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!

All Monsters Attack

Yo, Ishirō Honda is back with a movie about Godzilla! Kinda. It's mostly about Minilla and a little kid. But Haruo Nakajima is, of course, back as Godzilla for the few minutes of original monster footage they shot for this movie. Let's just get to it.

 

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- The opening credits are new, showing monsters doing monster stuff before staff are named. It's fun.

- Children walk down the street singing a song about baby Godzilla, Minilla, before being attacked by a bully named Gabara.

- The main character is a little boy named Ichiro who dreams of going to Monster Island. He spends a lot of time alone as his parents work a lot.

- He grabs a toy from his closet and day dreams about going to Monster Island and watching Godzilla fight Kamacuras and Ebirah in reused footage from Son of Godzilla.

- He falls down a hole and meets Minilla, who literally talks to him about the giant monster Gabara, who is bullying Minilla. Godzilla won't take down Gabara for his son because he thinks Minilla needs to learn to fight his own battles.

- We now rewatch one of the battles between Godzilla and Ebirah, as well as G vs giant monster Kumonga.

- After the stock footage finally, mercifully, ends, Minilla is attacked by Gabara again. Before we get the conclusion of this, Ichiro is grabbed by a legitimately surprising man covered in leaves in the forest.

- Back in the real world, Ichiro has been kidnapped by villains because of a convoluted and stupid reason.

- Stuff happens, and we're back on Monster Island where Gabara and Minilla fight.

- Minilla finally outwits Gabara, and Godzilla comes by to congratulate his child before being ambushed by an angry Gabara.

- He soundly destroys Gabara, throwing him right on his head and neck. Gabara is lucky he doesn't break in half. He runs away.

- Back in the real world, Ichiro uses the lessons he imagined to thwart his own attacks and stand up to his own bully: little boy Gabara.

- Fin.

 

Kaiju Notes

- Gabara sucks.

- I do like Gabara's electric hands powers.

- Gabara also fights like a bully, which is kind of fun. At one point he literally places a hand on Minilla's hand while Minilla helplessly swings and that's pretty cute.

 

Overall, this movie blows. I knew going in that this is generally considered one of if not the worst Godzilla movie, but goddamn was I not prepared. This movie actually actively sucks. It does have a message, which I typically enjoy in my kaiju flicks, but it's surrounded by weird, horrible nonsense. All of the monster battles are the literal figment of a child's imagination, and rather than that being a great excuse to do wild shit you might see in the dreamworld of a kaiju fanatic that is also 9 years old, you get stock footage showing battles we saw several movies ago with about 10 minutes of unique monster action. It's... disappointing, to say the least. When I was a child, my dreams about monster fights would've included alongside Godzilla riding a laser-shark into battle against King Ghidorah, each head holding a sword (all different types, of course) and them having a battle on the surface of Venus, complete with acid volcanoes and traveling lightning storms. But apparently little Ichiro is not the creative type so we get Ebirah and Godzilla playing rock volleyball again. I thought that scene was ridiculous but amusing the first time, I hate it this go round.

The message isn't necessarily a bad one. Ichiro did need a confidence boost and the incredibly annoying Minilla did give him the (fantasy) inspiration he needed to stand up to his own Gabara, but just because a movie might be good for a small and impressionable child does not make it amusing, enjoyable, or good. Skip it unless you're showing it to the children in your lives and also hate them.

Next: Godzilla vs. Hedorah!

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Ebirah, a giant lobster, is, apparently, a horror of the deep. At least that is the premise of the movie titled Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. Directed by Jun Fukuda, this is the first film in the mainline Godzilla canon to not be directed by Ishirō Honda so hopefully some distinctions in their direction style will be clear here. Haruo Nakajima is once again Godzilla, with newcomer (?) Hiroshi Sekita playing the titular Ebirah. Writing this without having seen it yet, I am dubbing this current era of Toho releases "the dark times" due to my general underwhelming response to the last couple of movies we have seen. Hopefully Ebirah breaks this streak, but word on the street is this is not one of the beloved films of the Showa era. Crossing fingers!

Also, humorous (or foreboding?) side note: this movie was originally supposed to start King Kong against the dreaded Ebirah. But when the rights owners of Kong rejected the concept Toho gladly took up the task and cast their homegrown monster in the role. Word on the street is that the script was changed very little given this change of concept, so we might see some reverberations of that through this film.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Searching for his missing brother whom he is certain is alive, Ryota steals a boat from a dance marathon competition and goes searching.

- Things do not go well, as he and his companions come across the giant lobster Ebirah and nearly die.

- Stranded on an island, they come across a native woman from Infant Island and make friends. She tells them that the terrorist organization Red Bamboo has kidnapped some of her people and forced them produce a special yellow liquid to help control Ebirah.

- Meanwhile, the people still left at Infant Island pray to Mothra in the hope she will awaken and rescue their kidnapped brethren.

- The gang finds Godzilla sleeping in a cave. They wisely try to avoid waking him up.

