Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla - A Bit Robotic

Alright, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, here we go. After rebooting Godzilla AGAIN in GMK, Toho wanted reintroduce yet another one of their classic monsters, and so, they did. Mechagodzilla is always a fan favorite and Toho recognizes this. And so the third series brought him back with my favorite version of the character. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is a very solid entry of the series, with in my opinion the best version of Mechagodzilla, a really solid Godzilla and some pretty great action, it is a really enjoyable watch. However, it is definitely missing that special something. I'll get into what exactly that is, but it is an enjoyable watch. I'm not going to clamor for it or say it's one of the best entries in even the third series. It is just a nice, solid movie that serves most as a really solid time killer more than anything, especially given the context of its sequel.

After continuous raids and attacks from monsters following the arrival of the first Godzilla, humanity has been stepping it up. Taking down monsters like Dogora, Maguma, Gaira and even Mothra, the JSDF has weapons they can actually defend themselves with. But after a second Godzilla makes landfall in 1999, a new superweapon begins construction. Built around the remains of the first Godzilla, this new superweapon, Kiryu is ready to defend. But with clone DNA and the spirit of the original Godzilla inside of Kiryu, can the mech be fully trusted? Is the original Godzilla going to ravage Japan like in 1954? If Kiryu can't stop Godzilla, then who or what can? The only way to find out is for Kiryu to be thrown into the fire and test its mettle against Godzilla directly in a dramatic clash that could mean the end for Japan if Kiryu does not prevail victorious.

One thing that Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla just knocks out of the park is the incredible music. I should have given the theme of Godzilla by Michiru Oshima a shout out during the Godzilla vs. Megagurius review, which was completely on me for forgetting. However, thank GOD it returns. The theme was really great in Godzilla vs. Megagurius, but it is perfected here. With the military taking such an active role with these two entires, it only makes perfect sense that Godzilla's theme sound like a military march to hell. Intimidating and scary, it is the second piece of music I instinctually think of when I think of Godzilla. Literally the only version of Godzilla's theme I think of before Oshima's is Ifukube's. That's how brilliant this theme is. Also just as brilliant is the theme of Kiryu. Kiryu is heralded as the nation's savior, the last hope for a nation facing death. And so, the theme for Kiryu is just perfect. It feels like the red carpet is being rolled out for a war hero or a king coming back to his home after saving the day from some barbarian tribe. Kiryu is ushered in in glorious fashion with this movie, especially when entering the final battle in Tokyo. Kiryu is the last champion of Japan if his ultimate mission does not succeed, so the music representing his power is basically the perfect theme for him.

I also really love the history of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. Not the making of it history, the backstory behind the movie. This is the first movie in awhile that is not solely tied to Godzilla, but has connections to other movies and monsters. This continuity has seen the attacks of the first Rodan, Varan and Mothra, Manda, Dogora and even Maguma. Not every monster has existed in this continuity, but a ton of them do, which you might not even fully know without doing a bit of reading. Yes, I did a bit of reading and digging to find the best list of monsters that appeared in this continuity, and the best list I got was in the Trivia section of a WikiZilla video. I am not joking. But this continuity and history is great because not only is it cool seeing some REALLY obscure monsters get mentioned directly, but it also helps show how dire the situation of this reemergence of Godzilla is. The Oxygen Destroyer is gone, and he was completely unfazed by the Mazer Cannons, the first major breakthrough in kaiju defense. It's not exactly the lore of the Lord of the Rings or anything, but it adds a lot.

But of course we gotta talk about the monsters. Believe it or not, I don't really care that much for Godzilla in this movie very much. I do think his design is really cool, furrowed brows that call back to Godzilla vs. Mothra, and spikes that are basically the perfect middle ground between the MireGoji and SokogekiGoji (the GMK suit), it is a really cool look, but this Godzilla was always kind of boring to me in terms of action wise. He just kind of stands there and takes whatever Kiryu deals out, but he is never going out of his way to be a menace it seems. Not gonna lie, it is entirely possible I just want a repeat of GMK Godzilla, but so what, sue me. As for Kiryu however, yes. Kiryu is just awesome. Everything about this take on Mechagodzilla is awesome. First is the fact it actually makes sense why it looks like Godzilla, being built around the bones of the original. A pretty awesome origin story that also makes its history really tragic, but also then adds one of the best moments in the movie when Kiryu basically gets a flashback to 1954 and just starts tearing up Tokyo almost 50 years later. It is an awesome scene that really shows how folly the idea of Kiryu was in the first place. Kiryu also has an immaculate design based around the bones on the inside. Kiryu's design was made to look skeletal, with an early draft of him even having a bony yellow tint to really drive that comparison home. Even without the yellow on it though, it makes perfect sense. Its has holes all over his body in places where the original two Mechagodzillas might have been airtight. Kiryu is basically a fully realized mechanical version of a failed script from the second series for Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla, which would have originally ended the second series but was then turned into Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. He also has some pretty cool weapons, and while I will say he doesn't get a moment as awesome as say the original Mechagodzilla just absolutely unloading all its ammo on King Caesar and Godzilla, that's okay. Because the moments he does get on screen anyway are pretty awesome. Kiryu is definitely my favorite adaptation of the Mechagodzilla concept, but I definitely will not knock anyone if they think the other two are cooler.

