With the 2014 American release, I was wondering if Toho would respond with it's own Godzilla film, and sure enough they did. What actually surprised me was the downright serious tone of the film, not since the original Godzilla (1954), has any Godzilla film displayed such bare ruthless carnage. Many of the Godzilla films took a bit of a light-hearted approach with the films after the original, with some sequels portraying Godzilla as the protagonist, rather than the antagonist. Many included other monsters, Godzilla's son, or (in the case of the American films) have romantic story-line for the human characters to go with the monster madness. In this film, Godzilla is clearly the antagonist causing hell fire and destruction in his wake; the sheer creepiness and terror caused by this Godzilla is enough to reestablish this monster as horror icon. The main characters are Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasegawa), Hideki Akasaka (Yutaka Takenouchi), and Kayoko Ann Patterson (Satomi Ishihara) who are all part of team to figure how to stop Godzilla without causing anymore destruction to their country. Ever present in the film are the references to the different devastation's that have occurred in Japan in recent years (Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the Thoku tsunami), and ridiculous amount of bureaucracy that cost Japan time in the aftermath of these events. The film was thought provoking, has a strong story line, excellent acting, and very well paced. Sadly, this Godzilla film was a limited release, and I was lucky enough to catch the last showing before it left theaters in North America, but as soon as it hits a home-release I would urge any Godzilla fan, or non-fan, to see it.
