October 13th, 2016, 11:00 PM
I saw the new Toho Godzilla film this week. I really enjoyed it, but reaction I've seen online seems to be love it or hate it. It's actually similar to the 2014 American Godzilla movie in that it focuses on the people dealing with the crisis Godzilla causes. Having said that, I found when the focus was on Godzilla, they really made the most of it. I thought the destruction scenes were some of the most satisfying I've ever seen.
They also do quite a bit of new stuff, as far as I can tell. I haven't seen every Godzilla movie yet, but I don't think any of them have portrayed the monster like this before. It's a nice change of pace, and after 29 Japanese movies and 2 American ones, I think switching it up once in a while is necessary.
The film seems to be two things, first a commentary on bloated bureaucracy, and second questioning Japan's place in the modern world. Which is to say it's very much a film made for Japanese audiences.
Overall, I thought it was a great film, and worth a look. Lots of subtitles, though, so be warned if you don't like reading your movies! Not only is the dialogue subtitled, but almost every location, character, cabinet meeting, etc gets an identification posted on screen. It gets pretty busy. When it releases on DVD I'll likely watch it once without subtitles just to be able to take in the scenes visually.
They also do quite a bit of new stuff, as far as I can tell. I haven't seen every Godzilla movie yet, but I don't think any of them have portrayed the monster like this before. It's a nice change of pace, and after 29 Japanese movies and 2 American ones, I think switching it up once in a while is necessary.
The film seems to be two things, first a commentary on bloated bureaucracy, and second questioning Japan's place in the modern world. Which is to say it's very much a film made for Japanese audiences.
Overall, I thought it was a great film, and worth a look. Lots of subtitles, though, so be warned if you don't like reading your movies! Not only is the dialogue subtitled, but almost every location, character, cabinet meeting, etc gets an identification posted on screen. It gets pretty busy. When it releases on DVD I'll likely watch it once without subtitles just to be able to take in the scenes visually.
