Godzilla vs. Kong

The MonsterVerse continues, its most recent entry as of publishing. The previous films in the series have all built up to this point, having established both Godzilla and Kong in their own separate but connected films. Now it's time for the showdown, Godzilla vs. Kong. It's not the most creative name, but it follows the pattern of many of the Toho films so who can really blame them. This one is directed by Adam Wingard, and Millie Bobby Brown returns to her major role from the previous films in the series. Alongside her, we've got starring roles for Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, and Brian Tyree Henry

There's really nothing to write about as far as production or behind the scenes stuff goes: the movie was planned out in advance and was produced. It's about a giant lizard creature fighting a giant monkey creature. Let's check it out.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- We see Kong waking up in his jungle paradise. He seems peaceful and happy, and a small girl named Jua comes to him with an offering: a cute little Kong doll. He greets her before launching a tree into the barrier surrounding him, revealing the idyllic setting to be an illusion.

- Dr. Ilene Andrews reveals that Kong is being kept here against his will to keep him safe from Godzilla, as both are Alpha Titans and There Can Be Only One. Sorry, wrong series. That'll be the next blog.

- In Florida, Godzilla attacks the headquarters of the company Apex Cybernetics. This is strange considering that Godzilla's whole deal seems to be living in relative harmony with humankind.

- Conspiracy podcaster Bernie Hayes is tracked down by Madison from the previous film as someone who clearly has some insight into what's making Godzilla so pissed off at Apex. He works there (as a mole, essentially), so has some reach.

- A scientist convinces Ilene to let him use Kong to prove his Hollow Earth theory correct once and for all, shipping him to Antarctica to use a wormhole into the Hollow Earth with Kong as a key/guide/protector.

- On the journey, Ilene is proven correct when Godzilla attacks Kong and there's an awesome fight sequence that ends in a stalemate when depth charges are dropped on them while they fight in the ocean.

- After arriving in Antarctica, the Hollow Earth theory is proven right for the 2nd time in this series and Kong and his human friends journey to the center of the Earth where they are attacked by horrible creatures. Kong does, in fact, protect them and does battle with many strange beasts.

- Inside Apex Cybernetics, Madison and Bernie discover the secret Apex is hiding: a giant robot modeled after Godzilla: a MechaGodzilla designed to kill Godzilla (and potentially Kong and any other Titans).

- Kong finds an ancient axe weapon apparently used by his species in their battles, and the Apex executive on the mission to the Hollow Earth takes a sample of the energy as a much needed power source for their MechaGodzilla project. She threatens Kong's friend in the process and makes an enemy of Kong just as more creatures invade.

- As the humans try to escape the situation, Godzilla launches his Atomic Breath into the portal where Kong is located as a challenge. The Apex executive orders her people to shoot at Kong to try to escape. This goes exceptionally poorly, as Kong simply crushes them inside their vehicle before heading to Hong Kong to fight Godzilla with his newfound axe.

- The battle in Hong Kong has two primary rounds, the first ending with a Kong victory before Godzilla rallies and nearly kills Kong. MechaGodzilla appears before Godzilla can finish Kong off for good, now powered by the power source found in the Hollow Earth which is sufficient to bring it to 100% for the first time in its existence.

- With Godzilla being beaten badly by MechaGodzilla, Kong's human allies decide to help him (and Godzilla, and themselves) by reviving him. The plan ultimately works, allowing Kong to join the fight against MechaGodzilla.

- With Kong and Godzilla teaming up, MechaGodzilla is eventually defeated. The two remaining Alphas make peace, Kong going to rule the Hollow Earth while Godzilla remains on the surface world. End film.

