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 (1998)

Finally, it is time for a real American Godzilla film. Godzilla, released in 1998, stars everyone's favorite rambunctious youth, Matthew Broderick, but 20 years older. There is an uncredited suit actor for the titular monster named Kurt Carley, though I'm not sure how much of the creature is CGI and how much is suit (I imagine everything we see on screen is CGI but that there was a suit actor to help on set) and Frank Welker and Gary A. Hecker provide monster vocal effects. The disaster movie master, Roland Emmerich, directs this one, so as far as spectacle goes there is hope! But I saw this movie when I was 12 years old so I would like to lower your expectations. Independence Day is rad: this ain't that.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A Japanese ship is attacked by an enormous creature that a survivor calls Gojira. Dr. Nick Tatopoulos, a biologist, is called in to investigate.

- Zilla, as we will call it for reasons that will be explained much later, is a mutated iguana that continues to attack things and wreak havoc. Zilla appears to the public for the first time and its existence is revealed before it disappears, unable to be found.

- Trying to lure Zilla in, the military and Tatopoulos set up a giant pile of delicious raw fish. It works, and Zilla is attacked by the military. This goes predictably poorly, and several buildings and lots of military equipment is destroyed in the process.

- Tatopoulos does some blood work and discovers that Zilla is pregnant, and seems to be in Manhattan in order to nest and give birth to its kin, which will create a rapidly growing population of giant lizards.

- Tatopoulos runs out to tell people, having left his ex-girlfriend behind in his research tent. She steals this material to further her hopeful career as a TV news anchor, revealing the truth to the public.

- Tatopoulos is fired from the project for the info getting out into the press, and ends up with French Secret Service agents who do believe the nest exists despite the military disavowing this fact to the public.

- Tatopoulos' ex-girlfriend wants to make her betrayal up to him, so she follows him and his new French friends in an attempt to prove he was right to the whole world.

- In the meantime, the military lures Zilla into Central Park with another fish trap, and once again lose a lot of people and equipment to the giant iguana. They eventually manage to score a direct hit with two missiles while it is underwater, believing to have killed it.

- Tatopoulos (and friends) go into Madison Square Garden and find the eggs they were expected, but over 200 of them rather than the 12 he estimated. As they prepare to destroy them with plastic explosives, they begin to hatch.

- The baby Zillas are alive now, and they begin to hunt the humans. One of Tatopoulos' allies tries to convince the military to search for the nest now that the big one is dead, because if he was right they have a serious problem on their hands.

- The people inside the nest go live on the local news, revealing the baby Zillas and that the only solution is to destroy MSG entirely before these mini Zillas escape and begin to rapidly reproduce. This gives everyone six minutes to escape as the bombs are about to fall.

- They manage to escape just in time and the baby Zillas die in fire. But there's still a literally bigger problem: Adult Zilla, returned to its nest and angered that its children are dead. It gives chase, intent on eating our group of humans. Manging to escape but now trapped in a tunnel, Zilla is moments away from managing to reach them.

- Told to lure Zilla out in the open, they manage to lure Zilla to the Brooklyn Bridge. It gets wrapped in the suspension cables after destroying the bridge, which allows the military to pelt it with missiles. Zilla dies after like a dozen missiles enter its body.

- Everyone goes home happy, but a sequel sting follows as a final Zilla egg hatches a living kin.

Kaiju Notes 

- I actually don't hate the sleek look of Zilla. A thinner, more agile kaiju is a fine idea in principle, and the heart of the creature remains intact, visually.

- The baby Zillas aren't any different from the larger one. Technically they just give us a better look at the larger version. Unlike the original Baby Godzilla compared to the OG Godzilla, who looked quite different, Baby Zilla is just mini-Zilla.

- Zilla does not have Atomic Breath, but does have an ability called Power Breath. This is essentially a massive exhale, capable of knocking cars and even tanks into the air and blowing them away. On two occasions a flammable object is caught in this Power Breath and explodes, creating the illusion of fire breathing.

