+- Forums (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum)
+-- Forum: Doom Arts (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/forumdisplay.php?fid=6)
+--- Forum: Doom DVDs (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/forumdisplay.php?fid=11)
+--- Thread: Shin Gojira (/showthread.php?tid=3875)
Shin Gojira - Drunk Monk - 09-30-2016
This Toho-made Godzilla production was a monster box office smash in Japan this summer. It'll get a limited IMAX showing in the U.S. soon. For some reason, Funimation sent me an online screener.
This really carries the spirit of the original Gojira. It's a warning about nuclear power, and a scathing commentary on bureaucracy. There's a lot of talking - in fact it's almost constant talking as everyone tries to figure out what to do. The cinematography is unusual, the color schemes bleached, a lot of shots of command centers. At nearly 2 hours, it was borderline tiresome. The Americans are annoying except for the smoking hot Japanese American go-between. There's a lot of nationalism set against Japanese stoicism.
But it's all about the big guy. When Gojira is one screen, he is awesome. This is not the dumb Hollywood Godzilla nor is it the sellout papa of baby Godzilla. This is Gojira, the tragic aberration of misguided atomic abuse, a haunting metaphor for Hiroshima & Nagasaki, the biggest badass of tokusatsu. There's a few minor twists to the original, but for the most part, it's an update - the same story in the era of smartphones and social networks. Most important, they kept the original theme music. As an old Gojira fan, it was very nostalgic, but it's pacing might be a little too old skool Japanese. The screener was watermarked with my work email address right smack across the center, and the mediocre resolution on our Mac made it hard to tell how good the effects might be. But still, I'm tempted to see it in IMAX should the opportunity arise.