While Godzilla has, in recent years, undergone a successful translation into the Hollywood movie-making machine, in 2016, it also underwent a renaissance revival in Japan with the release of Shin Godzilla. Like the very first Godzilla film, this was a movie with something to say about contemporary Japan, and it says it very well. John and Eugene discuss.
Movie Synopsis
An underwater disturbance in Tokyo Harbor causes breaks in the Aqua Line, a 10km underwater tunnel in the bay. Government officials are mobilized into meetings to deal with the problem, which appears to be geologic or hydrothermal in nature, but the situation on the ground is changing rapidly, with reports of some form of marine creature in the bay, this calls for more meetings, and more meetings arising from the meetings.
One ambitious young minister, Rando Yaguchi, tries to press past the fossilized response of the government to deal with the problem, which continues to “evolve” as first, the creature starts moving up the Tama river, pushing water and debris into Tokyo like a tsunami and then evolves the ability to walk on land.
Time for more meetings to determine if they can use the SDF to defend Japan from a creature – it’s not permitted in the charter, but maybe they can do an emergency thing? After more meetings, the PM authorizes an attack with helicopters. The creature evolves again and rears up on its hind legs and flops to the ground. The attack is called off when unevacuated civilians are spotted in the area. The creature returns to the sea.
Time for more meetings, more press conferences, more uniform changes, and official ministerial visits to the affected area to survey the damage. Laws are even passed authorizing emergency funds and relief.
Yaguchi is put in charge of a special response team. He collects a team of lone wolves, nerds, troublemakers, outcasts, academic heretics, and general pains in the bureaucracy and sets up a flat organizational structure in order to analyze the situation. They have plenty of laptops, chairs, and photocopiers to deal with the situation.
Their analysis indicates that the creature is in some way nuclear in nature. The US wants in on the action for some reason and sends Senator Patterson’s young, ambitious, and half-Japanese daughter, Kyoco Paterson to coordinate with Yaguchi’s team.
It seems the US Department of Energy already had a heads up on this creature, which they’ve codenamed “Godzilla” in English or “Gojira” in Japanese. It’s tied somehow to rogue nuclear scientist Goro Maki who discovered that nuclear dumping led to sea creatures becoming adapted to the radiation and mutating into something now dubbed Godzilla. After leaving incomplete clues for the DOE, he escaped to Japan, where he went missing.
Godzilla creates new nuclear isotopes inside itself and the DOE would like them, please.
Maki’s boat was found abandoned the day Godzilla first appeared and his personal effects contain complete information, but it is indecipherable. They do; however, begin to formulate a plan, that, if Godzilla is nuclear, perhaps they can freeze him with blood coagulants.
Godzilla returns near Kawasaki, and the government decides to fight it there before it reaches Tokyo because… you know… Tokyo is more economically important. Godzilla has evolved again and doubled in size.
The SDF attacks with helicopters, missiles, and tanks, to no avail. The US, in the spirit of cooperation and “yay, we get to play with some of the big guns” sends in Stealth Bombers.
That shows signs of promise, but Godzilla now evolves a new ability, first fire breath, then laser breath, wiping out one of the stealth bombers. It’s payback time and the US planes attack from behind to avoid the laser breath. Now Godzilla launches lasers from his spines, wiping out the US planes. He burns the city, slicing buildings, and setting fire to everything. The attack also kills the fleeing Prime Minister. Yaguchi’s team survive, mostly, because they were too junior to get a helicopter evacuation and had to go by car and on foot.
Godzilla goes dormant.
It looks like Godzilla can evolve to do anything, and reproduce asexually. It will destroy the entire human race, so, the US team heads off to prepare to nuke Tokyo, which they manage to get approved through the UN Security Council because Russia and China already wanted to nuke Japan.
The new interim PM is a senior time-server, with no spine to stand up to the US.
Finally decoding Maki’s document, Yaguchi’s team develops a plan to defeat Godzilla without nuking Tokyo, if only they have the time to pursue it. With the help of France, to create a delaying tactic, and international cooperation between governments, private industry, and NGOs around the world, Yaguchi’s plans come together.
In an epic and clockwork-precision executed plan involving drone airstrikes, controlled demolition, sea-to-land missile attacks, big ol’ cranes, and even trains, the plan is executed and Godzilla is frozen with under an hour to go before the nuclear strike. Japan is saved, but the clock remains set at 3,526 seconds to nuclear attack if Godzilla stirs again.
On the tail of the frozen Godzilla, strange humanoid Godzilla-like lifeforms appear to have been emerging.
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