The King of the Monsters has returned and in classic form! While I do really enjoy the American 2014 Godzilla, it's nice to see a Japanese iteration of the monster grace the screen once again in Shin Godzilla. This film certainly isn't for everyone, but will surely please fans of the classic franchise.

I was immediately, pleasantly surprised by the appropriately retrograde, low-fi effects of Godzilla himself. It was a tad jarring at first given I didn't know that would be the case going in, but it made sense and I quickly "adapted" and enjoyed it. The blend of old and new comes together wonderfully in this fresh design of the character. You can tell the team behind this crafted the titular behemoth with care.

Toho also gave Godzilla an upgrade here in the form of new powers. He's got abilities beyond just atomic breath this time round and it's spectacular to behold. The silhouetted shots of the creature burning the city to the ground and the laser beams blasting from his back to take down aircraft is absolutely thrilling.

Also, having Godzilla evolve was an interesting new touch. I was momentarily confused by the bug eyed, lizard creature's presence as I thought he'd be a monster for our "hero" to contend with. As it turns out, it was merely Godzilla before he'd reached his final form. It isn't so much of a surprise as it was fairly common knowledge, but I liked the writing behind it regardless from a casual film viewer point of view.

The lengthy scenes with the humans did however become a tad tedious even if the acting was pretty superb. While I got to see Godzilla destroy a lot of stuff, I still feel like I could have done with more to balance the scenes out better.

Shin Godzilla ends on an interesting and unexpected note that no doubts sets up a 21st century franchise. I really do look forward to see where things go. The sheer quality of this film and the care with which it was crafted more than merit a sequel.