In the film, politicians struggle with bureaucratic red tape in order to deal with the sudden appearance of a giant monster, known as Godzilla, that evolves whenever it is attacked.

After seeing a viral video of the incident, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi believes it was caused by a living creature, which is confirmed as news reports reveal its tail emerging from the ocean.

Shortly thereafter, the creature moves inland, crawling through the Kamata district and the Shinagawa area of Tokyo, leaving a path of death and destruction during a disorganized and chaotic evacuation.

The government officials focus on military strategy and civilian safety; Yaguchi is put in charge of a task force researching the creature.

The U.S. sends a special envoy, Kayoco Anne Patterson, who reveals that Goro Maki, a disgraced, anti-nuclear zoology professor, studied mutations caused by radioactive contamination, predicting the appearance of the creature.

Godzilla is wounded with MOP "bunker-buster" bombs but responds with destructive atomic rays fired from its mouth and dorsal plates, destroying a helicopter carrying the prime minister, along with top government officials and incinerating large swaths of Tokyo.

The United Nations, aware of this, informs Japan that thermonuclear weapons will be used against Godzilla should the Japanese fail to subdue it in a few days; evacuations are ordered in multiple prefectures in preparation.

Unwilling to see nuclear weapons detonated in Japan again, Patterson uses her political connections to buy time for Yaguchi's team, in which the interim government has little faith.

The film features several cameos and supporting appearances, including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito, Keisuke Koide, Arata Furuta, Sei Hiraizumi, Kenichi Yajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Ken Mitsuishi, Kyūsaku Shimada, Kanji Tsuda, Issei Takahashi, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kazuo Hara, Isshin Inudo, Akira Ogata, Shingo Tsurumi, Suzuki Matsuo, Kreva, Katsuhiko Yokomitsu, and Atsuko Maeda.

[13] Mark Schilling of The Japan Times wrote that the Godzilla creature serves "as an ambulatory tsunami, earthquake and nuclear reactor, leaving radioactive contamination in his wake".

[26] Roland Kelts, the author of Japanamerica, felt that the "mobilizing blue-suited civil servants and piles of broken planks and debris quite nakedly echo scenes of the aftermath of the great Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

"[27] Matt Alt of The New Yorker drew similar parallels with "the sight of blue-jumpsuited government spokesmen convening emergency press conferences ... [and] a stunned man quietly regarding mountains of debris, something that could have been lifted straight out of television footage of the hardest-hit regions up north.

Even the sight of the radioactive monster's massive tail swishing over residential streets evokes memories of the fallout sent wafting over towns and cities in the course of Fukushima Daiichi's meltdown.

"[28] Robert Rath from Zam argued that Shin Godzilla is a satire of Japanese politics, and likened the protagonist Rando Yaguchi to the Fukushima plant manager Masao Yoshida.

[31] According to Schilling, the government officials, Self-Defense Forces officers and others working to defeat Godzilla are portrayed as hardworking and intelligent, despite "some initial bumbling".

[26] Then-prime minister Shinzō Abe spoke positively of the film's pro-nationalist themes, stating, "I think that [Godzilla's] popularity is rooted in the unwavering support that the public has for the Self-Defense Forces.

"[32] In December 2014, Toho announced plans for a new Godzilla film for a 2016 release, stating, "This is very good timing after the success of the American version this year: if not now, then when?

[41] Director Higuchi stated that he intended to provide the "most terrifying Godzilla that Japan's cutting-edge special-effects movie-making can muster.

[49][50] Producer Akihiro Yamauchi stated that the title Shin Gojira was chosen for the film due to the variety of meanings it conveys, such as either "new" (新), "true" (真), or "God" (神).

[41][60] In late March 2016, it was announced that Toho's Godzilla and Anno's Evangelion intellectual properties would form a "maximum collaboration" for merchandise in April 2016.

[62] Sports equipment manufacturer Reebok released limited-edition Godzilla sneakers featuring a black reptilian skin pattern and either red or glow-in-the-dark green coloring in Japan.

[72] That same month, Indonesian Film Censorship Board listed and registered both Shin Godzilla and Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016.

[d] The special effects and new depiction of Godzilla were praised, but the film was criticized for its long scenes, confusing dialogue, over-crowded characters and subplots.

The site's consensus reads: "Godzilla: Resurgence offers a refreshingly low-fi – and altogether entertaining – return to the monster's classic creature-feature roots.

[101][103] Kazuo Ozaki from Eiga.com praised the film as well, stating, "Hollywood, even with all its money, can't approach this kind of perfection"[40] while Koichi Irikura of Cinema Today called it a "birth of a masterpiece that boldly announces the revival of a Japanese Godzilla".

[106] Guardian chief film critic Peter Bradshaw found Ishihara "slightly absurd" as an American "who bafflingly speaks English only with a strong and borderline unintelligible accent and comports herself with torpid model languor at all times".

[107] Elizabeth Kerr from The Hollywood Reporter felt that Anno and Higuchi had done "the big guy justice" and "created a Godzilla for this era".

While she felt that "all the telling (or reading) rather than showing reduces the story's overall impact" Kerr concluded that "there's an intangible quality to this Godzilla that Edwards (Emmerich doesn't count) never quite captured, and which is always welcome".

I believed that it would be a bad idea to let it go to waste so I gave the proposal, draft, and visuals, as a gift to Mr. Higuchi and Toho, but since it was premature or whatever, among other reasons, after the film's release the discussion ended.

[131] In February 2022, Toho, Khara, Toei Company, and Tsuburaya Productions announced a collaborative project titled Shin Japan Heroes Universe for merchandise, special events and tie-ins.