Godzilla Vs. MechaGodzilla...

1954 -- Somewhere at the bottom of Toyko Bay...

The first bubble escaped from the canister, followed by a second. In a nanosecond, a whole chorus of bubbles became a legion of bubbles, then a mighty thundering army of bubbles. The mighty monster Godzilla thrashed about in excruciating agony as the Oxygen Destroyer did its dreadful work. It trumpeted several panicked and agonized shrieks of pain as the flesh was stripped of its bones and its internal organs dissolved.

Before he died, Dr. Serizawa watched with a satisfied look as the bones fell to the ocean floor with a horrifying thud, one that consumed the last of his conscious thought with a sickening, grim finality...

1961 -- Tokyo

The only thought on Mothra's keenly intelligent mind was a song. Her song, sung by the fairies, burned like fire in her lepidopteran exoskeleton. Their cries iced over her heart as she fought her way through the painful burning rays of the masers. The masers that seared her lovely colored wings but in the end did not stop her.

1968 - Tokyo

The Green Gargantua, driven by perpetual hunger, came ashore and raided the airport. In spite of the improved maser technology from seven years ago, the monster still continued in its search for food, including cows, sheep..... or humans.

1999 - Japan

The ferocious typhoon bore down on the Japanese Islands -- bringing another ferocious Godzilla with it. The Anti-Megalosaurus squadron rolls through the driving sheets of rain in an effort to stem the oncoming new terror.
A young soldier named Akane is driving the tank. During the course of the battle, she accidentally sends a jeep with one of her fellow soldiers inside plunging down a steep ravine. Godzilla's foot crushes the jeep and the men in a sickening, bone crunching second. Akane looks on in horror and despair as the monster rears back its head and roars its majestic defiance to the very top of heaven...

The decision is made by the Japanese government that, post WWII treaty or no treaty, it will defend itself against Godzilla. A bill is passed in the Diet allowing funding toward the construction of the ultimate anti-Godzilla weapon, the KiRyu (Machine Dragon).

Scientists from all over Japan are included in this endeavor. In one of the films' most breathtaking moments, a giant underwater tank is revealed, containing the lifeless bones of the Godzilla from 1954. The plan is to extract cells from the spinal cavity to program a DNA computer for the new robot, a mean, mainstream fighting machine. During the first battle everything goes well until the moment Godzilla roars, sparking a flashback...and enraged at the realization of what it truly is, KiRyu becomes a mecha-Godzilla and begins to lay waste to the city. (Godzilla, meanwhile, slithers back into the cold ocean depths, emitting a Nelson laugh...ha ha!) This hulking tower of electrified pain and rage continues in its devastating course until the battery runs out two hours later.

They retrieve the lifeless body of KiRyu and work feverishly to fix the problem that caused KiRyu to stomp Tokyo into the pavement. The malfunction is traced to the DNA computer, and it is reprogrammed to prevent the disastrous failure of the first time. KiRyu is sent back into battle with the King of the Monsters once again -- Hey... why am I even telling you this? Just sit down with the f***in movie and see for yourselves how COOL IT REALLY IS!!!!!!!! I LOVE GODZILLA!!!!!!!!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SCROLL DOWN FOR SPOILER FILLED REVIEW


 

REVIEW: GODZILLA against MECHAGODZILLA
More Potential than is Realized
By: John Lipartito
November 6, 2002


This weekend I was lucky to attend my second Tokyo International Film Festival in what is now my second year living in dreamland Japan! Why do I say “lucky?” That’s because advance tickets to this one sold out in the first three days they were available! Tickets became on sale on a Saturday, and unlucky me decided to go buy them the following Monday night. Fortunately, my far too kind girlfriend (sorry for the shameless kissing-up) found several tickets being auctioned on Yahoo Japan. So I was able to score a pair of tickets in the dead center of Shibuya’s Ochard Hall for me and my otaku (otaku=obsessed, loyal fan) buddy Hiro for the slightly inflated price of 2300yen a piece. PHEW!

As always at TIFF, before the film showing was a stage appearance by Cast and staff including producer Shogo Tomiyama, director Masaaki Tezuka, VFX supervisor Yuichi Kikuchi, actors Akira Nakao, Shin Takuma, and idol star Yumiko Shaku. Like last year, everyone talked a little about their involvement in the film and shared their hopes that we would enjoy their work. The last actor to speak was Nakao (best known to fans as General Aso from the Heisei series) and before he stepped back, the MC was bold enough to ask him if there would be another Godzilla film after this one, to which he replied, “I hope so,” an answer that commanded a full house of wild applause. Then, Ifukube’s Godzilla’s theme filled the hall and a very nice promotional suit of Wakasa’s new Godzilla design stomped across the stage spewing white smoke from his mouth, again, just like last year. But this year, a fantastic promotional suit of Mechagodzilla with glowing eyes followed! In a clearly non-scripted moment, Mechagodzilla tripped over Godzilla’s tail, which extended almost to the end of the stage! Kawaii-so! (Poor thing!) Fortunately, Tomiyama and Kikuchi reacted fast enough to catch him. Mechagodzilla was carrying a baseball bat which he then handed to Godzilla, a respectful nod to baseball player Matsui, whose nickname is Godzilla and just this week signed a contract with the New York Yankees. Matsui also enjoys a brief cameo in the new film. Godzilla took a few wild swings with the baseball bat, and a photo session completed the stage show.

