The stone-cold classic Shin Godzilla has returned to theaters after nine years; and, by some stroke of luck, my local run-down hell-hole of a cinema scored! So, naturally, I made my way downtown - just as the mysterious Vanessa Calrton foretold- to once again catch one of my all-time favorite films. The day started with a ton of rain, the lawn outside my apartment practically flooding - fitting, right? IYKYK. Sometimes I worry it'll reach our doors - my Godzilla doormat was drowned. Shocker I'd own that, right? I got a couple eddies next door, as well as a couple real snacks from the dollar store, and I was off. And yes, the edibles did, in fact, melt into an unholy brick in the car.
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| Sadly, not my photo. X_X |
I first saw Shin Godzilla on it's original US run all the way back in 2016 - though, since it was with a friend I've since lost touch with, seeing it on its second run is sorta like reclaiming a memory. Hard to believe it's basically been ten years - the build-up to Shin was unbelievable. I wasn't exactly old enough to get in on the Godzilla 2014 hype, so it was my first time actively anticipating a Godzilla film. I posted tons and tons of odds and ends I'd find across the Japanese side of Twitter and Instagram to the Toho Kingdom forums; I even remember the first glimpse at Shin himself, a little silhouetted water bottle given to extras. In fact, there were a couple seemingly fake leaks floating around the forum that later proved true once the film's conceptual materials dropped, such as
the two-headed Shin, or
the odd, living spawns of gory flesh. Anyone remember "Godzilla: Resurgence"?
Anyhow, it was a pretty great experience! There were only three groups in the theater, counting Shin and myself - specifically, the Monster King Series 12" vinyl, released just after the film. One couple arrived 45 minutes late - gotta assume they just had time to kill theater-hopping, I don't know how you could miss that much context in a film such as this, let alone one in a foreign language. The behavior of Theater Goers can be a serious mystery.
I'm not usually one to care about, let alone notice 4K, 4-D, Super-Magic-Ultra-Graphics, but I did occasionally notice some difference in clarity, especially during the effect sequences. Slightly different level of contrast, more visible grain and gnarl, etc. I've also read there are some improvements to the translation/subtitle work, though nothing particularly dramatic as far as I could tell.
What a spectacular nightmare of a movie. Really unbelievable horror, perfectly enhanced by a juxtaposed realism that can really shock in it's absurdity, yet believability. I know that's an overly wordy mouthful, but man, is it true. I'll spare you all the full Jay Sherman review, but it truly is a masterpiece; the scariest, most traumatic Godzilla film outside of the original.
It's very exciting to live in an era where the Godzilla franchise can exist both in its home country - with unusual, striking films such as Shin, or the recent Minus One - as well as Stateside - with the very fun, adventurous Monsterverse - proving just how versatile and creative the core concept of a big radioactive cartoon dinosaur can be. It's a great time to be a fan.
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