Godzilla Minus One.

Review #2154: Godzilla Minus One.

Cast: 

Ryunosuke Kamiki (Kōichi Shikishima), Minami Hamabe (Noriko Ōishi), Yuki Yamada (Shirō Mizushima), Munetaka Aoki (Sōsaku Tachibana), Hidetaka Yoshioka (Kenji Noda), Sakura Ando (Sumiko Ōta), Kuranosuke Sasaki (Yōji Akitsu), Mio Tanaka (Tatsuo Hotta), and Yuya Endo (Tadayuki Saitō) Written and Directed by Takashi Yamazaki.

Review: 

"I love the original Godzilla, and I felt I should stay true to that spirit, addressing the issues of war and nuclear weapons."

Admittedly, I have been a bit slow in covering Godzilla films, because really, I feel like I should've done better than seeing just the first eight films in eleven years (oh sure, the American ones got their due, but whatever - there are 33 Toho Godzilla films and four-going-on-five American ones!). I vaguely remember hearing about Shin Godzilla (2016), but, well, what are the odds that it actually got a release where I live (read: small town - it should be mentioned that the 2016 film was the first of those films to have a North American release since Godzilla 2000)? Fate does lend a hand sometimes, and when I heard that this film (released in Japan in November) was getting a release with subtitles, hell yes I was up for seeing this. This is the first live-action Godzilla film released by Toho since the aforementioned 2016 film, which is because the studio could not produce one until at least 2020 due a contract they did with Legendary Pictures (of course, Polygon Pictures and Toho Animation did serve as production companies on an anime trilogy: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018), and Godzilla: The Planet Eater [2018]). Takashi Yamazaki directed films when he was a youth (as influenced by viewing features such as 1977's Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and he worked in visual effects for a number of years before becoming a feature director with Juvenile (2000); he had included a CGI cameo of Godzilla in a brief sequence in his 2007 film Always: Sunset of Third Street 2 along with one for an amusement park ride. Yamazaki has stated that the original film (as done by Ishiro Honda) and Shusuke Kaneko's Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) served as influences on his film, among a few non-Godzilla ones to go with seeing the anxiety and unreliability that came with the COVID pandemic. Yamazaki and Kiyoko Shibuya were involved in the creation of the visual effects (as handled by Shirogumi) for a film with a reported budget of $15 million.

What better way to serve as a "70th Anniversary" film than to make a period piece Godzilla film Making a replica of Kyushu J7W Shinden and doing a film that looks for the idea of life even in the hands of despair and fear makes this probably the best Godzilla film in a number of years. It isn't too often you see Godzilla stand alone in a monster mash, and yet here we are with a particularly involving 125-minute film that shows one thing above all: you really can't beat the theater when it comes to experiencing film in the best way possible for life. People coming together really does make for a compelling adventure. The terror of the bomb of the original film still rings for a coherent film that seems as relevant as ever, with this one citing the two nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946 (Operation Crossroads - one of the tests was described as the "world's first nuclear disaster") when it comes to mutations; of course, one also sees a bit of effects fudging to depict why America would not be involved in any dealing with Godzilla once spotted near Japan, so there's something to consider (or just how one considers governments in general). Kamiki is here to carry the emotional weight of survivor guilt that makes for quite the experience when it comes to the nature of what really matters to those who sees the eyes of death and live with the pain of telling the tale. He rings true in the pain of being in a spot among others that struggles with the fact that he is even there at all no matter how many things can go favorably for them (in this case, anyway). One doesn't always remember the lead performer for a Godzilla film, but he makes a good case for it here. The rest of the cast handle it just as well in that endearing sense of soul and general interest, which mainly involves competency on the level one hopes for in a period piece, whether that is the patient Hamabe or a boisterous crew in Yoshioka and company that keep things afloat even when one sees the inevitable coming in the force of nature. The filmmakers set out to make Godzilla look "deadliest in history", and I think they did a pretty good job in that regard when it comes to the sheer scope of annihilation in certain sequences, such as its appearance in Ginza. In general, the film doesn't ring a false note in its period trappings or in its effects sequences, and it does earn those certain music cues when it matters most. I appreciate the film best because I got to see it in a theater with the full experience of hearing and viewing the scope of the film with the best of intentions that earns its moments for quality and involving entertainment. Who knows where it stands among the Godzilla films as a whole (the original is a hard one to beat for sheer originality), but Godzilla Minus One has a solid case for all to recommend as something to watch in the best state possible.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Suzume.

