What starts as a simple abandoned boat and a disturbance in the Tokyo harbor morphs into a much greater threat, but only low-level functionary Rando Yaguchi (Hiroki Hasagawa) believes it is because of a giant monster. The upper echelons of government are more interested in placating the public than investigating and/or containing until it's much too late. Placing efficiency before hierarchy, Yaguchi assembles a team of unwanted experts and liaises with the ambitious Japanese emissary from the U.S., senator's daughter Kayoco Patterson (Satomi Ishihara) to trade for information. They race against the clock to prevent international forces from committing an unimaginable tragedy against the people of Japan.
I really loved that Godzilla is basically just a plot device. The story is Yaguchi and trying to navigate the muddy waters of high-level democratic policies. There are no real bad guys (except the U.S., fucking it up for other industrialized nations once again), and Godzilla isn't motivated by malice. We don't find out what the monster wants at all, just that its incursion is destroying human habitation and tanking the economy like any natural disaster. It was refreshing to see Godzilla turned back into an allegory for nuclear contamination/environmental reckoning.
Godzilla goes through a number of evolutions in the film and some of them are downright goofy (whomst among us hasn't had an awkward adolescent phase, though) but it is absolutely worth it to see him shoot a plasma ray and take down a bunch of high-rises. That's great. They also kept the original "guy-in-suit" quality and stock Godzilla roar, which was a nice nod to the progenitor. All in all, this is a very fun monster movie that is unfortunately, only available for rental through Amazon.
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