There definitely is a lot to like in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, but its main issue for is that it was definitely building towards a sequel. It has a lot of really awesome moments and sequences that stand out in the entire series, but it's not going to stick with you forever. I also don't think it uses its continuity enough, because, like before, this gets expanded on and is used perfectly in its sequel. This movie does a lot right, but it just isn't the perfectly satisfying experience you might want. I say give it a watch, but just know that its sequel is even better.

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To absolutely no one's shock; yes. Tomorrow's movie is definitely going to be Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. With this movie making a solid impression with its Mechagodzilla, why not keep the ball rolling? And so we get Tokyo S.O.S. and with it, a great clash that unfortunately undermines its predecessor a lot more than you'd expect.

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.

Godzilla vs. Megagurius - Godzilla Modified Organism

After the series was brought back full swing the year prior, Toho wanted to reboot Godzilla again. So they did. Kind of. The third series, sometimes referred to as the Millenium series is kind of weird because with ONE exception, every movie in the series is a total reboot and only uses 1954's Godzilla as the base continuity marker. Weird choice, but okay. Godzilla vs. Megagurius is generally one of the weaker entries in the series, despite the fact I absolutely ADORED this one as a little kid and I can't explain why. There's nothing particularly memorable about this movie outside of a few sequences that can make new viewers forget they're watching a friggin' Godzilla movie. There's nothing super special going on here. Simple monster designs and a rather mundane plot that feels like a retread despite some originality, in general, this movie is just kind of okay. You're not going to walk out of this one jumping for joy and shouting to the rooftops of its brilliance like Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, you're not gonna find cheesy moments of classic monster movie gold that make it enjoyable like King Kong vs. Godzilla (outside of one REALLY funny moment), and you're not gonna end up bitter and disappointed like with TriStar's Godzilla. It just kind of is.

In 1954, Godzilla attacked Tokyo but was never destroyed. Over the years, the JSDF has been adapting to Godzilla and doing their best to protect their nation from the terrible monster, but to no avail. That is until the Dimension Tide, a weapon of capable of firing miniature black holes is debuted and is heralded as a weapon that can and will kill Godzilla. But all goes awry when a giant dragonfly from the Carboniferous Era leaves its egg in modern times and soon brings the arrival of the Meganulon, a giant dragonfly species that once dominated the Earth. Now armed with Godzilla DNA, the dragonfly queen is born; Megagurius. Armed with a modified atomic breath, Godzilla's regeneration and tremendous speed the question must be asked: has the monster king met his match?

The answer is no. Like, duh, but no. The big bad bug of this movie of course is Megaguirus and her underling bug minions, the Meganulon. If that name sounds familiar, it should. The Meganulon actually first appeared in 1956 along with Rodan in, well, Rodan. What we saw of them in that movie was VERY juvenile. Because as it turns out, these little jerks can grow into so much more. Pictured right is a Meganula, the evolution of the Meganulon. The more they kill and eat, the grow and sprout wings and begin to grow stingers that drain DNA. Their purpose is a drone for their queen; Megagurius. So, what's the deal with Megagurius, huh? Well, not much. She's not anything special, which is a huge bummer. Megagurius is the last new monster for awhile and she's not exactly a bad design, she just is kind of boring. She gets a variation of Godzilla's atomic breath in a great big fireball, but that's it. She's super fast and has big claws, but that is almost literally it. She's just not a very special monster. I like her design and look, but she just does not actively do anything that's super cool. I love the look and I love the colors, but that's it.