Kaiju Notes 

- Kong is bigger than he was in his previous appearance, apparently being sized up to match size with Godzilla. THIS IS STUPID AND UNNECESSARY. It's too late now, but Kong being smaller than Godzilla just makes his scrappy underdog-ness more appealing. We all knew he wasn't really going to win anyway, so it would be more impressive if he got the small victories he did while remaining much smaller than his opponent. It's so lame to try to make them the same size when Kong's unique advantage should be intelligence and ingenuity, not bigger muscles. They do utilize some of the same elements I would in making Kong able to stand against Godzilla: the ability to make/use weapons and opposable thumbs, for instance, but making him the same size as Godzilla makes his ultimate defeat more disappointing because he was never fighting from a point of any real disadvantage,

- Kong's characterization is kind of funny as hell. He is very loyal and friendly to his friends. He does not give a fuck about anyone else. When he kills the Apex woman, he looks inside the vehicle for his friends and upon finding none of them just crushes the entire thing like he was throwing away rotten fruit. It's brutal, but effective. Godzilla doesn't have much human interaction in this film, but comparing his King of the Monsters personality to Kong's in this film makes Godzilla seem like a fluffy bunny who loves snuggling by contrast. And he is definitively not friendly.

- MechaGodzilla is... mecha. It's a design that is very 21st century, making the robot a lattice-work of mechanical parts rather than the sleek but boxy designs of robots in the mid-20th century. It's not a bad design and likely more accurate to what a real life MechaGodzilla would look like, but it lacks the character of the older MechaG designs and looks a bit overdone. MechaGodzilla's characterization, however, helps set the tone. MechaGodzilla is a monster among monsters, being almost completely brutal and lacking the boastfulness of either of the organic kaiju. It focuses on murder first and foremost and is a delight to watch (even if you want it to lose).  MechaGodzilla acts almost exactly how some audiences want every fighter in fiction to: completely focused on the win and wasting minimal time with anything other than doing bigger and more damage. Exactly how a robot should fight, I think.

Okay, so full disclosure: I spent a long time trying to figure out what to say about this one. I just... couldn't think of much. Unlike the previous and absolutely awesome Godzilla: King of the Monsters, this one lacks any real metaphor or ideas behind it besides the clash of titans. This isn't an inherently bad thing, but I can  only say that so many times before I run out of ways to say it.

The fights are pretty badass in this one. The first confrontation between Godzilla and Kong, on the battleship in the middle of ocean, is my personal favorite because it's the perfect combination of spectacular and spectacle. It also does a fine job in beginning to establish the two creatures' strengths and weaknesses: Godzilla's advantage at the sea but Kong's resourcefulness. As a setup to a longer confrontation later in the movie, it's an excellent start. The bad news is: as touched on above, the movie doesn't really deliver on that. Besides their first battle, every other match between the two ultimately narrows down to who hits harder or can take a larger beating. The battles are still entertaining, but they don't really deliver on the potential of either the two kaiju involved or the promise of the first encounter.

One last thing I do want to touch on is a similar point to the one made in the most recent post: Godzilla is actually kind of a cuddly bunny. Kong gives absolutely no fucks about anyone who's not explicitly his friend and murders several people (and creatures) with zero hesitation. MechaGodzilla does as well, though it is at least an unfeeling robot whereas Kong is shown to have very deep emotions. Godzilla, on the other hand, kills nothing at all in this entire movie. He does attack Kong first, this can't be denied, and it's not as though he doesn't try to drown him in their first conflict, but he genuinely seems way more chill and passive outside of wanting Kong and everyone else to stay of his way as the Alpha Titan. Though Kong does nearly die/is left dying in their final battle, Godzilla still doesn't finish him off when he easily could. He asserts dominance and then walks away. It's just extremely funny to me that the most inhuman of all the kaiju (Kong is an ape and MechaGodzilla was made by humans) seems to be the most human, if genteelness and mercy are considered human traits.

Godzilla vs. Kong is an entertaining time, but lacks meat on the its bones. It has a lot to show, but very little to say. If you are looking for a show, you could certainly do a lot worse than this one. The fights are entertaining, Kong is an endearing main character, and Godzilla stays looking like a boss. But if you need a film with something on its mind besides seeing big monkee and big leezard, this isn't the one. It does, however, deliver exactly what it says on the tin: Godzilla fights Kong.

Next (and final): Monster Hunter!

