Shin-Gojira Is An Ugly Mofo!

Ever since I found out that, after 2014's American Godzilla film, Toho was making a brand new Godzilla movie, I've have been eagerly anticipating whatever they plan to put out about 12 years after the last Japanese Godzilla movie, 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars. After learning that Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno and SFX veteran Shinji Higuchi were in charge of the project, I had all the faith in the world that Godzilla's resurgance (I couldn't resist using that word) in Japan would be nothing short of amazing.

However, one thing we constantly wondered about the movie was what they were going to do with the big G-Man, himself? In interviews, Anno and Higuchi essentially stated that they wanted to make the new Godzilla terrifying. Also, not to be outdone by Legendary's Godzilla, they planned to make him the largest incarnation of Godzilla ever in a film. This made us highly anticipate, not only the movie, but the newest redesign of the King of the Monsters! It made us ask "Just what will Godzilla look like this time around?"

Well... on December 9th, 2015, we got our first glimpse of Shin-Gojira.

Well... that's... something, alright.

Okay, I suppose I should give my honest thoughts on ShinGoji's appearance.

At first, I found the new look of Toho's Godzilla a bit jarring and more than a little bit unsettling. He is certainly a freaky lookin' beastie, to say the least. My initial opinion was, honestly, somewhat negative.

But then I started thinking about it more. Since 1954, Godzilla has undergone a plethora of makeovers from movie to movie, year to year, series to series. Some of them have looked fantastic. Others... not so much.

^^ Case in point. ^^

So I decided to think a little deeper about Anno and Higuchi's Godzilla. With the rough texture and the rows upon rows of jagged sharp teeth, it seemed that they certainly made the new Godzilla quite scary. Much more monstrous than many previous designs. However, they also seemed to intend to keep some of the spirit of the original 1954 Godzilla. Specifically, his small, beady eyes. The original Godzilla also had small eyes that seemed to pierce you right to your soul. ShinGoji is no different, though perhaps my one complaint is that his eyes might be just a bit TOO small. Either way, if the end result was intented to make Godzilla into nightmare fuel, then I believe they succeeded.

My final summation of ShinGoji is simple. I can't really make a judgement on him yet. Why? Because this is just a close-up head shot on a teaser poster. I can say whatever I want about it, but I can't really make a true judgement until I see him in action. He may look simultaneously terrifying and goofy, but if it's done well in the film, then it won't matter. And that's the long and short of it. If he doesn't look horrible in the movie, and he properly instills the fear that Anno and Higuchi are going for, then his new design will be a complete success. We'll just have to wait until next year to find out. Until then, I will hold off on passing judgement and take comfort that he, at least, doesn't look like this...

But that's a whole other topic for another day.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, KAIJU-LIFERS!