The main human cast of the movie isn't anything special. The main performance is Kiriko Tsujimori, played by Misato Tanaka (pictured right). Her arc is really simple: in 1996 when this Godzilla popped up, Kirko's commander was killed by Godzilla and she blames her self for his death. So she wants to do nothing but kill Godzilla. That's her story. Boom. Movie summarized. Simple arc that has basically been covered in a few movies, especially Gamera 3, a kaiju movie classic. She does get some moments out of this though, climbing Godzilla's back, and I believe she's actually the first person to actively touch. Well, outside of being stomped that is. The humans do get a big power in the form of the Dimension Tide, a weapon that launches miniature black holes. And that's cool and all and a fun way to spice up the military scenes, but it's just not used enough. Because then instead of watching the Dimension Tide tear shit up, then we just see more standard military scenes. It's just standard.

Standard is the word of Godzilla vs. Megagurius. It's nice knowing that it exists, but nothing about it sticks out aside from Megagurius really. Godzilla just kind of does his Godzilla thing and nothing is special. It's just super MEH. I say avoid it.

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Guys. Holy crap. We're so far gone, but I'm so excited. Tomorrow we're going to talk about one of my absolute FAVORITES. Outside of Godzilla and even Shin Godzilla, this one might ACTUALLY be my favorite movie in the series. The movie we're about to watch is just IN. CREDIBLE. Ladies and gentlemen and all in between, please be excited to join me in viewing Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack!

Godzilla 2000: Millennium - Refreshing

So imagine this: you invent a character that is loved by all and a respected cultural icon. The only problem is, not everyone understands this character, so you give another company the rights to adapt the character to introduce him to a larger audience and gain more popularity. This adaptation comes out and no one likes it. Not fans and especially not the general public who now not only don't understand the character, but find him dumber than before and have sprouted misconceptions about who the character actually is. You'd be outraged, wouldn't you? Maybe even embarrassed. Your child who you created and shared with the world now seen as nothing more than a bad movie. That is definitely what Toho was feeling after laying witness to TriStar's Godzilla. A mockery of the character that actively went out of its way to be everything that the character was not. Toho in my opinion did exactly what I would have done: fire back immediately. With TriStar's plans for a sequel to Godzilla pretty much always destined to fall through, Toho got to work and made Godzilla 2000: Millennium, and aimed to restore the character to not only his home turf, but show the world who he truly is. And while Godzilla 2000: Millennium isn't anything spectacular, it is like when you've had a really crappy week and you clean up your room and feel rejuvenated. While it's not going to land in my top 10, this movie is a great palate cleanser after TriStar's embarrassing revision.

In 1954, the original Godzilla attacked. 45 years later, a new monster keeps emerging and attacking the world. This new Godzilla being slightly bigger than the original attacks the country often and is seen as a force of nature, being watched by the Godzilla Prediction Network. But when a 60 million year old UFO reemerges on the planet, this Godzilla must prepare for battle in this new era and make a stand as the rightful monster ruler of Japan.

Alright, let's jump right in. First and foremost, this is one of my absolute favorite Godzilla designs ever. I see a lot of influence from the KingGoji suit used in King Kong vs. Godzilla, and that's a good thing. I know a lot of people will and have made complaints about his dorsal fins. But I think they're a great evolution of the character's design. It's nothing too improbable, and with this Godzilla being just as, if not even meaner than the original Godzilla, then it makes sense his opinion would share in that. Which I think his dorsal fins do a good job representing. My only honest complaint about him in this movie is that his atomic breath is never blue, and with it having a fiery explosion whenever it is used, it is basically nothing more than a simple fire breath attack. Which in my opinion is a misstep, but, hey. At least he actually has the power in the first place. Something I find fascinating about this movie is that this is the second most screentime Godzilla receives in any movie, but it doesn't always feel like much. Most of his action is saved for the end of the movie with his big battle with Orga and on. Of course he still appears before, getting an awesome introduction scene and a pretty cool encounter with the military, but there's a solid chunk of the screen dedicated to figuring out Orga and what makes Orga up. But he's still mean as hell. My favorite part of the entire movie is how he just blows Orga up from the inside, being devoured like a snake's prey, and then BOOM! It's pretty awesome. He gets to kick a ton of ass in the movie, so watching this after TriStar's Godzilla is just refreshing. He's indestructible, he gets to blow stuff up, he gets some great city destruction and gets to fight another giant monster. This Godzilla is just awesome. He was one of my first versions of Godzilla I ever saw, so I'm glad he's always seemed to age well. I will definitely say he does get some rather crappy shots however with a few CG shots underwater that just look like garbage and a really weird shot that looks off of him chasing a jet, but, it's whatever. He gets in some awesome action, so I can kind of look the other way with some of the cinematography.

