Gamera the Brave

It's 2006 and Gamera is back! Just like Godzilla, at this point Gamera has had 3 eras. His eras have always began after Godzilla's, and this time the turtle is continuing the legacy of kaiju films even after Godzilla's Millennium era came to a close. So today we view Gamera the Brave. The titular turtle is played by Toshinori Sasaki, with Mizuho Yoshida portraying his (new to the series) enemy Zedus. Yoshida has been seen on this blog before, having played Godzilla in GMK a few years before. Counter to my typical disregard of the human actors, I feel obliged to mention that the main human character Toru is played by a young Ryo Tomioka.

There's not a whole lot of background to explore on this film, and like most Gamera films/series, it seems obvious why it was made. Godzilla was popular and Kadokawa/Daiei film studio wanted to make their own kaiju film. The end result here is interesting, however, as this Gamera film is the only one made for the time period (and the last one made as of this writing). This is because it was a commercial disaster, opening at #6 in the Japanese box office, which is just... devastating. So our goal here, as always, is to view the film on its own merits and see what there is to see. But with a #6 opening that might have destroyed an entire IP, this one should be interesting.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- In the very first scene, we see a town be destroyed as collateral damage as Gamera battles several Gyaos some distance away. As the Gyaos begin to overtake him, Gamera immolates and explodes, killing himself and the Gyaos as well.

- Over 30 years later, a survivor of the attack and his son Toru pay tribute to the memory of his recently deceased wife (Toru's mother). They live in the same town that was previously damaged by the battle and this is the first summer without Toru's mother.

- While on the beach Toru finds an egg which immediately hatches a tiny turtle. Toru names it Toto because his mother used to call him that. He and Toto make some new friends because everyone loves turtles.

- As Toto begins to grow and show signs of having the same abilities as Gamera, we see an old man be eaten by some unknown creature in the sea. It's brutal.

- Shortly thereafter, Toto disappears. As Toru tries to find him, a kaiju attack begins. Here we meet Zedus, who kills several people before Toto reappears to try to stop him, even larger than before. Still only about one third the size of Gamera, he fights with Z valiantly.

- After Zedus unleashes (one of) his secret weapon, a piercing, spear-like tongue, Toto climbs the tongue and surprises Zedus and us with his use of fire-breath right in Z's face. This knocks him off the bridge they are fighting on and into the water, while the unconscious Toto is surrounded by the military.

- Toto is taken by the government for study, and despite being told there's nothing he can do about it Toru and his friends resolve to go rescue Toto.

- While on their way to save Toto, Zedus returns and attacks a major city. He damages the building Toto is contained in and the workers attempt to escape. Toto confronts Zedus a few minutes later, now free from his confines.

- Toru and his friends believe they have to deliver the red stone Toru found alongside Toto's egg in order for him to be strong enough to win, but Toru had let a friend borrow him as a good luck charm before she went into heart surgery. He goes to hospital and finds his father rather than his friend with the stone.

- Toru finds himself helpless, thinking that at this point even if he finds the stone and gets it to Toto, he'll probably have to self-destruct just like the Gamera from 30 years ago. His father tells him that Toto doesn't exist anymore, this is a Gamera. Either way, his father wants to escape and Toru wants to help.

- The kids organize against the wishes of every adult surrounding them, heading toward Toto-Gamera with the red stone and passing it to another child each time an adult or barrier stops them by simply stating "For Gamera."

- Gamera gets slammed into a skyscraper by Zedus while Toru and his father try to reach him with the red stone.

- When Toru reaches the top, he tells Toto-Gamera everyone didn't work this hard just to see him die, so when he takes the stone he can't just self-destruct and die like the older Gamera.

- After receiving the red stone Gamera seems to finally come into his true power and rocket-legs his way into Zedus, knocking him off a skyscraper and now prepared for a real fight.

- Gamera's chest begins to glow just like 30 years ago, indicating Toto-Gamera may be preparing to self-destruct in order to stop Zedus. The military tries to convince Toru and his father to escape, but Toru has faith that Gamera will not explode and stays to watch.

- Gamera rips Zedus' tongue out of his body. With his mouth open, Gamera's chest stop glowing as he launches a giant fireball into the big lizard-looking thing and explodes it from the inside.

- Gamera collapses in exhaustion after the battle concludes, and the military closes in again to capture him. This time, every child in the area surround Gamera and refuse to let him be taken. They encourage Gamera to fly away, and he shares a look with Toru before rocket-legging away to safety.

- Toru says goodbye to his friend with a tear in his eye as the movie ends.

Kaiju Notes 

- Zedus looks like a pissed off iguana porcupine. It's not the most creative kaiju design, but effective enough as a first foe for the return of a classic hero. His spear-tongue is an effective weapon but looks a bit goofy because it's purple and phallic. It also gets immediately countered by "teenage" Toto, so it proves to not be too effective pretty much immediately.

- Toto-Gamera is goddamn adorable. He's got biggest, most soulful eyes on the planet and lacks the tough-guy tusks of his previous incarnation. Even when he unleashes his first fireball into Zedus' eyes, it's completely unexpected because of how damn cute he is.

- There's not a whole lot else to talk about when it comes to kaiju in this one: Toto-Gamera looks very similar to the old one but is significantly cuter, but his powers and abilities are the same. Zedus is spiny lizard. End of.

