Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - THE BATTLE OF THE INCREDIBLY LONG TITLES

I have been waiting FOREVER to talk about this movie. Fair warning, this is going to be a long review, almost as long as my review for Godzilla. Because this movie DESERVES IT. When I try to get people into Godzilla (so far unsuccessfully), this is usually my go to movie of recommendation. Because EVERYTHING about Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (which will be referred to as GMK for the rest of this review) is the absolute best of the Godzilla series. The only major issues with it is in its own unique interpretation of the characters, taking a magical and mystical approach to the monsters as opposed to every other movie's scif-fi aesthetic. This one is so unique and brilliantly made, it's the absolute peak of the third series and just about near the zenith of the entire series. I mean it. I love everything about this movie. From its human cast to the monsters, effects, music, set design, you name it. GMK is a movie that MUST be seen for any Godzilla fan and more importantly is a fantastic introduction into the series. If you have time for one Godzilla movie and want a movie that is action packed, full of awe, full of moments of genuine horror and actually funny moments and a new take on some incredibly famous and classic monsters, the GMK is most certainly THE movie for you.

Since the death of Godzilla in 1954, Japan has prospered. The economy is strong, the people are happy, and the nation is on the cutting edge of it all, technology, weapons, you name it. But this peace is threatened when a submarine makes a terrible discovery: Godzilla has returned. Conjured by the spirits of all those killed by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, Godzilla is a vessel for the damned, striking revenge on the nation that forgot how many lives it took only 50 years prior. But Japan's past can save it in the form of three divine monsters: Baragon, Mothra and the Thousand Year Dragon, King Ghidorah. With sights set on Japan, can the Guardians Monsters protect Japan from pure evil?

Let's make a build with this movie. I said I like the human cast, and while this is true, I'm talking about them first because they aren't exactly THAT important in this movie considering how much of the narrative is shown from the monster's perspective. So here we go. Leading the cast are the Tachibana family, daughter Yuri Tachibana played by Chiharu Niyama (pictured right), and father Taizo Tachibana played Ryudo Uzaki (pictured left). The dynamic here is an interesting one to watch because of course them being father and daughter. Taizo was actually in Tokyo as a young child and is a survivor of Godzilla's raid from 1954, so he very much is afraid of Godzilla, but more so driven to stop him. He's protective of course of his homeland, but also of his daughter, him losing family members in 1954, it is essential he keeps the only family he still has. He also gets a pretty awesome moment when he is the person who gets to blow up Godzilla in this movie. I will concede the ending and killing of this Godzilla is a bit goofy, but it doesn't ruin the movie at all. As for Yuri, she's a really smart and resourceful news reporter who stumbles upon more than she can imagine when she jumps head first into the Godzilla solution, meeting mystical ghosts and assembling a crew of freaks and weirdos to stop the Godzilla menace. I will say neither of them are exactly the most fleshed out characters or anything, but they get the job done and are charismatic enough to carry the movie on their own. Fortunately however, they are bolstered by a really great cast who is able to make light hearted and good comedy out of some of the frightening moments of the movie.

Next up, you BETTER believe we're going to talk about the incredible soundtrack of GMK. Composed by monster movie veteran Kow Otani, the movie's music is absolutely perfect, beat for beat. GMK is one of the first movies in the series to be focused on the mysterious, and at very least focused on pure magic. Because, sure, Mothra and the Twin Fairies are closer to magic than anything even remotely close to sci-fi, but GMK focuses on being a monster fantasy almost horror movie at times. So the soundtrack HAD to be perfect. And for every monster, every character, every story beat, it absolutely could not be better. My two favorite themes are the movie are very fittingly for the two monster rivals: Godzilla and Ghidorah. Ghidorah's theme is absolutely PERFECT for this version of the character. A sleeping dragon that is growing and not close to its full strength, Ghidorah is by far the best hope for Japan. With his flight and Gravity Beams, Ghidorah is not only a GOOD GUY (I'll dig into this in a little bit), but is the BEST CHANCE TO SAVE THE WORLD! SAVE IT! NOT DESTROY IT! And so, his theme had to be perfect. It had to sound majestic, awe inspiring, but given the character, still a bit intimidating. And so he received Otani's blessing and got one of his best themes ever. As for Godzilla, holy crap. His theme in the film sometimes called Godzilla's Rage is almost as good as what Ifukube originally made for the character. This Godzilla is angry, and intentionally going out of his way to kill and hurt people. And his theme NEEDED TO REFLECT THAT! He needed to have a theme befitting of an angry god and he got the music of that god striking his revenge. Of course classic themes do return like Ifukube's original theme ending off the film as well as portions of the classic Mothra song throughout, this movie is defined by its bold new interpretations of the classic monsters, and while the classic themes are appreciated, they actually weren't necessary. Because even without them, the soundtrack is already perfect.

And guess what? Yeah, that's right. Now we're talking about the absolute best part: YOU BETTER BELIEVE THE MONSTERS AND EFFECTS OF GMK ARE THE BEST PART OF THE MOVIE! First we of course got Godzilla. Outside of very few interpretations of the character, this just might be my favorite appearance of the King of the Monsters. Of course, his original will push off some fans. But I think it's a fantastic way to adapt his history into the fantasy lens. Godzilla has always represented the monster of war, specifically how it ends. But this Godzilla is the beast of the conflict itself. The millions killed by the Japanese and the millions more who died defending their country, they believe Japan forgot the numerous war crimes they committed during WWII and deserved to be remembered. So what better to do to make a comeback as the thing they are the absolute most scared of? Nothing. There is no better comeback than that. The design is also perfect, especially the eyes. Haunting and dead, this revenant attacks the nation mercilessly and it is awesome to watch. I've seen a few take issue with his legs, and I will say they don't look amazing or anything, but, they aren't shown all that much. So you really can just ignore it no problem. So how about the other three monsters? Well, let's talk about Baragon first. Yeah, fun fact for anyone just introduced to the film, Baragon is in the movie and isn't in the title. Jerk move, Toho. He gets the least screentime out of all the Guardian Monsters, getting killed by Godzilla about halfway or so through the movie. But he puts up more personality than almost any of other monster in the entire series. Waking up too early and more tenacious than his peers, he fights Godzilla with sheer heart and determination, he gets to star in one of the highlights of the movie. Biting onto Godzilla and getting thrown around like a ragdoll, he tries his best and God bless him for it. He gets dispatched pretty soon because this Godzilla is overpowered, but it's a great fight. How about the other title monsters then? Well, Mothra's pretty cool. She gets a really interesting redesign and actually puts up a pretty solid fight, sneaking up behind Godzilla once and trying her best to throw him around and do some damage, even having a needle launcher in her thorax. She is inspired by a bit more of wasps as opposed to moths, which is, I'll say, an interesting choice, but it works well. Being a Guardian of the land and needing to fight any threat, it only makes sense she'd have such powers like this. But let's talk about the grand daddy of them all: King Ghidorah. An Orochi in sleeping, he hasn't even grown all eight of his heads that he needs in order to finish a fight. And yet he still wakes up and is determined to complete his mission anyway. Ghidorah gets one of my favorite moments in the entire movie during the final battle in Tokyo with he and Mothra against Godzilla. After getting blasted to hell, the currently deceased Ghidorah receives all of Mothra's energy, fully sprouts its wings and becomes KING GHIDORAH. I love how this film actually has a reason for the King in his name, aside from sounding cool. And this Ghidorah is cool too. I said I'd elaborate on the hero angle, so let's go. Look, here's the thing: Godzilla is a VILLAIN in this movie. He is fully sentient and aware of all the damage he is causing, intentionally murdering someone in a hospital basically to finish a job from early on in the film. This is not a Godzilla who is angry and might one day change his mind. This is an angel of death. And with Ghidorah being Godzilla's arch nemesis, it only makes sense that Ghidorah would revive and fight Godzilla as they seem to always be bound to do. And fight he does. He unfortunately doesn't get to finish the job, having the military kill Godzilla, but it's still an outstanding action sequence and battle.

Honestly, the flaws of GMK are minimal. A bit of goofyish ending and some computer effects that aren't perfect, and that's it. Outside of those two things, this is a perfect Godzilla movie. With Godzilla at some of his most evil and with a brilliant use of two of the best movie monsters of all time and a great action scene with the third, the price of the ticket's worth is right there. But then you get jaw-droppingly epic music supported by a strong cast that is excited to add to the film. What you get with GMK is some of the best the series has to offer. Do yourself a favor and buy it on Blu-Ray. Because GMK is that worth it.

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Well. That was a long one. Hope you liked the read. Tomorrow's not going to be AS exciting, but still a really good time. You might be saying to yourself "we watched a bunch of supplementary movies. Gorath, Dogora, Mothra, the list goes on! What was the purpose?!" The purpose was a leadup to the Kiryu Saga. Keep those monsters in mind as we journey to another reboot when Japan said they've had enough and decided to fight monsters with monsters in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla.