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!

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris

The last two movies in the Gamera series have been excellent, so we're going into Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris with the hope that this final entry can be the spectacular finale the previous two deserve. Of course, as mentioned at least twice now, director Shusuke Kaneko returns to cap off the series. The plot in this one basically ties into both previous films, looping in the semi-confusing ending of Attack of Legion and the connection Gamera had with a human girl in Guardian of the Universe, as well as other loose threads through the previous two. The Gamera suit actor from Attack of Legion, Akira Ohashi, returns to the series but this time as the villain Iris. Hirofumi Fukuzawa takes over as Gamera for this one, and it's not the last time we'll that name on this blog.

There's not a lot of background work to explain for this one, as it seems to be the finale of planned trilogy and things have gone according to plan. So now all there's left to do is watch the movie and see if it's worth the buildup.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- In a village, the corpse of what appears to be a Gyaos is found. Shortly thereafter, on the ocean floor, a team of scientists find multiple skulls which appear to belong to Gamera.

- We meet Ayane, a girl who's parents were killed 3 years ago during one of Gamera's battles. In a cave, she finds a mysterious egg and a tablet inscribed with the image of Suzaku, the flaming Guardian Bird of the South. This is relevant because Gamera may be representative of Genbu, the Guardian Turtle of the North.

- Gamera and a pair of Gyaos' do battle, and the mysterious egg Ayane found seems to hatch while Ayane watches the news of Gamera's latest victory. She returns to the cave to find a magatama (curved jewel) which begins to glow in her hand. She hears something creeping behind her and finds the baby Iris, a small monster which she seems to take to as a pet. 

- Claiming she can understand Iris, Ayane also declares that she and Iris both hate Gamera and that Iris will take revenge for her. As it continues to grow, they eventually merge into one being.

- Separately, researchers begin to theorize that Mana has been fluctuating on the Earth and causing all of the recent monsters to appear. Gamera is one example, but seems capable of absorbing it and using it as his own power source. This explains the last minute powerup from the previous film.

- Ayane is eventually found and separated from Iris, and has clear physical damage from her time inside. While she's in the hospital, Iris goes on a rampage and slaughters a village as it seems to continue growing in size and power. The military attacks it, and are predictably slaughtered.

- After being attacked, Iris goes on offense and chases military planes through the sky. Fortunately, just as they run out of missiles to defend themselves, Gamera appears to confront Iris again. STUPIDLY, the military commander decides that Gamera should be targeted and destroyed first.

- The military's counterstrike is somewhat successful, knocking Gamera out of the sky. Of course this just means Iris is unopposed, and it lands in Kyoto. It is possibly searching for Ayane, as she runs away to join Iris as though they were calling to each other.

- Iris swiftly defeats Gamera, punching a hole in the turtle who now lays dying, and reabsorbing Ayane.

- Inside Iris, Ayane experiences its memories of slaughtering the village and realizes that she has driven Iris to be so aggressive due to her hatred of Gamera. Before she goes too deep into despair, Gamera forcefully rips her out of Iris because the big turtle monster isn't ready to quit yet.

- Gamera and Iris do battle again, culminating in a baller sequence where Gamera turns his arm into a flaming fist and punches a hole in Iris so hard it explodes (more on this below).

- Gamera saves Ayane, having already pulled her from Iris' body. She asks why he would do this after she's caused all of this trouble, but he simply roars semi-protectively.

- As this happens, a swarm of Gyaos approach Gamera's location. The military diverts their attention the Gyaos swarm as well, as Gamera stands in a sea of fire in Kyoto as the Gyaos swarm approaches, and his human companion explains that Gamera will always fight, even if he must do it alone.

Kaiju Notes 

- The battle between Gamera and Gyaos in the beginning features of the best kaiju movie effects and affects we've seen thus far. Besides Gamera's rocket legs (which make no sense) being cooler than ever, there's also several scenes of the toll these battles take. A group of humans are swept up in Gamera's flames, an office building explodes with people inside, and the body of Gyaos crushes the people underneath. It's all accidental, but is up there with Godzilla vs. Hedorah in demonstrating the human cost of giant monster battles. 

- Baby Iris reminds me a bit of Larval Mothra, in that it is both ugly and cute while being just the right amount of gooey. One could see why a human might want to care for this creature, but I am certainly not one of them. It just looks sticky for unknown reasons.

- (Adult) Iris' design somehow splits the difference between "predictable" and inspired. When it is in flight it is definitely at it's most striking appearance, but only because it's massive tentacles fly behind it. On the ground it retains the tentacles, making the creature seem even larger than it already is because its range of effect is so vast. Its actual body is akin to an armored bird, but the large lights in its chest give it some unique character. Overall, it's a good design but not a necessarily great one. it's a very 90s design aesthetic.

- When it comes to combat, Iris has the clear upper hand in regard to tools. Besides its massive tentacles, has a massive talon with which it can absord the power of its enemies. 

- The ending sequence in the battle between Gamera and Iris is a bit confusing, but allow me to explain: Iris has Gamera's right hand pinned to a wall as it absorbs his powers and begins to shoot fireballs (an ability it did not have before). Gamera, about to take fireballs to the face, decides to remove his own hand by firebreathing it off of his body. As Iris launches fireballs, Gamera uses his new stump to "catch" them and uses his new fire fist to literally punch Iris until it explodes. It's fucking great.