The "For Gamera" scene is genuinely great. Kids being underestimated by everyone seems to be the theme, but the movie reinforces Gamera's "friend to all children" tagline with this sequence where every child seems to understand the importance of the situation but none of the adults do. Toru's dad eventually understands, even if he remains skeptical, but the sequence itself is affecting and fitting the film. Toru refuses to let Toto go without a fight and his dad eventually supports him in it, like Gamera was supported by every child who helped get to this point. Toru himself is even trusted by his father to finish the task by himself as he has to pass through some rubble his father can't and is encouraged to do so.

Toru is one of the better child actors we've seen in a kaiju movie to date, managing to deliver some real emotion to the role while not acting either too mature or too childish and cutesy. He loves Sgt. Frog and takes home a turtle that hatches from a mysterious egg, like a child does, but manages to make it clear that he's suffering from the loss of his mother (and eventually Toto) and doesn't want to lose his new friend. The speech he gives at the top of the building, the end of the road, is an excellent thematic wrap-up of his character arc, insisting that Gamera is going to live while being supported by all of his friends and (remaining) family. It's just great.

Gamera the Brave is, in my opinion, a real evolution in the telling of kaiju stories. Let me preface by saying this one isn't the first to do so, but it is proof that it came occur in series that aren't Godzilla: emotional storytelling and not needing to focus on kaiju action to tell an affecting story. When it comes to action, this movie is actually relatively light on it, but it's great nonetheless. This one isn't just an entertaining monster movie, it's legitimately quite good and proof that kaiju movies didn't peak 10, 20, or 50 years ago. Given how good this film is in addition to Gamera's 90's trilogy, I think the perception of Gamera as budget-Godzilla is entirely unfair. Gamera is great and has been for a long time. Genuinely worth everyone's time, watch Gamera the Brave.

Next: Cloverfield!

D-War

The same man who made the Yonggary film from 1999 is back for another shot at a kaiju movie: Shim Hyung-rae returns! While Yonggary did not go over well on this blog, we believe in 2nd (or 3rd or 4th or 75th) chances in this house! Like Yonggary, D-War is based in the US and stars mostly American (or at least English-speaking) actors. The most recognizable of these actors are Jason Behr and Robert Forster, but there's some other familiar faces in here too.

The monsters/kaiju in this one are almost entirely CGI, so there's no suit credit to be given. But it is notable that this film pulls from Korean mythology, with the premise being a dragon-like serpent called an Imugi transforming through mystical means into a proper Dragon. The movie spells this Imoogi, so that's what we're going with here. Another significant note for this film is that at the time it was released it was the most expensive Korean film ever made. So, hopefully that investment pays off when it comes to quality!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Every 500 years, a woman is born who contains a mighty spirit. Pursued by both good and evil serpents/Imoogi because of her power to turn them into powerful dragons, our main character Ethan is sworn to protect this woman.

- We get the story of the last woman born with this power, and see a tragic love story from 500 years ago where the woman and her protector/lover die after escaping from the evil serpent/Imoogi Baraki.

- Ethan, the reincarnation of the warrior who died with the previous Spirit lady, finds her reincarnation, a woman named Sarah.

- Tasked to bring Sarah to the Grand Cave on her 20th birthday, bad things begin to happen as the evil Baraki arrives in Los Angeles, and some mysterious and clearly evil human figure confronts Ethan (seems like a wizard or something).

- Escaping with Sarah and his friend, they are pursued by wizard guy but hit him with a car. He manifests armor and beats them up, but another car manages to knock him over and allow them to escape.

- Baraki's army rises to give chase, and now LA is under attack by the army in pursuit of Sarah (and Ethan).

- Not managing to make it out of LA before Baraki's army descends upon everyone, Baraki appears to be winning. Just in the nick of time, the military counter attacks and manages to fend Baraki off for a moment.

- We now get to watch Baraki's reptilian army battle the US military, and... it's kind of fun?

- Eventually, Baraki captures Ethan and Sarah and takes them to a ritual site. Once there, the good Imoogi emerges and tries to protect them, but is quickly felled by the powerful Baraki.

- Sarah realizes what she must do, and feeds her spiritual orb to the good Imoogi. She collapses and it transforms into a powerful dragon (even grows arms)!

- After another extremely quick battle, the good Dragon shoots a fireball down the throat of Baraki, who is reduced first to a skeleton and then to ash.

- Sarah is dead, but her spirit lingers long enough to tell Ethan she will love him for eternity.

Kaiju Notes 

- The Imoogi are giant snakes. They look like snakes and they act like snakes. Buraki is darker, so he looks more evil.

- The Atrox army also contains giant artillery bearing Dawdlers, the agile flying Bulco, and velociraptor/utahraptor like Shaconnes.

- Lastly, the Celestial Dragon is a very classic asian dragon creature.

- None of these kaiju designs are particularly creative, if you can't tell.

So, this is a very strange case. D-War is... horrible. And I love it. It starts out cheesy and weird and just doubles down over and over and over until a giant reptilian army is fighting with the US military. This movie has a distinct sense of humor but ultimately plays it straight, and I think its better for it. Despite how nonsensical every event is, the commitment to the bit makes it work despite never being anything resembling a quality film. It's a hard case, and it won't work for everyone. I waffle on whether I enjoy it myself. But at the end of the day for me it lands on the "so bad it's kinda good" side of things in that indiscernible way only movies of this kind.

