Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon

Orochi is a legendary monster from Japanese myth. In the realm of kaiju movies, it makes perfect sense that one of the monsters should be either based on Orochi or simply be the monster itself. Orochi, the Eight-Headed is an example of the latter (King Ghidorah is an example of the former). Based almost entirely around Shinto mythology, this is a kaiju movie featuring legends, gods, folklore, and other Japanese traditions. The main character, Ousu, is a semi-legendary figure from roughly the year 75 AD and the premise, twins being considered bad luck and one being exiled as a result, is based in (mostly outdated) Japanese folk beliefs.

Directed by Takao Okawara between Godzilla movies (vs. MechaGodzilla II and vs. Destoroyah specifically) and still produced by Toho, it's an interesting exploration of what a Toho kaiju film looks like without being tied into the greater Godzilla mythos. Heisei era suit acting veterans Kenpachiro Satsuma, Hurricane Ryu, and Wataru Fukuda also feature in this film as the titular Orochi, Kumasogami, and the entirely awesome Utsuno Ikusagami, respectively. Let's get to talking about the adventures of Ousu before it's too late.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- I'm gonna simplify the shit out of this, because the first version of it was incredibly long because this plot is... complex.

- The 2nd born twin of a pair of princes is considered an ill omen by both the Emperor and his advisor Tsukinowa. Saved after being thrown off a cliff by the White Bird of Heaven, Amano Shiratori, he returns to the palace as a grown man and fierce warrior. In his youth, he picked up a magatama (jewel/trinket) from a mystic cave.

- When he returns to the palace, his mother grows ill and dies. Blamed for this, his twin brother attacks him and the magatama activates mystical energy to protect Ousu and kills his brother.

- Exiled for the crimes of killing his mother and brother, Ousu must defeat the Kumaso people. He is joined by a woman named Oto on this quest, who can shoot fireballs using magic.

- After defeating the leader of the Kamaso and a literal god, Ousu is then told he will have to defeat the evil god Tsukuyomi in the form of a giant eight headed monster named Orochi or the world will be destroyed.

- On their quest to stop Orochi they are attacked by giant sea monster Kaishin Muba, and Oto dies while saving Ousu's life. 

- While lamenting Oto's death, Ousu sees his dead mother on the beach. This is Tsukinowa in disguise, and he stabs Ousu through the neck. Before Ousu passes out from blood loss, Tsukinowa confesses that he killed Ousu's mother and brother (finishing him off after the magatama knocked him out).

- An eclipse blots out the sun as Tsukinowa summons Tsukuyomi, allowing the evil god to return to earth after having been previously imprisoned in space.

- Ousu wakes up back in the mysterious cave from his youth, coming face to face and being tested by the god Susano'o. They fight briefly before Ousu pulls a glowing, lightsaber-like sword from a stone.

- Revealed to be part of this greater destiny because she possesses the spirit of the goddess Amaterasu, Oto is revived by Susano'o and the two are sent to the moon to confront Tsukuyomi/Orochi.

- A sword fight ensues, and so far there has been very little kaiju in this kaiju movie.

- Though Tsukiyomi is defeated, he transforms into the kaiju Orochi. Unable to defeat him as they currently are, the White Bird of Heaven appears and gives the two heroes a ride so they can attack Orochi properly. The sword Ousu carries manages to damage Orochi, but the eight heads are too powerful and he is thrown from the Bird.

- Oto blasts Orochi with her magic which provides Ousu an opportunity to launch himself onto one of the heads and repeatedly stab it with his sword. This heroic turn doesn't last and Orochi throws all 3 of his attackers into space.

- Oto dies, again, but this time her spirit flows into Ousu and he now has the "three lights' he's apparently needed the whole time. He transforms into a giant warrior, able now to match Orochi blow for blow. He demonstrates this by literally ripping off one of Orochi's heads.

- Summoning his sword again, Giant Ousu quickly slices off each of Orochi's heads before lasering him to death.

- Oto is revived when Orochi dies, and the two head home on the back of the White Bird of Heaven. Tsukuyomi is captured inside Ousu's magatama and sealed away after Ousu throws it into space.

- The eclipse ends and the Emperor finally accepts his son Ousu, realizing he's saved the world.

Kaiju Notes

- Kurasogami, the god of the Kuraso people, is a weird creature. He's too small to be a proper kaiju but is at least large and spooky looking. He has the power to transform his body into weapons, which proves pretty devastating against his mostly human enemies.

- Kaishin Muba is more accurately kaiju sized but also sports no particular abilities. While he's based in the ocean so is already dangerous, he's basically a classic kraken: tentacles and rage, not much else.

- Orochi is the titular kaiju, and is a pretty impressive looking beast. He's basically incredibly souped up King Ghidorah without the wings, and the 8 heads all look consistently pissed off and powerful.

- Giant Ousu looks like a goddamn Megazord in the best way, and one could easily be forgiven for thinking he's a robot. I watched the movie and am not entirely sure he's not. But either way, Giant Ousu is cool as hell and I want one.