For anyone who hasn't seen the movie, seeing mention of another monster must be odd. So far, in Godzilla's introduction movies, he's solo. But yeah, ain't that a shock?! Godzilla does indeed have an opponent, and a pretty good one at that. The only issue about Orga is that the effects on him before he fully transforms are all CGI and look really bad. The interesting thing about CG in this series is how much we can see it affect the effects. Because we get two see two different varieties of effects: the great practical, and the sloppy CG. Tangent aside, Orga! In his UFO and Millenian form, he is entirely CG and he just doesn't look very good. It looks like an incomplete model of CG or from something before Toy Story came out. But then when Orga becomes Orga, he is awesome. Absorbing Godzilla's cells to try becoming the perfect organism, but is incomplete. With massive claws, what looks like a giant turtle shell and a giant hole in his shoulder that is used as a cannon to launch a flawed atomic breath, he looks really cool. I didn't really like him for a good few years, but I like him A LOT more now. There's a lot of intentional flaw in his design and it is inherently perfect for his character. Literally the entire purpose of the character is that he is a flawed failure copy of Godzilla. So when he has ridiculously huge claws and the reused roars of Cretaceous King Ghidorah that make him essentially sound like he's in pain, he has a good look about him. One of my favorite Godzilla channels on YouTube put it best in his review of the movie when he said it is "... at once both pathetic and unnerving." Fun fact, Orga's head was designed in a way to replicate "Godzilla" from TriStar's Godzilla, because Toho wanted to A, blow it up, and B, show the dominance of the real Godzilla over a cheap foreign knock off. It's a nice subtle jab you might not know, but I just love it. It's subtle enough and yet not subtle at all. It's hilarious.

A big plus for the movie is its genuinely interesting human narrative. With Godzilla commonly cropping up in recent events before the movie, people learn to adapt and survive the monster. Essentially, Godzilla is a storm. So what do you do when the storm is coming? You check the news and see how bad it's going to be. The people in charge of this task are the Godzilla prediction network, run by father and daughter team, Yuji and Io Shinoda, played my Takehiro Murata and Mayu Suzuki respectively (pictured right with Naomi Nashida as Yuki Ichinose). Yuji and Io have a really fun to watch dynamic in the film with them being parent and child. They get into a little bit of trouble, but all they want to do is keep people safe from the actual menace that is Godzilla. They even get to dive into the science of Godzilla a bit, diving into the G-Cells we first learned about in Godzilla vs. Biollante. They have a really fun partnership running this team together, but who really takes the cake in this movie is Hiroshi Abe playing the character of Mitsuo Katagiri (pictured left). He gets to have a lot of fun banter with Yuji, them both viewing the solution of Godzilla with two different perspectives: trying to kill the monster with Abe, and trying to simply adapt and protect others with Yuji. Abe just has this menacing "I'm in charge" type look that commands the room and makes you think that he's the one to get behind. As it turns out though he's just a nut and kind of crazy. But he gets one of my favorite direct deaths from Godzilla ever. Him angry at the destruction and death Godzilla causes, he just yells "GODZILLAAAAAAA!" as he knocks the building over and he falls to his death. Yes, this is the dub, please forgive me. It's kind of hilarious, but it's a great way to end the movie. Him realizing his mission is fraught and just accepting his death, it's great.

I feel like despite enjoying the movie, there just isn't a lot to actually say about it. Godzilla 2000: Millennium is basically the movie TriStar should have made. It adapts the character well, has a solid human cast and with the budget they had stateside, they could have made the digital effects look a lot better than they did coming from Toho. The movie is very solid and makes everything feel a lot better after the heartbreak of TriStar's adaptation. If you want a simple enjoyable movie and need a pick me up after the depression of TriStar's botched movie, then give this one a watch.

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With the third series officially under way, let's get the train rolling. Tomorrow we're going to meet an evolution of a monster first established a little over 60 years ago with the original Rodan. So let's get reintroduced to some giant prehistoric dragonflies as we watch Godzilla vs. Megagurius.

TriStar's Godzilla - I'm Upset

Alright, where do we start with this one? TriStar's Godzilla is infamous. It comes from the era of adaptations where if the creative team just wanted to not follow the source material, it was kind of expected, but also not frowned upon. Characters didn't get themselves on screen, they got a director's vision. Nowadays, we're spoiled. Between the MCU and its very solid treatment of the source material to even Godzilla's amazing treatment of the source material in the modern day MonsterVerse, it's easy to assume this was the norm and characters being treated as they are these days was expected. But this was never the case for a long period of time. And that brings us to TriStar's Godzilla. When Roland Emmerich was tasked with reimagining Godzilla for American audiences, he sure reimagined him alright. What we see in this movie is a character assassination that neuters the original character of his very simple, memorable and easy to replicate abilities, and was swapped out for more supposed "realism." A version of the character that doesn't look or act like the character we even know. Even if it was different, whatever, as long as he can still do his trademark abilities, but, nope. This movie is often paired with the line "Takes the God out of Godzilla," which I find completely true. But what about the movie itself? Well, overall the movie isn't exactly as awful as people hope. What we get is a VERY generic monster movie, and that's about it. But most every issue with this film we can boil down to the title of the movie: Godzilla.