Beyond that, there's very little that can be said about D-War. It sucks, but in a way that somehow makes it work? I could never possibly recommend it as an even "okay" movie, but find it entertaining. Whether it's giant dinosaurs launching artillery or dragons whipping US military helicopters out of the sky, this movie is just strange, terrible, and entertaining all at the same time. The acting isn't particularly good and the jokes are generally pretty bad but this shit makes me laugh every time. I have no way to explain it, so I'm not going to try. If you're into awful movies that somehow make it work, this is an example (unlike Death Kappa, which just sucks).

Next: Gamera the Brave!

Godzilla: Final Wars

We're in the endgame now, with the Milliennium series almost concluded. Godzilla is taking another hiatus, and this time Toho decided to throw a party beforehand. Instead of ending with a whimper like 1974's Terror of Mechagodzilla, or advertising the killing off of the main man Big G like 1995's Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla: Final Wars is a celebration of 50 years of Godzilla history while allowing the giant lizard to take a well-deserved break. To add to this celebration of Godzilla in his 50th year, he also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame just before the premiere of this film.

If you're not aware, this movie features a cavalcade of kaiju from Godzilla's history including at least one whom we've never discussed because it first appeared in a movie we've never covered on this blog (not a Godzilla movie). Tsutomu Kitagawa finishes his role as Millennium era Godzilla, but we've also got Naoko Kamio as both Rodan and Minilla, Kazuhiro Yoshida as Gigan and Hedorah, Toshihiro Ogura as Anguirus and Ebirah, and Motokuni Nakagawa pulling triple duty as Monster X, King Caesar, and Keizer Ghidorah. We've also got Kamacuras, Kumonga, Manda, Mothra, and American Godzilla (officially named Zilla by Toho in this film) to look forward to. I'm possibly forgetting someone, but with all these kaiju in one movie it's an understandable lapse in memory I think. Those other kaiju don't get suit actors listed because they are either CGI creatures or puppets.

Alright, enough build up: Godzilla's awesome we get it. Let's talk about the Final War, and watch Godzilla kick a kaiju-ton of kaiju-ass.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Due to various environmental disasters, kaiju have been arising from the Earth for 60+ years. Humanity has stopped fighting wars with one another and are now united against these monsters as the Earth Defense Force (EDF). Superpowered mutant humans began to appear in the world around the same time as the kaiju, and are part of the EDF as Organization M.

- In the context of this film, most kaiju we've seen throughout Godzilla movies have already appeared and been defeated by the EDF, including Godzilla who was frozen solid in Antartica some time ago.

- The Gotengo, one of the EDFs super weapons which is a flying submarine with a drill on the front which can be used to kill kaiju, is crewed by (among others) mutant Ozaki and normal human Captain Gordon. These are our important human characters.

- Protecting an important biologist (a boring job), Ozaki comes across Gigan, encased in stone. Shortly after this, Rodan destroys some city in the US, and monsters begin to appear all around the world. King Caesar in Japan, Zilla in Australia, Anguirus in Shanghai, and Kamacuras in France.

- The EDF attempts to take the kaiju down, but with so many monster to fight on so many fronts, they are overwhelmed. Ebirah the giant lobster is taken down by Ozaki and his team, however.

- The monsters are captured by a UFO containing the Xiliens, who reveal themselves to humans and pledge their allyship. They warn that a planet is coming to crash into the Earth and will destroy it, but they can help.

- The Xiliens become famous and revered, especially the 2nd in command "X," who appears in various media and is quite popular. There is some controversy over them however and Ozaki agrees, finding it unlikely that right after finding out Gigan is an alien cyborg monster that "different" aliens appear.

- Realizing that several prominent politicians are behaving somewhat suspiciously, Ozaki and his friends publicly reveal that the Xiliens have been impersonating some (all?) of the leaders of Earth.

- Pissed off that the ruse has been exposed, X kills the commander of the Xiliens and assumes control. Having captured the kaiju in their UFO before, X releases them again to assert control over the Earth. Using his Xilien powers, he's also able to assume control of all of the mutants except Ozaki, so now almost all mutants and kaiju are under his command.

- Almost all of the EDF is destroyed by the kaiju, leaving only the Gotengo and it's crew available, and even that ship couldn't possibly take down all these monsters. Fortunately, they come up a plan: Godzilla.

- Being the most powerful of the kaiju according to Captain Douglas, Godzilla is not currently under the control of the Xiliens and can thus be used to fight them. They're going to use his aggressiveness to lure it toward all of the other monsters and take them down. After that, how do they then defeat Godzilla? They'll figure it out later!

- Godzilla wakes as the Gotengo is confronted by Gigan, and quickly destroys the cyborg before beginning to chase the ship. Now the drama begins, and punk rock tunes kick in to tell us it's kaiju time.

- For the remainder of this movie, Godzilla kicks the ass of every monster he comes across in relatively short order and it's entirely awesome.

- Having captured the human crew of the Gotengo and lost all of his kaiju weapons, X summons his final attack: a giant meteor from space. Godzilla sees this coming and Atomic Breath's it so hard that it lands in a gigantic explosion but doesn't harm him. From inside launches the dreadful Monster X.

- Mothra, having been awoken a few minutes before, arrives to back up Godzilla as he does have some difficulty with Monster X. X sends the updated Gigan to fight Mothra, to keep things fair.

- Ozaki is revealed to be immune to the Xilien's control because he is a special mutant known as a keizer (just like X). While the kaiju fight it out nearby, Ozaki and X also engage in super-mutant battle onboard the ship.