First things first: this movie has some truly stunning special effect work. While Attack on Legion was a great evolution of the special effects of the series, Revenge of Iris is some truly amazing work. Even Gamera's rocket legs are somehow awesome and incredibly stupid at the same time, and I love them every time I see them.

Let's talk about some individual aspects of the movie before we talk about the overall themes and the like. First thing, the corpses Iris leaves behind are genuinely upsetting, appearing like hideous (inanimate) zombies. Watching a young woman get attacked by Iris and turned into one of these elicited an audible "jesus christ" from me, because it was authentically upsetting. The battle between Gamera and Iris in the sky is epic in all the right ways. Even before Gamera arrives, seeing Iris in the sky versus fighter jets is very cool but when the giant turtle makes it to the scene it takes several levels in badass. Gamera spinning with his rocket legs and ramming into Iris somehow makes beyblade look incredibly awesome because he looks like a beyblade but this is still incredibly awesome.

Revenge of Iris isn't the most thematically rich kaiju movie we've seen, but it definitely has something on its mind. Revenge appears to be the primary theme, or more specifically the futility or "cycle of violence" it creates. Besides Ayane essentially creating Iris as we know it with her resentment and hatred of Gamera, Iris itself is said to be a creation of a civilization that seeks the destruction of humanity, as well as a tool of the Gyaos species to kill Gamera so that humanity can be killed. Basically, everyone but Gamera is out for revenge of some kind, and Gamera has to pay the consequences for all of it.

Now let's talk about the trilogy as a whole. Quite honestly, the 90's series of Gamera movies is fantastic. It's the most cohesive series we've seen thus far, even in the context of every Showa era Godzilla movie being in the same continuity, I don't recall any point where any 3 kaiju movies thus far worked so consistently well together. Better still, while a great trilogy as a whole, each film also works on its own and doesn't need any of the others to work. Even in the 2nd sequel, Revenge of Iris, prior knowledge of Gamera or the movies preceding it doesn't really matter in making it understandable. Each movie is definitely in the top 80% of the films we've covered so far, and then as a trilogy it's an impressive feat. If you're only going to watch a few kaiju movies for some reason, this is probably the best trilogy to start at. Check it out.

Next: Rebirth of Mothra!

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion

I really enjoyed the last Gamera film (Guardian of the Universe) but did mention that this trilogy may be hard to write much about unless they made something a little more substantial than raw entertainment about a giant flame breathing turtle. With the same director, Shusuke Kaneko, at the helm for the entire trilogy, this seems more possible than in most circumstances, but who can really be sure until we watch the movie? So rather than waste a lot of preamble talking about the production, let's get to the meat. Gamera is played by Akira Ohashi while the titular Legion is Mizuho Yoshida. Let's get it on!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A meteor strikes Japan and in the title sequence a cross explodes before becoming part of the title card? It was... very weird.

- With no evidence of a meteor able to be found (except a very cool looking crash site), investigators conclude it may have just been ice that crashed to Earth (thereby being destroyed upon landing).

- At a Kirin beer warehouse, two guards see a crab or insect like creature destroy 10,000 cases before staring at them with its spooky eye.

- A subway is stopped by the spooky eye monster and the first person to see it is exploded in a gush of blood. The passengers seem to be victims next, as the area is cordoned off by police. The police go under to find the alien species Legion, who swarm and kill or injure the police as well.

- A giant plant/egg-looking thing manifests in the middle of the city. Simulations determine that it is set to launch itself into space toward a new planet, destroying at least a 6 kilometer radius around it. Green energy gathers into the object, causing an Aurora Borealis effect in the middle of Japan. Turns out this is all oxygen, making it risky to attack the plant/egg because of the resultant explosion, but when the object launches itself into space the resultant explosion will also be devastating.

- Gamera reappears, flying out of the ocean and toward the Legion hive. Being able to breathe fire, Gamera can also suck in the oxygen surrounding the hive. He damages it with one massive fireball before bashing it to death.

- The remaining Legion climb onto Gamera and engulf him while they seem to shock, bite, and stab him.

- Gamera takes off using his rocket legs, shaking off the Legion on his body as his furiously spins (and killing many). Having been wounded, he also splatters his green blood across the city.

- Following this, a giant Legion Queen bursts from the hive and flies away. Two direct hits by missiles don't stop it, and a new hive is set up in Sendai.

- Gamera appears again to destroy the hive, but the Legion Queen intercepts him and they do battle. She wins after stabbing and laser beaming him, but has to leave him for dead. Gamera uses the last of his strength to keep the hive/seed from making it into space, but it still explodes, destroying Sendai and Gamera with it.

- With Legion still active and Gamera dead, humanity prepares to make its final stand.  While hopeful, there seems to be little expectation that the JSDF can handle Legion on their own.

- Asagi, the girl with whom Gamera forged a bond in the previous film, goes to the body of Gamera with the expectation that he will rise again. As she does this, Legion and the JSDF begin their battle.

- Just as Asagi stated, Gamera is revived and immediately takes flight toward Legion. Apparently, now the military realizes Gamera is trying to stop Legion and decides to cooperate with him.