Also, as a bonus Christmas spirit addition: check out this shirt that I really received as a pre-Christmas gift!

Godzilla Trilogy (Netflix)

We're talking anime now, baybee. While Attack on Titan was an adaptation of manga/anime, it was a live action film. So the first time we're talking about anime. In fact, this is our first animated film covered on this entire blog. This one is a bit complex as it is actually a trilogy of films rather than just one, but these are so closely connected that it felt weird giving a different post to each. When learning this existed I found myself confused about why it had never been done before: animation seems like the perfect medium for Godzilla (and all kaiju, really). So we're here to see if animation is indeed a good fit for the main man Big G, with a series of films directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita. This is going to be an extremely long synopsis since it is 3 films, so let's get to it!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Humanity has been away from planet Earth after being chased away by Godzilla, all of humankind living on a space colony alongside the alien races the Bilusaludo and Exif.

- The Exif are a religious species which worship an unnamed God and have advanced technology which allows them to glimpse the future, while the Bilusaludo are a hyper-logical and pragmatic species who have given up most of their culture and material comfort for the sake of accomplishing their goals.

- Main character Haruo Sakaki (human) desires nothing more than to return to Earth and kill Godzilla.

- With no viable options for another habitable planet, the Coalition decides to return to Earth but know they will have to contend with Godzilla. Upon arriving back on Earth, they discover they've been gone for 10,000 years due to relativity.

- Sakaki has developed a plan to kill Godzilla using EMPs, and it actually appears to work when they kill Godzilla shortly after making it back to Earth. They then realize that the Godzilla they've killed is basically Baby Godzilla, and the real one has no awakened again and kills nearly everyone on the planet.

- Sakaki swears revenge and is rescued by a group of humanoids who now live on Earth: the Houtua. The Houtua worship Mothra, and Sakaki's get involved with the Shobijin twins.

- The Houtua introduce the Coalition to nanometal, an incredibly advanced material created while developing MechaGodzilla and that can be shaped into functionally anything and they believe can be used to kill Godzilla once and for all.

- Despite being warned by the Houtua that the city is poison, the Coalition embraces the nanometal that has consumed a segment of the planet and dub this area MechaGodzilla City. They use the resources of the city to prepare to finish Godzilla.

- With the showdown with Godzilla impending, the Coalition is running out of time to finish their preparations and Sakaki learns that the Bilusaludo are fusing their bodies with the nanometal to serve as neural processors to increase the speed, efficienct, and power of the living city.

- Despite being told by the Bilusaludon commander that the process was strictly voluntary, when Godzilla wipes out most of their weaponry the commander orders the nanometal to forcibly absorb their remaining troops to make one final offensive and is guaranteed to work.

- Sakaki, having had his injuries treated by the Houtua and therefore immune to the nanometal (if he wants to be), makes the hard decision to destroy MechaGodzilla City rather than kill Godzilla, as the city itself would continue to absorb the rest of the planet after finishing the current task.

- While Sakaki's fate is being considered by his superiors, he is being treated as both hero and villain by the Coalition while he has taken refuge with a group of Exif led by the priest Mephties. 

- The remaining Bilusaludo functionally force the Coalition's hand, and remove their resources from the greater unit to demand that Sakaki is punished or even executed for destroying MechaGodzilla City.

- The Houtua have a philosophy that making life is "winning" and dying or disappearing is "losing," so the Shobijin twins offer to mate with Sakaki (on separate occasions, don't be weird) to ensure that he "wins" by continuing into the future. He eventually accepts one of their offers.

- The God of the Exif is revealed to be Ghidorah, who consumes almost all of the Exif as he manifests through an amulet in Mephties' eye.

- Unbound by the rules of physical reality, Ghidorah lays waste to Godzilla while remaining completely invulnerable to all weapons either human or kaiju.

- Sakaki is told he is key to the Exif's plan, who worship Ghidorah because of his unbridled and unstoppable power: Sakaki's hatred of Godzilla will be an anchor for Ghidorah to take permanent hold in this universe, allowing his destruction to be unimpending and no longer requiring summoning rituals.