- Mothra takes down Gigan by using his own weapons against him so that he slices off his own head, and then (having been set on fire by its laser) crashing into him in a final kamikaze attack. Mothra dies as she always does, but Gigan goes down.

- When X dies after being defeated by Ozaki, he causes the Xilien ship to delf-destruct as well. This causes a frantic escape and Ozaki only barely makes it back to the Gotengo before explosion.

- Monster X, defeated by Godzilla, evolves into its strongest form: Keizer Ghidorah. It's head expand to necks and it changes color to the familiar gold of King Ghidorah. He mollywops Godzilla for quite a while before clamping down on Godzilla's neck and beginning to absorb his energy.

- Godzilla losing the battle, Ozaki takes control of the Gotengo and uses his own keizer energy to fuel Godzilla. This causes KG to release Big G, and Godzilla turns the tide as he rips the extra heads off of Keizer Ghidorah before throwing him into the air and Atomic Breathing him into space where he explodes.

- Showing no loyalty, Godzilla turns around and knocks the Gotengo out of the sky. The crew survives, but the ship is out of commission.

- As Godzilla approaches the Gotengo to fully destroy it, the tiny Minilla appears to stop him and stands between the humans and Godzilla. Godzilla concedes the point and heads off to the sea with Minilla behind him. The end of an era. The Millennium era.

Kaiju Notes 

- Gigan has gotten a wild new update, being a new robot built for the 21st century. And while it's definitely more in line with modern aesthetic and looks quite chic, I have to confess to really enjoying the chicken-boy version of the past. I'll take both, though, because Nu-Gigan is badass in a whole OG-Gigan wasn't.

- Some of the other kaiju, even those who appear for only a few moments, have some upgrades. Kamacuras now has camouflage abilities and Anguirus can now roll into a spiked ball and launch himself into his enemies, for instance.

- This movie introduces very little "new" kaiju into it, so most of the kaiju information here is mostly relatively small changes or additions to update the creatures but with so little time to focus on any individual monster these are brief glimpses.

- Godzilla, at one point, throws Ebirah into Hedorah's eye and then Atomic Breaths them both so hard that the crash into a skyscraper and slide it into another, larger skyscraper before everything explodes. what

- Monster X is the closest thing to a new creature we get, and it's really just King Ghidorah but compact and gray instead of gold. It's a very edgy design, much like the upgraded Gigan, but not bad by any means. The three heads being compacted onto one small body makes a lot of sense to me as a more efficient design, and the "triple face" look actually seems more fearsome than the "triple head" of traditional King Ghidorah.

- Keizer Ghidorah's Gravity Beams, which we've always called them, now actually seem to have an effect on gravity. When hit with them, Godzilla actually lifts into the air and KG can manipulate him (and objects around him) by using his gravity beams.

The direction in this movie is a bit strange, but enjoyable. Actions scenes, especially for the humans/mutants, are often quick streaks across the screen punctuated by smaller moments of clarity. It's hard to explain, but it's a very dynamic way to shoot a film. It can be a bit disorienting at times, but it definitely tries to make the action sequences thrilling. That combined with the "very little time for your bullshit exposition" quality the movie has means that if you're here for an action movie you've got plenty to keep you focused. The human action pieces are probably more dynamic than they've ever been, but they're still weirdly distracting yet somehow entertaining in their own campy way. It's a very interesting quality of the film, as I truly can't decide whether I like them or hate them.

The man who plays X is potentially my favorite actor of all time. I love this man's over the top performance and have no other notes. He screams and tantrums with the best of them and his wild mood swings add an element of ridiculousness and entertainment to what could be an entirely flat character. That and actually being an interesting humanoid antagonist for once makes X one of the best Godzilla characters ever, quite honestly. We like X round these parts, he's the best.

So, this movie is overall pretty much exactly what some people want out of a Godzilla movie: monsters action. Rather than spend all of 2 hours having two monsters go back and forth, this is a gauntlet match with Godzilla tearing through his foes in ways we've never seen before. Alongside the human story which is... odd, but definitely not as boring as most, and you've got a movie which is nothing if not entertaining. There's no message, no metaphor, no hidden meanings here. Just Godzilla and mutants versus monsters and aliens. It's as delightful as it is shallow, but mileage is going to vary and whether it works for any particular viewer. Personally, this is one of my favorite Big G movies, but simultaneously not one I would consider "great." I would, however, definitely recommend one watch it, and see how it works for you!

Next: D-War!

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Today we're talking about the only film in Godzilla's Millennium series that is a sequel to another from the same series. While every Millennium series movie takes the original Gojira as a past event, none of them besides Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.has acknowledged any other film since 1999. Better still, this one also includes an acknowledgement of 1961's Mothra. So, if you haven't seen Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (or read the awesome blog post) you'll want to bone up before getting into this one.

On technical notes things are pretty much exactly the same as last time, Masaaki Tezuka directs, Tsutomu Kitagawa is Godzilla, and Kiryu returns. This time, however, Kiryu is played by Motokuni Nakagawa. There's not much stunning background info for this one except the fact that the director was presented with four screenplays to work with and found them all too "boring." So, he wrote the plot (screenplay?) for this one overnight and that is the movie we've got on our hands! It's an impressive feat, but the most important question is whether it pays off. So let's get to talking about Tokyo SOS.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- In the opening, the Japanese Xenomorph Self-Defense Forces (JXSDF) combats Mothra despite Mothra clearly focusing on simply getting away.

