It is a very strange movie in that it was both fantastic and rubbish at the same time. The effects were, being typically Godzilla, initially terrible. But as the movie progressed and Godzilla took his full form they became quite awesome (there's a scene when Godzilla is hit by several bomb ladened trains and it just as awesome as that sounds). And, as this was an attempt to show how the modern world would react to Godzilla's emergence, there's none of the cheap get-out "It's so dark you can't really see Godzilla" shots (looks at Legendary's Godzilla with gentle scorn). This is the Godzilla we needed.
Storyline wise it is a bit of a let down. It's actually, basically, a political drama. Even allowing for the Japanese culture, the characters are very staid and dull. However... not only does it touch on the pain of nuclear catastrophe and harking back to Hiroshima and Nagasaki (in keeping with the original Godzilla) but also it has some pretty cutting remarks on the relationship of Japan to the rest of the world.
I'm, coincidentally, reading Embracing Defeat which sort of suggests the "Allied" (US) occupation of Japan never ended. This movie plays to those themes and strikes a, to an outsiders ears, nationalist pose. Nationalism has a strong history in Japan and it is amazing to think that they've allowed themselves to be very much a client state of the US into the current era despite that, often worrying, nationalist streak. Anyway... it is very interesting to see those themes played out on the screen even if there's a tinge of concern.
See... Godzilla isn't just a silly monster flick. Sadly, despite some promise in this movie under the brutally dull script, there is unlikely to be a sequel any time soon due to the agreement Toho has with Legendary who are bizarrely constructing their Monsterverse around their own version of Godzilla
Take away scene: seeing the wave Godzilla creates wash in to Tokyo carrying with it boats. A terrifying image in the way of the 2011 tsunami.
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