After continued tests of nukes in French Polynesia, an iguana egg is exposed to radiation and births something frightening; a 50 meter monster who soon begins sinking sea vessels, one leaving only one victim who gives the creature its name; "Gojira." With the monster headed to New York City in search of a comfortable habitat for his young, the scientists and military of the US must band together to save the Big Apple from Godzilla, its young, and total destruction.

SO. Here we are. I really dread talking about this movie because it is so infamous, and with 21 years after its original release, practically everything about it has been said. So if it sounds like parroting, it probably is. So, let's talk about "Godzilla." This interpretation of "Godzilla" is known by many names. Evil, Zilla, Godzilla In Name Only just to name a few. And it all makes sense. By all accounts, Godzilla is not the most complex monster in the world. He is a big dinosaur that stands upright, has giant plates on his back, is indestructible and he breaths radiation that looks like blue fire. Easy as pie. So, what does "Godzilla" get? Well, is he a big dinosaur? Well, not really. He's a mutated iguana. It's not the most amazing change of origin or whatever, but sure, I'll bite. Well, does he stand upright? Nope. He walks around like an actual dinosaur would have, is a LOT smaller and focuses on agility and not being able to take the hits. Well, indestructible. He's gotta be, right? It's Godzilla! Nope. As I said, this "Godzilla" is frail, dying in the end from getting caught in the Brooklyn Bridge and being shot down by missiles. Most if not all of the city destruction done in the movie is from "Godzilla" dodging missiles and the MILITARY really doing the damage. So, take that army. You're never allowed back in Manhattan. Well, breath blue fire? What has been every answer so far? Oh, you bet he does not. Every defining characteristic of Godzilla is completely GONE in this movie. Roland Emmerich has openly stated before that he is not a Godzilla fan and wanted to make a "realistic" interpretation. I'm sorry (this is probably the most explicit I'll ever get in these reviews, so, you're warned), but that's bullshit. When you're dealing with a cultural icon of importance like Godzilla, you should not be allowed to fuck this up. When they first presented the design to Toho, the original design was met with shock, but was approved after reassurance that the movie would turn out great. This monster is not Godzilla. Imagine this: I'm going to make a Batman movie. Okay, well what are Batman's defining qualities? Well, he's a detective, he's wicked smart and he doesn't kill people. Okay, well, I have an idea: I don't want anyone of that. I want him to be a street thug bent on killing criminals because he's hardened by the world and thinks it's the only way to save it. So who cares about him being a detective?! It's not like that is his most defining subtitle! Oh wait, it is! You see the problem here? When you strip a character of their essential elements, the character is gone and you'll essentially made a legally distinct version. So tell me. When you look at this Lenozilla patrolling the streets of New York looking for MSG, do you think even for a fraction of a second that he could earn the title of King of the Monsters? No. Because this isn't the King of the Monsters. Because this is NOT Godzilla.

Oh, and don't even get me STARTED on the "BabyGodzillas". This is bad. This is really REALLY bad. Yet again, I apologize if this sounds like parroting, but it is completely true. THESE "BABYGODZILLAS"AND THE ENTIRE SEGMENT OF THE MOVIE ARE A TERRIBLE RIPOFF OF THE VELOCIRAPTOR PORTION OF JURASSIC PARK! Godzilla always has had a child in all of the series, Minilla will even be making another appearance in the third series (spoilers) but this is just ridiculous! Godzilla does not get pregnant! And while sure, this is maybe a slight improvement because, and I'll give them this, they do look like baby versions of their father, but mother of Mothra, this is just ridiculous! These guys are just horrendous overall, legitimately ripping off more from Jurassic Park than from Godzilla! They get pounce attacks, they outnumber you, they're six foot tall giant lizards, come on. These are just the raptors of Jurassic Park and there is no exaggerating that. Again, yes, Godzilla has always had a child in all the series. But he has never had A, this many, and B, produced an amount of young that so blatantly ripped off another intellectual property. For anyone who might not believe or agree with this, I absolutely DARE you to watch the final 30 minutes of Jurassic Park, and then skip to the MSG portion of this movie. You will be astonished how similar they are. So what we get here is after a good, very solid interpretation of Minilla and BabyGodzilla in the second series also receives a character assassination in the form of these little abominations.