- Kiryu (MechaGodzilla) is still under repair from the events of the last movie.

- Mothra's representatives, the Shobijin, appear to MechaGodzilla scientist/engineer Yoshi and tell him that they must return the bones of the original Godzilla to the sea or Mothra will declare war on the human race. They don't want that, and neither does Mothra. If they do return the bones, Mothra will replace Kiryu as the protector of Japan against Godzilla.

- As an intimidation tactic? Mothra appears outsides Yoshi's house as this message is delivered, apparently meaning business. For context, in the continuity of this film Mothra was last seen 43 years ago and destroyed Tokyo (possibly a reference to the original Mothra movie).

- Yoshi's uncle who was present when the Shobijin appeared, tries to convince the prime minister but he refuses because both Godzilla and Mothra are both still (theoretical) threats.

- A dead Kamoebas (giant tutrtle) washes up on the shore, and the only culprit could be Godzilla.

- Godzilla's back for more after the last movie, and he destroys a submarine before Mothra eventually confronts him. As she begins to lose the fight Kiryu, mostly operational but missing its Absolute Zero weapon, joins the battle.

- Mothra loses, as always, and sacrifices herself to keep Kiryu safe. Fortunately, she has laid an egg and two Mothra larvae emerge from it.

- Though the twin Mothra's attempt to support him, Kiryu is defeated and completely shut down when it runs out of power. Yoshi has a plan to restore power to the robot, however.

- With some help from the Shobijin, JXSDF, and Mothras, Yoshi makes it to Kiryu and has time to work his engineering magic. 

- Despite not being a Mecha G pilot, Yoshi is inside Kiryu when it reactivates and is now along for the ride

- As Kiryu turns the fight around and begins to win against Godzilla, the memories of the bones inside Kiryu begin to affect it and it loses the will to fight. Godzilla is weakened enough for the twin Mothras to encase him in their silk.

- Given an order to finish off Godzilla, Kiryu's pilot attempts to follow orders but Kiryu is no longer responsive. It approaches the helpless Godzilla and activates its rockets to take them both to the sea.

- With Yoshi still inside, Kiryu is headed to the Japanese Trench where it intends to sink both itself and Godzilla. Yoshi accepts his fate, being inside the robot which is on a murder-suicide mission.

- Fortunately for Yoshi, Kiryu has some affection for him and orients itself so that he can escape and be rescued by his comrades in the JXSDF before sending him a final message on its computer: Sayonara Yoshito (a nickname).

- Godzilla and Kiryu plunge into the Japanese Trench, the pressure almost certainly being enough to finish them both.

- The Shobijin thank Yoshi and the others for their bravery and close with the message that humanity should never lay theirs hands on the soul of other beings.

- In a surprise post credits scene, a DNA lab announces the commencement of a "bioformation" experiment with an extinct creature, as we see the collected DNA of the original Godzilla. dunDunDUN

Kaiju Notes 

- Mothra tech is at it's absolute finest here. Mothra has fully flappable wings for what I think is the first time! She also seems significantly larger than previous versions. Besides the advancements in Mothra puppet technology (or CGI) and the increase in size (or decrease in Godzilla's size?), Mothra looks exactly as expected. This isn't a bad thing, Mothra is dope.

- Because the kaiju in this movie are literally just the same ones as last time, it's a bit difficult to think of anything much to say about Godzilla or Kiryu that I didn't already. Kiryu's arsenal is still awesome, and Godzilla's Atomic Breath seems a little faster. Shrug.

- Having lost the Absolute Zero weapon from the last film, Kiryu does now have the Hyper Maser, which is essentially just an enhanced version of the maser cannons the JXSDF uses. It looks like some combination of lightning and/or King Ghidorah's gravity beams, and seems effective but nothing like Absolute Zero.

So, first things first: I mentioned in the Against MechaGodzilla post that that movie felt like a setup for a sequel. Tokyo SOS is that sequel. And... if we're being honest... it doesn't really deliver on the promise of that one. This is not by any means a bad film, but I was hoping for a sequel on par with the 90s series of Gamera films because each was unique and great while managing to stay connected. Tokyo SOS does not succeed in balancing that, both entirely reliant on knowledge from the previous film but refusing to use the potential that one set up to make something great. Kiryu being without its Absolute Zero cannon is a great example: the thing that made Kiryu such a force in the previous film simply being discarded in this one so that any victory Godzilla pulls off seems hollow. And Godzilla does win, the first round at least, but we know its against a for he's been beaten by before which is not currently at its best. One could argue that Mothra makes a kind of equalizer, but I don't see it. If Godzilla was going to get a win over Kiryu, it should've been 100% Kiryu.

That said, on its own terms Tokyo SOS is aggressively fine. The ending is actually quite fitting and good, with the classic story of a man and a robot falling for each other. Kiryu and Godzilla going to hell together is also an excellent cap on the story line set in the 3 move lineage, and so the film does stick the landing. It's just the "getting there" part that lacks luster. Mothra, as much as we love her here, was a wasted addition to a movie which not only could have done without her but would have been better without her. She distracts from allowing the film to deliver on the promise of its prequel and only comes into the movie to die and be replaced by its twin progeny. It's entirely predictable and utterly unnecessary. But when the movie is working (and Mothra is uninvolved), it works pretty well. It's just disappointing that we have to spend so much time with the middling Mothra plot instead of the legitimately fun and interesting developments involving Kiryu.

