Shin Godzilla

Notes

I know this entry into the franchise has its criticisms (which are valid). I do agree that the CGI takes away from the classic Godzilla charm a bit. On the other hand, I really like spin to make Godzilla actively evolve throughout the film. Some of these iterations harken back to classic designs in homage to the franchise's legacy. So the CGI was not a smashing success, but not a total failure either given what they were trying to achieve.

I appeciate the attempt to weave the beaurocratic machine at play into the story, with West WIng-style walk and talks and meetings that deliberately illustrate how fucking absurd that machine can become in the face of an existential threat.

• Everyone sweating the legality of proposed actions because of the language of the emergency protocols documentation.
• The prime minister is ringing his hands over historical/political ramifications of issuing an unprecedented proclamation of emergency, when a GIANT.FUCKING.MONSTER is slithering through Tokyo.

Another feather in the cap of the political drama at play here is the plot point of the U.S. making the unilateral decision to nuke Japan to stop Godzilla. This plot point continues the tradition of Godzilla's theme of highlighting Japan's generational trauma from the nuclear strikes of WWII, while stating plainly the ongoing fear that the United States has ultimate control over Japan's destiny.

It's easy for America's story in the context of history to justify those actions as a means to end the war. It's easy for America's story to say we didn't fully understand what we had created until seeing the horrific results of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite any truth these statements may hold, that doesn't invalidate the psychological toll those actions have had on Japan, how they manifest in this story.