So, we have that out of the way, so how about the rest of the movie? Well, those are definitely the low points. It just so happens that the low points are so low it drags down much of the rest of the film. So, how about the rest of the film? Well, by no means is this movie great, it's just mediocre. It's just a mediocre movie and that's all there is to it. Nothing about the movie is particularly outstanding, well, one exception. For such a waste of time, the score is not bad at all. It's not Akira Ifukube or anything and it does not retain the original Godzilla theme at all, but whatever. Make your own stake in history first, I guess. You can listen to it all here if you want. Not gonna win a Grammy or anything, but it makes sitting through the movie much easier. So, what else? Well, we got some good set pieces. "Godzilla's" boat destruction and first appearance, the chase leading to the Brooklyn Bridge, it's not bad stuff. The only problem is that the monster is not actively likable or enjoyable to watch and sprinkled throughout before any of these fun set pieces are really boring human scenes with some generic dialogue and some PAINFULLY unfunny jokes sprinkled in for good measure. Honestly, it's just mediocre. I find that the most I want to discuss with this movie is the monsters, but it's not positive. Of course all I want to do with these movies is talk monsters. That's why I love them so much. But when I find myself already talking about them and everything is just fine at best from the performances to the action scenes, I just get bored.

THIS MOVIE IS BORING! TriStar's Godzilla is definitely not AS bad as I remember it, and same for you too. But it's still just mediocre. If you go into it expecting more a remake of the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, you might turn out much more please. But if you're coming for "Godzilla," the title character like everyone did come for, then you're going to be disappointed. This movie is just disappointing now. Disappointing for what it couldn't be, disappointing I can never love it, disappointing I can never just purely hate it, the list goes on. I feel like an angry parent talking to this movie, because when I think of TriStar's Godzilla, "I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed." And if you are too, I completely understand.

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I can almost smell the popcorn of the theater when I go to see Godzilla: King of the Monsters. We're in the final stretch of not only the wait for the film, but of this review series. We have A LOT of great movies coming, so make sure to stay tuned. Tomorrow the gravy train is going to start rolling again as we begin a whole new series and meet a brand new Godzilla, as we take a look at a good revitalization in Godzilla 2000: Millennium. 

Rebirth of Mothra 3 - Ghidorah Kidnaps the Kids!

After Rebirth of Mothra 2, it wasn't gonna take a lot to make me happy. Honestly entire detour hasn't exactly been splendid. The first movie wasn't bad but it could have used something more that I can't place my finger on. And the second one was just not good. So, how about Rebirth of Mothra 3? Well, I'm happy to report that despite this one being a bit redundant, it's definitely the best of the trilogy. We get to see a fun exploration of all of the Elias as sisters and see some interesting development of their characters, a bunch of cool powers from Mothra Leo and much better digital effects compared to the first two movies. Now, I'm not gonna say this movie is anything more than some light entertainment. It's not gonna win an Academy Awards or anything, not even for visual effects, but it's not bad. It of course has its flaws, largely in its redundancy, but it's not a bad watch. I can't exactly tell you you should go out of your way to watch them. Like the previous two, I will only recommend them if you are that much of a fan that you want to explore EVERY facet of Toho's monster catalog. But if you want to explore and have a solid hour and a half to kill, then I can definitely think of worse movies to sit down and watch in that time.

On a night mostly like any other, what seems to be a meteor shower is striking the Earth. This turns out for the sinister however, as this meteor shower heralds the arrival of King Ghidorah! An ancient monster that fought with Mothra in the past, Ghidorah is looking to wipe out humanity by kidnapping all of its children and forcing the rest of the world to die out. To weak to stop him in the present, Mothra Leo plans to go the past and kill Ghidorah in the Cretaceous Period in hopes of saving humanity millions of years before they were even born.

Alright, let's start with some of the issues. First and foremost, let's talk about the redundancies and Ghidorah. Ghidorah's awesome, he always is, and always will be. The problem however is that we've already seen Desghidorah. So, if we wanted to use Desghidorah as this world's only Ghidorah, then I'll accept that. That's pretty interesting and a new way to take the character, so, no problems there. So then when we meet the TRUE King Ghidorah, it's kind of like "I've already seen this." Plus, his backstory is exactly the same, being the dragon that came from space and wiped out the dinosaurs. Except the Elias say he wiped out the dinosaurs 130 million years ago, which, just, okay. They do avoid this being a 100% complete rehash however with the introduction of the Cretaceous King Ghidorah. Again, Ghidorah is ALWAYS cool, so getting a new interpretation and take on one of the greatest movie monsters of all time is welcome. And it's kind of necessary in this movie when we've alright seen a Ghidorah before and heard the same back story. So when we get to see the Cretaceous Period and see a battle between Mothra Leo and the original Ghidorah, not only does it give us a fun action scene that probably wouldn't exist anywhere else in the series, but it works to avoid the complete plot rehash of the Rebirth of Mothra.

