This is in my opinion the weakest entry in the second series, which is saying a lot, because I actually enjoy this one a nice amount. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, outside of holding quite possibly the dumbest name for a kaiju has a few issues, but it also has a lot going for it. Despite his AWFUL name, it has a really intimidating and very strong antagonist monster in SpaceGodzilla, it has some really impressive city destruction sets, it reboots M.O.G.U.E.R.A. who we met during the Mysterians, and it actually has a pretty darn solid plot all around between of course the monsters, but also with Godzilla and his battle against the crystal opponent from outer space. It throws around some really interesting ideas and fleshes them out pretty alright for the most part. And while the movie isn't air tight and nowhere near my top 10 or even favorite movies of the second series, it does have some good merits that mean it's a just shy of a recommendation to people just trying to get into the fandom.In outer space lurks a terror: SpaceGodzilla. Either born of the G-Cells Mothra carried into space after her battle with Godzilla or born of Biollante drifting into space, one thing is for certain: it is dangerous and headed to Earth fast. After defeating the new G-Force weapon M.O.G.U.E.R.A., he journeys to Birth Island to fight Godzilla, kidnap his son and begin his conquest of the Earth from there. Forming an uneasy alliance with the G Force's new mech, Godzilla and M.O.G.U.E.R.A. must work together in order to stop SpaceGodzilla from taking over the Earth. But can members of G-Force forgive personal vendettas and work towards the single goal of SpaceGodzilla's destruction? Only time will tell in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla!
SO, right off the bat, let's talk about the new monsters, albeit with big air quotes over two of the monsters when I use the word "new." First and foremost, I want to talk about M.O.G.U.E.R.A. For a monster with only two appearances on film, it gets one that is kinda subpar and not remembered incredibly fondly, and one that is actually a pretty cool appearance. Now, of course, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. is no Mechagodzilla. Never will be and it is never going to be anywhere close to the awesome nature that is Mechagodzilla. But, again, it's still kind of cool. And it gets bonus points because it basically gets to split itself apart like he's a two part MegaZord or something. It gets a lot of bonus points this time around because it doesn't make that HORRENDOUSLY IRRITATING BEEPING SOUND EVERY TIME IT'S ON SCREEN. I cannot stress enough how much that noise genuinely harmed the movie and my opinion of the original Moguera, honestly. But even if he did beep, it would probably have been a lot better, because this Moguera has some really great sound design. From the fun way it says its own name to when it's flying, drilling into SpaceGodzilla's shoulders or firing its lasers, it sounds really darn cool. And also, yes. M.O.G.U.E.R.A was the reason for the title today. I had NOTHING else. But, boom. That's M.O.G.U.E.R.A. Next up is LittleGodzilla. This is gonna be a lot more brief because talking about LittleGodzilla is simple. First of all, yes. LittleGodzilla and his roars are absolutely ADORABLE. But I just can't help but feel this is a significant step down from BabyGodzilla. Sure, LittleGodzilla is cute and even breaths his adorable version of the atomic breath, but BabyGodzilla just looked really good. He looked like his father, when LittleGodzilla is just a reversion back to Minilla. Now, I still like this more than I liked Minilla, but it's just flawed. It kind of makes me think of how the middle evolution of most Pokémon just looks off. For example, my favorite is Swampert, but I picked Mudkip because he's cute. If someone showed me Marshtomp first, I would have ran and hid. But, whatever. No design will be perfect, and that' just life. So while I still do love him very much, it just feels like a step back. NOW, as for the "man" on to the hour "himself"; SpaceGodzilla. This is one of Godzilla's meaner opponents, not in how he fights, but in that SpaceGodzilla is pretty much what would happen if a bully moves to a new town and just makes everything worse for everyone right away. One of the first things he does in the movie is design a NASA shuttle with astronauts currently on board! He didn't have to, he could have just flown away from them, but he actively went out of his way to kill them! Jerk move! Then he flies onto Birth Island just to show he's basically unstoppable and basically KIDNAPS LITTLEGODZILLA! HE JUST KIDNAPS HIM, NO JOKE! Okay, maybe kidnaps is an exaggeration, but using his telekinesis, he does lift the little guy up and lock him in a crystal prison. So, jerk move, dude. You are now on the FBI's watchlist. And then he just starts going on a rampage and tearing up Japan. Also, this dude is overloaded on powers. Telekinesis, his own version of Godzilla's atomic breath, he can launch crystal missiles at M.O.G.U.E.R.A. and Godzilla, he has a shield that just reflects Godzilla's atomic breath, oh, and he can fly. Honestly, check WikiZilla if you want a full run down of all his powers. But he's strong as hell. Which only makes it more satisfying when Godzilla and M.O.G.U.E.R.A. just blow him up.
Moving on from most of the monsters, let's talk a bit about the human cast. My personal favorite character in the movie is Akira Yuki, played by Akira Emoto (pictured right). Despite this being his first appearance on screen, he's got a pretty solid back story. Basically his best friend in the world was Goro Gondo, who you might remember if you were watching Godzilla vs. Biollante closely. Basically during Godzilla's raid in Osaka during the movie, he was killed. Stricken with anger and grief, he swore to kill Godzilla. And so, he doesn't. But I'll be damned if he doesn't try really really hard! His utter commitment to revenge on Godzilla for basically being an animal almost gets funny at points, but it never FULLY does. It's just as serious as it needs to be, which is really good. With a character who hates Godzilla as much as this guy, it'd be kind of the worst if he made it seem funny. But he is really driven to kill Godzilla, and fortunately, this is to a fault. He even tries using M.O.G.U.E.R.A. to just blast the hell out of Godzilla and try and kill him, but he fortunately gets knocked out before anything too rash can get done. It's largely just a solid performance by an actor who makes some really solid picks with his appearances in the franchise, but he does a good job. Nothing too outstanding, but just enough.
The main problem with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla however, is that it just feels redundant. After four movies building to this one, it just feels like you've seen it before, which, you honestly have. The movie doesn't do anything particularly offensive or anything, it's just kind of boring. Honestly, the image to the left kind of conveys a lot more about the movie than you expect. With the Godzilla suit basically being reused and slightly modified since Godzilla vs. Biollante, it started to fall apart, as you can see with Godzilla's tail. It's like how in Godzilla vs. Gigan you can see parts of the suit falling off during Godzilla's final battle. But it hurts more here because the rest of the second series is pretty quality. This one just isn't perfect and with a monster as lazily named as SpaceGodzilla, it's kind of obvious this one was slapped together for a 40th anniversary, and was just being made to use any remaining steam that existed until TriStar's Godzilla movie came out. Overall, the movie isn't bad, it isn't offensive, it isn't one to avoid. It's just kinda redundant and doesn't achieve as much as you'd want for a decade anniversary. Watch it when you get to it, but don't go out of your way to watch it.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming up next, we have one of the most absolutely stellar movies of the series, and one I just absolutely love. With the series beginning to wrap up since Godzilla vs. Mechgodzilla 2, and TriStar's movie about to go into production soon, Toho finished the second series right with one simple goal: kill Godzilla. And so they did and sent him out in a blaze of glory. Please come back tomorrow as we watch Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, or, as we all know him, DESTOROYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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