Shin Godzilla (Film Review)

2016 Toho
Directed by: Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi; Written by: Hideaki Anno
Starring: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, and Satomi Ishihara
Running Time: 119 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 7/10

There's something nasty brewing in Tokyo Bay. Before you can say, "Let's call a meeting," it's sprung up on legs, and slimed its way over onto land. Before you can call another meeting, it's smashed a couple city blocks.
The opening act of Japan's 2016 Picture of the Year, Shin Godzilla, is a virtuoso comedy, featuring a building series of what I can only call genius smash cuts between an embryonic, yet evolving Godzilla monster wreaking more and more havoc, and Japanese bureaucrats calling for larger and larger meetings, in which they take no decisive action other than to call for other, larger meetings. Anyone who's worked for any kind of ineffective leadership will immediately have painful flashbacks, while simultaneously laughing at the ridiculous juxtaposition of footage of suit-and-tied, self-important, stone-faced Japanese bureaucrats marching from room to room, with that of regular-dressed Japanese civilians getting smashed and stomped a few miles down the street. To this Louisiana citizen who lived through "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job," the satire of these opening moments rang too true.
And this is just the opening act!
When the impotent Japanese government finally does attempt to take action, the middle act brings the insane kaiju mayhem I generally love in these films, as Godzilla starts to evolve from gross amphibious creature, to more of the vaguely dinosaurian being of legend. Of course, the bureaucrats attacks on Godzilla only result in more chaos, more mass disaster, and thankfully, some absolutely stunning visuals, with perhaps the best usage of the color purple in a science fiction film in recent memory. The effects are charmingly low-tech, not quite a guy in a suit, but still far away from the over-processed sheen of a Michael Bay blockbuster.
However, though the rapid-fire satire of the first act and apocalyptic action of the second are well-paced, the film falls into an overly talkative and sedate final act. With all of the moth-ball-scented bureaucrats out of the way, Japan's new, fresh-faced, hopeful generation steps up to the plate. They're ready to face the threat of Godzilla together, with pragmatism. There's even some entertaining commentary about those old cowboy Americans nearly derailing everything, as they attempt to fill the power vacuum. Oh, you silly John Waynes.
I appreciated the optimism of Shin Godzilla's final act. I did not appreciate how it ground the film's momentum to a halt. After sitting through the lousy, turgid Godzilla: King of the Monsters a few months ago, I was overjoyed at Shin Godzilla's breakneck early pace. While Shin Godzilla still stands head-and-shoulders over its torpid 2019 American kin, I wish it could have finished as strongly as it began. Maybe an editing room meeting could have helped shave ten minutes off that final act? I guess a meeting every now and then isn't all that bad.