tl;dr i had a religious experience (positive) and it may be my new favorite godzilla movie

i’m going to try to organize my thoughts lmao i have never done a film analysis or review

story

• i went in knowing next to nothing, so i was very afraid this was going to be heavy on the imperialist propaganda and reminiscing on the “good old days” of the japanese military
• however i was pleasantly surprised to see that it was quite anti-government :]
• loved the delivery of the themes of “all lives being precious” and “living on for yourself as well as for the sake of others” – not hammy or blunt!
• FORESHADOWING OF THE EJECTION SEAT? chef’s KISS we love picking up what the movie is putting down and getting to see the payoff
• speaking of foreshadowing:
• dr. noda: [takes noriko’s picture]
• me: oh no she’s going to die
• i spent like the last quarter of the movie with a headache because i was clenching my teeth and holding in tears after noriko’s death (“death”) AND koichi planning to blow himself up and orphan akiko
• and all the ex-navy guys rallying together to defeat godzilla
• i am not immune to classic story beats
• semi-related i thought noriko would be covered in radiation burns, but then i realized a depiction of that would probably be insensitive
• also the guys measuring radiation in plastic costs? come on now i know we weren’t fully educated in the risks of radiation but there must’ve been some sort of better ppe

characters

• i enjoyed like every character which is rare for me in a godzilla film
• koichi just can’t catch a break. this man gained so much trauma in a short amount of time, like he doesn’t have ptsd because the trauma is ONGOING. i think he’s my favorite and it’s very easy to root for him
• his introduction is of him as a shaky baby-faced pilot and then you find out he was supposed to be a kamikaze pilot like goddamn
• i liked noriko’s assertiveness (“hey i’m staying in your house now :)”) and her ability to see kindness in koichi and sumiko
• her struggle of wanting to become independent is very relatable. you could see the bittersweetness in her eyes showing that she felt guilty yet grateful for koichi’s support……..
• i was surprised how quickly sumiko agreed to taking care of akiko? but it makes sense since she was (is) a mother and could not bear to see another child suffer, and akiko gave her life a new purpose
• i would’ve liked more focus on the female characters and i don’t think it’s fair to just blame it on the era :playdead:
• i really liked the chemistry between dr. noda, captain akitsu, and mizushima
• dr. noda in particular felt like a nice foil/parallel to serizawa from the 1954 movie; he’s also a scientist but he’s much more personable(?)/“human”
• dr. serizawa was my favorite in 1954 but he was very anguished and set on making reparations by killing godzilla (and koichi could be a parallel to him in that regard)
• noda focused on protecting the living, not avenging the dead
• ough mizushima. being a Youth who feels useless sure hits home
• i’d say tachibana is my least favorite just by comparison to everyone else, but he’s honestly so valid for his whole deal

visuals and sound

• very elegant color grading, costuming, and set design!
• i don’t know film girl help
• GOOD SOUNDTRACK the music set the scenes so well
• i joked about getting my eardrums blasted by godzilla but he really was that loud. as he should be

godzilla (design, abilities, etc)

• SWEET JESUS THIS IS THE SCARIEST GODZILLA BY FAR
• godzilla: [shows up in the first 10 minutes with blair witch shaky cam]
• me: the filmmakers are not messing around they mean BUSINESS
• the rampage on odo island was rightfully terrifying
• i love his texture and face. the scrunkliness of heisei with the horrifying pain of shin
• i think his head is a bit small for his body, like if it was 5% bigger it would be perfect
• loved the visuals of his scales flaking off after getting bombed
• the nuclear fallout when he used his atomic breath in tokyo was awe-inducing
• great use of godzilla as a war allegory
• i saw the movie in d-box so the shotgun-blast of heat ray was intense
• also coolest godzilla death. sick decapitation
• the plan to imprison him in bubbles and give him the bends felt a bit silly in the moment but highlighted how desperate everyone was for ANYTHING to work
• really liked how godzilla was more like an animal or unstoppable force of nature without a clear motive
• i mean the only emotion you could ascribe is probably RAGE
• sidenote i did think it was a lil funny whenever an object was flung through the air from offscreen. there goes godzilla having another tantrum