As is often the case with kaiju films, Tokyo SOS is a mixed bag but relatively entertaining. I'll confess to finding this one overall underwhelming. That ultimately makes it disappointing on several levels: lack of followup from the previous film, Mothra's unnecessary addition making the movie relatively uninteresting on its own terms, and largely wasting the promise (and excellence) of Kiryu. Disappointing. If you're a completionist it's worth a look, but skipping this one would barely be noticeable.

Next: Godzilla: Final Wars!

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

The 27th Godzilla film sees the return of one of my personal favorite kaiju: MechaGodzilla. And I couldn't be happier, because now we're talking 21st century MechaGodzilla, the best century. Directed by Masaaki Tezuka, returning from vs. Megaguirus, we finally get a modern take on MechaGodzilla following GMK's version of Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon. Still following the trend of rebooting the continuity, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla takes as a given only the first film in the series with no references to any other. Tsutomu Kitagawa returns again as Millennium Godzilla (is that ever not true? Spoiler: no) and Hirofumi Ishigaki makes his debut in the series as the new MechaGodzilla. There's not much else to talk about as preamble to this one: it seems fairly obvious to bring MechaGodzilla back, so they did. Most other things will be explained in the synopsis below, so don't miss it! One particular note is that like the previous film GMK, this is one of the relatively rare Godzilla films to embrace the supernatural, though in a different manner than GMK did. So let's get to the details and see what Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla has to offer.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- In this Millennium film, the original Godzilla attack in 1954 seems to have set off a chain reaction of other monsters coming to Japan, but never Godzilla until the opening of this film in 1999.

- Member of the Anti-Megalosaurus Force (AMF) Akane Yashiro is fighting back against Godzilla when a jeep of her companions crashes into her and falls off the mountain, being crushed by Godzilla in the process.

- Akane is demoted to a research section of the AMF, a lab specializing in placing robotic exoskeletons over existing tissue.

- The AMF decides to make a Godzilla-like anti-Godzilla weapon: a Mechagodzilla built over the top of the bones of the original Godzilla. This is Kiryu.

- In Kiryu's first confrontation with Godzilla, the new Godzilla's roar awakens the restless spirit of the original Godzilla inside the bones of Kiryu, causing the cyborg to go berserk and attack its handlers and other military.

- Kiryu eventually runs out of power and shuts down. The AMF reprograms it to ensure that this type of incident can never happen again.

- A child schools everyone on how they insist on violence when Kiryu clearly just wants to be friends, but because she's a child (and right) no one listens to her.

- Godzilla returns to do his dirt and Kiryu is sent out to confront him again because no better choice exists.

- Godzilla roars at Kiryu and this time it does not decide to turn against Japan again, so the two Godzillas can have a proper battle.

- Kiryu's control systems are damaged by Godzilla, and Akane decide that she'll have to pilot it manually if they have any chance of winning now. Akane and Kiryu team up!

- Akane almost dies immediately but eventually seems to connect with Kiryu and convince it to get back on its feet. When her AMF allies create a distraction, she lands a killer blow with Kiryu's strongest weapon and freeze Godzilla in the sea.

- Godzilla's breaks out of the ice relatively quickly, but now sports a nasty gaping chest wound.

- Rather than waste time fighting with this massive wound, Godzilla simply walks away as Akane-Kiryu runs of power and is unable to fight any further.

- Akane gets credit for saving some of her allies and the day, while Kiryu is taken back to base for significant repairs. And for the first time, Godzilla has actually been turned back even if they didn't manage to kill it.

- Movie end, but it's definitely set up for a sequel. Spoilers.

Kaiju Notes 

- Kiryu is badass. I love a sleek robot, and Kiryu is one of the sleekest kaiju of all time and a robot.

- Kiryu's abilities are traditional robot weapons: lasers, cannons, missiles, and a few body accessories including jetpack and a spike that also electrocutes. It's all fairly predictable, but sometimes good things are predictable. If lasers weren't awesome every robot wouldn't have them. Kiryu does have one devastating and unique attack, an ice laser called Absolute Zero which freezes and disintegrates multiple skyscrapers when it misses Godzilla.

The human stories really have improved in the Millennium era. While there's certainly still moments of "let's get to the kaiju," most of the human stories in the past few films have seemed necessary and valuable as connective tissue for the kaiju action. It's a vast improvement over other films where the human story is almost entirely disposable and thus mostly just wastes time. Akane isn't the most complex character, but her narrative arc makes sense and is easy to understand, as well as her motivations throughout the film. Her contribution to the goes beyond "pilots Kiryu" and into some actual character writing where she redeems herself but also considers her efforts a failure since Godzilla continues to live. Assuming she returns for the next one, Akane could go down as a pretty significant/great Godzilla character.

The connection between Kiryu/OG Godzilla and new Godzilla is an interesting and unexpected dynamic, which doesn't get enough time to be explored in this movie. Were it not for knowing that there is a sequel to follow, it would be a tremendous disappointment that this event was a simple one-off scene. Knowing there is a sequel I am assuming, but don't know, that it will be explored further, so it can be downgraded to a mild-moderate disappointment that this movie chooses to push this story thread to the side. 

And that last paragraph really does explain this entire movie: fine, but really relying on a sequel to deliver the goods. Even the kaiju action of Against Mechagodzilla is really just okay, with some highlights but nothing truly memorable being seen. But if the follow-up delivers, it could be something truly special. This film suffers from being a prelude, but one that will (hopefully) give much needed context to the next. So, consider this one a soft watch, for now. Let's see if it pays off.

