Anyone else see Shin Godzilla?

Hey, so for those that don't know, Shin Godzilla, a movie directed by Hideaki Anno (the Evangelion guy) and the first Godzilla movie from Toho Studios for the last 12 years, is showing outside of Japan for only a single week. Fortunately, this involves Australia, and I decided to go and see it today (Note: I have not seen the 1954 original).

Personally, I loved it, despite there being some elements of the satire that likely went right over my head. And yes, there is satire. This is a movie where a monster is busting through Tokyo and yet at the same time members of the Japanese government and the international community attempt to leverage the situation for their own benefit with regards to garnering future favours and political standing. A lot of it ends up being a solid criticism of modern bureaucracy and endless amounts of red tape. That being said, it never devolves into a parody of Godzilla films, with Godzilla itself remaining a very imposing threat, despite some occasional dodgy looking CGI. It's first 'form' might also seem comical to some, but to me it does a good job of actually presenting what a deep sea giant marine creature would look like. The film is also capable of being sombre, and it is in these moments that the film makes a semi-decent attempt at depicting Japan's post-war status and it's continued fear of atomic weaponry.

However, some will leave the theatre complaining that there was not enough Godzilla for them, and I can see that being a fair criticism. Much like some other Godzilla films, Shin Godzilla does ultimately end up being more about the humans caught in the conflict rather than the creature itself.

I saw it and really enjoyed it. I found the early forms of Godzilla on this movie hilarious. He was so derpy looking I couldn't help but love him. Also I think it's the best story as far as the humans are concerned in any Godzilla.

I'm pretty sure that all of the Godzilla movies have more time spent on the humans than on Godzilla. There might be one set on Monster Island or something that is actually all monsters, but that's definitely the exception to the rule.

I've not seen Shin Godzilla, and if it's a limited theater thing, I probably won't get the chance to. Based on what I saw in the trailer(s?), I dunno that I'd like it anyway. Not a fan of the Godzilla redesign, and half the appeal of the old Godzilla movies for me was the terrible dubbing, and I can only assume this is in Japanese with English subtitles.

I really enjoyed it, especially when they started playing the not-Evangelion but totally Evangelion music whenever there are government officials and scientists are trying to figure out how to deal with Godzilla. I can't wait for when someone recuts the movie with the entire Evangelion soundtrack.

Basically this track with just the drum beat without the trumpets or violins

@probablytuna: Holy shit you are 100% correct. Almost every evacuation scene made me think of the first episode of Evangelion as well.

Edit: Here, found it.

0 releases in the UK so no, but why does that Godzilla look like he's a t-rex made of molten rock?

Was going to, but apparently the theater my friend and I were going to only had it for three days instead of the whole week.

I really enjoyed the movie. The movie could've used a little more Godzilla but at least it was more than the 2014 American Godzilla for screen time. Alot of familiar faces from older Godzilla films which was nice to see. My entire theater got a good laugh when one of the characters said "Way to go USA". Very enjoyable film and can't wait for the next one.

Man I wish, no show times in my state.

I saw it, and I have some issues with it. Overall it was solid and good at making Godzilla a scary, city destroying monster again.

While usually I'm all about subs, this is a movie that honestly ought to be dubbed. There is so much (often unecessary) dialogue, in addition to subtitles indicating who characters are, and in a lot of scenes 3/4 of the screen can be full of subtitles in two different languages. It's distracting and ugly. On top of that, I think the dialogue was excessive at points. In a lot of scenes, every single minor character had to sprout off some pointless single line like "This is unprecedented!" or "How can hope to stop it?", but nobody ever talks over one another, so it feels simultaneously panicked and stilted, like it's moving too fast but not saying much of anything. I realize a lot of the board room politics scenes are the point of the film, but they really could have used some editing, which would have helped the uneven pace of the film a lot as well.

Aside from the American politician lady, who I thought was unbearable, the rest of it was pretty good. A little heavy handed with it's themes sometimes, but never groan-worthy. Godzilla himself was really cool apart from some iffy CGI, and some shots of the film are outright beautiful. The soundtrack goes from great to goofy and back again a lot, but overall the good tracks are more memorable than the bad ones.

With regards to the balance of Godzilla to humans, this movie honestly gets it right. Sure people will complain about it not being nonstop monster action, but I think they achieved the right balance for the type of story they were telling.