- Moving on, they sneak into a Red Bamboo building by hiding behind a movable bush they've made in an effort to defeat Red Bamboo so they can escape.

- When that goes predictably poorly, one of the men accidentally floats away on a giant balloon which takes him to Infant Island.

- Deciding to wake up Godzilla as a weapon against Red Bamboo and their dastardly desires, they make a lightning rod which awakens Godzilla from his resting state just as Ebirah attacks them.

- Still on the run from Red Bamboo, the remaining core cast barely escapes Red Bamboo before Godzilla appears and puts the fear into them. He is distracted/infatuated by the woman the boys met earlier, apparently a plot holdover from when this was a Kong movie.

- Interrupting Godzilla longingly looking at her, a giant bird and then some planes attack Godzilla only to be soundly and easily defeated.

- Godzilla destroys the Red Bamboo base after they empower him using high voltage electricity (not how Godzilla works) and the humans find out that the entire island is going to be completely destroyed in a mere two hours.

- Godzilla and Ebirah rematch, this time taking the fight underwater where Ebirah may have the advantage.

- Godzilla wins anyway, easily.

- With 6 minutes runtime remaining, Mothra finally leaves Infant Island to retrieve her people.

- Godzilla and Mothra fight, briefly, despite being allies in their last meeting, before Mothra runs away with her Infant Island people in tow.

- Godzilla jumps off the island just as Red Bamboo's plan to destroy the island comes to fruition, narrowly escaping the giant explosion and swimming off into the ocean.

Kaiju Notes

- Ebirah's introduction is as nothing more than a giant claw destroying the boat our human leads are on. Outside of the very fake lightning effect, this introduction is very well done. Menace and mystery but without too much uncertainty about what it was: a giant claw.

- Ebirah's screech is one of the more effective roars we've heard so far.

- On his reintroduction, Ebirah literally spears two men floating near him, making it very clear that he's giant and red because of the fiery rage inside him.

- Godzilla is awaken by lightning in this movie, apparently recovered from his injuries by it. This is not a power Godzilla has ever had, and in fact appears to be a holdover from when this movie was Kong-centric.

- Ebirah and Godzilla play giant rock volleyball on multiple occasions when they first fight, it's cute and also ridiculous.

- Godzilla vastly outpowers all of his enemies in this movie except Mothra. Even his Atomic Breath is used only sparingly because it would clearly decimate all of his foes. His fights are much more human than normal, using rocks, his tail, and even kicking objects over either because it's fun or to use as weapons. 

- Godzilla continues to adopt human-like mannerisms: examples being the aforementioned volleyball squence and most notably when he rips off Ebirah's claw and claps it together in a taunting fasion.

- Mothra is perhaps at her most majestic, appearing larger than before and with more realistic colors. The closeup shots allows a better look at the "fur" on her face better than ever before.

First thing to note: this movie is much more comical than almost any of kaiju flicks we've seen thus far. While comedy is not an unexpected element in the series thus far, the first 60 minutes are almost entirely farce. The humans are bumbling even when competent, and the plot comes together almost as a series of unfortunate events, including one man accidentally floating away on a balloon. The humans using a mobile bush to infiltrate the Red Bamboo stronghold is hilarious to watch even if you think it's a good idea. It reminds me of Metal Gear Solid's Ultimate Weapon, even if this movie did come decades before the cardboard box of doom was invented.

Perhaps due to budget cuts, this movie focuses much more on the human story than any kaiju movie we've seen thus far. While I will almost always argue for more monster focus, this movie in particular gets the note as it spends a huge percentage of its time building up to Godzilla's awakening. With Ebirah being a mostly unseen force until he and Godzilla face off, the movie crams all of it's kaiju into the last 3rd or so of runtime, limiting how much they really feel like part of events even when they finally show up. While one argument could be made that the human characters are getting the kaiju tops into place before releasing them and letting them spin toward each other, another argument could be made that a Godzilla movie should have Godzilla wake up from his slumber before the 3rd act.

A few notes on the direction, things I think I noticed being different between Fukuda and Honda. Long, extended shots of the entire kaiju, showing off more detail of the suits than previous entries in the series. Scenes of destruction and the consequences are now back in the series, not truly being focused on since the original Gojira. There are also significantly more shots of human characters interacting in the same space as the kaiju, helping to create a greater sense of scale. This is one of the highlights of this movie, making the giant monsters seem giant and monstrous in a way we haven't really seen before.

Strangely, this movie comes in almost opposite of Invasion of Astro-Monster. While I found it a bit more interesting from a storytelling perspective it ultimately didn't work for me for some intangible reason. This is the opposite: an empty headed comedy that I still somehow enjoy despite the lack of time for my favorite part of any monster movie, the monsters. As you can see by me ending here, this movie isn't exactly the most intriguing (versus the paragraphs I wrote on the previous post), but I somehow enjoyed it nonetheless. Maybe I just like my monster movies stupid and think I like them smart because it makes me feel better about myself.

Next: King Kong Escapes!