So I just finished watching this film and I really, really enjoyed it. Was not expecting to enjoy it quite as much as I did.
Without going into spoilers, the film reimagines Godzilla's origin and first appearance in Japan. The film puts quite a heavy emphasis on the response of the government and various agencies to what is effectively portrayed as a huge national disaster. The film has minimal characterisation, everyone effectively serves to move the plot(s) along.
This film is quite weird and very, very Japanese. It's really not suitable for general audiences, at least in the West. That being said - nerds, Weebs and Godzilla fans like myself will probably enjoy it. There are themes throughout the film regarding Japan's reluctance to take action without deferring to international partners, particularly the US. This is something that probably resonates much more strongly with a Japanese audience or someone who is familiar with their politics. I found it quite interesting if a little difficult to follow at times.
The effects are a mixture of minimal cgi shots (a couple of which are sadly, but forgivably tv-quality) and good-old fashioned practical effects. The monster itself is not cgi, save for some touching up in a few shots here and there. The monster is cgi with motion capture. Some of the early parts of the film make the monster look almost corny, but it has a really strange, unsettlingly quality to it which creeped me out.
Apart from the often dense dialogue and lack of meaningful characters, my only major criticism of the film is that we don't actually see an awful lot of Godzilla.
But, what we do see is used to really great effect. There's a scene where ol' Gojira fires up his atomic breath and it's really quite terrifying.
I definitely recommend giving it a watch. If you saw hollywood's Godzilla 2014 and like me were disappointed then you'll find this to be a welcome salve.