- WIth the help of the Shobijin and some others, Sakaki decides to fight back and shatters the amulet in Mephties' eye, now binding Ghidorah to the physics of this universe and allowing Godzilla to fight back.

- Godzilla kills Ghidorah relatively easily and Sakaki, told that Ghidorah would be watching him as long as he lives, decides to provoke Godzilla into killing him so that Ghidorah will not be able to take hold in the world using Sakaki ever again, as he cannot give up his hatred of Godzilla.

- With both the Bilusaludo and Exif now extinct as a result of Ghidorah's actions, Humans and the Houtua live together happily on Earth, with Sakaki's descendants being among them. The difference is that they treat Godzilla as a natural unstoppable force rather than an enemy to be overcome.

Kaiju Notes 

- The baby Godzilla from part one is a chunky monkey in this one. Mah boi has big legs, big thighs, big chest, and big eyes. It looks much like Legendary Godzilla, being a little chonkier than most of the other versions.

- Godzilla's abilities have taken several levels in badass, including sending shockwaves with a flick of his tail and Atomic Breath which has evolved into something more akin to a sound cannon.

- Ghidorah being some sort of out-of-phase-of-time-and-space entity is a very great concept for the creature. Ghidorah has always been established as an alien and powerful entity, but the version we get here takes that aspect to 11 and it really works. The necks are also much longer than they've ever been, which is really only doable when the monster is not made using a suit, but am glad they decided to embrace what they could do.

So, the first thing to be said about this trilogy is that above all else they are truly sci-fi movies. We open in space, with aliens and advanced technology, and the kaiju are honestly minor elements in films that are primarily about exploring science fiction themes. The mystical religion of the Exif counterbalanced against the extreme logic of the Bilusaludo gives us "the two sides," and then we see the dangers in religion and technology in Ghidorah and MechaGodzilla, respectively. Combined with the other themes of nature's advance, the meaning of humanity, legacy, et cetera, this Planet Godzilla trilogy is really more a Future Planet featuring Godzilla trilogy. This isn't inherently a bad thing, but it does make it less interesting as a kaiju movie.

Let's talk about the kaiju in the sci-fi movie. Godzilla (and Ghidorah) is quite honestly just barely a character. Granted, this series is clearly going for the "force of nature" aspect of the character, especially when taking the ending into consideration, but it does become harder to really engage with any of the monsters in a series of movies that is named after one of those same monsters. In truth, MechaGodzilla doesn't even have a face and appears in one movie but is as much a character as Godzilla was throughout all three. Ghidorah gets an entire 5 minutes of screentime, so he too gets represented more as a force of nature. That, combined with how pretty much ever humanoid character dies, means that Sakaki is basically our only chance for emotional connection throughout. It's a bold choice, but honestly doesn't pay off in the end.

Sakaki is not a compelling main character. It really hurts the overall ability to enjoy these, because basically nothing that Sakaki does or says is interesting. He's like Forrest Gump in that every major event seems to revolve around him by some fluke of history, but he lacks the personality of Gump. Once we hit the third film and all of the other humanoid characters except Mephties and Sakaki are around, we basically lose any ability to really connect with anything going on. If one is super invested in Sakaki's genetic lineage, maybe it would work for them but I don't give a shit.

And that's really the conclusion of this series. While some elements are interesting and even fun, at the end of the day I found it really hard to get invested in this trilogy. I just can't really give a shit. I do appreciate some of the choices made (Ghidorah is pretty badass in this) and really embracing the sci-fi aspects of Godzilla movies, but the sci-fi movies they made around the kaiju just aren't awfully good. The 2nd one, City on the Edge of Battle, is the best one, by the way.

Next: Kong: Skull Island!

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

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

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

If You Haven't Seen it Before

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kaiju Notes 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next: Godzilla: Final Wars!

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

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

If You Haven't Seen it Before

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kaiju Notes 

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

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

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

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

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

Next: Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

Godzilla 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!