- Gamera and the JSDF work together to destroy both the Legion Queen and Legion Swarm. After Legion unveils a new trick, Gamera is nearly defeated before being saved in the nick of time by air support.

- Badly wounded and still not fully recovered from his near death experience, Gamera unleashes his final weapon: absorbing...the sun?... and the plates on his chest opening up to release a tremendous beam of fire/plasma. Legion is completely destroyed in the blast and Gamera is clearly exhausted.

- Gamera takes a final look at the JSDF troops below him before flying away on his rocket legs. The military is relieved, not only to have survived the battle with Legion but also that the obviously incredibly powerful Gamera appears to be on their side (for now).

- This final point is emphasized by the last line of the movie, with the main woman of the cast saying that Gamera is not the defender of humanity but of Earth, and if we keep killing the other life on the planet... "We wouldn't want Gamera against us, would we?"

Kaiju Notes 

- Baby Legion is just... crabs but with giant eyes. Baby Legion kinda sucks, though I do find their blue hues quite comforting despite their unimpressiveness.

- The Legion Queen, on the other hand, is a cool design. Retaining the crab like look but escalating it into a single scary beast, the arc of spikes/claws/legs surrounding it makes a dominating silhouette and an effective weapon. The giant horn on its head that can shoot lasers keep the Legion Queen threatening at distance.

- After confronting Legion in the third act, Gamera lands and seems to "skate" around at great speed across the city. It's actually incredibly cool to see, as very few kaiju move as quickly at any point. While the fireballs Gamera launches don't seem to have much effect, the novelty of the shot is notable (and badass).

- Gamera's final attack is clearly one of the most powerful we've seen in any kaiju movie thus far, but it goes almost entirely unexplained and is confusing. I am hoping or expecting it to be further touched on in the future, but I'm not sure I agree with the choice to have something so "deus ex machina" happen right when your hero seems to be defeated.

Right away, I want to touch on a strange direction choice made when the military/police were going into the train tunnel to rescue survivors: a brief photomontage begins right when they rush to the scene. The beginning and end of the montage is abrupt, making it look like a DVD skipping rather than an artistic choice. Because I literally watched it on DVD, I had to check a few times to assure myself that it wasn't just skipping through a scene (confirmed by finding a digital source). Though the dialogue and music maintain through the montage indicating that it's an intentional choice, the abrupt beginning, end, and briefness of the segment is quite jarring. Just a really strange directorial decision. On the other end of choices, there is the above mentioned scene near the end of the film where Gamera seems to floating through a city while he confronts Legion, either using his rocket legs to stay extra mobile or the sheer momentum with which he arrived on the scene, but either way it's an incredible sequence. So... the direction has definite pluses and minuses. The montage for the rescue will stand out as a strange choice, but Gamera basically roller-blading through the streets of Ashikaga is going to stand out even more because it rocks.

The destruction of Sendai is an affecting sequence, seeming to intentionally mimic the nuclear bombs that hit Japan 50 years before this movie. The screen goes completely white outside of seeing buildings be torn apart by the force of the explosion, and the blast radius grows before leaving a massive crater where Sendai used to be. If not for Gamera's body encased in stone, it would be indistinguishable from a devastated city as a result of war. It's an excellent example of how the series has evolved even being just 2 films into the Heisei era trilogy: using both new technology and a new lease on the life of Gamera to do things that are truly worth writing about. Whether it's just cool effects and fun monster fights or using the movie to speak on the horrors of violence, the destruction of Sendai is the most evocative but not the only example of this film using everything it has at it's disposal to make some of this feel like it matters.

The period of time where Gamera is believed to be dead is another example of the above, less reliant on special effects to send the message. After spending incalculable time and expense in trying to destroy both Gamera and Legion, they are eventually left to realize that they've possibly doomed the world by hampering Gamera's clear goal of fighting against Legion. The hopelessness they feel without Gamera seems to be the only time they appreciate him, but it makes a degree of sense in the context of the film. Gamera continues to destroy cities and landmarks while he fights these monsters, and while he clearly intends to stop Legion it can't be argued that the collateral damage doesn't have its own incredible cost (in human lives). It's a situation where there's no good choices but the military makes the worse one, and the end of the movie reflects this. When they go to hopefully stop Legion the general tone is one of hopelessness, but with Gamera dead there's nothing else to do but try. And when Gamera awakens humanity cheers but remains fearful of him (because of course they should be).

The question at the very end of the movie is truly the theme here: "we wouldn't want Gamera against us, would we?" Especially after channeling some sort of energy at the end of the movie and launching a spectacular beam of energy, humanity has to confront the fact that Gamera is here to help and if he were not there would be very little hope for them. But he remains a force of destruction, even if he only appears when there's an even larger threat looming.  It seems to me to be an exploration of power and the appropriate use of it, ultimately unable to make a definitive statement but acknowledging both the necessity and terribleness that is power. Whether it be military or kaiju, Attack of Legion seems to lament that any of it is necessary at all, while making a truly entertaining giant monster movie at the same time. It's incredibly impressive.

Next: Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris!

