Rating: 3/5
In 1945, Kōichi Shikishima, a kamikaze pilot, lands on Odo Island to have repairs made to his plane. When the mechanic investigates, he finds nothing wrong with the plane.
That night, a “dinosaur-like monster” attacks the island. The mechanics ask Shikishima, the only trained fighter, to run to his plane and shoot at the monster. He gets to the plane but fears what could happen, so he runs and hides instead.
The following morning, he discovers all but one mechanic is dead. The mechanic blames Shikishima for letting this happen and not fulfilling his duty.
He returns home to Tokyo to learn that his parents, and countless others, are dead. He meets Noriko Ōishi, who is caring for a baby she rescued, named Akiko. They all bond together and become a chosen family.
Meanwhile, the USA performs nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll. The bombs’ radiation affects the monster, which starts destroying naval ships. Shikishima, riddled with guilt, looks for any way he can help stop the creature that he believes would not be attacked if he had acted earlier.
This film is the most overt “Godzilla is an atomic bomb” metaphor of the Godzilla movies. Yes, he’s always been that. It’s hard to interpret it any other way when his heat ray explodes in a mushroom cloud.
The film also interrogates the Japanese tradition of “honorable death,” which traces back to Harakiri and extends through the kamikaze program.
Shikishima feels guilt throughout the movie for not performing his role, believing he should have died.
It argues pretty strongly in favor of honorable death. The counter it makes comes as a sort of afterthought, as they realize they don’t need to follow the government’s model.
The plot itself is coherent, which is rare for Godzilla movies. It’s also trite and flat. I found it tough to connect with any of the emotional beats. I know I’m in the minority there, so I ascribe that to my tastes more than the movie itself.
The strength of this film is the Godzilla action. With focused set pieces, an audience member can follow what is happening beat-by-beat. Jaws’ influence is clear in the intense water battles, the primary setting for most of the action.
Godzilla’s design is very “man-in-a-suit.” The legs and tail, however, are so hilariously thick that it somewhat offsets that.
As neither a big Godzilla fan nor a fan of disaster action movies, I could only find limited enjoyment in this. Still, this is one of the best Godzilla movies I’ve seen.