- Giant Ousu's abilities include force fields, lasers from his forehead, a giant version of his Sword of Karasai, as well as bad ass wings along his back which don't do anything but are very cool. Orochi is mostly giant and angry and also breathes fire.

- Orochi, moreso than any other creature in the film, seems like a vicious beast. Besides having eight flame breathing heads, he moves with a certain sense of destruction and insistence on victory which Satsuma can be almost recognized by at this point. How the crew and cast managed to make the eight heads seems to work in relative unison given all the moving parts is pretty impressive, considering that it can often fail to come across that way with the three headed King Ghidorah. The battle of Orochi vs. Utsumo Ikusagami (Giant Ousu) is very cool, Orochi never backing down or being anything less than ferocious despite clearly being on the losing side versus the giant flowing warrior.

Every fight against a kaiju in this movie is hilariously unsuccessful, even when the humans eventually win. Kurasogami nearly kills everyone in the room until Ousu's magatama takes over his body and starts shooting lasers at it. Kaishin Muba almost kills Ousu, and does kill Oto, who sacrifices herself to take him out (and while she doesn't seem to know it at the time, she's got the spirit of a god in here). Orochi is also fought while Ousu and Oto are still in human form and get their shit wrecked again, being thrown into space where they would have died had Oto not given her spirit to Ousu so he could transform (a plan she did not have).

The frequent use of folklore and mythological elements makes this movie very inaccessible and also hard to accurately describe. Not the use of gods, necessarily, but the legendary figures like Genbu and Seiryu. I took them out of the description above because it was difficult to explain why they were there while also adhering to a (relatively) simple plot summary. It would be like if Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed appeared in a random American blockbuster: not necessarily out of line but very strange and definitely unnecessary. When you combine this with literal gods it becomes a movie that's honestly more dragged down by its folklore and mythology than helped. While I'm not Japanese so cannot truly speak for the significance of Genbu appearing, I can say that it doesn't seem very useful to have him appear for all of 3 scenes and then never be heard from again.

All of the above makes this movie sound pretty bad, and it is, but still manages to be relatively entertaining. The actual battles are fun, and the movie comes together in a certain way in the second half. Until getting to Kamusogami, however, it's entirely disposable. After clearing Genbu and Seiryu from the story we get to focus on the quest of Ousu and Oto and the narrative is strengthened by it. On the other side, Oto doesn't get a chance to shine as much as she should, really being a tool to empower or motivate Ousu rather than the badass goddess that she literally is.And Ousu is a pretty reactive character, essentially leaving us with a tail of two humans (reincarnated gods?) being led around by everyone around them but rarely making a decision for themselves. Orochi is a badass looking monster and Giant Ousu is like everything I want in a kaiju movie wrapped up into one fierce looking warrior, but it's hard to rescue such a weak story in the final 10 minutes.

Next: Gamera, Guardian of the Universe!

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

Godzilla vs Destoroyah ends the Heisei era of Godzilla, and is an important movie in the series for more than this reason. Originally advertised as the movie where Godzilla dies, we're here to see if stories of Godzilla's death have been greatly exaggerated. 

With the last two films being unsatisfactory to the studio in regards to financial success, it was decided that this was meant to be the last Godzilla movie until the 21st century. This movie was made in 1995, so that really only means a 5 or so year break. The break between the Showa and Heisei eras was 9 years, so taking a 5 year hiatus isn't exactly a long time, but it's something. Further still, the next Toho made Godzilla movie was released in 1999 so they didn't even make it past Y2K. For some reason that's just funny to me.

Additional context! This movie was originally conceived to be Heisei Godzilla versus the ghost of the original Showa Godzilla. Destoroyah's name is supposed to be Destroyer, but Toho was not able to trademark the name Destroyer. So adding a couple extra letters seemed to do the job. I'm going to use Destoroyah throughout this post, but it's pronounced Destroyer. Takao Okawara returns to the director chair (after vs. Mothra and vs. MechaGodzilla II), Kenpachiro Satsuma returns as Godzilla, Hurricane Ryu returns as Godzilla Junior, and Ryo Hariya plays our villain Destoroyah.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Godzilla attacks Hong Kong, notable because he appears to covered in red splotches and seems more powerful than before. He was exposed to a uranium deposit explosion in a natural disaster.

- A device similar to the Oxygen Destroyer is created, called Micro-Oxygen. Though this is not intended to be a weapon, it immediately worries people because of its similarity to that dreadful invention.

- Godzilla is hypothesized to be powered up but also be on the verge of exploding from the growing radiation contained in his body, an explosion which would be powerful enough to destroy the Earth's atmosphere entirely.

- It is discovered that Micro-Oxygen has given rise to dangerous crustacean like monsters, named Destroyers/Destoroyahs because of their origin.

- The newly built Super X3 is sent to stop Godzilla from exploding, using cryo missiles to temporarily stave off his impending nuclear meltdown. Despite this effort, it's estimated he will explode in under 3 days (possibly within the next 24 hours).

- The mini Destoroyah's being fended off by human weaponry they combine into one Destoroyah, the living embodiment of the Oxygen Destroyer.