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

Gamera has had a rough go of it. Besides being constantly treated as a crappy Godzilla clone, apparently Daiei produced a series "the worst of all time movies" that came out in the late 70's starring the titular turtle monster. To demonstrate the point, in 1980 Daiei released Gamera: Super Monster and all of the Gamera footage in the film was stock footage that was simply reused. While I haven't seen most of these later movies in the original Gamera series, I can say that watching a kaiju movie with stock footage is genuinely unpleasant, and the Godzilla series is not immune to doing this for some of their worse efforts. Super Monster was the last film made in the Gamera series when it went on hiatus, like the more famous Godzilla series before it. But it's 1995 baybee, and it's time for the giant turtle to return!

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is, effectively, a reboot of the Gamera series. It's interesting, as the last several Gamera films clearly intended to set Gamera up as a defender of the Earth (or universe) when the first several did not have this focus. At the best, Gamera was originally intended to be a vicious monster that was maybe less vicious to children, but eventually grew to be a defender of all. Right in the title of the reboot, Guardian of the Universe sets Gamera up as a monster which is designed and intended to be a protector rather than a destroyer. Naoki Manabe and Jun Suzuki portray Gamera, and Yuhmi Kaneyama comes to the series as the returning monster Gyaos. Shusuke Kaneko directs, taking over from previous director of the series Noriaki Yuasa. Let's talk about giant turtles!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A ship carrying plutonium crashes into some unseen force in the ocean, initially assumed to be a floating atoll. This is not the case, of course, and we discover this to be the ancient monster Gamera.

- Elsewhere, a different group of people are attacked by a "giant bird." These creatures are lured into a stadium and captured for scientific study. When one escapes, Gamera appears and kills the fleeing Gyaos.

- Worse than Gamera appearing on land and causing chaos while he killed the escaping Gyaos, the 2 which were captured manage to escape.

- Researching, humans manage to find beads/magatama made of legendary (and supposedly fictional) metal called Orihalcum. When Asagi touches the magatama, it is warm to the touch and glows but the effect fades.

- In another encounter, some Gyaos attack and are stopped by Gamera. He even defends humans on a bridge from their laser attacks, causing himself to be wounded. Both creatures flee after one of the Gyaos' is killed.

- Gamera is attacked by the JSDF. While he survives, he's clearly wounded before flying away using his rocket legs. Asagi passes out when his happens, and mentions that she and Gamera need rest. Her brother hypothesizes she has a connection to Gamera through the magatama and is now his priestess.

- The remaining Gyaos continues to grow, eventually becoming quite tremendous. Just like in its first appearance, the JSDF launches a sneak attack during the daytime since Gyaos seems nocturnal. This goes relatively poorly, and they realize they are totally helpless without Gamera.

- With Tokyo overtaken by the single surviving Gyaos, the JSDF plans to launch a final attack that will likely decimate Tokyo. Fortunately for them, Gamera has recovered and arrives just in time to fight his ancient enemy.

- After an epic kaiju battle, the two monsters ignite a refinery and land there. This is a strategic mistake on the behalf of Gyaos, as Gamera eats fire, and absorbs almost all of it here. He is empowered, and launches a final fireball at Gyaos' head to destroy it.

- Sharing a nod with Asagi and healing her wounds, Gamera journeys back to the sea where he can be at peace.

Kaiju Notes

- The new Gyaos is design is a step down from the first. The color and design is a bit more generic version of "giant bat" where the old design was goofy but distinct. An updated version closer to the original probably would have looked very cool. In contrast, new Gamera manages to maintain all of the major design elements but look more realistic, intimidating and yet more sympathetic.   

- Gyaos' first appearance is a lesson in restraint, initially simply showing the wave of force that follows after it dives. It is shown shortly after, but in passing. With even the small Gyaos able to knock people off their feet with an unintentional passing by, it helps elevate their power when they become large and powerful, which the later Gyaos does.

- Gyaos is also changed, of course, to be a species rather than a singular creature. This is a bold choice given kaiju movies obsession with single important figures and having never committed to monsters being one of many before. While Destoroyah and Hedorah are technically collections of smaller creatures, they've always worked as more of a single mind split amongst smaller pieces rather than actual separate entities. This pays off in multiple ways: being an easy explanation for why Gamera and Gyaos are enemies, allowing Gyaos to be a versatile threat which can be a nuisance or Gamera's deadliest foe, and paying homage to the classic version and allowing Gyaos to be in ever film if desired without necessarily needing to rely on the single popular Gamera opponent to  carry the weight of antagonist.

- Gamera's fire breath has taken a level in badass, and looks somehow more fiery or dangerous despite the fact that the earlier version of it (Showa era) was also just actual fire. It also can apparently cause Gyaos to explode, which looks hilarious.

As far as reboots go, Guardian of the Universe is a very good one. There's an emphasis on giving Gamera a clear character, as well as introducing Gyaos as both a potential major and minor threat (to Gamera) which allows the new series to pay homage to the older villains of Gamera while building new ones alongside the homage. It's a good strategy, functionally playing the old hits while mixing in some of the new stuff. While the new design of Gyaos is not a fun or interesting as the old one, Gamera's design is also a good example of how to do a reboot the right way: keep the good, trim the fat, add some new elements that work. On another note, the budget gap between Gamera and Godzilla films is less obvious now. While I have no doubt that Gamera was a cheaper movie, it looks as good as any rival kaiju flick from the era and so no longer appears to be the little brother of the industry.