My first critique of this film is simple: this script is terrible. Beyond being little more than spectacle, which can often be quite fun, it is remarkably boring for at least the first 60 minutes and every conflict in the film is resolved with one conversation. When Tatopoulos meets his ex-girlfriend for the first time in several years and doesn't want to talk to her, she simply says "aw give me a chance," and he changes his mind. When the French special forces don't want to take Tatopoulos to find the Zilla nest because of the danger, he says "aw give me a chance," and they change their mind. When Tatopoulos is betrayed by his ex and confronts her, she says she had to do it if she wants to further her career and he says "aw man why'd you do that" and she's suddenly riddled with guilt. 

I'm not saying that conversations shouldn't happen in films or be critical turning points. In fact, many plots would be resolved if people would simply talk and explain things to each other. But when every issue is resolved in about 12 words, it becomes obvious that these characters are just puzzle pieces being moved into place, not people. People don't often change their minds on fundamental issues with a simple "but c'mon," but they do in the Zilla-Verse. I can't tell if it's just laziness or because none of these characters have flaws, but in either case it makes the entire script incredibly weak. Combine all of that with how utterly dull the movie is unless Zilla is on the screen (not baby Zillas, only real Zilla) and you've got a real problem on your hands.

The titular creature, godZilla, is an interesting case. I think the design of a sleeker, dexterous create makes a lot of sense for a kaiju and I'm pleased that someone has finally truly embraced it. On the other hand, the reason Zilla is called Zilla is because, in the words of Toho producers who use Zilla in an upcoming movie "they took the god out of Godzilla." So, clearly, the redesign did not go over terribly well. And it's true, Zilla kinda sucks, but not because of the way it looks but rather how it's treated. The best example of why it doesn't work is the baby-Zillas. The primary concern of this film is not that there's a single Zilla, but that there will be more. Once the nest is taken down, everyone breathes a huge sigh of relief and now can focus on Zilla. But if this were the Japanese Godzilla, you don't have to worry about smaller Godzillas because Godzilla himself is such a threat that you have to focus on that first and foremost. Zilla is lured into a trap, wrapped in bridge cables, and killed with a few fighter jets. It really does lack the God of Godzilla, as this could never make sense for the original. Besides the fact that he'd completely destroy a bridge rather than be trapped by it, missiles can hurt him but are very unlikely to kill him by piercing his skin. While some weapon have successfully been used against Godzilla, they have to be designed and aimed very carefully to manage any significant damage. But Zilla just gets wrapped up and fucked up in the same few minutes, making it clear that Zilla's actually not terribly tough: its only real advantage was agility. And that is, ultimately, pretty disappointing.

Power Breath is a great example of what's truly "wrong" with this movie. It doesn't commit to the concept it's adapting. Godzilla is a powerful beast which normal/conventional weapons have no hope of stopping: tanks and planes can deter and damage him, sure, but it's going to take something unique to actually kill (or even critically wound) him. He also has Atomic Breath, making him a serious threat at range. But Zilla has Power Breath, which only works relatively close to it and can be killed with a couple of spare missiles as long as it can be targeted. It's a total lack of commitment to the concept of Godzilla: a threat but more of an annoyance than a creature which could destroy an entire city. The biggest challenge the military faces in this movie is trying to hit Zilla (particularly in not destroying the city surrounding it at the same time), not doing damage. I think the concept is this: how could the American military not destroy something? Ridiculous. So clearly we can kill it. How could a creature have a special breath weapon? Ridiculous. So clearly it does not have that anymore. This is not to say that Atomic Breath is not ridiculous: it is, but that's why it's awesome. Why adapt something if you have contempt for it?

If you cannot tell by all of the previous words, godZilla, as we're calling it from here on out, is a disappointment. Whether you're being bored by the humans or watching Zilla get killed really easily, there's very little of the heart of Godzilla in this film. Some of the action scenes are entertaining, so I don't want to claim it's a total waste of time, but they're few and far between and give us very little to enjoy throughout. Skip it.

Next: Yonggary (Reptilian)!

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!