Finally! Official full-length trailer for Godzilla Resurgence (2016) (original title: Shin Gojira) was released just yesterday:
When I watched it for the first time, I did not know what to think, but after re-watching it again and again and again, I'm full of hopes that Toho will deliver a decent quality Godzilla film. Below, you can read my thoughts on some of the selected screenshots from the trailer:
1. Tohoscope
Good old Tohoscope. A very nice nod to the Showa series by including the original logo.
2. The Roar
It's great to hear the original roar again, but... if the directors want to include this CGI shot in the actual movie, they should definitely improve it first.
3. That TAIL(!)
It is totally out of control! And... is it even taller than the King himself?! I hope that he will make a good use of it.
4. Sinister Smile
I approve the reinvented appearance of Big G (though I still love Legendary's one). It seems that the King spent his retirement years sunbathing in Mordor, but it's an interesting change that tries to stay true to Godzilla's original design.
5. People, People, People
The Japanese officials mobilising are always a pleasure to watch.
And what would be your reaction if you had found out that Godzilla crushed your Toyota?
Love is in the air? If hope not. This is a Godzilla film, not a romantic drama.
A familiar face? Unfortunately, I'm unable to name the actor. Kudos for anyone who can recognise him.
Having more than one actress in a Godzilla film is always great news.
This scene is a clear hint that we should expect a lot of talking in the movie.
Clean-up services are going to have a very busy day, hopefully with paid overtime.
6. Godzilla vs. JSDF
An expected standard, but for this single shot only, Toho should just shut up and take my money!
7. Premiere
This guy is really pissed about the release date and I'm not surprised.
All in all, I'm impatiently waiting to see Godzilla Resurgence! And what do you think about the trailer? Feel free to express your thoughts in the comments.
It’s the 29th
of March today, exactly four months until the premiere of Shin Gojira, the new Japanese
Godzilla film (since the release of Godzilla: Final Wars). Therefore, as a
Kaiju fan, I thought it would be a good idea to gather all the information about this
production in one place and slightly comment on the news as well.
1. Who’s going
to direct?
Godzilla
Resurgence is, in fact, co-directed by Shinji Higuchi (Attack on Titan) and
Hideaki Anno (Evagelion). What is more, the two filmmakers also took care of
other aspects of film production with Higuchi supervising visual effects and
Anno writing the script. To be honest, I haven’t seen (yet) anything from
Attack on Titan franchise, but after watching the trailer for Live-Action movie
and reading some reviews about it, I have mixed feelings about Higuchi. On the
other hand, Anno is the father of Evangelion franchise and an extremely successful
animator, but he rarely did something outside of anime genre (Love & Pop,
Ritual). Thus, I can understand Toho’s decision to turn the making of new
Godzilla into collaborative effort, with a director already familiarised with
visual effects and another one able to provide decent storytelling.
Pictures of
who to blame (Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi ) if the movie turns out to be a flop.
2. What’s the
cast?
So far,
only the three leading actors were named by Toho and they are:
Information
about these characters is very little. Allegedly, the character og Ladou
Yaguchi is going to be the main protagonist, whereas Kayoko Ann Peterson will
be some kind of an American agent (most probably sent by her superiors to
evaluate the King’s rampage in Japan).
3. Who’s the
composer?
The movie
will be scored by Shiro Sagisu, a composer who already worked with Higuchi on
Attack on Titan and Anno on Evangelion, so the choice of him by the directors
is understandable, but having in mind really mixed quality of Godzilla
soundtracks (through Heisei and Millennium series), I’m a bit worried. Did Toho
even try to get in touch with Mischiru Oshima? However, if Alexander Desplat
was able to brilliantly score Godzilla (2014), I just hope that Sagisu will also
deliver some great themes.
4. Teaser
Trailer
Teaser
Trailer was released in December 2015, coinciding with the announcement of the
cast and the composer. The video from the youtube channel can be viewed here:
Personally,
I think that Legendary Pictures made more effort with their own Teaser Trailer
back in 2010,
following the announcement of their Godzilla film. What do we get here? People
running and screaming plus the King’s classic roar. I understand that they
didn’t want to show anything important, but it’s already the end of March and
there’s NO proper trailer!
Back in
December 2013, Legendary electrified the fandom with their leaked trailer
(nobody will convince me that this was not unintentional) and this happenedsix months
before the film’s premiere!Come on Toho!
Get a grip and give us some proper film footage already.
5. Godzilla’s
appearance
With regard
to the King’s appearance, of course, it’s obvious that it’ll be different from
Gareth Edwards’s flick and Godzilla: Final Wars. As visible on the poster, the
design is indeed quite rough, which is an interesting move, but the eyes are
quite disturbing (in a negative way). I don’t want the King to have eye
problems again as in the Showa series!
However,
some rumours surfaced in January 2016 via bloody-disgusting.comthat the King will have three
separate looks in the film, with the final one being the most similar to the
classic appearance.
Yet, as
August Ragone claims, the rumour about the three appearances cannot be taken
seriously, since it may simply be a misinterpretation of his own story that the
King’s suit is"operated by three people").
Yet, what is definitely officially known is the King new height: 108metres/ 355 feet tall.
Oh please, height is not the most powerful feature of Godzilla. Stop making him
taller and taller, because soon his head will protrude from Earth’s atmosphere.