Beyond a good example of an entertaining reboot, however, there's not much interesting or exciting about the movie. I do enjoy it, I do think it's entertaining and fun, but I'm having trouble coming up with anything substantial to sink my teeth into. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, any reader of this blog knows that I can enjoy a movie for raw entertainment value, but it does make writing an essay about the film difficult. Gamera saves the Earth from Gyaos. What's next? It's a substantial upgrade from the movies from the Showa era, but what else can you say about that? It's worth seeing and sets a good stage for sequels, but is Gamera always going to be an "entertainment only" series or was this more an attempt to see if the character was still viable?

Guess there's only one way to find out.

Next: Gamera 2: Attack of Legion!

Daimajin

Today we're going a bit outside the box with the first in the Daimajin series, appropriately titled Daimajin. Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda for Daiei (the makers of Gamera movies), there were 3 Daimajin films released in the same year and no more. Apparently, the titular character was intended to be the first foe of Gamera but was reassigned to be the star if his own brief series. Daiei also produced the legendary Zatoichi series, which is relevant here as the director of Daimajin was a prolific director of Zatoichi films as well.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A village is shaken by what seems like an earthquake. Our characters say this is the majin and they begin a ritual to keep the majin asleep rather than allow it to wake from its slumber.

- At the same time, a fight for power begins. Samurai Kogenta escapes from the wicked Samanosuke's forces with the children of the former Lord of the area.

- The ritual to ward off the Daimajin monster is interrupted by this raid of new Lord Samanosuke. They force the villagers to stop their ritual, which the local priestess warns against and laments.

- Yes, it's all a bit confusing at first.

- The priestess gives Kogenta and the children a hiding place, assuring them they will not be found. Right outside their new living quarters is a massive stone statue resembling a fully armored soldier.

- The bad guys terrorize the villagers, forcing them to labor and beating them when they're too tired to continue. In the infirmary, another is killed after being blamed for the escape of Kogenta.

- To secure his power, Samanosuke first kills the priestess who warns him of the power of Daimajin, and then decides to smash the statue so it can never wake.

- While attempting to destroy Daimajin, blood begins to flow from its forehead. A powerful storm strikes and the earth itself swallows the forces of Samanosuke.

- With Kogenta and the son of the former Lord having been previously captured, the daughter (and a village boy) pray to Daimajin to save them from execution. With their execution happening very soon, Daimajin wakes up just in time

- Daimajin goes to the execution site of Kogenta and the young Lord and kills everyone he can get his hands on besides the two victims.

- After Samanosuke is killed by Daimajin, the remaining human characters try to stop the living statue from continuing its mission to kill every one of Samanosuke's followers.

- With tearing prompting from the former Lord's daughter, Daimajin voluntarily turns back into stone before shattering.

- END

Kaiju Notes

- Daimajin is an intimidating figure, but uninspiring as design. Clearly modeled after stone guardians and/or a statue, he does look like a moving, pissed off, stone statue. It's a dominant look, but doesn't really add anything to the design aspect of kaiju. While the armor is a strong choice to have on a kaiju, which are usually giant animals of some kind, the armor is not particularly unique or impressive. This could be a deliberate choice to make it clear that Daimajin, in common armor, defends the commoners of the village, but it still leaves a lot to be desired from a raw "aesthetic badassness" perspective.

- Daimajin gets very little screen time, waking up just 15 minutes before the movie ends. He makes an impression, however, as he apparently controls the weather and can travel as a ball of light. He also wastes almost no time, stepping through buildings rather than on them and only slowing down at all to kill any loyalist of Samanosuke he can find.

- Daimajin seems to enjoy stomping on people, in particular. While he'll punch a building to destroy it, he then finds the person stuck underneath the rubble and is always sure to stomp them to death.

- One choice of particular note is for Daimajin to make no sounds or facial expressions. He is a being of pure, focused vengeance. He kills everyone who deserves it with no care at all, a calculating and terribly efficient killing machine with no need or desire to roar, taunt, or express anything at all. The only time the movie focuses on his face at all, he is clearly simply looking around for his next target, no wry smile or wiggling eyebrows to get in the way of his rage.

The experience of the director of Daimajin in filming sword fights is relevant almost immediately in this film, as the opening is a large battle between opposing armies. The battle is fierce and effective in a manner that experience helps sell. With the story spending an inordinately long time on human characters facing human problems, it's good to have a director with experience filming such human conflicts, and it pays off in this instance. Even when it comes to Samanosuke's forces abusing the villagers or eventually killing the priestess, there's a certain deft touch to it all that helps bring the details into focus while we wait for the awakening of Daimajin.

