Godzilla vs. Megalon

I don't have time, I have a lot going on today! Godzilla vs. Megalon, go! Watch this video if you want information about the movie!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A nuclear test sets off a chain reaction, felt as far as Monster Island where Anguirus falls into the fissure that is created. Shortly thereafter, the human inventor Goro and his squad are witness to the emergence of Seatopia when they dry up a lake and make it their base.

- Seatopia attacks, trying to steal the robot that Goro is building called Jet Jaguar. They manage to escape with the robot but have to finish it elsewhere. Unfortunately, the Seatopians track them down and take the robot for themselves.

- Now in possession of Jet Jaguar, the Seatopians reveal their other secret weapon: Megalon, a giant bug-beetle-thing. They attack the surface world, their sworn enemies, using the human-sized Jet Jaguar to guide Megalon to the city.

- Goro uses a failsafe he's built in to gain control of Jet Jaguar again, causing Megalon to lose control and throw a tantrum and take down some military forces. The Seatopians call for help from Space Hunter Nebula M as Jet Jaguar finds Godzilla and gives him a message to come fight Megalon (sadly with no speech bubbles).

- Because Jet Jaguar can fly, he returns to Megalon's position quicker than Godzilla and confronts Megalon (after growing to an appropriate size, having been human sized before). He also grows to regret this, not yet realizing that Gigan has been sent by the Nebulons to support the Seatopian war on earth. JJ finds himself two versus one against Megalon and Gigan (who are fast friends).

- As Jet Jaguar is inevitably outmatched, Godzilla arrives and begins to throw hands. He manages against both foes for some time while Jet Jaguar recovers. Once JJ is up and in action again, the fight vacillates in a few interesting ways before the heroes officially win. Hilariously, Gigan retreats and leaves Megalon to face his fate alone.

- Godzilla bids the humans and Jet Jaguar farewell and heads home. Jet Jaguar and his human handlers lose the film with a Jet Jaguar song and a happy ending, as they too head home.

Kaiju Notes

- Megalon is ridiculous. Your mileage may vary on whether this is a good or bad thing, but I do enjoy the drill hands. He's like the cyborg version of the robotic Gigan.

- Jet Jaguar's design is bad and I don't know why people like it. Always has been. It's not good. In defense of him, it was designed by a literal child, but I don't know why the adults decided to use it in their movie. Of course, it could also have been the best choice they had once "put in a kaiju designed by a child" was the decided course of action.

- Megalon's abilities are drill hands, lasers out of his horn, and some kind of exploding pellet from his mouth. These are not synergistic powers in any way, but they do make him a tough opponent. Megalon is also significantly more mobile than many monsters, being able to shuffle his feet, jump, and move with much more agility than most kaiju. His top speed is apparently achieved by jumping, as an example of his particular mobility (though it looks strange).

- The monster acting is very good. Jet Jaguar manages to emote without any ability to move his face or most of his limbs in any unique manner, and the viciousness of Megalon and Gigan is apparent through their body language, sound effects, and team work. Megalon being as aggressive as Gigan and them getting along because of it is a nice touch as well. Gigan at one point takes Jet Jaguar hostage, which lets the two villains launch attacks at great advantage. 

- Godzilla's acting, on the other hand, doesn't really match the tone. He seems to celebrate himself while (finally) approaching the battle, taking his time to hype himself up rather than being in a hurry to help Jet Jaguar not be destroyed.

- It is known that I enjoy kaiju movies that feature as many monsters as possible, so I liked seeing the whole gang in this one. A lot of people have problems with the Godzilla suit used here, apparently, but I think it's fine.

There are car chases, fist fights, and lots of kaiju action. As far as what we look for in these movies, Godzilla vs. Megalon has it all. The car chase itself is somewhat unique in that there is a lot of "off-road" activity, down steep hills and even staircases, which I don't recall seeing in m/any other films. The chase down the staircase struck me as comedy but I doubt that was the original intent. But with the combination of Jet Jaguar and his human handlers, the weaving of the human story with the kaiju side of things is complete in a way I always appreciate.

For some reason this movie made me think of how incredibly dangerous it must be to be in the Japanese Self Defense Force in this universe. Kaiju attacks are frequent, more than annual affairs, and this is assuming we see all of them as films which probably isn't the case. And many military forces are destroyed in each incident, meaning that signing up for the JSDF is essentially asking to be put directly in the line of fire. I hope they're well compensated. Do you think they're drafted? It hasn't been touched on at all in any of the Godzilla films thus far, and I have many questions.

If the last few films are indicative, I think Godzilla has an ego. He also doesn't kill Megalon or Gigan once he has both down and they're vulnerable, a favor he did not afford some of his early foes. All of this plus his superhero posing before he begins to fight suggests that Godzilla has evolved from his animalistic, straightforward origins to a hero in his own mind who wants to take time to ensure everyone else agrees that he's a bad man. The Apollo Creed to his previous Rocky Balboa. This newfound arrogance of Godzilla is emphasized near the end of the battle when Megalon is helpless and Godzilla decides to dropkick him while Jet Jaguar holds him still. He then proceeds to slam Megalon by the tail into the ground repeatedly, before ultimately allowing Megalon to escape. Earlier Godzilla would never allow his enemy to escape alive, killing Anguirus in Godzilla Raids Again without any hesitation. It's unclear if this is because Godzilla is supposed to be a more heroic figure than in previous films and therefore more merciful, but I am interpreting it as cockiness. He doesn't care if Megalon lives because if he comes back he'll just beat him again. This could be true, but it also means that many more humans will die as kaiju battles always have human casualties and Godzilla seems happy on Monster Island and no longer attacks humans himself. An interesting arc would be for Godzilla's arrogance to come back to bite him, previous (surviving) foes teaming up to take him down once and for all so they could reign supreme. Just from the last two films in the series we've got Gigan, King Ghidorah, and Megalon available.

The relatively new emphasis on the actual monsters motivations and personalities is a welcome change for me, as a lot of previous movies wasted (in my opinion) a lot of time focusing on humanoid characters with the kaiju (the main attraction) being pushed into supporting roles. A balance will always be necessary and it's a difficult one, but Godzilla vs. Megalon manages it relatively deftly. That said, the kaiju are the draw, so I enjoy them being emphasized. Just like good professional wrestling, you don't need words to tell a story about two (or more) forces of nature going at each other. Jet Jaguar is a great example in this film, being less able to emote than any of the other kaiju but also somehow doing the best job of them all. He doesn't react to things with exaggerated movements like most of the monsters and still gets his thoughts across without being able to move his eyes or face in any way. Every suit actor in this movie is working their ass off and it pays off by being entertaining and understandable without any verbal communication or explanations from the human characters. Whether this is due to the direction of Jun Fukuda or the choices of the actors is unclear, but either way I am really into it.

This movie is apparently quite disliked but I'm not sure why. It has some clunkiness to it to be sure, including a car chase that comes off as comedic rather than suspenseful, but ultimately it intertwines the human and kaiju elements well and the kaiju battle is entertaining. Some footage is reused from previous films but even that is done in an understated fashion, being a few seconds here and there. While stock footage usage should be avoided if possible, I'm not going to complain much about a reused shot or two (just as in the previous film when Anguirus clamping on to King Ghidorah was reused from Destroy All Monsters). This film is far from the top of the list for me, not being nearly as ridiculously fun as vs. Gigan or as serious and meaningful as the original Gojira, but ultimately it's an enjoyable light-hearted romp which I have no major complaints about. Like it, don't love it.

Next: Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla!