Godzilla: Final Wars - Best 50th Ever

Godzilla: Final Wars is one of the most polarizing movies in the entire franchise and I completely understand why. It really is either love or hate when it comes to this movie. So where do I stand on the matter? Well, let me put it like this: Godzilla: Final Wars is a really messy movie that has a lot of monsters taking screen, effects that are good, human characters that range from over the top hilarious to drier than all the deserts of the Earth combined with a little bit of ripping off the Matrix and the X Men to boot and what you get is a silly 50th Birthday that should not work, and for many absolutely does not. But me? I just love this one. I will openly admit: I probably shouldn't, and I know at the bottom of my heart this probably isn't actually even a good movie PERIOD. But I just cannot help but love it. Yes, it is ridiculously silly. Yes, this movie does take its time with Godzilla. Yes, this movie is over the top CHEESE. But you know what? I am completely okay with that. This is a 50th Birthday party after all! After two series back to back focused on making the character serious again, why can't we have a fun throwback to the first series? I personally see no problem with a movie that is ridiculous and most importantly KNOWS it is ridiculous. This movie braces its absurdity on its sleeve and I respect it for that. It has its flaws and it is in no way shape or form a perfect movie or even close to approaching that ballpark, but it is a wonderful way to close out the third series and see the character off for another rest.

After battling Godzilla and other giant monsters since 1954, the Earth is largely kept safe from monsters by the protecting hands of the M Organization. But when aliens from the Planet X come to Earth and lie about their plan to enslave humanity, many monsters are set free causing damage all over the world and essentially spelling the end of humanity. With Godzilla soon freed from his resting place in Antarctica, the King of the Monsters is ready to end the Xillien threat, and hopefully settle some business with the Gotengo.

Alright, let's talk about one of the things that makes Final Wars so fun to watch: the performances. The human cast in this movie is just hilarious in the absolutely best way. My personal favorite performances of the movie are Captain Gordon, played by Don Frye (pictured right). What he delivers in this movie is one of the most dry performances I believe I have ever seen on film. But what he lacks in acting ability, he CERTAINLY makes up for with his ability to just kick major ass. Wielding an awesome sword, knowing how to use every gun thrown his way, bashing heads, getting in hand to hand combat, he's ridiculous. He's a really tough dude, and while he's not an enthralling character in the slightest, he is just simply fun to watch. My second favorite has got to be the Controller of Planet X, played by Kazuki Kitamura (pictured left). He is just SO funny to watch in the absolute best way. In every way that Don Frye is completely under the acting radar, the Controller is just so over the top, basically playing the character like a mad man in a toy store of deadly weapons. He's loud, he pouts and he acts like he's the victim for having his torturous coup overthrown and he's just so funny. And then watching him fight with Masahiro Matsuoka as Shinichi Ozaki, he just gets to really flex the ridiculous muscles. The spectrum of acting talent here is on full display, and it's so fun to watch.

Next up we got the monsters. Final Wars is really like a big remake of Destroy All Monsters even down to the amount of time we don't actually get with the monsters on screen. But while this is an issue for other movies, it's not here because almost every frame of the movie is an action sequence. People fighting, monsters fighting, the Gotengo fighting the alien ships, nothing is ever saying "Yeah, let's act peacefully right now, why not?' And so it's not exactly a bummer that with all the monsters we don't get all the time in the world with them. But the monsters we do get are just awesome. A lot of classic enemies that we haven't seen for AWHILE are back. Ebirah, King Caesar, Kumonga, Hedorah, Gigan and even Kamacarus show up. And then we get old favorites like Anguirus, Manda and even Mothra in the mix. There's even a brief bit of stock footage showing monsters like Baragon, Varan and even Gezora in their debut films tearing it up. The monsters in the movie are great, in particular the aformentioned Gigan, and of course, Godzilla. Gigan is awesome in this one. After not being seen for decades, he makes one of the most stellar reintroductions into the series ever. Busting from his ancient cocoon and armed with some super cool new Xillien tech, he is too awesome. And he gets some great action in, blowing up a lot of places, fighting Godzilla in the Arctic and then battling Mothra in the final 30 minutes of the movie. As for Godzilla? I think it goes without saying that this might be the most powerful incarnation of Godzilla EVER. It doesn't matter who is in his way, he will just tear you up in about 30 seconds flat. It's kind of a bummer watching him dispatch everything so quickly, but it also serves for some nice vindication at points, like blowing Zilla to hell and back in Sydney. He just massacres everything in his path, mowing down opponents left and right like he's Rambo or something. And then in the final battle against Monster X who then turns into Keizer Ghidorah, it gives the battles a bit more weight because we haven't seen him struggle so much before hand. This is also one of my favorite designs of Godzilla ever. Some cool cat like features while still looking very clearly like Godzilla, he just tears it up and looks cool doing it. He's surprisingly agile too, jumping all over the place like he's on the moon and being surprisingly fast. See TriStar, this is is how you make a Godzilla that looks cool and is agile to boot. JUST SAYING! The only issue with Godzilla in the movie is he spends a lot of time in ice. But once he's free and starts wreaking havoc, it is a visual feast.

Honestly if you're looking for a more in-depth review of the movie, I don't think I can really deliver. The biggest flaw of the movie is the fact that it is ABSOLUTELY INSANE. There is no feasible or genuine ATTEMPT at logic in the movie and all it is just a simple way to get in some fun references and celebrate the age of the character. I hate to say just watch the movie and make an opinion for yourself, but I really feel like I have to. If you haven't seen Final Wars and want to watch it, I truly hope you enjoy it, because even after all these years and all my many viewings of it, I certainly still do. I will say come into it with an open mind, but if you don't love it, I understand. This is nowhere near the Godzilla movie for everyone, and if you don't like it, that is completely okay. But as for me, I just cannot help but love it. It is simply over the top insanity that must be seen to be believed. So make of that what you will, check it out, and let me know what you think.

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It's really crazy thinking after this goes up, I'll only have five more reviews to write up and publish. It's really exciting, counting down the days till King of the Monsters has been hard, but we have almost made it! Till then, please keep reading, and of course make sure to come back tomorrow and read my thoughts on Shin Godzilla. Oh yeah, I bet you thought we were reviewing Legendary's Godzilla tomorrow, huh? Nope. Since King of the Monsters is a sequel to Legendary's Godzilla, we'll be reviewing it absolute last to really get us properly into the monster action mood and in the right series. Regardless, come back tomorrow for Shin Godzilla!