Galivanting around Tokyo, I found myself wondering about Shinjuku. With a bit of time on my hands, I headed to the Toho Cinema where Godzilla Minus One was playing in a variety of versions. With versions, I am referring to audio-visual experiences. For the first time, I got to experience a movie in 4D. Means, you sit on a bench, similar like a fun fair ride, strobes and air vents in arm rests. With the visuals, the bench moves, pitches and jerks, in sync with what is happening on the screen. Air or little sprays of water being pumped your way make for an "immersive" experience.
As for the movie. Well, it is Godzilla. As a fan of the King of Monsters, one kinda knows what will go down. I ended up with the enhanced audio and visual, but sans English subtitles. The entire movie was in Japanese.
However.
This must have been one of only a handful movies you can watch without understanding a word and still know what is going on. It is also a movie that engrosses you from the first to the last of 122 minutes. There isn't a boring moment. Slow, yes. But never boring. And the slow bits are needed to build tension and they simply make sense. There isn't much bombast as one might find in the Hollywood interpretations. This Godzilla movie is labelled as the scariest of the series and half way through, one will know why. Oh yeah! Gojira is BACK!
As widely reported, the movie was made with a relatively small budget. It has since grossed a lot of money. I am only afraid that it will not get the recognition it deserves internationally. Yes, it is a Japanese setting, but it is very much like any movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor would be set in the US.
Going to see it again when it shows here in Malaysia.
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