Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla - Pure. Cheese.

This one is just classic. With Godzilla now being 20 years old and nearing the end of his original run, Toho began making an effort to end the series right, and it started right here with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. After vs. Gigan and vs. Megalon failed to really bring some magic back into the franchise, Toho had a stroke of genius: give the world two Godzillas for the price of one. Throw in Anguirus and another new monster to boot and what you have on your hands is bound to be legendary. While this movie does unfortunately yet again reuse the alien invader trope that was commonly used in the original series, it manages to do enough to escape its unoriginal plot and actually deliver some of the most awesome action, music and some of my favorite human performances of the entire series. I mean it. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla not only introduces us to another one of the best Godzilla monsters and not just one of his main adversaries, it is just exciting in every scene and though cheesy to its absolute core, this is a movie I recommend to anyone, especially people trying to get into the series.

After continuous attacks from new monsters like Gigan, Hedorah and Megalon, the Earth is a little thin defensively, as Godzilla remains as Earth's protector, and the only thing standing between the Earth and total domination. And it seems that shall remain until Godzilla reemerges and begins terrorizing the Earth again. Soon discovered to be a robot double of Godzilla named Mechagodzilla, humanity must now do all it can to help Godzilla, and defeat the aliens behind the invasion. Be it foil their plans from within or awaken another monster, everything must be done in order to stop Mechagodzilla from its invasion. It's monster vs. machine in this colossal clash!

Let's build with this review and get to the best part last. So, of this films many strengths, we have one of the best human casts of the franchise. We get a nice mix of new and old blood of cast members in this movie, especially with Akihiko Hirata returning for one of his last performances in the series. But where this movie really shines for me is in some of the faces we haven't seen before, in particular with the alien leader named Kuronuma, played my Goro Mutsumi (pictured left). This dude is just sadistic. He clearly came to Earth for the sole interest of domination. Not a peaceful discussion or wanting to make life easy for humanity or with slowly building stakes, nope. Right off the bat, he's just ready to annihilate. And annihilate he does. He uses Mechagodzilla efficiently, using Mechagodzilla to almost kill Godzilla plenty of times and go on to do tons of irreparable damage to Tokyo. It's great.

On the protagonists side we have INTERPOL Agent Nanbara, played by the late Shin Kishida (pictured above right). This dude is just too awesome. For one, he's always wearing sunglasses, 'cause when you take names, you deserve that right. For two, he actually puts up some solid action for a human. Sneaking around like a fake alien in the end of the movie, getting into fights, this dude is just James Bond, practically. Only main difference being he never gets stumped or put in an odd spot because he's not in the entire movie. But he is just rad.

You'll find yourself surprised at how awesome the soundtrack to this movie is. With a score composed by veteran of the series, Masaru Sato, vs. Mechagodzilla's score makes an incredibly odd choice that sets the movie apart from just about any other kaiju movie, AND surprisingly works really well. You ready for this? No joke, vs. Mechagodzilla largely uses a score of big band and swing music. Yeah. Sounds weird, doesn't it? Well, don't get me wrong for even a second: it is weird. But lie to me and tell me this isn't energetic, iconic, and at the very least exciting. Oh what's that? You're realizing I said lie to me so you're 100% agreeing that this is the shiznit? Well, I for one agree. It's largely good because the movie commits to it 100%. If the theme of the Mechagodzilla/Anguirus fight was the only song in the soundtrack with this swing or tempo, it'd be weird and it wouldn't work. But the movie dedicates itself and commits to this choice for the entire runtime, so it works LEAGUES better than anyone would expect. And I'm glad they went with such an odd call. While of course we'll see Mechagodzilla without this swing music later on, it's impossible to imagine THIS Mechagodzilla without this music. They're just tied with each other hand in hand. And yeah, normally I don't mention the music or soundtrack very much in these reviews. But this one is so fundamentally perfect and essential to the movie, that I just had to mention it.

I found a review that called vs. Mechagodzilla "the cinematic-equivalent of smashing action figures together" (Quentin Hoffman). And when you look at a lineup of monsters like this, it's no surprise. Of course we have Godzilla, fresh with his silly redesign and new suit introduced in vs. Megalon, and of course we have Mechagodzilla. But believe it or not we also have King Caesar! Yeah, that's right. So on top of two classic Godzilla monsters, we also get introduced to one of his best villains, and one of the lesser supporting monsters. And they all fair very well and have some pretty fantastic suits and effects to back up this appearance. The only monster who doesn't fully get the best treatment is definitely Anguirus. Anguirus only serves a small role very early in the movie: fight Mechagodzilla in disguise, get his butt kicked and call for Godzilla. But it's still a solid moment. I like the Anguirus we got from Destroy All Monsters and on, largely because he's not a good match to fight Godzilla, and also because him and Godzilla work better as friends. Definitely a bummer he gets it handed to him so hard by Mechagodzilla, but it's always nice having him in the movie. Anguirus really benefits from some of the awesome sound work in this movie, and all the monsters really do, but especially Anguirus because it gets a rise out of the audience. After he gets it handed to him so badly, his roars get altered and stutter, and it hurts to watch him run off because you can tell he got hurt really badly and NEEDS Godzilla to step in not only for him, but for the whole world in turn.