Review #2003: Suzume.

Cast: 

Nanoka Hara (Suzume Iwato), Hokuto Matsumura (Souta Munakata), Eri Fukatsu (Tamaki Iwato), Shôta Sometani (Minoru Okabe), Sairi Itô (Rumi Ninomiya), Kotone Hanase (Chika Amabe), Kana Hanazawa (Tsubame Iwato), Matsumoto Hakuō II (Hitsujirō Munakata), Ryunosuke Kamiki (Tomoya Serizawa), Ann Yamane (Daijin), and Aimi (Miki) Written and Directed by Makoto Shinkai.

Review: 

"There are a lot of these issues that I think we need to come face to face with that demand our attention. But it’s hard to face them in a way or put them into a context where younger audiences will be open to discussing it. So in some ways, I think Suzume is connecting the older and younger generations through this sort of communal or unified experience. "

Admittedly, I haven't had too much to spend on anime films as I would like to cover, probably because one can only cover so much ground (Japan, perhaps not surprisingly, is the most prolific non-American topic on Movie Night, taking up nearly 30% of the films listed as world cinema, which has only taken up around six percent of these 2,003 reviews). But one thing that definitely matters most is finding a new director to introduce to the lexicon (of course, this particular director has been dubbed by some as "Miyazaki's heir", so me using "new" is a bit ironic). Born in Koumi, Japan, Makoto Shinkai found influence for his passion as a youth to manga and anime when he was a teenager; he graduated from study of Japanese literature at Chuo University to work at Falcolm, a video game company where he made video clips and graphic design. In 1999, he made his debut into animation with "She and Her Cat", which was done with hand-drawn illustrations and 3D done in Adobe After Effects, for which he had the help of three others in creating a five-minute short done in monochrome. He quit Falcom in order to work on a new original animation, which became Voices of a Distant Star (2002). He made his debut as a feature director with The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004). Since then, he has directed six further films (one being an anthology), with Your Name (2016) probably being the one that sticks out amongst people more familiar with Shinkai. That film, along with this one, were inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (which led to the death of thousands of people); as such, the movie is both a road movie along a fantasy adventure. As is the case with his other films, it was produced by CoMix Wave Films with him as director and writer.

It is probably not a coincidence that the film, released in late 2022, managed to find a release into theaters here because of its widespread success in its native Japan, as it soon ranked up there as one of the highest-attended films in Japan...ever. You know, the thing about watching a movie with subtitles in a theater is that it is undoubtedly better to enjoy it with a complete sense of calm. Well, that, or with no one else around so you can enjoy your own mood without problem, which goes double for a movie that features someone turned into a chair early on. But it is an interesting movie because of what ends up happening beyond first appearances, which mainly involves the trouble of trying to deal with opening doors without first looking at what we have behind us. In other words, it is tying up losing ends that matter most rather than leaving things to spiral out of control, whether that involves bubbling tension or, well, mythical worms. It grows on you as a coming-of-age film that soothes the soul in wondering what matters most when it comes to memory that its moments of crisp visuals (for the most part, as the CG animation is iffy) to go along with a generally interesting adventure that checks the marks for interest without turning into the complete paint-by-number venture. This was the first anime role for Hara, and she does pretty well in exhibiting the vulnerability required in a role that adjusts on the fly to the events happening around them, which is key in a road movie that sees plenty of presences around her, which works probably a bit better than the lingering romance. Matsumura proves fine, representing the struggle of trying to maintain one's sense of self while keeping a bond with Hara that makes for a useful bond. The rest of the passersby folks (whether it involves relatives or a magic cat) prove involving enough to make this an interesting atmosphere to remind one that being wrapped up in fantasy doesn't necessarily one has to leave people behind on the way there, as signified by the dynamic between Fukatsu and Hara. As a whole, it makes for a play at learning to closing one's emotional doors while also having a worthy adventure for 122 minutes that will prove most of your time well. Being a pretty good anime film will probably be more than enough for those curious enough to do this sort of film, so take that for what it's worth.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.