Next: Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

We're making history here, fellas. With the longest title in the Godzilla series, there is also another distinction in this film, but we'll get there. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (or GMK from here on out) is another in the Millennium series but is also distinguished in that it's also one of the few Godzilla movies that fully embraces the supernatural. If you want to know exactly how, you'll have to read the synopsis! But let's talk about one other interesting facet of the movie: the titular monsters are all in a melee, but it is not the three-way fight one might expect. King Ghidorah is actually a heroic kaiju in this one, for the first time ever ole KG is one of the good guys. It's honestly a bit strange to consider, but here it is in all its glory. Mothra does remain on the side of the good guys, so she teams up with King Ghidorah (and one other monster) to try to bring down Godzilla in GMK.

Shusuke Kaneko directs, returning to kaiju movies after making the excellent Gamera trilogy in the mid 90's. Mizuho Yoshida retains his position as Millennium Godzilla, and Akira Ohashi is King Ghidorah. But the best credit goes to Rie Ota as Baragon, in the greatest performance of all time. Period. We love Rie Ota on this blog and in this life, end of. Let's talk about GMK.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- An American nuclear submarine has gone missing. While searching for it, the fun of a giant creature which resembles Godzilla is caught on camera. In this continuity, Godzilla has not been seen (officially) since 1954. While some sightings have been suspected, there's been no major attacks.

- A while later, Baragon appears on land and attacks. Many people assume this to be Godzilla's return, but we will discover this is not the case.

- A filmmaker/documentarian named Yuri Tachibana is our main human character, and she is given a book about the Guardian Monsters. These are Mothra, Baragon, and King Ghidorah.

- Elsewhere, a Mothra larva is woken up and kills several people when it capsizes their boat.

- Given a clue while investigating Mothra's awakening, Tachibana and her crew head to the supposed location of King Ghidorah. They find a mysterious stone and told that Godzilla is on its way to destroy Japan as punishment: Godzilla being either the manifestation of or fuelled by people who died during World War II, including soldiers, civilians, and .

- A man who was preparing to hang himself falls into King Ghidorah's cave, bringing all of our kaiju players into the story.

- As the human characters debate exactly what's happening and whether they believe the fairy tale of Godzilla being the manifestation of casualties of WWII and the Guardian Monsters awakening to fight him off, Baragon destroys the building they are in.

- While Baragon is initially mistaken for Godzilla, the true Godzilla appears on the nearby coast. The two monsters must now do battle.

- Baragon clamps down on Godzilla's arm and is simply tossed around due to his small size in comparison. After throwing Baragon to the ground, Godzilla simply stomps Baragon out and continues throwing him around the area before ending the fight with an Atomic Breath attack. This was not even close.

- With one of the Guardian Monsters dead and Godzilla destroying the country and the JSDF, Ghidorah and (Imago) Mothra return to the scene, finally fully emerging from their hiding places.

- Tachibana, always been closest to the developing story, warns the JSDF (and father, an admiral in the JSDF) to not attack Mothra or Ghidorah as they are actually allies of humanity.

- Mothra arrives, and attacks, first. Her speed proves to be a decisive factor and Godzilla can't make full contact.

- As Mothra gains an advantage by attacking Godzilla's neck and head, Ghidorah joins the fray and uses his three heads to bite at Godzilla and deliver Gravity Beams to his body. Unfortunately for him, having three necks means he has triple the targets and Godzilla clamps down on him.

- Ghidorah is defeated relatively quickly, Godzilla biting his neck and weakening him before aiming Atomic Breath at him for the finish. Fortunately, or unfortunately since she's been way more effective thus far, Mothra intercepts the beam and takes the hit for Ghidorah.

- While the Guardian Monsters recover, Godzilla is attacked by the JSDF and wipes them out too. Mothra attempts to sneak up on Godzilla and deliver some devastating attack but receives a point blank atomic blast for her troubles. She explodes into a golden mist which rains down on Ghidorah.

- Ghidorah, empowered by Mothra's sacrifice, rises from the ground and becomes 1000-Year Old Dragon Ghidorah, a powered up version of regular Ghidorah (with extra golden color!). He overpowers Godzilla in a Battle of the Blasts.

- Taking the battle into the water, Ghidorah seems to be winning. To take advantage of this opportunity, Tachibana's father plans to pilot a submarine to destroy Godzilla, expecting to die in the process despite his promise to Tachibana to return home.

- Reporting on the events as they happen, Tachibana falls off a bridge after it's destroyed as collateral damage of the kaiju battle.

- The submarine nearly manages to hit Godzilla with their special missile, but the Big G is clever and instead turns so Ghidorah take the impact. When it flinches, he Atomic Breaths Ghidorah and knocks him out.

- Tachibana, close to the battle and falling from a bridge, drops the stone she found earlier into the sea where Ghidorah is and Ghidorah is revived once more. Now on his 3rd chance, he takes flight while Godzilla stays in the water.

- This doesn't work, and Ghidorah is once again hit with Atomic Breath, this time full exploding so there's no more question about whether he's going to come back.

- The spirits of the Guardian Monsters linger in the air and seem to make one last (spiritual) attack against Godzilla which sends him underwater. Admiral Tachibana seizes the chance to pilot his submarine into the throat of Godzilla.

