'Godzilla' Review

     Released in 1954, Directed by Ishiro Honda

What can I say about this film that has not already been said 1-million times before me. 'Godzilla', or 'Gojira', as it's titled in its native Japanese, is a true masterpiece, not just of monster fiction or sci-fi, but of film in general. One of the few films I would personally say is perfect. Not that it doesn't have "problems". Sure, the theme of the film is spelled out in your face at the end of the movie, and yes there are a poorly edited moments. But in the end, what do these things take away from the film as a whole? It's a morality play, so of course it's going to spell out the theme! These are minor, if nonexistent problems in the grand scheme of it all. When I say it's a perfect film, I mean it knows exactly what it's setting out to do, and it does it masterfully.

     The film is set in Japan less than a decade following the dropping of the bombs that ended World War II, leaving the memories of this event fresh in the minds of every Japanese citizen. When fishing boats and military ships begin to go missing off the country's coast, the government and scientist join together to discover the cause of the disappearances, only to find that a giant, mutated dinosaur is responsible. It then becomes a race against time to find a way to stop the monster, which they call Gojira, before it rains destruction upon all in its path.

     It is obvious that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still deeply personal to Ishiro Honda. He was a deeply convicted pacifist, so the devastation caused by those two bombs, and this story emanates that passion, being a story written and shot to convey the horrors those bombs brought onto Japan. Whether you think that was the right decision in World War II or not, Honda's direction of the terror caused by Godzilla, a creature mutated by those bombs, while leave your mind running with the moral questions surrounding that decision.

     Leave behind your previous conceptions of Godzilla as a silly, monster-fighting, dude-bro franchise, because this film is not a fun, popcorn blockbuster. It is a deeply thoughtful, dark, at times even horrific ethical debate over the use and testing of nuclear weapons. With as much more as I could say about this film, include the brilliant special-effects, brought to life by using a man (Haruo Nakajima) in a plastic costume, I will end this review by simply saying that this film is a must watch for any film buff, and a classic of the Science Fiction genre.

A nearly perfect film, deserves a perfect rating, and for that I leave 'Gojira (1954)', with a 10/10.