Shin Godzilla (2016) - Japan
Review by Andrew Chan
Japanese blockbuster Shin Godzilla transcends beyond the typical disaster monster movie into a satirical take on the Japanese government on handling the recent disasters of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, and Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The result is a film that is realistic in its portrayal of a disaster and how ineffectual the "old school" bureaucratic Japanese government is in managing a crisis at the cost of lives.
The highlight is the stop motion monster CGI enhanced Godzilla whose nuclear energy and laser beams is as amazing to watch as is its own self regenerating body. The film stars Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, and Satomi Ishihara as the younger politicians whose are more concerned with the welfare of the country and people of Japanese than the older hands. Satomi Ishihara in particular shines as the American Japanese caught in the middle of it all.
All in all, Shin Godzilla strikes big time as a disaster monster flick, whilst dabbling on relevant political issues concerning the state of Japan. The fact that it took the initiative a group of selfish individuals to go against the established and risk their lives for the greater good. Unfortunately this is a movie and the idealistic personalities are highly likely in real life. At least with the Godzilla temporary frozen, the sequel awaits, rumoured to be 2020.
I rated it 3.5/5
Out on DVD and Blu Ray at https://neofilmshop.com/search?q=Shin+Godzilla