- The humans want the two monsters to fight, as the Oxygen Destroyer power within Destoroyah should be able to stop Godzilla before he goes nuclear. They decide to use Baby (now Junior) Godzilla as bait to make Godzilla be in the same space as Destoroyah.

- Destoroyah, now able to switch forms as it desires, injects Junior Godzilla with Micro-Oxygen, which will kill him. Junior Godzilla manages to hit him directly with an Atomic Breath attack, which repels Destoroyah temporarily but is too late to save himself.

- Godzilla finally arrives. Destoroyah changes one more time, this time into his "Perfect" form. As Junior and Papa Godzilla reunite, Destoroyah flies over and hauls Junior Godzilla off before killing him. Godzilla cries, having lost his only companion in life.

- Wasting no time, Destoroyah interrupts the grieving Godzilla and attacks. Despite Destoroyah's raw power, Godzilla manages to eventually fight back and seriously injures it.

- Being wounded, Destoroyah changes strategy: It breaks down into individual monsters again and swarms Godzilla. After some difficulty he fends off the individual monsters, who retreat.

- Approaching the body of Junior Godzilla and reaching his meltdown point temperature again, we get a moment of Godzilla attempting to help Junior Godzilla before the Perfect Destoroyah ambushes him once more.

- Godzilla gets his ass kicked, but reaches such a temperature that he literally begins to melt and give off powerful radiation. This empowers him even further, allowing him to fight back against Destoroyah despite literally being in his final minutes of life.

- As Destoroyah attempts to fly away, he is attacked by the Super X3 and JSDF and his wings are frozen. He crashes into the ground and is destroyed in a chain reaction. Unfortunately, Godzilla also reaches meltdown point and is moments away from destroying the entire Earth.

- The Super X3 and JSDF now turn their attention to Godzilla, using their cryo weapons to cool him down. This barely works, managing to prevent Godzilla from destroying the planet and instead only melting away and being reduced to a skeleton. It's actually very gross.

- The radiation leakage from Godzilla renders Tokyo entirely uninhabitable but has also been absorbed by Junior Godzilla, who is revived by the energy. While alone, there is still a Godzilla in the world.

Kaiju Notes

- The little Destoroyahs are horrible in all the right ways. They constantly give off a lightning like effect which makes them seem dangerous and brimming with power and helps make them appropriately intimidating. All of that plus their gross faces (including xenomorph-like spear mouths) makes them very good monsters. The spinning ball of doom effect when they shoot a human is cool, though I would argue it doesn't get used to its full potential as the victims seem to just die (rather than have some wild shit happen to them).

- Perfect Destoroyah is a fine culmination of this. His wings become bat-like and even more intimidating, a large horn on his head is a sign he means trouble, a pincer tail, and large sharp spikes covering his body which he can use for both offense and defense. It's a good evolution for the creature, not reducing what they were as smaller creatures but merging into a giant version of them instead.

- Destoroyah is basically designed to be Godzilla's toughest foe ever. He's always had trouble against flyers, and Destoroyah can fly and fight on land, able to shoot Micro-Oxygen from his mouth, and having a horn capable of being used as a sword (it even generates a laser!). Add to that Destoroyah's sheer malevolence, similar to SpaceGodzilla in that it clearly acts in ways to intentionally upset and harm Godzilla, Destoroyah is an excellent "final monster" for the Heisei series and is likely only able to be overcome because Godzilla is powered up before his own death.

Before I get into the many merits of this movie and the Heisei era in general, let's talk about Miki Saegusa. She has been in 6 of the 7 Heisei era films and her psychic abilities have been growing and of varying importance throughout the entire series. She has formed some sort of connection with Godzilla as well as other kaiju (Biollante most noticeably) and her character arc has been to use her powers for the good of both humanity and kaiju alike, to potentially live in some type of harmony. After all of this work, in this movie she reveals that she is losing her psychic abilities. WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT OF THEM. She does at least appear her and there to give updates on the status of Godzilla and cry when he dies and "get work with Godzilla is complete," but why spend 5 movies setting her up as an important character and then just dismissing her in your finale? It's absurd.

Since we're in the finale of this era of Godzilla films, it seems relevant to mention the biggest differences between the Showa and Heisei films. Most obvious is Kenpachiro Satsuma's tenure as Godzilla: while he didn't go on as long a streak as the previous Godzilla actor, Haruo Nakajima, he did have a more consistent character. Showa Godzilla started off as a terrifying beast and slowly transformed into a friendly monster that children could enjoy before merging the two representations into one semi-heroic personality that could ultimately be convincingly portrayed at any point on the spectrum. Satsuma, however, played a monster. While there were moments of humanity or understanding for Godzilla through the Heisei series, Satsuma's Godzilla was never anything less than scary. While I do prefer the animalistic Heisei portrayal, it can't be argued that Showa Godzilla is not more "fun" as a character. Whether he's jumping around in celebration or animatedly talking to Anguirus, Showa G was entertaining. But the severe and unfuckwithable Heisei Godzilla brought some of the greatest moments in Godzilla film history. When he showed any emotion at all it was often the best part of the movie and when the beast was truly unleashed it typically made the kaiju action top tier.