- Seeing a vision of his daughter encouraging him not to let Godzilla win, the Admiral launches the special missile into Godzilla's open wound. It slows him down but doesn't prevent him from gathering his Atomic Breath to laser the nearby (younger) Tachibana to death.

- Fortunately for both Tachibana's the gaping wound means that Godzilla's atomic power instead rips through him and destroys his body. Godzilla is finally dead, and Admiral Tachibana pilots his submarine back to the surface.

- Everyone celebrates, but as a final shot we see foreboding image of the still beating heart of Godzilla at the bottom of the sea.

Kaiju Notes

- Baragon is the cutest, bestest boy. While he's in this movie only very briefly, he's got beautiful floppy ears, a cool horn, and coloring we don't often get to say (reddish). He has no real powers worth mentioning considering how quickly he got his ass whipped, but we stan Baragon on this blog. His roar is a bit shrill but distinct. It's got nothing on what will always be his true roar: Rie Ota.

- Godzilla's appearance has changed somewhat from the previous Millennium films, and he is more menacing this time. His teeth are less jagged, his dorsal fins seem less pronounced and more orderly, and his eyes are all white at all times which gives him an aura of being possessed. While every element is actually less "wild" than his previous incarnation, this actually makes it seem like Godzilla is more designed for maximum efficiency rather than a wild animal. His Atomic Breath also causes mushroom clouds to longer where he uses it, really driving home the World War II connection.

- Mothra has been given longer legs and purple eyes, but otherwise looks very similar to every other Mothra design we've ever seen. She also looks more realistic than she ever has, the previous Mothra puppets having a certain "stuffed animal" feel to them.

- Ghidorah's necks have been shortened, which probably makes the suit much easier to manipulate. The golden color is muted because his only scenes are at night, but when the light catches it just right it looks quite good. 1000 Year Old Dragon Ghidorah gains fangs and some extra golden glow, but otherwise looks about the same as always.

Early on after the monsters begin to appear, there is a moment where, after Godzilla uses his Atomic Breath, a Japanese school teacher sees a mushroom cloud in the sky after a brief flash of light. Especially given Godzilla's origin story being directly tied to World War II, it's a genuinely affecting moment. The movie does not linger or dwell on this instance, but that is perhaps what makes it worse (and more effective). In perhaps a meta-commentary on it, whether intentional or not, the Japanese don't have the luxury of dwelling on the situation.

In one hilarious moment the military is watching the battle from a skyscraper which Mothra has used as a base from which to launch attacks. When she returns to the building at one point, Godzilla is trying to Atomic Breath her and we watch the soldiers inside realize they're about to explode as Mothra flies straight toward them before shooting up to the top of the building. If we didn't know better, we'd have to assume she did it on purpose because she hates soldiers. She might!

On the previous point, while I found that one example somewhat amusing, this film does a better job than many in the series of establishing the consequences of Godzilla's various battles. Rubble falls onto people, occupied buildings are destroyed, and people get caught in the crossfire while the kaiju battle it out. It's a small but underused element, in my opinion, in kaiju movies in general. Dwelling on the deaths of humans isn't really the goal, but making sure the audience can feel that these events are truly significant for more than just property damage makes the movies seem more relatable to me. It's the same effect as "kaiju destroys tanks and ships" versus "actually watching people react to their impending doom". It hits very different.

Godzilla is the literal manifestation of the casualties of World War II, apparently attacking Japan particularly because of their refusal to account for their own crimes during the war. It's an oddly pointed metaphor for Godzilla to embody when kaiju movies which bother with metaphors at all often go with the environmental or anti-nuclear message, but now we have the physical embodiment of the sins of war (both committed on and by the Japanese). It's not really clear whether that means Godzilla is supposed to be a consequence of mankind's fondness for violence or a simple monstrous representation of it, but the undying heart of Godzilla at the end somewhat implies the latter. It's also the first example of Godzilla's origin story being explicitly supernatural, and one of the relatively few Godzilla films to embrace supernatural elements entirely. It's what make me think that while this Godzilla is the casualties of WWII, the idea behind this one is that there will always be a Godzilla, even if it's the physical form of some different aspect of the horrors of humanity.

GMK is a mixed bag. The story and all of the elements truly do work. Even King Ghidorah, somehow, make a decent hero. Godzilla comes off as a truly unstoppable force, killing all of his kaiju enemies off either easily or multiple times. While Baragon is adorable and deserves better, crushing the cutie so ruthlessly makes Godzilla meaner and harsher. And anyone with experience in Godzilla movies knows that King Ghidorah is typically quite threatening, so watching his get killed by Godzilla on multiple occasions is like seeing the Undertaker lose at Wrestlemania. The story of the two Tachibana's is effective and blends nicely into the rest of the film, never overtaking or undermining the kaiju story. The only true downside is that the Guardian Monsters looks incompetent throughout and it becomes much harder to believe they have any chance at all as the movie continues. In fact, they really don't succeed at all, Godzilla ultimately being killed by the combination of a human weapon and his own immense power. And, as an aside, in a 50 year old series of movies about a cool and often heroic Godzilla, it's a little bit difficult to root against him. Seeing him beat the brakes off of King Ghidorah is oddly and viscerally satisfying even though we know we're supposed to be on the other side. It doesn't damage the movie in any significant way and remains quite fun throughout, but the behind the scenes decisions behind this one make it just a little harder to get behind than it could have or should have been. Definitely worth a watch, though!

Next: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla!