After Godzilla vs. Biollante didn't do as well at the box office as Toho was hoping, the solution was quite simple: start bringing back fan favorite monsters. So, they did. King Ghidorah was one of the best monsters of the first series. With a lot of awesome appearances and making some bad movies in the series much better, Ghidorah was a stand out antagonist. He was one of the absolute best monsters of the first series and it only made sense he should make a comeback. And so, he did. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was a landmark movie of the second series, because not only do we get one of the best reinventions of one of Godzilla's best antagonists, but we also get an interesting development and history lesson on Godzilla's origin story. We also get some nice political commentary which is always quite welcome in a Godzilla movie, and this is also bolstered by some great special effects and a great human story helmed by the decisions made to take care of the Godzilla menace. What we see in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is one of the best entries of the entire series. It definitely is not wholly original, as I implied with my title in reusing elements of other successful science fiction works like Terminator, but this is to the film's benefit: telling a story we definitely would see nowhere else in the entire Godzilla series, making this one a unique standout entry that should be seen by all. Recognized G-Fans, and newcomers alike.After two massive and crippling attacks to Japan from Godzilla, a group of people from the future come to current timeline Earth to wipe Godzilla from history and keep Japan safe from his crippling rage. As it turns out, they are full of it. Coming back in time, they reveal their own monster, King Ghidorah was hit by the Castle Bravo test and mutated into a monster built to destroy Japan. But as it turns out, the Futurians were quite dumb and actually created the Godzilla from 1984, and with him reemerging, stronger than ever after absorbing radiation from a nuclear sub, titans will collide as the monster from the past battles the monster of the future in this thrilling sci-fi ride.
Alright, I'm going to start by talking about a big negative that can detract viewers from this movie: the time travel plot. This is the only Godzilla movie to ever deal with time travel, and it doesn't perfectly make clear what exactly happens. So, let me break it down like this: the Futurians (yes, this is their name. Thank God originality points aren't really in this equation,) come to the past with one intention: "get rid" of Godzilla from history for all time. They don't even do that. I can see why one might think this is the case, because they just pick him and beam him into the future haphazardly. But what they unknowingly did was create the Godzilla we first met in the Return of Godzilla. By him being exposed to radiation where he went, he always existed and then would go on to grow bigger and would be the same Godzilla that came to challenge King Ghidorah later. I admit, it doesn't make perfect sense and it took me many many viewings of the movie throughout my life to understand, and even then, I still didn't really get it. If you want a really solid explanation, check out WikiZilla's video on the subject right here.
With that out of the way, let's get into the real meat and potatoes. This movie's got a really solid cast across the board. Picking out a favorite cast member is definitely difficult because everybody makes some solid contributions. So, let's praise them all! We got the android bodyguard of the Futurians, M11, played by Robert Scott Field (pictured right with Emmy Kano actor Anna Nakagawa). He is in some unintentionally hilarious moments and is basically a ripoff of the T-101 from Terminator, but he's a fun character to watch in that cheesy dorky way. It's not exactly a great performance or anything, but, he's an android, so we'll write that off as him not being a human being. For the Futurians, we got Emmy Kano, played by the late Anna Nakagawa (pictured right with M11 actor Robert Scott Field). She gets some really badass moments, especially in the end of the movie, getting to pilot one of the most awesome monsters in the entire series; Mecha King Ghidorah. She gets probably the single best human story in the movie, getting to connect and meet with one of her ancestors in Kenichiro Terasawa, played by Kosuke Toyohara. On top of getting to redeem herself and saving Japan by bringing back Godzilla, she gets a really solid story here. Everyone does a really fantastic job, but Emmy is probably my personal favorite character. Not performance. Character. There is a difference.