On the subject of direction, I think the Showa era was a little more inventive and fun. There is nothing wrong with the Heisei era films from this angle, but it was often very "obvious." The Showa era directors, perhaps because they were almost literally inventing the genre, seemed to take more risks and try more unexpected things with portraying they're stories. This isn't universally true, of course, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was sometimes like a fever dream in all the best ways and the Showa series had plenty of "boring" direction in it's run as well. All that said, from a writing and production standpoint the Showa era was often more clear. Heisei era films, though I enjoy them quite a bit and more (on the average) than Showa films, are needlessly complex compared to the normally relatively simple Showa stories. It's a matter of taste, but ultimately I'd say that the Heisei highs are higher and the lows are not as low, while on the average Showa films were more even experiences throughout from a production and directorial perspective.

For his part, Destoroyah is notable because he is a true and very real monster. Besides being powerful, probably the strongest opponent Godzilla has ever had, it is also sadistic and cruel and brilliantly designed to strike fear. While SpaceGodzilla showed some of these traits as well, it was ultimately hampered by having one weakness and no method of working around it. Without it's crystals, it was ultimately nearly helpless when facing Godzilla. Destoroyah, on the other hand, shows more tactical thinking than any other kaiju before it, clearly playing to its advantages and even fighting Godzilla on a psychological level as well as physically. Killing Godzilla Junior was extremely easy and unnecessary, but Destoroyah did it out of spite, malice, and a clear desire to make Godzilla sad. It uses this to its tactical advantage when it later ambushes Godzilla while he mourns his friend, making it a perfect exemplification that it is exactly what it appears to be: a demon. Add this to its incredible power and (as noted above) almost perfect counter to all of Godzilla's abilities and you've got a monster which is possibly the most dangerous and powerful kaiju in any movie ever because it's a threat on an existential, physical, and emotional level.

Now, onto the specific of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. This movie is raw entertainment over all else and it rules. I have been known to complain about a lack of proper monster action in my kaiju movies and this is not a film that has that problem. Once the stakes are set up, it is straight Destoroyah and/or Godzilla action throughout basically the entire film, setting up mini Destoroyah's to be evil and ugly to humans before moving to a duel between the two titular beasts. The fight itself is almost perfect, making it obvious that on a normal day Destoroyah would win (probably easily) but that on this day Godzilla is empowered in just the right way that he can overcome, though he may take the entire planet with him in the process. The human intervention in the film makes perfect sense rather than just being another instance in which they shoot themselves in the foot and later regret it, literally hoping to save the lives of everyone while allowing Godzilla to handle the threat of Destoroyah as only he can. Like Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla before it, upon seeing this film it has instantly become one of my favorite kaiju movies: it's excellent.

Next: Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon!

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

We're approaching the end of the Heisei era of Godzilla movies, this time we're discussing the evil clone of Godzilla in the appropriately titled Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. And unlike my way of writing MechaGodzilla, there actually isn't supposed to be a space between the space and the Godzilla! Newcomer (to the series) Kensho Yamashita directs, and the main man is played by Kenpachiro Satsuma. The kaiju cast is rounded out by Ryō Haritani as SpaceGodzilla, and the same man who played MechaGodzilla II, Wataru Fukuda, is back as the machine M.O.G.U.E.R.A.

There's not a ton of interesting background information to share for this one, so let's get to the point and talk about the movie!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A giant crystal flies through space before landing on Earth.

- The psychic woman from the previous films, Miki Saegusa, is asked to assist the Godzilla destroying task force, G-Force, with one of their two new plans.

- The first plan is to build another Godzilla fighting robot called M.O.G.U.E.R.A., and the second is Project T: a plan to attach a telepathic conductor to Godzilla's head and use psychic power to keep Godzilla away. Miki thinks Project T is both immoral and impossible.

- Seeking guidance, Miki comes across Mothra's voice: the Cosmos, and is told that a terrible space monster is approaching Earth to kill Godzilla and that if Godzilla dies then Earth can be easily conquered. She is given the task of protecting Godzilla so that Earth does not fall as consequence. Miki joins Project T because of the proximity it will give her to Godzilla.

- On the island Godzilla appears to treat as some sort of home (or base), 3 soldiers come across Baby Godzilla, here called Little Godzilla, and set a trap for Godzilla.

- Godzilla appears on the island and falls into the trap set by the soldiers. While one was hoping to kill Godzilla and fails, the other two succeed in attaching Project T's telepathic probe to the back of Godzilla's head.

- Project T fails after Godzilla reasserts control of his mind.

- In space, Moguera meets SpaceGodzilla and they have a flying battle through space. Moguera loses and heads back to Earth with SpaceGodzilla giving chase.

- Back on the island, the soldiers prepare to kill Godzilla. Miki stops the soldiers from killing Big G just as SpaceGodzilla arrives.

- Baby/Little Godzilla is SpaceGodzilla's first target, being pelted with space lightning as he tries to escape. Fortunately for Baby Godzilla, his father arrives protects him from the space lightning attacks.

- Both monsters retreat, but Godzilla is weakened. G-Force dubs Project T a failure, leaving them with only Project M (Moguera).

