Starring Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Ren Ôsugi and Akira Emoto. Written by Hideaki Anno. Directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. Produced by Minami Ichikawa, Yoshihiro Satô, Masaya Shibusawa, Taichi Ueda and Kazutoshi Wadakura for Toho Pictures.  

Toho put its Godzilla movie series on hold for a while after the release of the hugely entertaining Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), which was the final entry of the Millennium era. Toho eventually decided to shoot a new Godzilla flick in 2016, called Shin Godzilla, which was the first Japanese Godzilla movie of the Reiwa era. 

Shin Godzilla was a huge critical and financial smash in Japan. However, some western fans complained about the amount of time that was spent in the film focusing on the politicians and bureaucrats trying to work out what to do as the crisis deepens, but I think that watching how all the many viewpoints, red tape and opinions swamped the decision makers added quite a bit of realism to the story.

The movie adds new twists to Godzilla’s lifecycle, with the creature evolving through different forms, which I really liked: you can’t just keep doing the same old schtick every time. In this iteration of Godzilla we see him transform from a low-sprawling aquatic beast to upright god-reptile. We watch him continually adapt, utilising atomic breath and then photon beams. Maybe old school Godzilla fans might not like this updating of his abilities, but I thought the ever-evolving powers and adaptations kept the story intriguing. Even the ending leaves viewers with a mystery: the last shot of Godzilla’s tail hints that an even weirder evolutionary step was underway within the great beast…

The devastation shots of boats & debris being pushed down the river as a wreckage-wave effectively replicated real disaster imagery seen during the 2011 Japanese tsunami, and I liked the many scenes of Godzilla stomping through the city seen in extreme long shot, giving an expansive view of the creature’s progress through Tokyo.

Oh, and I loved the way the Japanese forces not only used tanks and jets and helicopters against Godzilla… they also utilised ‘train bombs’ too – cool!

You could argue that there were some odd design choices, like the early-stage googly fish eyes, for instance, but these strange, unblinking eyes do look quite unsettling!

Ultimately, there is a lot to enjoy with this version of Big G, who, once in adult form, looks quite different to his typical body shape, with very tiny eyes, a longer neck and jawbones that can detach, allowing his mouth to widen (Godzilla’s mouth can also really extend vertically). Not only is the Godzilla in this film quite a unique design, this great beast looks pretty damn scary and creepy too!

Shin Godzilla was the first Japanese Godzilla to be rendered primarily through CGI, though he somehow retains a slight suitmation vibe, maybe because actor Mansai Nomura portrayed Godzilla through motion capture. 

Shin Godzilla is a very fine Godzilla movie. ‘Nuff said!