Terror of MechaGodzilla

Terror of MechaGodzilla marks a major turning point for the series of Godzilla movies: Ishirō Honda returns to the director chair after years away from the series. While Nakajima is away from the titular role, it's still a bit of a return of the pioneers because Honda is back after Nakajima's apparent retirement. The only person known to have played both Godzilla and Gamera, Toru Kawai plays Godzilla for this film, which is an interesting fact but nothing else. Rather than talk about the background of the movie, let's get to the details and see how this Terror of a movie holds up.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Searching for MechaGodzilla's head/remains, a group of scientists are attacked by the giant dinosaur Titanosaurus. The scientists disappear and a search begins.

- Realizing a mad scientist named Mafune has a connection to Titanosaurus, Interpol investigates and is told by his daughter Katsura that he is dead. This is a lie, and he conspires with the alien Simeons to rebuild MechaGodzilla (and take over the world).

- Lots of human plot happens next, with the only truly important bit being that Katsura is actually a cyborg, having nearly died from one of his experiments.

- Underwater, the humans manage to distress/harm Titanosaurus with supersonic waves while the Simeons watch on with great annoyance. Now they know Titanosaurus' weakness.

- Proving he doesn't take orders from aliens, Mafune unleashes the Titanosaurus unexpectedly.

- Godzilla vs Titanosaurus begins, finally giving the main character of the series something to do. Katsura gets shot in the neck and falls into a ravine, but she's part robot so I doubt she's dead yet.

- Katsura does get turned into... more of a robot? I'm unclear. But she's alive, and now controls the rebuilt MechaGodzilla.

- The three kaiju do battle, Godzilla having no backup this time. Godzilla is temporarily defeated by the combined forces of the two.

- Helping Godzilla, the human armed forces attach a supersonic antenna to Titanosaurus, which incapacitates him and allows Godzilla to recover. He's back, baby!

- As Godzilla tries (and mostly fails) to defeat MechaGodzilla, Katsura's new boyfriend convinces her to help him save the world. She shoots herself to destroy the MechaG controller inside her.

- MechaGodilla helpless, Organic Godzilla destroys it easily before turning his sights on the equally helpless Titanosaurus. He kills that too, ending the movie.

Kaiju Notes

- Titanosaurus is... uninspired. Of the two dinosaur kaiju, Gorosaurus is far superior if for no other reason than his beautiful blue back. On an aesthetic level there is little to say about Titanosaurus, it's a very boring creature. Even his abilities are underwhelming, and his weakness to supersonic weaponry means even the humans are able to do damage to him. All three kaiju together make an impressive sight, but it's mostly the two monsters with Godzilla in their names that makes it a sight worth seeing.

This movies marks the end of an era. This is the last film of the Showa period, as well as the last Godzilla movie ever directed by Ishiro Honda. With Haruo Nakajima retiring as Big G a few films ago, Godzilla (for better or for worse) will never be the same as the last twenty years of film. While I'm excited to see what the future of Godzilla holds (I have not yet seen any of the Heisei era films), I want to take time to respect the hell out of Honda and Nakajima's work, and all of their collaborators. Honda isn't even my favorite of the Showa-era directors, but the man must be given his due for the incredible work he put out. Sometimes ridiculous and sometimes unrelentingly somber, Honda had incredible range. Nakajima brought the one and only Godzilla, and the evolution of his portrayal from unstoppable rage monster to cocky, even arrogant hero was interesting to behold. He brought a certain improvisation to the part, making Godzilla seem simultaneously more real and more fake. With the Showa era behind us, I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate the originators.

Godzilla won zero fights in this movie. Without the help of the human (and occasional cyborg) characters, he would have been killed extremely easily. I'm not saying Godzilla has to be some unstoppable killing machine, but the King of the Monsters isn't very kingly here, mostly getting his ass kicked until other people step in and take down his foes for him. For the end of an era, it's a pretty major letdown. I'm not sure they were planning on this one being the end for a while, but it's an underwhelming conclusion to the era. To think it would be ten years before the return of the Big G and this is how it ended is both disappointing and expected. Why else would there be such long break between films?

This is a much more human focused movie than many kaiju films. Not only in regards of screentime but also influence. As said in the above paragraph, the humans do most of the real work here. Katsura's cyborg body is the closest thing to the central "monster" of the movie, even straddling the border between hero and villain and shifting as the movie continues. It's not terribly compelling, but it's the closest we get to the sympathetic kaiju of Mothra or King Kong. It's an oddly rushed story, especially the choice to give her the MechaGodzilla controller after her second go-round of robotic upgrades, when a more obvious choice would have been having it implanted at the early stages of the mad scientists collaboration with the Simeon aliens, but whatever. Regardless, Katsura makes a poor kaiju, but a better one than Titanosaurus, which tells you pretty much everything you need to know about Terror of MechaGodzilla.

Alas, there's not a whole lot to say about this one. It's not good, which is especially upsetting given how enjoyable the previous film was. It's too bad, but there isn't much to really comment on here. It's neither aggressively bad nor interesting, so it's really just... there. So, to the end of the Showa era of Godzilla movies we say: see ya later!

Next: Pulgasari!

Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla

Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla is one of my favorite Godzilla movies, period. While this blog was functionally began as an excuse to watch all of them, I have seen this movie several times and enjoy it quite a bit. That's what I know going in. It has been a few years since I last watched, however, so it is entirely possibly something has changed. Especially in the context of a "history of kaiju" movies which prompted me to start this entire project, it will be interesting to see how I continue to feel about this movie (though I expect to enjoy it). 

Jun Fukuda is back in the director's chair, but the one and only person to play Godzilla so far, Haruo Nakajima, finished his tenure as Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Gigan. I did not realize this at the time of watching that movie, so I did not manage to give the legend a proper sendoff. I did, however, enjoy it, and isn't that the hope of every actor on any project? Either way, I respect and appreciate Haruo's legendary work, it will be interesting to see how Godzilla's suit acting evolves as other people take on the role. 

Newcomer Isao Zushi fills the Godzilla role while other newbie (to the series) Kin'ichi Kusumi fills out the titular characters as MechaGodzilla.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A priestess predicts/has a vision that a monster is going to attack and destroy a bunch of stuff. Most people write it off, but some take her seriously.

- In a nearby cave, archaeologists discover artifacts regarding a protective monster named King Caesar. An apparent prophecy from the cave also claims that when a black cloud appears in the sky, a giant monster will appear to destroy the world but that two monsters will appear to save the world.

- As the explorers head home, they see a giant, thick black cloud in the sky. Ominous.

- A man attacks and attempts to steal the statue of King Caesar. He is disarmed and defeated, but not without some trouble. He escapes before he can be questioned.

- Godzilla emerges, going on a rampage despite Godzilla having been recently working together with humans in the past several years (since about 1965 according to our records). His roar is terrible, nothing like the classic, good roar.

- Anguirus, Godzilla's friend, appears and fights with him. He gets his jaw split in two for his trouble and nearly dies before escaping. He does manage to do a bit of damage to Godzilla, however, revealing shiny metal underneath his skin. An evolution?

- Of course not! Another Godzilla appears, this one with the correct roar. He fights the 1st Godzilla, who is damaged enough to reveal he's MechaGodzilla, a robot. The ruse discovered, ape like aliens called Simians are revealed to be behind the superweapon MechaGodzilla. 

- MechaGodzilla wins this first battle, Godzilla barely escaping with his life. The robot is damaged as well, however, so all three kaiju seen so far are currently out of commission.

- Contradicting previously established facts about Godzilla, he is empowered after being struck by lightning, healing and ready for another fight.

- The King Caesar statue thief reappears, having another showdown and losing but falling off the boat and taking the statue with him. But this is a trick by the human, having replaced the statue with a fake to throw off his enemies. Clever!

- After a series of adventures and trouble with Simians, the humans manage to find King Caesar's resting place, just in time for the Simians to attack with MechaGodzilla. King Caesar still needs to be woken up, but fortunately there's an Azumi priestess available to sing an unusually long song on the beach.

- The lion/shisa like creature King Caesar finally wakes, battling MechaGodzilla to protect the Earth.

- He loses.

- Godzilla returns for a rematch, turning the tide and allowing he and King Caesar to finally defeat MechaGodzilla.

Kaiju Notes

- A note on Anguirus: he has never won a fight once in his entire life. He's a brave little guy, but he gets his ass kicked almost every time. He has won when part of a team, but once again we watch Anguirus get his ass kicked. The breaking of his jaw seems particularly vicious in this movie because we know he and Godzilla are supposed to get along. Of course it was all just a clever ruse by aliens.

- MechaGodzilla is a fun but simple design. I love a good mecha. He lacks the dedication to the absurd that is Gigan, but makes up for it by at least being intentionally modeled after Godzilla (to explain the simplistic design) and having powerful lasers and missiles.

- King Caesar has a genuinely good design that is wasted by not getting enough screen time. His resting form is intimidating, and while in motion he maintains a little bit of menace even while presented as a heroic figure. His ability to absorb and redirect energy is also a cool concept, and I enjoy his general focus on mobility and skill in a fight. It's ultimately all wasted, however, by his role being dwarfed by Godzilla. It could have been a great opportunity to introduce a heroic monster in the same vein but more explicit than Godzilla, but the G-Man required top billing so no one else can save the day I guess.

- The fights of this film are significantly more believable than some of the other recent ones have been. Godzilla does not waste as much time being a braggart, getting down to business. This may be because he lost or tied his first conflict with MechaGodzilla, though, and needs to team up with King Caesar to even the odds. As an example, when MechaGodzilla has his enemies on one side of him he simply unloads every laser and missile he has at them in an attempt to kill them entirely, rather than any tricks or resorting to hand-to-hand.

- To further the previous point, Godzilla gets a spurting neck wound in the final fight which, for a second, appears to kill him. While he's vulnerable, MechaG throws literal spikes into his body. The violence of this film is maximized on all levels. Bloodier, a bit more realistic, and truly gives you the feeling that these kaiju want to kill each other.

There is a legitimately cool fight between humanoid characters when the aliens are revealed to be ape-like. The human gets his hand cut with a hidden knife, does some slick dodging, and then shoots the alien in the face. The alien doesn't die, but does reveal his true visage. In a genre that is (and should be) focused on monster action, it's not a bad thing to have decent human action as well (so long as it doesn't takeover the focus on monsters). This is an example of such a scene, a good balance to the rest of the story and punctuating all of the humans talk to each other sequences with something fun.

There is a shit ton of murder in this movie. Simians, humans, kaiju, everyone in this thing dies or nearly dies. The humans and aliens are no holds-barred mercing each other while the kaiju are more deadly than usual to each other as well. I'm not sure if it's Fukuda's style or just a unique feature of this script, but we have people being shot in the face, killed by strangulation, thrown in the ocean, stabbing, jaws forcibly split in half, multiple deaths by bullets, multiple spurting neck wounds (one of which ends in death) and (robot) decapitation. Shit's wild, son.

Choosing to make King Caesar mostly useless in the end is hilarious. A full hour of this movie is dedicated to waking up KC so he can save the world, and in the end he gets beat pretty soundly by MechaGodzilla and is barely useful once Godzilla shows up. This is an indication of a weak script, it can't be denied, but it is endlessly funny. At least when we get to watch a full-length song about awakening Mothra, she wakes up and actually accomplishes anything. As usual for this genre, things that absolutely wouldn't work in another movie just somehow manages to not be terrible. It can't be explained, but it can be enjoyed.

At the end of the day, this movie has very little on its mind except violence. Despite this typically negative quality, it is quite simply one of my favorite Godzilla movies. It's awesome. It could be dethroned from my "top 3 kaiju" movie list, to be sure, but I enjoyed it just as much this time as I expected. It is not complex, it is not deep, it's barely competent when you consider King Caesar's central yet pointless role, but it's somehow, nonetheless, fun.

Next: Terror of MechaGodzilla!