The reason this movie is a bit "outside the box" as I said above is because Daimajin himself is the first humanoid kaiju we've come across, and one of the few humanoid kaiju (that isn't a robot) that I'm aware of at all. Most "giant monsters" are just that, giant monsters, but Daimajin is a wrathful spirit in the form of a large and angry man. It is also unique in that this is the first kaiju we have seen which specifically targets certain groups of humans, punishing Samanosuke's forces for their evil deeds. While he does fall into the kaiju trope of becoming a danger to everyone around him, his intent upon waking was to destroy Samanosuke, and he is tremendously successful at this. While Godzilla and Mothra have both been used as punishment against the wicked, neither of their intent was this necessarily. Mothra simply attacks whomever has her Shobijin and Godzilla has destroyed the evil mostly as result of coincidence and their own misdeeds.

This punishment of the wicked is Daimajin's real narrative hook. Despite the titular creature being released from his stony confines a mere 15 minutes before the end of the movie, the entire plot focuses on demonstrating why Samanosuke and his forces deserve to be stepped on and impaled with spikes from an indestructible pissed off green man. It is also one of the relatively few kaiju films in which the human story plays directly into the actions of the kaiju. Many kaiju movies have the human characters only tangentially related to the actions of the monsters, affected by but not really active participants in what happens, whereas Daimajin only awakens after the killing of his priestess and the attempted destruction of himself, and even then requires some extra goading with the tears of the former Lord's daughter Kozasa. But once he's awake, Daimajin is a simple natural progression of the story: the savior army in a different film, concentrated into one entity which doesn't speak, care, or show any mercy.

Anyone who reads this blog probably knows that I am a big fan of kaiju as metaphor, and Daimajin's spirit of vengeance approach is a prime example of why I like it. This approach typically allows the film to be more cohesive, merging the various human characters with the purpose of the kaiju in a manner that is difficult to replicate when the metaphorical basis of kaiju is dropped. While I don't dislike a movie that is pure spectacle (we've seen several and definitely will in the future), the strongest ones from both a quality and enjoyment perspective, for me, are the films which allow the kaiju to mean something. This quality of Daimajin makes me glad that I expanded my list of intended movies to watch for this blog so that I could get an even broader taste of the kaiju flicks that weren't Godzilla. More grounded than most films in its genre and playing more into the supernatural than most of the "force of nature" giant monsters we have seen so far, Daimajin is a worthwhile ride, especially in the context of the history of kaiju film.

Next: War of the Gargantuas!

Gamera vs. Gyaos

Today, we're discussing the 3rd in the Gamera series. We skipped the second one because I don't have time for literally every kaiju movie, and this one is the introduction of Gamera's most enduring enemy: Gyaos.

Apparently inspired by Frankenstein Conquers the World, Daiei decided to also adapt a classic monster and make it a kaiju: in this case a vampire. Directed once again by Noriaki Yuasa after he was skipped over for the 2nd Gamera film (which apparently did not perform as well as desired), the giant turtle monster also gains himself a credited actor: Teruo Aragaki. 

Intentionally written to appeal to children, it becomes more clear in this film why Gamera is eventually known as "Friend of All Children." With a child being, once again, central to the plot and seemingly the only person able to understand the simplest things about Gamera, they directly interact once but are the best of friends. More on this later. So, let's observe Gyaos' introduction, because we're going to see a lot more of her for the rest of Kaiju '22, so hopefully it starts well.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A series of volcanoes erupt around Japan and Gamera appears near Mount Fuji when it erupts. Predictably, this draws attention from the scientific community.

- While flying above Mount Fuji, a helicopter of researchers is literally split in half from what looks like a laser.

- Exploring the area, the bat-like kaiju Gyaos awakens. Gamera appears and saves the day, but not before nearly losing an arm to Gyaos' laser.

- Humans try to prepare for Gyaos' next awakening but fail. Gyaos attacks, killing many people before being confronted by Gamera once again. They fight until dawn breaks, at which points Gyaos lasers off her own foot to escape Gamera and the rising sun. Badass.

- With Gyaos' foot to study, humans realize that it is weakened by ultraviolet light. They develop a plan to lure Gyaos to be hit by the sun by using fake blood to cause it come out.

- The plan fails because while Gyaos is spinning on the blood deposit, the power station is overwhelmed and the plan to make Gyaos dizzy fails when the deposit stops spinning. It's a...weird plan.

- With no hope of stopping Gyaos, the little boy who has been the crucial intelligence agent for the humans (questionable that this 8 year old or whatever is smarter than all of the adults in this movie) comes up with a plan to attract Gamera by starting a forest fire. Since Gamera loves and eats fire while Gyaos hates it and is weakened by it, Gyaos will be defeated by Gamera.

- The child's plan works almost perfectly, with Gamera rocket legging it over to the fire to feed and deciding the murder Gyaos in the process.

Kaiju Notes

- The first shot of Gyaos is truly awful. Also, she is the most plastic looking kaiju we've seen thus far. Not a bad design by any means, though a little basic. Gyaos seems a bit like an improved Rodan: winged and with more distinct features and abilities.

- Gyaos' laser is ridiculously powerful and actually a lot of fun to watch as it splits things in half. Explained as a supersonic wave produced by Gyaos' throat, it's a good way to lean into the bat-like features while not making it a simple "vampire bat" monster. She also has a special yellow mist that puts out fires, which makes sense for a creature that apparently hates fire.

- While not as innovative as atomic breath, Gamera's fire breath is a very cool effect to see, mostly because flamethrowers are literally always cool and easy enough to make.

