Taking a break from traditional horror, I bring you my review of the 31st Godzilla movie Shin Godzilla Directed by. Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi Plot: A tremor causes flooding in a undersea tunnel and footage of a large aquatic creature is seen swimming beneath the boiling seas. The government believes that it's a volcanic tremor, but our lead, Yaguchi, believes it's a living animal based on the evidence of the videos taken. Soon a giant tail surfaces in Tokyo Bay, and the creature begins moving up river, creating a tsunami and wrecking all in its path, but it's assured that it can't make landfall. Right after that's said, it makes landfall, and it's ADORABLE!!!! The giant lungfish-like creature moves through the streets, destroying all in its path and relentlessly trying to survive in a new environment. The government sends the SDF to kill the creature, but it soon evolves red skin, arms, and a upright position. Due to insufficient evacuation, the assault is aborted and the monster returns to the sea and disappears. Attempts are made to study the creature, but its disappearance is very strange and unsettling. It's revealed that the creature had existed and the Americans have kept it a secret, known as Godzilla, to which the Japanese quickly discard and call him "Gojira". Gojira surfaces (newly evolved to be bigger, meaner, and more powerful) and heads to Tokyo. The counteroffensive fails to even put a scratch on him, and he advances, causing massive destruction. The city is slowly evacuated and a American counter attack ensures. They harm Gojira and he gets PISSED!!! He glows purple and spews out a black, smoke and then ignites it with his new and improved skill set. Flame breath ignites the smoke and annihilates Tokyo, before the breath goes to stage 2, atomic breath which cuts cleanly like a knife. When all else fails, Godzilla engages in his most OP move, what I like to call his "laser light show" coming out of his back. Only thing is, Godzilla depletes his energy and goes dormant. Now there's 2 weeks to find a solution on his defeat, before he wakes up in the heart of Tokyo to finish the job. What can I say? Toho's new Godzilla movie put a smile on my face, because it was good!!! So let's get into specifics. While I do think there is way too many characters, they all are acted well. Now they don't have motivations or arcs, but..... it's trying to emulate real life, so normal people don't really have complex arcs. The direction was spot on! This is a beautiful looking movie, with some excellent cinematography, and I never thought I'd mention lighting in a review, but the lighting was phenomenal. Let's talk about Godzilla now. Godzilla is vastly different from any incarnation we've seen. When he first appears, I was in shock!! It was a very strange looking creature. I literally, for the first time shouted in a theater "OH MY GOD HE'S ADORABLE!!!!". It was like watching a CG/puppet lungfish thrash around trying to survive, except it had googley eyes and Godzilla fins. That being said, it causes a shit ton of damage and the crashes of what it destroys, as well as the foot coming down Jurassic Park style, shook the theater. There was some impressive things with Godzilla V.1, like cutting to a family packing, back to Godzilla as he climbs the apartment building, and the people getting crushed and falling. Also the shot of him down the street thrashing was pretty cool. But when you get the "clear" look, you're like "ITS CUTE!!!!". Then he evolves into V.2. The red, more Godzilla looking monster that slowly lumbers like Godzilla should. There's not much with him, but I do like the design (besides the googley eyes!!). When he flees, he goes super fast, and I like the agile Godzilla, but that's the last we see of him. Godzilla Final Form is OP AS FUUUUUUUUUU. When he appears, his head isn't even in frame. Gone are the googley eyes, and now they're beady and small, with his mangled teeth, and the red glow. He looks pretty damn cool. Nothing hurts him, he just keeps coming at them, and it makes you sad. Then when the US hits Godzilla, he bleeds. His atomic breath is like "God mode" in a video game. Tokyo is almost completely destroyed in one fell swoop, and the back lasers are pretty awesome, but the tail laser was going too far. I like the knife-like breath, that was pretty rad. The best shots show Godzilla from ground level, and THE shot of him with Tokyo burning behind him while glowing purple is AMAZING!!!! The music was very good too, dramatic and sweeping. They did homage the original, but some of that didn't fit what was happening. Godzilla is off screen for a long while towards the end, and I think that's where the movie falls short. The threat is kind of gone, but when he gets back in action during the climax, it's worth it!!!! Overall, Shin Godzilla was a very good Godzilla movie, and you should seek it out on Blu Ray, as it's theatrical run ends on the day this is posted. Score: 7/10