**Go watch as soon as it releases in your country!** I was privileged enough to be in Tokyo the day they released this movie with English subtitles and I have to say that if you enjoy "monster" movies there is no way you won't like this Godzilla. The movie is set from the last days of WW2 to the early post-war. The nuclear bombs used in the Pacific gave Godzilla its super powers, and in the post war it decides to swim towards Tokyo, which of course results in a desperate attempt of stopping the monster. A former kamikaze pilot that had a previous traumatic encounter with Godzilla sees this as an opportunity to get revenge. Apart from a few dialogs and actions from the authors that are more suitable to the Japanese than the American audience, this movie has it all, romance, drama, loss, existencial crisis, and a gory and unstoppable monster. Whether you are an old Godzilla fan or a curious newcomer to this type of movie, Godzilla is one of the best movies released this year.

"Shikishima" (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is a man with some guilt. He was a kamikaze pilot towards the end of WWII who feigned some technical problems with his plane and so landed and survived! Now, Japan is defeated and in ruins and he is feels a deep sense if shame. He manages to find a job in a wooden-hulled boat trying to collect up from the sea all the mines laid by the Allies and the Japanese alike, and it's whilst they are at sea they discover a toxic creature that has been born out of the ashes of the atom bomb. This creature is bent on destruction and nothing mankind has in it's arsenal can even dent this leviathan that possesses a deadly blue ray than can obliterate all in it's path. It heads to the land wreaking devastation and so the scientists must come up with a plan before the country is laid waste. It's really two stories. One of the man with all of his demons, his burgeoning romance with a homeless girl and her child and of his gradual realisation that maybe his life isn't quite over yet. The remainder is the standard "Godzilla" style special effects fest that I must admit to preferring to the more recent Hollywood versions. The style of animation here is grittier, the monster knobblier and angrier and the immediately post-war timeframe allows the photography to present us with a more attractively bleak film to look at. The ending is predictable, sure, but at least it tries to solve the problem of this marauding beastie in a little more of an innovatory fashion. Not much original here, but I still quite enjoyed it.