- Gamera and Gyaos both get credit for being more of "whole body" monsters than Godzilla. Fire breath, an apparently impenetrable shell that he can retreat into, and rocket legs, Gamera in particular is a force to be reckoned with from any angle or situation.

First off: this movie is significantly less bonkers than the first. That does not mean "not bonkers," but definitely less. And while it may just be a natural inclination to root for the underdog, I feel like Yuasa's passion for making a giant monster movie is obvious while watching. With another tiny budget and even the concept of the movie being a riff on another Toho film, Gamera vs. Gyaos is another project made by studio demand with a director who just wants to make a rad kaiju movie and does his best to do so.

The helicopter getting split in half is a cool effect that I like a lot. The last person onscreen that we see "fall" to his death definitely jumps though, and it's hilarious. There's not enough gifs of all of these movies, for real. Whether it's Kamacuras playing volleyball before smashing Minilla's face or a not-great version of falling from a helicopter, there's great shots in all of these movies. Gyaos also splits a moving car in half and some fighter jets, and they're all equally impressive effects. The car in particular is honestly great: a goofy context, yes, but pretty badass to see half of a car drive away from it's other half.

Another major point: this is much bloodier than most kaiju movies. I mentioned in my Son of Godzilla post that the fights were growing in brutality, but apparently Gamera movies are the place to be for bloody violence. When Gamera nearly loses his arm it spurts blood and later when he's trying to either drown Gyaos or force her into the sun, her foot bleeds quite a bit when he bites it and then even more when she slices it off. We even see Gyaos blood when she grows it back! The final fight also ends with both Gamera and Gyaos covered in each others blood. While the blood is all a color that is not the traditional human red (Gyaos' even changing color from an earlier scene where it was green to purple), it is still notable that the blood level is actually quite high compared to every other kaiju movie we have seen so far. Even Gamera's execution of Gyaos is pretty violent, throwing her into an active volcano. Bloodless, sure, but brutal.

As mentioned above, it's well-known that this (and other Gamera movies) was designed to be more appealing to children: this might explain why a literal child who's obsessed by giant monsters has the only good ideas in the entire movie. There is an entire military intelligence apparatus in this movie dedicated to stopping Gyaos and the child is the only one of all of them who ever has a plan that's not entirely terrible. Not to say that children can't be wise or know something that adults don't, but in this instance it makes every adult look like a complete idiot because the child's plans aren't super innovative or complex. Gamera almost killed Gyaos once... attract him... he'll kill Gyaos. Done. This wild plan to make Gyaos dizzy using a spinning centrifuge of fake blood is like a prime example of supposedly smart people overcomplicating something to the point of ineffectiveness. Maybe that's the real message of the child in this movie: lateral thinking.

Overall, I like this one. It's far from amazing and not particularly innovative in any capacity, but despite Gyaos dumb face and Gamera's still strangely creepy yet friendly appearance I find the whole endeavor entertaining. Even the human scenes are amusing because all of the adults are rank idiots and it's amusing to watch their ridiculous plans come to fruition. Like Plan Z from the first Gamera film, watching humans come up with a plan to spin a giant vampiric monster around really fast until its dizzy is endlessly entertaining. As far as an introduction to Gamera and his enduring foe Gyaos, there are definitely worse films out there, and some of them are Godzilla movies.

Next: King Kong (1933)!

Gamera, the Giant Monster

Today we discuss Gamera, the Giant Monster. Sometimes considered the sibling (maybe cousin) series to the Godzilla series, the Gamera series began in 1965 under strained circumstances. Let's start there. This film (and many of the movies in the series) was directed by Noriaki Yuasa only after several other directors at the studio refused to make it. Apparently considered a "wash-out" by his bosses at Daiei, Yuasa took to the movie with a surprising fervor. Despite everyone else passing on it because they felt the genre was beneath them, Yuasa did everything he could to make Gamera, the Giant Monster happen. This man took special effects courses, endured criticism and belittlement from his own staff, made the entire movie on a shoestring budget, and dealt with power outages, outdated equipment, tight scheduling, and faulty props. At one point the studio considered handing the project to someone else to finish but Yuasa refused to let his new baby Gamera go and somehow finished the movie using the crap resources he was given.

To shed some further light on these crap resources: when Daiei decided to make a kaiju movie they initially settled on a film featuring giant rats. Ignoring how fortunate we are to not have to endure a giant rat movie, they built sets and apparently found REAL RATS to be their main actors. But the project was shut down by the health department due to the uncooperative, wild rats being infested with fleas. Yuasa, and Gamera, inherited the scraps left over from the abandoned production of this rat movie. Due to the tiny budget, Yuasa was forced to shoot Gamera, the Giant Monster in black and white. On a certain level it's a testament to Yuasa's inhuman willpower that this movie even exists. So, given all of that, how did the movie turn out?

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- In the Arctic, a ship arrives (to trade with the locals? unsure). An unmarked nuclear armed plane is also there, and it is attacked by another. It goes down, setting off a nuclear weapon.

- From the ice emerges Gamera, a Giant Turtle Monster from Atlantis!

- A man sees a UFO in the sky, a spinning disc which approaches him before shooting off in another direction. Reports of UFOs spread around Japan. This seems irrelevant, but we'll be back.

