Godzilla Raids Again

 

Now we speak of the first sequel to Godzilla, and truly the spawning of the franchise, Godzilla Raids Again. Going from what was (I would argue) clearly intended to be a one-off film about the perils of the arms race to a series of movies about giant monsters, the evolution of the kaiju genre truly starts here. Released in 1955 and directed by Motoyoshi Oda, both Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka return as suit actors this time, with Tezuka as the actor for new monster Anguirus. Get used to Nakajima as the Godzilla actor, he plays Godzilla for 12 films straight so is the true original Godzilla actor. Original, but is he the best? That's a question we will explore as we go.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Two pilots discover ANOTHER Godzilla, apparently woken up at the same time as the first Godzilla. 

- This Godzilla gets attacked by Anguirus, a giant anklyosaurus and an ancient rival of Godzillas.

- With no Oxygen Destroyer to destroy Godzilla (or Anguirus), things look hopeless.

- Godzilla appears on land and destroys some stuff after being attacked by humans. Anguirus attacks and the two kaiju have an epic battle, Godzilla ultimately the victor.

- Godzilla leaves the city after killing Anguirus.

- Weeks later, Godzilla is trying to chill and is attacked by humans on an icy island. He kills one of the main human characters but is ultimately frozen underneath snow and ice.

Kaiju Notes

- I still don't like Godzilla's eyes in some shots.

- Atomic Breath is improved somewhat, apparently by creating a puppet with an actual stream that can be expelled from it.

- The monsters are much more mobile this time around, going at it a bit like MMA fighters, including some grappling and ground-n-pound action

There is a lot of focus on human characters in this movie, but without a lot of substance behind it. An entire sequence of escaped criminals being hunted by police ultimately ends up being a very long road to get to the point of causing an explosion which attracts Godzilla and Anguirus to the city. It makes a degree of sense but takes up a lot of time and could've been resolved much more effectively. While the romance between two characters being interrupted by Godzilla and Anguirus' appearance could be an interesting story to explore, most of the human stories fall pretty flat if for no other reason than they're not really related to the main tale being told: Godzilla and Anguirus punching each other. The death of the pilot near the end that gives humans to idea to freeze Godzilla under snow and ice is the closest things to any human actions which relates to the kaiju story here, ultimately making it a movie about one fight between monsters and a bunch of boring shit otherwise.

Anguirus is very aggressive, it's kind of cute. Dude bites the neck a lot, where Godzilla always seems to be holding back somewhat. Godzilla does learn from his example and eventually chow down on the back of Anguirus' neck in return, but it did seem to be a learned response. For good measure Godzilla does then Atomic Breath Anguirus until he's fully dead, so he was only holding back in the beginning part apparently to annihilate his foe later. False sense of security, a classic move. That Godzilla is a crafty one!

One interesting change in this film from the first is that much of the emphasis of surviving Godzilla is just that: survival. While military forces always attempt to damage/kill him, this is ultimately futile. Two plans have worked to stop/deter Godzilla: turning off all electricity when he approaches so that he is not reminded of the nuclear bombs that caused all of this and freezing him under a massive pile of snow and ice. The first plan is ultimately undone by an exploding building and Anguirus attacking shortly thereafter, but Godzilla simply returns to the ocean afterward. The "freeze Godzilla" plan is successful, but is important to emphasize does very little actual harm to the Big Guy. It stops him in his track and allows him to go back to sleep, but that doesn't even seem like something Godzilla would be opposed to. The only reason either one has been upset was because they were woken up by human activity, so being encased in ice and allowed to chill seems a bit like a dream come true.

There's not much to say about this movie, honestly. It lacks any of the substance of the previous one and even the action sequence between Anguirus and Godzilla is one scene in the middle of the movie which is never matched by anything else that happens. The ice-shattering finale is well-done but by the time we get there it has just been such a boring ride. Godzilla versus military is always a fun concept though, and he really does do some damage in this one after they start several fights with him. Outside of a few interesting action sequences there's nothing to sink your teeth into with this one, and I find myself surprised that anyone was clamoring for more Godzilla if this was the result of the first sequel.

Next: Rodan!