But of course, that's not what you're here for. You read the title, and so did I. And then you read that I said "Mecha King Ghidorah," and you just buckled right in. Alright. Fair. Very understandable. King Ghidorah sees just about his best appearance in the entire series in this movie. Well, almost. But King Ghidorah really shines in this one and gets one of the best treatments he's ever received in the entire series. Ghidorah first emerges after the Futurians and some of the humans from the current timeline return to the location of the Castle Bravo test and swap the Godzillasaurus for three little creatures called Dorats who eventually are mutated and become the King Ghidorah of this timeline. Sure, he isn't an alien and that's kind of a bummer. But it doesn't hurt the movie at all. He just doesn't get to be from outer space, big whoop. But this Ghidorah is probably the best in the series outside of that. It's kind of unfortunate he doesn't have his chirping roar like in the first series, but he does get a really cool and super intimidating roar that really shows how big of a threat he is. His gravity beams of course return and do some pretty big damage. He even is one of the few monsters of the second series who really gets to fight Godzilla up close, and almost killing him at one point. But of course Godzilla just blasts his head off and lives on to terrorize Japan. Bringing about the incredible Mecha King Ghidorah. Of course, the movie breaks its own time travel rules with the introduction and emergence of Mecha King Ghidorah, but it really doesn't matter. He's too damn awesome to let that distract you. With a cybernetic new head, buffed and upgraded wings and some fun upgrades like a hook to pick up Godzilla and drop him into the ocean, Mecha King Ghidorah is just way too awesome to be real. But here he is. It's a bummer he has only showed up in the video games from here, 'cause this guy needs to come back. Ghidorah is just fantastic in this movie and is in and of himself a reason to watch the movie.
But you better believe Ghidorah is not the only one to get such incredible treatment in this movie. Godzilla's design is basically exactly the same from Godzilla vs. Biollante, but after receiving a powerup, he is now 100 meters tall and more powerful than ever. Receiving an upgraded atomic breath and the new atomic pulse power that he can use, Godzilla's bigger and badder than ever in this movie. But as mentioned above, this also shows this Godzilla's origin story. We know the origin of the first Godzilla, being mutated and irradiated from nuclear tests of the 40's and 50's, most definitely receiving influence from the Castle Bravo test. What we see here is the Godzillasaurus on the right, the species that this and the first Godzilla come from. After fighting with the Japanese and Americans very briefly during a battle in the World War II, he then gets warped into the future where due to radiation, he grows in size to become the second Godzilla of this timeline. Seeing the origin of this Godzilla and tying it to arguably Godzilla's historically greatest opponent was a really nuanced and brilliant call that I think does a lot to elevate the already great story to an even higher plane. It also helps to make the origin of the original Godzilla that much more sympathetic. Seeing what it was like before the radiation and before we ever intervened in its life is stunning, and seeing how we hurt it so badly that it'd want revenge on the entire world makes a lot of sense. The monsters of this movie get sine if the best treatment they'll see in the entire series, and they are done a lot of justice.This movie is also a landmark for the official return of Akira Ifukube to the series. Ifukube's music is one of the defining things of the series. Without the music, some of the movies feel bare. What would be a Godzilla movie without his classic theme written by Ifukube? Nothing. It'd be nothing. And he returns to the series from here on, composing all of the rest of the movies in the second series. Themes like Terror are easily remembered and are iconic and eternally tied to King Ghidorah. This is his theme. It always will be the definitive version of it. For the rest of the second series we'll be hearing Ifukube's music, and I could not be happier.
In other words, watch Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. For an amazing reintroduction to Godzilla's arch nemesis, for some of the best music of the whole series, an interesting origin story for both of our titular monsters and effects that won't be rivaled for a solid few entries in the series, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is definitely one of the best entries in the series and my second favorite of the second series Check it out, 'cause it's a really good one.
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Coming up next, Toho brings back another classic monster! After Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah seemed to be a success, Toho wanted to reintroduce another one of the classic monsters of their collection. And so, let's get reintroduced to the Queen of the Monsters tomorrow as we take a look at Godzilla vs. Mothra.
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