- SpaceGodzilla begins to attack various cities, just as predicted by G-Force. Moguera arrives first to fight, with Godzilla cutting through several cities to confront SG as well.

- Moguera gets absolutely rolled, but Godzilla arrives in time to save the crew from death. While initially overwhelmed, Godzilla begins to destroy SpaceGodzilla's crystals which makes the fight more even. Moguera joins in to help, which allows the two to finally fight against SpaceGodzilla.

- After evening the odds Moguera is disabled, but SpaceGodzilla has been weakened enough that Godzilla is able to destroy him (and make him explode). In the process, the Moguera robot is completely destroyed.

- Godzilla leaves, going to spend time with Baby/Little Godzilla. The end.

Kaiju Notes

- Baby Godzilla is less cute than in his previous appearance. He is, however, still not as horrific as the original Minilla so we're still calling this a vast improvement. Also, intentionally designed to have been growing, it makes a degree of sense that Baby/Little Godzilla is a little more Godzilla like. His big soulful eyes still help balance out any more "monstrous" characteristics.

- M.O.G.U.E.R.A. is a cooler principle than design. Being able to split into different forms for different functions is clearly the brainchild of Super MechaGodzilla, but the design is underwhelming in comparison to that same MechaGodzilla. The design seems more juvenile than either MechaGodzilla.

- SpaceGodzilla is really just "edgy Godzilla" but I like it nonetheless. It's not the most creative, but his creepy cheek teeth and the giant crystals on his back do certainly create a distinct look, and that's one of the keys to good kaiju design.

- SpaceGodzilla's Space Lightning is apparently called Corona Beams. It is SG's version of Atomic Breath, so it's not really blowing any minds when it comes to SpaceGodzilla's abilities. His best ability is to create crystals, which he launch into the air or keep as traps on the ground and use as weapons. He seems to empowered by them, making them a crucial element of his battles. The crystals are awesome, and some real anime-type shit that works very well. SpaceGodzilla can also fly, making him probably one of the strongest Godzilla foes of all time.

One particular direction note, and one that I've always enjoyed: several shots establish Godzilla's scale, including a beautiful one showing Godzilla beside the island coast. This movie does a better job than many kaiju films in establishing the sheer scale of the problem. It's also a good example of how the balance of human/monster elements interplay in this movie: complementary, the best way to do it. The human elements are not overbearing or too frequent, and play into the kaiju story nicely. Whether it's the giant robot Moguera or the psychic Miki Saegusa, the two sides merge nicely in a manner which is actually rare for the series to pull off. Though on the aggregate the Heisei era has been better at balancing the two sides.

It's time to talk about Miki, the most prominent human character in Godzilla movies period. Due to her psychic abilities she is often used to provide insight into the various monsters mentalities, and this time is no different. Having been used as a weapon to target Godzilla's 2nd brain in vs MechaGodzilla II, Miki is back but with the explicit purpose of trying to help and even protect Godzilla. She's one of very few people in the series to acknowledge that Godzilla might have feelings that aren't just "destroy all humans" and work to help him (and therefore humanity) rather than just kill him and call it a day. She's also one of the few intelligent people in the series because there have now been several instances of Godzilla being necessary for the survival of Japan/the entire Earth but G-Force keeps coming up with plans to kill him rather than control.

SpaceGodzilla's origin is a hilarious bit of unnecessary explanation: When Biollante died and became particles, those particles were pushed into space by either force or attached to Mothra when she went into space. Those cells got into a black hole and absorbed cosmic rays from exploding stars before being pushed out as a white hole that is also SpaceGodzilla. I like the idea of SpaceGodzilla being all the evil parts of Biollante combined with a clone body of Godzilla, but that is...convoluted, to say the least. Which is a great description for this movie entirely: convoluted. So many elements are introduced, seemingly discarded, touched on, then concluded that it seems almost impossible to explain them all. Mothra is both in this movie and not, Project T is super important, then not. Miki's psychic powers have been a constant on-again off-again relationship through the last four movies and is primarily used to develop the human side of the story despite her being involved in some of the most important Godzilla plots as well. It's just very confusing, overall. Not so much in understanding what is happening but why.

In the end, given everything, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is a mixed but entertaining bag. As noted above, it's strangely convoluted throughout, but the kaiju action is some of the best we've seen so far if not only because SpaceGodzilla is a real force to be reckoned with and the battle has a genuine sense of strategy that has only truly come up a few times through the series. This isn't going to win any awards on basically any level, but for raw entertainment value and kaiju action it's certainly worth seeing.

Next: Godilla vs. Destoroyah!

Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II

Possibly my favorite Godzilla movie to date is Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla. If you missed the title of this post allow me to explain that that means that I have some high expectations of this film. I am not a person who believes you can always capture lightning in a bottle, but if you're going to try you have to try hard! There's not a lot to explain for the background here: after trying some unique ideas in the beginning of the Heisei era we are now firmly entrenched in the "rehash of old monsters/ideas" portion of the Heisei Godzilla films, and hoping it pays off. Financially, it has, so it's difficult to complain that the creators keep remixing when the great idea that was Biollante wasn't appreciated for what it was.

