for the film (such as that film poster) didn't exactly make it a complete surprise what you would see with it (which, again, was based on a book people had to have known), but Miike obviously has a passion for Murakami's writing. In fact, he apparently wanted to do a film based on Murakami's 1980 book Coin Locker Babies but couldn't find the funding. The film is all about the nature of where truth meets lies, because it all starts with a son that truthfully thinks his father looks tired and needs a wife. Ishibashi makes this pursuit as captivating as possible, one who makes the idea count that one really can get swept away by a woman with little more than a few phrases and seeing them "audition". The idea is amusing and perhaps a bit pathetic when you look at it under the surface to vie for the affection of a woman under the guise of a lie, and yet there is something that makes you at least see why he would go forward with the ruse as played with Kunimura, who takes it as seriously as part-casting, part-wife scouting. Of course, Shiina (fashion model-turned-actress) is the other key force, selling the dynamic with that righteous sense of timing who is unnervingly graceful. The sequences involving the audition in general make the film where it is for foundation of assumptions in society. No one is who they seem (whether in how they are as shaped by their experiences, trauma or not), which make the ultimate outcome all the more harrowing to see play out. The climax is excellent in taking those assumptions and leveling them into the ground, right down to its final shot in terms of shattered illusions. In conclusion, I really appreciated this film. It builds the degrees of elegance and tension in a manner that can't be appreciated in full unless one sees it all the way through for itself. If watching new directors to start a year for the last few years has taught me anything, one finds some of those directors are really worth looking into on a more regular basis, and Miike may just be one of those examples more than anything. It's a damn good horror film you just have to enter with as little illusions built as possible, and you can take my word for it on that being true.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Next up: Craig R. Baxley's Stone Cold (1991).