Shin Godzilla (2016) Toho/Sci-Fi-Action-Horror RT: 120 minutes Rated PG-13 (some creature violence/action) Director: Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi Screenplay: Hideaki Anno Music: Shiro Sagisu Cinematography: Kosuke Yamada Release date(s): July 29, 2016 (Japan)/October 11, 2016 (US)/4K re-release: August 15, 2025 (US) Cast: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara, Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito, Keisuke Koide, Arata Furata, Sei Hiraizumi, Kenichi Yajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Ken Mitsuishi, Kyusaku Shimada, Kanji Tsuda, Issei Takahashi, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kazuo Hara, Isshin Inudo, Akira Ogata, Shingo Tsurumi, Suzuki Matsuo, Kreva, Katsuhiko Yokomitsu, Atsuko Maeda. Spoken in Japanese w/English subtitles
Rating: **
Shin Godzilla commits the worst sin a monster movie can. It’s BORING! When I see a Godzilla film, I want to see a giant monster stomping all over Tokyo, destroying property while panicked citizens flee en masse. I do NOT want to see endless scenes of government officials, biologists and other important types sitting in a room talking and shouting at each other in Japanese. Sadly, that’s what most of Shin Godzilla consists of and it’s not entertaining. Quite the opposite, it’s annoying.
Shin Godzilla is NOT a new Godzilla movie. It actually came out in 2016. It’s now being rereleased in 4K which means higher resolution. I missed it during its original run and never watched it at home. I must confess I haven’t seen every Godzilla movie, but I enjoyed the ones I did see- the original 1954 one, King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla 1985 (1985) and Godzilla 2000 (2000). Of course, I saw the 1998 version from Roland Emmerich, the one I like to call Ferris Bueller Saves the World (it stars Matthew Broderick). I also saw the more recent Monsterverse ones- Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024). ALL of these are better than Shin Godzilla.
Plotwise, there’s not a lot to Shin Godzilla. It bears mentioning it’s a reboot meaning it’s the first time Godzilla attacks Tokyo (again). He rises from the sea and causes mass destruction. Government officials convene and try to come up with a plan to deal with the new threat. They talk and talk and talk and talk. They have to figure out exactly what they’re dealing with, how to handle it with the least amount of collateral damage and how to evacuate all citizens safely. Meanwhile, Godzilla keeps evolving, growing to an enormous size and leaving a path of nuclear radiation in his wake.
You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned any characters or actors yet. That’s because I had no idea who was who in Shin Godzilla. Director Hideaki Anno (the Evangelion franchise) throws a lot of names and cabinet positions at the viewer (via on-screen titles). He does it so quickly; it’s difficult to absorb it all. I couldn’t keep track of everybody. The only ones I recognized throughout were Yaguchi (Hasegawa), the guy who first realizes the threat is a yet-unknown lifeform and Patterson (Ishihara), a special enjoy for the American President. They appear to be the main characters. Don’t ask me about anybody else. To me, they were just a mob of people in suits and ties, all with the same intense facial expression.
To me, the only good parts of Shin Godzilla were the monster attack scenes and the climax. That’s it. They’re well done. The special effects, totally CGI with a few miniatures, are great although I still prefer a guy in a rubber suit destroying miniature buildings and crushing miniature cars. Unfortunately, these moments are too few and far in between. We get way too much of important government types talking. I get why. Shin Godzilla is a metaphor for the tsunami and earthquake that rattled Japan in 2011. It’s a depiction of how government reacts to a natural disaster. That’s all well and good, but does it have to be the whole damn movie? What about giving the fans what they came for? They want to see lots of mayhem and destruction by Godzilla. American audiences want to see bad English dubbing. I wanted more of that. I can’t be alone in this.
The only other positive thing I can say about Shin Godzilla is that it has the aesthetic of the old Toho movies of the 70s. It’s cool to look at if you like that kind of thing. Other than that, I am not a fan of this particular Godzilla outing. I’m fully aware it has its fans and I don’t knock anybody for the movies they like although I do have serious reservations about those who love Caligula, A Serbian Movie and Salo: 120 Days of Sodom. But that’s another discussion for another time.
One of the worst things a movie can do is leave me with a splitting headache. That’s exactly what Shin Godzilla did. I just wanted everybody to shut the hell up and let the real star of the show do the talking. I guess it was too much to ask for this time.