As mentioned above, Aki Hano and Megumi Kobayashi both return in the roles of Belvera and Moll respectively, but Lora is played in this movie by Misato Tate (all pictured right). In this movie, we get to see a bit more of their full sibling dynamic. Belvera was very much like a cartoon villain in the first movie, acting childishly and just being a curled mustache away from a caricature, but she's been seeing a steady character evolution. Even with all the flaws of Rebirth of Mothra 2, she got in a good character moment when she saved her sisters and all of the kids from a massive fire in the the Nirai Kanai pyramid. So, she definitely cares about her sisters, but just disagrees with their stances on humans. And this is made even clearer when Moll gives up her life to give Mothra enough power to travel through time and she mourns for her and briefly joins forces with her sister Lora, despite still believing that humans are not good for the planet. We get much less black and white character morality out of the three this time around, and it is always splendid when we get to see such a situation with characters who previously were a bit more bland and not as well written as I'd hoped for them being an expansion of the Mothra fairies. Oh, and the Mothra theme is WAY better in this movie. God, it sounded bad in the last two.



Returning back to the theme of redundancies however, let's look at Mothra Leo last. The Rebirth of Mothra movies are structured very similarly to the original wave of Gamera movies (which, for those asking; no, weren't not gonna watch any Gamera), with Mothra Leo meeting his opponent early on, getting it handed to him, getting some kind of powerup and then being able to beat them later. We saw it in the first two, and it was already egregious by the first one, so seeing it repeated here is irritating. But Leo still gets some cool moments. In particular, my favorite is when he reawakens from his ancient cocoon after his battle with the Cretaceous Ghidorah, covered in Armor and of course taking the name Armor Mothra. And of course then the rest of the movie is simple: one sided battle where Mothra kills Ghidorah, the day is saved and the kids return to their parents. It's nothing special, but it's still a fun enough romp. Mothra sees some good action and really gets some cool forms, especially the Armor form. The movie is redundant, but it's still exciting to at very least look at.

Overall, Rebirth of Mothra 3 wasn't bad. I definitely needed a bit of a palate cleanser after the Ghogo movie, so, this was nice. It definitely is not a movie I'd fully recommend however. It's not bad, but just not a movie to actively seek. I watched it once when I was very young and it was fun enough. It's just a simple movie for kids, nothing much else to it. If you just want that, then you'll be happy enough, I suppose. Just don't go into it expected GMK or anything.

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Alright, you knew this was going to happen. Unfortunately it's time to write a review that will please no one. Because I'm not going to tear into the movie, and I'm not going to call it a hidden gem, because tomorrow's movie is just a waste of time. Yeah, you know it. Tomorrow we're talking about TriStar's infamous 1998 debacle, Godzilla, or as some call it, Godzilla 1998. Come back tomorrow and prepare for disappointment. 

Rebirth of Mothra 2 - The One About Ghogo

Alright, well, this one wasn't great. The Rebirth of Mothra wasn't exactly going to change the world or anything, but it definitely wasn't a bad flick. Like I said, if it's ever on and you just happen to be watching, it's not a bad watch. Rebirth of Mothra 2 however is not in the same conversation. I tell you what, it certainly is a follow up to the first movie, I guess. Honestly, this movie is not good. I won't say it was as bad as say Atragon or Varan, but it does have ironically enough talk about the Kingdom of Mu in Atragon. What we get here is basically a knock off Indiana Jones movie with a plot focused on this stupid little monster named Ghogo and then we have the entire separate have of the movie dealing with Mothra, Dagahra and the Barem. And the stuff with Mothra and Dagahra is pretty exciting stuff, honestly. It's just that everything else in the movie is not so. There's a common joke that you have to suffer through the human scenes of a monster movie to get to the good stuff. And while I will say you don't have to "suffer" through most of the movies, you do for this one. A boring cast largely made up of kids and a leading monster with magical healing pee (I'm not making that up) all culminates in a movie that has some positive intentions, but just ends up being better for gotten by time.

After creatures who look like starfish named Barem rise from the ocean, another ancient monster soon washes on shore; Ghogo. An ancient water fairy from a long lost kingdom of Japan. Ghogo's mission is to return to the lost kingdom of Nilai Kanai and save the ocean from the pollutants that are slowly killing it. What stands in his way is Dagahra, the monster corrupted by pollution bent on destroying the last remnants of the kingdom that made him. Now Mothra must come to protect Ghogo and defeat Dagahra to save the ocean and the planet as a whole from the Dagahra and his toxic Barem.

Alright, I don't want to tear into this movie as much as Atragon, so I'm gonna start with the negatives first and foremost. First of all, we got Ghogo. I gotta be honest; I HATE this little thing. Everything about I just find really irritating. I really do not like its design. I feel like they were trying to aim for a cute angle, which, I can see how someone might find it cute, but I do not. He makes a bunch of very strange sounds, almost like purring and he never stops making noises. Also, I just realized I don't know if they gave Ghogo a gender in the entire movie, but WikiZilla's calling him a he, so that's what I'm going with. Worse from Ghogo is that he doesn't ever walk around. If he's not being carried, he's hopping around with a really dumb bouncing sound that is also joined by a jingle because he has two golden loops tied around his tail. And in the second half of the movie or so, when he does nothing but jump around, it gets really annoying. My biggest problem with Ghogo however, is that he completely steals the attention of the movie. The movie is called Rebirth of Mothra 2, the second movie in the Rebirth of Mothra series. And Ghogo just dominates the screentime. In part this is because he is small and almost always being carried by the humans, but what this feels like is like he was the star of a completely different movie and they just mashed it together with a working script of Rebirth of Mothra 2 and mashed them together because they knew it'd make a box office killing. It's not like Ghogo is a bad monster or anything (although I do indeed find him to be very irritating), but he just completely steals the attention of the movie. And for a sequel made for one of the greatest movie monsters of all time, that really sucks.

Next up with my issues for the movie we have Dagahra. Despite legitimately being the biggest reason I included the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, he just, I gotta be honest, he just isn't a very interesting monster. My main issue with Dagahra is his design. It's not inherently a bad design or anything, looking like a classic western dragon, but he is just too bulky, WAY too. While Dagahra does get in some classic Godzilla style city destruction scenes, he just looks stupid doing it. Between his wings that just do NOT look like they'd function and how covered he is in what basically looks like fat, he is just not a high quality design. What also doesn't help is that he just kind of grosses me out. This is one of very few movies that we get to see the inside of a giant monster, and we get to see him producing the Barem inside his body, and it just, oh my GOD it looks so nasty. His backstory is definitely kind of interesting, being a monster designed to destroy the pollutants, but he basically got corrupted from the inside out in creating the Barem. Interesting backstory, but the Barem are more intimidating than him. We get to see some good near horror scenes from them with them jumping onto land and burning people like acid blood from a Xenomorph in Alien, but that's about it. The Barem pose a bigger threat than Dagahra, which it feels like that might have been the intention, but it just wasn't perfect in my opinion.

Alright, on to some better horizons. Despite not being very important in most of the movie, Mothra Leo does still get some good moments. In particular, we really get to see how even though he is the strongest Mothra thus far, he is still vulnerable, getting swarmed by Barem and being crippled for a long while in the climax. And while I'd usually say such is a negative, I thought it was a good scene. And him falling into the water near the end similar to the death of his mother was a nice callback. Mothra Leo also gets an awesome powerup in the form of the Aqua Mothra power granted to him by Ghogo to finish off Dagahra on his turf. It's definitely odd seeing Mothra Leo I guess, shrink (I actually don't know, it's weird, you'll have to watch the movie for yourself), to kill Dagahra from the inside, but it's still a cool thing. I really like how he gets this super cool X shaped, I guess beam that he launches at Dagahra like a torpedo. It's not exactly necessary, but it still looks cool. What little of Mothra Leo we do get in the movie is ultimately pretty cool stuff. I just wish there was more of THE TITLE CHARACTER AND NOT FREAKING GHOGO!

Honestly, I was disappointed by Rebirth of Mothra 2. While the first movie wasn't special but still enjoyable, this one is just forgettable, boring, and better left at the bottom of the ocean. It's not terrible, but it's not particularly good. Watch it if you're REALLY dedicated. Otherwise, stay away.

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Alright, tomorrow we're ending this detour with the only movie of the trilogy I've seen before this marathon; Rebirth of Mothra 3. I watched it MANY years ago, so this refresher will be nice. But, I think tomorrow's review will be much quicker. Because once that's done, we got bigger fish to fry.