Directed by Takao Okawara, who made the previous (very enjoyable) film Godzilla vs. Mothra, Kenpachiro Satsuma returns to the Godzilla suit and Wataru Fukuda plays his titular enemy MechaGodzilla (having previously been the man behind Godzillasaurus). With both real and fictional technology upgrades behind it, the new MechaGodzilla should be a sight to behold. Let's get to beholding.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- The very first line of this movie is "Finally we have it... a robot to kill Godzilla."

- Using technology both human-created and cultivated from the Mecha King Ghidorah from the previous film, Japan has built a 2nd MechaGodzilla to finally destroy that terrible lizard once and for all. There is another fabulous robot named Garuda which is considered outdated in comparison to MechaGodzilla II.

- A UN unit named G-Force is formed to study and learn to destroy Godzilla. We watch a student go through the program.

- Rodan is back!

- Godzilla is also back, and he and Rodan engage in a traditional duel. Except Rodan can fly, so it swoops in and attacks Godzilla from behind a lot.

- Having found an egg, we are also witness to the birth of the new baby Godzilla. He's non-aggressive and eats plants, so the humans are excited to possibly have this creature on their side.

- There's a lot of disparate things happening in this movie.

- When Godzilla returns to attack the city, MechaGodzilla II is sent to fight back.

- MechaGodzilla II absolutely brutalizes Godzilla for quite some time until Godzilla manages to send some of its energy back at it, disabling the robot long enough for the organic monster to get some licks in.

- The robot and its crew manage to barely retreat, and Godzilla lashes out against the city and the military since he is now unopposed (and pissed).

- Back the G-Force base, they concoct a new plan: kill Godzilla by destroying the second brain in his thigh. They discovered this second brain's existence by studying baby Godzilla.

- A song by psychic children (don't ask) gives Rodan new life, empowering it and making it the more powerful Fire Rodan.

- Confronted by MechaGodzilla II, Fire Rodan battles it out with both the robot and the flying ship Garuda. It can shoot heat beams now!

- After taking down the Garuda, the crew of MechaGodzilla II are pissed and nearly kill Rodan. Rodan is critically wounded in the fight, gurgling up blood as Godzilla arrives and engages with MechaGodzilla II.

- Godzilla wins relatively easily this time, but the Garuda is back in action. This gives MGII time to recover. Turns out these 2 machines can combine into Super MechaGodzilla, giving the already daunting MGII the beam cannon and added maneuverability of Garuda. This is awesome.

- Super MechaGodzilla wrecks Godzilla before launching their new G-Crusher weapon into his hip to destroy his 2nd brain. This plan works and Godzilla collapses as he loses the ability to control his body.

- As Godzilla is being finished off by the humans, Baby Godzilla seems to sense this and get upset. He breaks out of his confines and roars, which wakes up his friend Rodan. Rodan is shot down as it approaches, but lands on Godzilla and heals him with the last of its energy. This regenerates Godzilla's destroyed brain, allowing the big lizard to rally as Rodan finally, truly dies and fades to dust.

- Empowered by Fire Rodan's power, Godzilla turns on Super MechaGodzilla with a vengeance, destroying the robot in a final display of his singular overpowering might. The crew does manage to stay alive despite the robot being completely disables/destroyed.

- Godzilla and Baby Godzilla leave Japan together.

Kaiju Notes

- New Rodan is a vast improvement on all previous designs, which were ugly. It's still ugly, but in a way animals can be, not in a "ew what a weird brown bird/bat/dinosaur" way. This is true of both Fire and regular Rodan, as Fire is essentially just a red version of the same suit used earlier in the film.

- New Baby Godzilla is also a significant improvement. The old one was a horrific mutant that clearly emerged from the nightmares of a haunted man, and the new one is relatively cute. With large eyes and lacking most of his teeth, he manages to appear friendly and immature while still seeming as though he could grow to be as fearsome and powerful as Godzilla.

- MechaGodzilla II is a natural evolution of the first. It looks more advanced while still mimicking the appearance of Godzilla very roughly, but is stockier in all the right ways. Thicker legs and tail make it a more imposing figure, along with a more menacing head to seal the deadly deal.

- MechaGodzilla II's greatest weapon is technically it's Megabuster, a multi-colored laser from it's mouth, but the real secret is the jets inside that allow it to both hover and attack simultaneously. Considering Godzilla's natural trouble against flying creatures, MechaGodzilla II takes even greater advantage by not having to fly away, turn around, and return for an attack. As far as strategy goes, it's pretty great.

- MechaGodzilla II also sports horrific spears that first lodge themselves into Godzilla's body and then electrify him. This robot was not built to fuck around.

- Super MechaGodzilla is entirely awesome, no other way to describe it. I said outloud that the two robots should combine because I love to come up with ridiculous and badass ideas, BUT THEN THEY DID THAT. Beam Cannon + the Megabuster, along with plasma grenades and all manner of other weapons, makes Super MechaGodzilla pretty much everything I want in an anti-Godzilla weapon.