6. The Official Site
Needless to say, Toho also launched the official site
promoting the film: http://shin-godzilla.jp/
Nevertheless, it is extremely poor in content (poster,
trailer, cast info and news rss) when compared to still active Legendary’s official site of Godzilla
2014: http://www.legendary.com/film/godzilla/
7. Thoughts
On the whole, even though there are only four months left, I'm impatently looking forward to this movie. It seems that Toho is not confident enough about their picture in view of such a moderate marketing, but hopefully this will improve from May. Most probably the movie won't get a cinematic release in Poland, so I'll have to wait a few more months for Blu-Ray/DVD release... Anyways, it's Toho's new Godzilla, so not watching it would be a sin.
This week’s review will be about a movie that “inspired”
Quentin Tarantino to make one of his intertextual mash-ups known as Kill
Bill (2003). Lady Snowblood is a simple revenge tale about a woman trying to avenge
her parents' death, but contrary to Tarantino’s morbid and disjointed picture, this film presents the story in a more sophisticated and definitely truer way to the
chanbara genre.
Japan has entered the Meiji era in the 1870s, the period
during which the Shogunate ceased to exist, the power was restored to the
Emperor, and industrial development ensued. However, in the midst of
socio-political changes, crime flourished as well. Four ruthless criminals brutally
kill the village teacher, his son, and rape his wife. Having
ended up in prison, the disgraced woman gives birth to a daughter whom she calls
Yuki (snow) and, before dying, she tells the inmates to raise the child for
vengeance. Given an exhausting training by a priest Dōkai (Ko Nishimura), Yuki (Meiko Kaji) grows up to
become a professional assassin. The priest calls her “a child of the
netherworlds,” a demon spirit that came to this world for the sole purpose of
revenge. Indeed, Yuki assumes her new identity as Shura Yuki Hime (Lady
Snowblood) and sets out to hunt down the killers of her family.
The Unsurpassed Classic
After seeing Lady Snowblood, I thought it wasn’t
surprising that Tarantino made his pitiful mixed-bag of various genre
references, since the original film, whichserved as inspiration, is so bloody damn good. Financed
independently, directed by Nikkatsu-veteran Toshiya Fujita,
and starring glorious Meiko Kaji (already known at the time for Stray Cat Rock
and FemaleConvict 701: Scorpion series),the movie is an adaptation of manga by
Kazuo Koike and Kazuo Kamimura.
Ironically, the film is vastly different in tone and style
that Fujita usually used to do for Nikkatsu, but it’s his only picture that has mainstream recognition outside of Japan. Allegedly, it took some time for
Meiko Kaji to be persuaded to play the part and, eventually, she agreed on
condition of having some input in the shaping of the character. Thus, Lady
Snowblood is not a typical pink/exploitation flick of its times, but primarily
an action violence picture. We follow Yuki’s quest, divided into four chapters,
in which we see her beginnings, each step as she tracks down and mercilessly kills the
criminals, and the morbid finale of her revenge at the "House of Joys" that keeps you on the edge of
your seat.
Some of the more particular cinema connoisseurs unanimously claim
that Lady Snowblood is just an outdated, poorly executed B-Movie. Well… they could not be more wrong. Only those who have not seen the movie
can claim something like that. Lady Snowblood is literally an unpolished gem among samurai flicks. It perfectly delivers the story of good vs.
evil in which the protagonist masterfully slaughters the baddies.
What’s more,
the film also rocks in terms of character development. Even though we know that
Yuki is just a female assassin, as the plot progresses, we may slightly doubt
her earthly nature. We never see her eat or drink, or even engage into sexual
intercourse and display her body. Yuki is only focused on completing her
mission, her destiny, because it is the only reason of her coming into this
world. Although we may perceive some “love interest” through the character
of Ryūrei Ashio (Toshio Kurosawa), this is not his function in the story; Ashio serves to provide a metatextual comment
on the events and tie-in the storytelling structure of manga to that of the
film.
In terms of filmmaking techniques, the picture was simply
ahead of its times. The very first scene of Yuki taking on the gang of thugs is
beautifully staged and choreographed. The 180-degree-shots of fighting Yuki
match perfectly with the framing shots in crowded scenes as well as the handheld
sequences of chasing, not to mention lots of Yuki close-ups to hint at her
twisted psyche and barely controlled wrath.
In other words, Toshiya Fujita did a splendid job in his
directorial duties and Meiko Kaji steals the picture with her mesmerising
performance, making the role of Shura Yuki Hime easily the best one in her
career. I’m not saying that Lady Snowblood is a flawless film, because it could
have been a little longer, more linear in its narration, and more elaborativeon the
historical context of the Meiji era. Nevertheless, if the movie had a bigger budget and had been made a bit earlier (in the golden era of samurai classics),
I’m confident that it would get the attention it rightfully deserves.
Recommendations
I recommend this to anyone who likes good old revenge flicks
with moderate amounts of bloodshed but greater emphasis on the main character
and enormous pay off at the end. To me, Lady Snowblood is a Japanese version of
Once Upon a Time in the West. If you like this feeling of spaghetti westerns,
but at the same time dislike the overt craziness of Tarantino, then Lady Snowblood is the movie for you.
