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.