This definitely holds the record now for the most definitive Godzilla defeat. With his 2nd brain destroyed, Godzilla functionally fully died. While Rodan heals him, it is clear that without this bit of last-ditch effort Godzilla would not have ever recovered. It's a pretty bold move, as Godzilla has almost never truly been defeated in any movie prior to this one. Some temporary setbacks have always occurred, and The Return of Godzilla had him nearly die when his heart slowed down due to Cadmium missiles, but the military didn't have any weapons capable of finishing him off. Were it not for Baby Godzilla and Rodan's effort, Godzilla was entirely done for in this one, no ambiguity. While they never said this, it's actually possible he did die for a moment and was simply revived when Rodan gave its own life to help him.

I think it is with this film that Miki Saegusa has broken the record for the most human appearances in a Godzilla movie. She is a psychic who first appeared in Godzilla vs. Biollante and has appeared in every film since. In this movie she is critical in Godzilla's defeat, using her psychic powers to target Godzilla's brain and allowing MechaGodzilla to destroy it. She also has several adventures and side stories where she displays telekinesis and develops her powers. It's odd because her character, fitting because she was introduced with Biollante, doesn't really seem to be used to her potential. While she's able to communicate, or at least understand, the motivations and thoughts of the various kaiju, she displays empathy and understanding for them but always seems to be involved in yet another plot to kill them. Granted, she had some extremely light appearances in a few of the previous films so it would be hard to properly characterize her in the 42 seconds of screentime she had, but a tiny amount of resistance from her in the "recruit the psychic to kill Godzilla" scene might have gone quite far. Hopefully in the future, if she's going to appear more (she does), she'll have proper time to be fleshed out and have her character realized.

The plot is needlessly complex. Rodan dies twice, psychic powers are developed and used primarily for human related plotting that doesn't affect Godzilla at all (in fact, the powers she has at the beginning of the film would have worked just fine for the entire rest of it), MechaGodzilla is deafeated, rebuilt, victorious, defeated, powered up, and defeated again, and the introduction of Godzilla's 2nd brain seems an entirely unnecessary addition especially because it never truly pays off. Additional point: as always, this weakness of Godzilla is introduced, exploited exactly one time, and never mentioned again. We've now seen him defeated in multiple ways but none of the methods have ever been repeated, which seems a glaring mistake on behalf of the Japanese people in these films. There is, sadly, nothing to be done to fix this glaring flaw in movies written nearly 30 years ago, but it is somewhat frustrating that nothing really "matters" in regards to how to defeat Godzilla. 

This movie is largely spectacle. While I can typically draw some sort of message or metaphor from the events of a kaiju movie, this is one of the exceptions. "People like MechaGodzilla, people like regular Godzilla, make them fight" seems to be the guiding principle and concept behind this one. And it mostly works! Despite the unusual and convoluted plot, the kaiju action is pretty dope and even the labyrinthine human story isn't a total waste. This one isn't going to win any awards in either an "all-time" or "Heisei era" category, but it's entertaining for the most part. MechaGodzilla II is actually incredibly badass, which is all really what anyone asks, and the battle between the two titular monsters is given adequate screentime and reasonable choreography. Overall, this isn't going to change anyone's mind if they don't already enjoy kaiju movies, but it's worth a shot if one enjoys such things. Mid!

Next: Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla!

Godzilla vs. Mothra

Mothra is back, in a movie once again written by Kazuki Ōmori but this time directed by one Takao Okawara. The main man Kenpachiro Satsuma remains the animalistic version of Godzilla, with Mothra being played by a puppet (as always!). This movie's direction was much more family-friendly and fantastical than the earlier days of the Heisei era, but in line with the approach the previous film, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, took. There's not a whole lot to explain about this movie except to emphasize that Mothra is awesome and movies with Mothra in them tend to be pretty good, so let's get to it.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A trio of explorer's find a giant egg, belonging to Mothra. The Mothra Twins, in this movie called the Cosmos, explain that Mothra has an ancient enemy named Battra.

- Battra was created by the Earth itself to take down an ancient civilization that tried to control the climate, but eventually lost control of itself and aimed to destroy all humanity before being stopped by Mothra.

- The discovery of the egg appears to wake Battra, who goes on a frenzy while the Mothra egg is transported to the mainland for protection (until Mothra can hatch).

- Godzilla also awakens, attacking the ship on which the Mothra egg is being transported. The egg hatches just in time to avoid total disaster. Battra also appears here, lured by either Mothra or Godzilla.

- Larval Mothra, Godzilla, and larval Battra all fight in a 3-for-all. Battra and Godzilla take the fight to the bottom of the ocean while Mothra escapes to fight another day.

- Battra and Godzilla are swallowed by the earth when they cause a fissure in a tectonic plate and fall inside.

- The Cosmos being kidnapped (predictable, like the 3rd time this has happened), they sing Mothra's song and summon her. Mothra begins to return to Japan to retrieve her priestesses.

- Mothra destroys some of Japan as she searches for the Cosmos, until they manage to eventually call her off once they are freed. Hilariously, she destroys as much leaving as she did coming in.

- Mothra is attacked by the JSDF as she attempts to return home to Infant Island, eventually being weakened by the barrage of bullets and missiles. She wraps herself in an impenetrable cocoon attached to the Japanese Diet Building.

- Godzilla is back, baybee!

- Mothra emerges from her cocoon as Godzilla wrecks everything. She heads to confront Godzilla when a fully formed Battra emerges from the sea as well. Looks like another 3-for-all is beginning, but this time the two moth kaiju are in their final and most powerful forms.

- Battra manages to take down Mothra as Godzilla approaches them. Not able to finish her off due to Godzilla's intervention, Battra is then knocked down and injured by Godzilla's Atomic Breath. Before Battra can be finished off, Mothra recovers and interrupts Godzilla.

- Mothra flies over to Battra and they appear to communicate while the Cosmos sing. Godzilla rallies and attacks again, defeating Mothra and nearly crushing her with a ferris wheel.

- Despite being enemies just minutes before, Battra saves Mothra. He distracts Godzilla long enough for Mothra to launch a counter-offensive. She's eventually joined by Battra and they tag team the G-man.

- Godzilla is utterly defeated by the two working together. When he rallies and tries to win this fight, both moths drag him to the sea and Battra sinks with him, critically wounded already. 

- Mothra uses some sort of Mothra magic on the area before heading home with her Cosmos.

- Before leaving, the Cosmos warn that Battra was supposed to wake up in 1999 to save the planet from an approaching meteor. Mothra has now inherited this mission, having spoken with Battra about it before his death.

Kaiju Notes

- Mothra seems to look better every time she's in one of these movies. Larval form was not as juicy this time, which is my preference, because gooey Mothra is upsetting to me.

- Battra is actually a better designed larva than Mothra. She's... boring, but larval Battra is kind of badass. Combined with his horn, it makes larval Battra almost seem like he could be a final form.

- Imago Battra is a very cool interpretation of him as a a dark reflection of Imago Mothra. Where she looks cute and heroic he appears edgy and evil, which makes sense given their background as ancient enemies and Battra's specific origin as a manifestation of the planet's rage.

- The kaiju powers in this movie are relatively common: Battra having purple beams of energy as opposed to Mothra's gold and Godzilla's blue. As is often the case with flying kaiju, the flying makes the most significant difference.

The environmental message of this movie is clear. It's not quite as beaten over the head as it was in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, but the monster that is Battra is just "the rage of the Earth itself" that has lashed out to destroy all humans in order to prevent us from destroying the Earth first. This is not subtle. That said, it plays into the various kaiju as metaphors rather than outright villains or heroes. Ghidorah, excellent as he is, is a bit dull because he's always just the strongest minion of some other group with no real thought needing to be given as to why he exists. Battra, Mothra, and to a lesser extent in the Heisei era Godzilla, are all creatures that exist for a purpose even if that purpose proves detrimental to humanity. Mothra is a great example: a protector of humanity and humankind but absolutely willing to turn her awesome power against us should we violate her principles or desires. Unlike Godzilla she does not willingly destroy a city, but she's absolutely willing to cut a straight path through buildings to get to her Shobijin and then leave the same way. It allows kaiju to all be representative of different things and give them individual wills without having to insert some human character to explain it to us, which is the worst trope in the genre.

While it's unclear if this has happened in the past "canon" of the series now, I am tired of seeing human kidnap the Shobijin/Cosmos and think everything is going to be okay. On at least 3 separate occasions now we have seen human character trying to profit off of the Shobijin and it always ends disastrously for them. Even if we assume the new timeline has made this the first appearance of Mothra, the writers have to come up with a new trope. Somehow kidnapping them with the intention of getting a particular city destroyed is one random idea, and would at least create some new dynamic to play with rather than the greedy businessman we're always stuck with when Mothra is in one of these movies. Businessmen are evil, I agree, but this is fiction and sometimes we gotta mix it up. It's why Spider-Man has villains that aren't The Shocker, despite The Shocker being the best one.

Of note: Mothra and Battra become allies only after they appear to agree to save the planet from the approaching meteor and realizing that they won't survive against Godzilla if they don't work together. The three monsters initially fighting each other only weakens them all, and since Mothra and Battra share a purpose in protecting the planet they appear to make a shaky alliance to do that, knowing it will probably kill one of them. It's more characterization than most kaiju get, and I am into it. On the other side of things, the human story here is almost entirely forgettable, and I don't mind at all. While I can appreciate a good human side of a kaiju movie, I have said many times now that a kaiju movie should be about the monsters and this one manages that very nicely. The human story never seemed to last too long or be obtrusive, really just giving some additional context or stakes while allowing the monsters to do the real work.

The Heisei era is honestly pretty good so far. It doesn't seem to be the most popular series in Godzilla's timeline so I wasn't sure that it was going to be any good, but there have been no stinkers yet. Some are better than others, of course, and some (vs. Biollante) don't live up to their own potential even if still being really good, but there have been none of the era so far that have been unenjoyable or not worth seeing. Godzilla vs. Mothra is no different, managing to add enough new elements to make it a worthy successor to the original Mothra vs. Godzilla. Battra is a very cool monster with an interesting backstory, and Mothra remains the Queen of the Monsters.

Next: Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II!