[HorrorScience] Shin Godzilla – Godzilla Resurgence (2016)

There are so many movies godzilla about which I have written in this section that I had decided not to comment on any more for a few months.

However, the mixed (rather negative) reception of godzilla (2014) led me to do an article about the film to give my opinion. Curiously, after the premiere of that film, Toho Company (owner of the monster) decided to resurrect it again in what would be its fourth Japanese stage and its 31st film (if we add the 2 American ones).

It may seem curious to more than one that the Japanese went 10 years without making Godzilla movies and just after the American film they decided to make a new one, but those of us who are fans of the saga knew what was going to happen. Not out of pride, not to teach Westerners how to make kaiju movies, but to save money. Every time an American studio makes a Godzilla movie, they invest significant money in advertising. and makes the general public interested in the monster again, after the American film, the Japanese They take advantage of that popularity boom to make a movie which generally has a better outlet (and a larger audience) due to the publicity of the Western film. They did it after godzilla (1998) releasing Godzilla 2000 (1999) and they did it again after the 2014 version with Shin Godzilla (also known as Godzilla Resurgence).

So, regardless of what you think of those two American films, we should be happy that they exist, because otherwise films like this one that I am going to comment on would not exist.

Japan. A lot of gentlemen in suits meet at several huge tables to decide the future of the country. All decisions pass from one to another, without the next one being able to decide anything until the previous one gives his approval and finally they fall to the prime minister. This totally common and predictable situation becomes an obstacle when it appears a huge sea monster that decides to destroy the city near the coast.

The stunned Japanese wait for their government to do something and while the prime minister does his best to calm the population, the monster enters dry land where it will continue its trail of destruction. Now the threat is total and could become global if Japan's politicians do not do something quickly, as the rest of the world is considering putting an end to the monster. in a way that would leave the Japanese country reduced to rubble.

Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence) has been a pleasant surprise and I consider it to be one of the best monster movies in decades.. However, it is worth clarifying that many of the criticisms that were said about godzilla (2014) can be applied here again, such as the little time that Godzilla appears on screen or the time that humans occupy in the entire feature film.

Curiously, At some moments it is more interesting to see the Japanese trying to prevent the rest of the world from deciding to end Godzilla by bombing Japan, than to see the soldier in Edwards' film survive one and a thousand action scenes. On the other hand, Godzilla's scenes differ from his recent American counterpart for several reasons, the first is because Godzilla has different forms (come on, he evolves) and the second is because when he appears he can be perfectly seen causing destruction, causing satisfaction to the viewer in more than one moment, instead of saving everything for a final explosion.

So, despite having points in common, I think this film is much more pleasant to watch than Gareth Edwards's, although it also has its flaws and sometimes pales in comparison to the scenes of the American film (which also introduced more monsters into the bestiary).

One of my fears about this film was that a person responsible for Evangelion was in charge of the project. Evangelion It was an anime series that, although it had enormous success in the 90s, from my point of view had more failures than successes. So I was afraid of a movie where the protagonist did nothing and spent the movie regretting being who he is, ran away from his responsibilities, didn't explain anything about the main story, characters were added just for pure fan service, the same scenes were repeated over and over again and whose ending wasn't even an ending.

Fortunately, most of the things reminiscent of Evangelion that we see in Shin Godzilla they are good and that, in addition to giving me great joy, helps the film a lot, especially in its moments of chatter (when the bureaucrats try to do something to counteract Godzilla, I couldn't help but remember the workers at the Nerv base). However, we will not get rid of scenes without explanations designed to generate controversy (such as the last frame of the film).

The soundtrack also seems to want to remind us of Evangelion, especially to the themes that played in the action scenes and at the same time recovers themes from the legendary Akira Ifukube, responsible for providing music to many of the classic Godzilla films, giving an almost perfect set that is rounded off with the slow and saddening main theme "Who Will Know."

This is the third Japanese Godzilla film to delve deeply into the political issue that was started by gojira (1954) and continued by Return of Godzilla (1984). However, in the three films this policy is represented in a different way. In the first (made a few years after the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) you could see what Japan looked like after the Second World War. In the second, it was given a more sensationalist touch and the Cold War was criticized, and in this the worst enemies of Japan are the bureaucracy (which slows down any action they can take to combat an unforeseen event) and the countries that “want to help” that decide to go on the fast track, because they do not have the monster in their own home. You know, bombing countries is fine as long as it's not yours.

In short, I think this movie is worth watching even if you haven't seen anything from this series. For the first time in a long time, Toho Company has decided to go all out and bring back the King of the Monsters in the way he deserves.

Curiosities about the film:

• It is the first time that a Japanese film completely restarts the Godzilla saga, since all previous films used to consider the 1954 film as the origin of the monster.
• El nombre del científico que estudia a Godzilla parece ser un homenaje a otros personajes de la saga, pues el protagonista de Return of Godzilla (1984) y el de Son of Godzilla (1967) también se llaman así.
• El aspecto de Godzilla se debatió profundamente, se llegó incluso a pensar en hacer que Godzilla tuviese una forma más humana. Algunas escenas eliminadas muestran otras etapas del monstruo.

• La primera forma de Godzilla ha sido bautizada por los fans como Kamata-Kun y ha sido tan popular que existe una gran variedad de productos con su cara, incluyendo peluches y guantes para cocinar.