- After destroying the home of a turtle loving child named Toshio, Gamera saves him from falling to his death. Does that make them even?

- The military tries to take Gamera down with electricity and bombs before realizing he literally eats fire and is growing stronger from both efforts.

- They do succeed in using a special weapon to freeze Gamera, flipping him onto his back so he will be helpless (as all turtles are, apparently) and starve to death. 

- Gamera's ultimate technique is revealed: he has rockets in his legs. He pulls inside his shell and takes flight, spinning through the air like a UFO (see above).

- Raiding anywhere where fossil fuel or nuclear energy can be found and eating it, Gamera becomes a menace and so the government decides to utilize the "Z Plan."

- After an absolutely wild series of coincidences including a typhoon and a volcanic eruption, Gamera is lured onto a space ship and shot to Mars.

- Yes, I am serious.

Kaiju Notes

- Gamera has lovely tusks. It's probably his strongest design point, for me at least. I think the tusks are entirely rad. Combined with his eyes which appear to reflect light and you have the makings of a creature which could easily range between adorable or horrifying, depending on the message you try to send.

- On the other hand something about a turtle, giant or otherwise, is inherently non-threatening. Lil dude doesn't even have the thick shell one might associate with some turtles, going with the sleeker and spinier version which doesn't exactly make him look like a powerhouse even if it's the more "aggressive" choice.

- Instead of the made up weapons of his cousin Godzilla (Atomic Breath), Gamera simply breathes fire. It may not sound as cool, but it's a much easier effect to make and the fire actually looks pretty good. Likely because they just made a mini flamethrower and threw it in a puppet. But hey, the shit works.

- Gamera spends much more of his time on four legs, which does make him seem a bit more bestial than the creatures that clearly inspired him. It's a strong choice as far as differentiating factors go.

- The leg rockets. It is impossible to put into words how brilliant and yet idiotic this is. It is primo "kaiju flick" nonsense that doesn't even look particularly bad. I hate it and love it at the same time. Dude doesn't even flip over on screen! He flies away while still upside down!

- We don't talk about roars enough in this section. Mostly because many of them are pretty bad. Gamera's is definitely in the top level of roars we've seen thus far. Inspired by Godzilla, for sure, but unique enough that it's got some character of its own. I give it a 7/10.

Let's talk about the child, Toshio. He is relevant to the story because he thinks his pet turtle, Chibi, has turned into Gamera. He also believes that Gamera isn't evil or angry, just lonely. This is likely related to him being forced to release his pet turtle into the wild right before Gamera appears, destroys his home, and saves his life. Toshio is wrong, of course, as Gamera very explicitly tears down buildings with people in them and it doesn't look like he's trying to shake hands or hug when he lights them on fire using his breath. Like Godzilla in the original film, Gamera directly uses his main weapon to murder people. A scientist does suggest that Gamera is so destructive because he's seeking food, but I'm not sure that explains it. Bears don't destroy shit that's not related to finding food, even if they will absolutely wreck your life if you try to stop them. They don't tear down all the trees near your campsite, chase you down specifically, murder you half a mile up the road before turning back to go get the jerky you forgot to lock up. Worse still, being remarkably naive, Toshio insists that he will come visit Gamera on Mars at the end of the movie. First off, Gamera will starve to death on Mars and secondly he would eat you in a second. Basically: kids are the worst. He doesn't really cause any harm in particular but watching him think he's friends with a kaiju that has murdered hundreds of people is just wild.

Time to discuss the Z Plan. Unfortunately, nothing can be said because this movie does not explain at all. Who developed the Z Plan? Why? How? What was its purpose, in this world which apparently has not experienced kaiju problems before? Was the Z Plan intended to send people to Mars? Why? If so, why was the ship so large that it could fit Gamera's huge ass? Of all the various solutions to kaiju that we have seen so far, the Z Plan is easily the wildest. Both Godzilla and Gamera have been immobilized/felled by extreme cold, but the Zilla-verse humans have never thought to simply launch him into space. Probably because they don't just have a random giant rocket sitting around, but it's been 10+ years so maybe they should!

Ultimately Gamera, the Giant Monster lacks a lot of the weight of the first Godzilla movie, mimicking it in plot and premise but missing the mark in metaphor. A giant monster rampages through Japan and murders people, but Gamera is not a metaphor for nuclear destruction or anything else but simply a pissed off turtle (who took it easy on one child). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, not every movie has to have a hefty message, but it does reflect on the general hollowness of Gamera, the Giant Monster's conception. It's intended to capitalize on a movement in Japanese cinema, not to speak to any particular sentiment. That said, the movie itself is a lot of fun. When Gamera takes flight for the first time on screen it's perhaps the most fun I've had with a single scene since the beginning of this project, just so absurd that I almost jumped for joy. When the Z Plan is revealed to be a giant rocket to Mars I nearly cried laughing. Gamera himself is a strange combination of cute and creepy, as many turtles are, so the design is there. When it comes to raw buckwild fun, Gamera, the Giant Monster is honestly one of the top tier films in the history of kaiju flicks (so far).

Also, yes, Gamera is probably a tortoise rather than a turtle. Shut up.

Next: Invasion of Astro-Monster!