As for the other three monsters, let's start with King Caesar. For a monster that only first appears just before the movie ends, he makes a solid impression. He's definitely an odd monster, a lion god that looks like a demonic rabbit that can reflect Mechagodzilla's fire power with his eyes who also just happens to know martial arts and is awoken through the singing of a song KIND OF like Mothra. It's kind of strange saying he is an odd monster given this movie stars MECHAGODZILLA and he's come right after Gigan and Hedorah, but he's just kind of odd. Not bad at all, just a little odd. My favorite thing about him is the King Caesar song. Don't get me wrong, it's not great and one of the few stinkers on the soundtrack. But it's what happens afterwards. Mechagodzilla marches on and the song is finished, and NO exaggeration, BOOM! A GIANT EXPLOSION AND OUT OF THE ASHES RISES KING CAESAR! It's kind of funny because of how over the top of a first appearance it is, but it gets you excited. If Godzilla can't stop Mechagodzilla, then a monster who causes explosions from waking up must! And while he doesn't really do that much damage at first, he still makes a fantastic first impression. And his tenacity cannot be overstated. Because he just keeps fighting. Even with Mechagodzilla just beating the living crap out of him, he just keeps fighting until eventually Godzilla shows up.


Speaking of the Big G, despite using a suit that I'm not exactly a huge fan of, he is still awesome in this movie. From his first defeat against Mechagodzilla at night to being struck by lightning, Godzilla refuses to give up in this movie. This is the first movie since in the entire series that he actually receives a pretty substantial beating. Sure, Gigan made him bleed, but in this movie he gets blasted constantly, and in the final fight with Mechagodzilla, he basically gets turned into a 160 ft. blood fountain, covered in missiles and signs that he definitely fought and got it handed to him for a bit from the space titanium titan. Of course Godzilla is known for going against the odds and facing any challenge anyway, but in this one it's doubly impressive because he has every right in the world to say "Nah, I'm good." But he just keeps on fighting till he snaps Mechagodzilla's head off. It's just really fun to watch.

Now you might be wondering: why's it taken so long to talk about the other titular monster, Mechagodzilla? Well, that's an easy question to answer: BECAUSE MECHAGODZILLA IS THE BEST THING ABOUT THE ENTIRE MOVIE! That's definitely high praise because of how much I love this one, but I mean it. Everything about and relating to Mechagodzilla just elevates this movie in a fantastic way. Of course we have the fantastic costume and design. Debates are usually started within the community over Mechagodzilla, the coming editions and which one is the best. And despite JUST being shy of my favorite Mechagodzilla design, I can definitely say this one still might just be the best. The only live action Mechagodzilla to be made by aliens, he is just loaded. He's got all the weapons you never thought you needed to give a mega death robot and more. Missiles for fingers, missiles for toes, missiles for knees, laser eyes and a big laser in his chest, an unused flamethrower weapon imitating Godzilla's atomic breath, and a spinning head that forms a protective shield, Mechagodzilla's got it all. It's got a menacing look permanently frozen on its face, and it just looks like it is ready to kill you in the most over the top and ridiculous fashion as soon as possible. And even before it shows its metallic skin, it still makes itself known positively, disguising itself as Godzilla and causing havoc like we haven't seen Godzilla cause in YEARS. In this movie, we get to see two Godzillas. We get the savior bent on returning the world to its natural order and making sure that it is safe for not only Godzilla, but for all the creatues on the planet. And then we get the cold metal monster focus on death, destruction and devastation and ready to hurt anyone or anything in its way. Mechagodzilla is one of the mainstays of the franchise, and it only makes sense. Because he somehow gets even better as time goes on.

In summary, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is just about all you can ask for. Great effects, a soundtrack to keep you excited, a human cast you like to follow and action to keep your eyes glued to the screen, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is easily one of the most outlandishly awesome movies in the entire franchise, and thank goodness this killing robot will be seen later.

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Tomorrow we're wrapping up the first series with the return of the star of today's show. So buckle up and prepare to enter in the second era of Godzilla as we look at the finale of the original Godzilla series with the direct sequel to this film: Terror of Mechagodzilla.