Finally the lights dimmed, and the long awaited showing of Toho’s latest Godzilla—the film to follow last year’s smash hit GMK—began. The beginning was strong and ominous. The year is 1999. A typhoon is brewing off the coast of Tateyama in Chiba prefecture and the Maritime SDF hurries to secure their ships in the bay. This is the first time we see the film’s heroin, Akane Yashiro (Yumiko Shaku), following orders and basically being a good soldier. Then the typhoon hits, and as a reporter braves the intense wind and rain to give a live broadcast of the storm, the bay seems to bulge behind him and a scaly silhouette slowly rises. The TV crew gasps in fear and try to run as Godzilla lets out a mighty roar! Maser Tanks roll out to meet Godzilla, accompanied by the subtitles "Anti-Megalosaurus Unit, established in 1966, 4072 members, to defend against monsters." What ensues is a breathtakingly intense military confrontation with Godzilla in the midst of a great typhoon. As we are used to seeing, Godzilla is completely unfazed by both artillery and Mazer fire, and he quickly dispatches the forces. In a panic to retreat from Godzilla, Akane swings her Maser tank around, inadvertently knocking an army jeep off the road and into Godzilla’s path, who mercilessly crushes the vehicle. Godzilla knocks Akane’s Maser over with his tail and presses on unopposed, roaring defiantly as lighting strikes and illuminates his dorsal plates. The title scene cued in, and the audience erupted into applause.

Unfortunately, this intro marks what I felt were the best moments of an otherwise not so good, not too bad entry in the Godzilla series. Ultimately, I was quite disappointed in Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, not because it doesn’t nearly become the landmark achievement GMK was (I never expected so much of it) but because it’s a movie that never truly fulfills itself. GxMG is full of great and new ideas for the genre, but consistently falls short of truly realizing any one of them.

Following the title sequence, we see the immediate aftermath of Godzilla’s visit to Tateyama. Many residents are left without homes, and are crowded into a high school gymnasium. We meet Prime Minister Machiko Tsuge (Kumi Mizuno) who reflects upon the history of giant monsters in Japan starting with the first Godzilla in 1954. Next she recalls Mothra’s attack in the 60’s, which heralded the first use of the heat-ray cannon, and it is said to have been effective. Then, “Bigfoot Gaira” (apparently without Sanda) attacked, and was fended off by an improved heat-ray cannon, the Maser Tank. But the Maser was clearly ineffective against this new Godzilla, so Ms. Tsuge calls upon science minister Hayato Igarashi (Akira Nakao) to develop a weapon that can protect Japan from its most powerful enemy.

The flashbacks of the past kaiju raids used stock footage pulled directly from Godzilla ’54, Mothra ’61 and War of the Gargantuas, save for a new scene showing Godzilla writhing beneath the waves under the effects of the Oxygen Destroyer, then dissolve into a skeleton. Regarding the new scene, the effects are not as gripping as one would hope. It is in fact a new suit based on the G ’54 design, but somehow it appears rather cartoonish on screen, like poorly rendered CGI, probably the result of the poorly rendered CG bubbles engulfing him. I assume that this scene was filmed in order to show that unlike the original events in G’54, in this timeline Godzilla’s skeleton was not also dissolved by the Oxygen Destroyer.

From here, the story is pretty simple, and with a few exceptions, perfectly predictable. Fast forward to 2003. Science Minister Igarashi is now the new Prime Minister. The Godzilla skeleton is recovered from the bottom of the sea and bio-physicist Tokumitsu Yahara (Shin Takuma) is hired to extract DNA from the skeleton to build a bio-computer for the anti-Godzilla robot. Note that unlike the rumors that were wildly circulating before this movie came out, Mechagodzilla is NOT built around the skeleton of G’54, he is simply programmed with the original Godzilla’s DNA. Why? Well that’s the first good idea that went nowhere. Normal computers can only process information using combinations of 0 and 1, making information processing slow and cumbersome. But a DNA computer uses all four DNA bases, ACT and G to create twice as many processing combinations and thus process information more quickly, like a living thing. Sound complicated? Don’t worry about it, like the Artificial Black Hole of Godzilla X Megaguirus, this is throw-away science that you are just supposed to accept for the sake of the story.

Actually, the DNA computer figures into only one major scene—the much anticipated berserk Mechagodzilla scene. Godzilla rises along the Kawasaki coast and MFS-3 Kiryu is immediately dispatched. “Kiryu” is the real name of this Mechagodzilla which means “3rd Dragon”—possibly a reference to this being the 3rd version of MG, or more likely, that Kiryu is the 3rd Godzilla monster in GxMG’s timeline. In fact, Mechagodzilla is only Kiryu’s nickname, given to him by Dr. Yahara’s young daughter, Sara (Haruna Onodera.) Mechagodzilla unloads a barrage of missiles and maser beams at a stoically standing Godzilla, who finally roars in defiance. Akane, piloting MG from one of two White Heron super jets, readies the “Absolute Zero” Cannon (MG’s primary weapon that can freeze the very atoms of its target) but the robot monster resists the command and Godzilla escapes. Godzilla’s roar had induced a flashback of G’54 within the DNA computer and Mechagodzilla literally becomes Godzilla and goes on a rampage, unloading all his weapons on the city a la MG2 back in 1975! After an hour, MG’s batteries run out and the menacing robot stands lifeless before a beautiful Tokyo sunset. But that’s all Mimura’s script allows us to see of Mechagodzilla’s inner tension. He is supposed to be a robot controlled to fight Godzilla, yet in reality he is another Godzilla. But this idea gets carelessly thrown by the wayside. Dr. Yahara somehow (we never are told exactly how) reprograms Mechagodzilla, who never shows any will of his own again.

Mimura’s failure to completely develop his ideas extends from the plot to the characters. Early in the film, I felt a good human drama was about to unfold. Unlike what many people assumed before the film came out, Yumiko Shaku’s character, Akane, is not a carbon copy of Misato Tanaka’s vengeful Kiriko. Whereas Kiriko was driven by revenge, Akane’s motivation comes from self deprecation. She feels that she is responsible for the deaths of her comrades in the Tateyama battle. Her desire is not so much to kill Godzilla as it is to make up for her errors in the past. This leads into the central theme of the movie, which seems to be that “no life is worthless.” Akane has lost all self worth and sees herself to be nothing more than a soldier who follows orders—like Mechagodzilla, she is programmed and has no will of her own. However, this theme comes across as very childish, and rather than being subtly implied, is beaten to death by heart-wrenchingly corny exposition by the young but wise Sara. The theme is further broken by the disregard for Mechagodzilla’s personal will after the berserk scene. Akane clearly feels some kind of sympathy for Mechagodzilla, but to little effect in the story. Though Akane feels a kinship with the robot monster, we never get any sense that Kiryu-Mechagodzilla has any affinity for her.

As far as the rest of the human drama is concerned, it’s not much to speak of. There is an embarrassing love interest between the socially bumbling Dr. Yahara and Akane, as well as a soldier on the Kiryu team who threatens to tear a rift in the group because of his hatred of Akane. The reason for the latter is that his brother was in the jeep Akane hit with her Maser tank back in 1999.

There is also political and international tension, which, like most of the film starts out strong but fizzles out roughly half-way through the film. On a positive note, I would like to mention that this is the first Godzilla movie since Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla ‘93 that makes any reference to international military support against Godzilla. It is amazing how just one simple line in the opening Tateyama battle (announcing that the American Navy is on standby) enhances the audience’s suspension of disbelief in this confrontation with Godzilla. This trend of subtle realism continues as Prime Minister Tsuge takes a lot of heat about her super-robot proposal. Other countries are nervous that this signifies the re-armament of Japan contrary to its pacifist constitution and the Japanese public whines about the tax dollars needed to realize the project. But again, this theme fails to develop any further. Particularly I found it quite strange that no one raises a skeptical eyebrow during the first test of the Absolute Zero Cannon. Isn’t such a devastating weapon more frightening than the monsters themselves? What if it ever fell into the wrong hands?

As I said before, the scene when MG goes berserk is a high point in the film. There is even fear that Kiryu-Mechagodzilla might unleash the Absolute Zero Cannon. To Mimura’s credit, the political tension Igarashi and the military face over using the robot again is fairly well done. Igarashi’s decision to approve the use of Mechagodzilla without further testing is adequately tense, but thereafter the tension is lost. As I stated before, after MG’s amazing reprogramming, he never shows willfulness again. Therefore, there is no reason to fear that he will go berserk again. There is no further tension that savior may become apocalyptic destroyer.

I also have mixed emotions about the monsters. Wakasa’s new Godzilla design streamlines and naturalizes his older millennium designs, but lacks the look of power and fear of Shinada’s GMK-goji. Also, the head is unsettlingly small, reminiscent of the latter Heisei designs. The head is able to rotate in any angle, but when it does so, it seems terribly mechanical. Godzilla’s heat ray is well-rendered and retains the classic blue-white color restored in GMK. His dorsal plates flash intermittently briefly before using his breath, but this is actually less dramatic than the slow build-up of power that we’ve become used to since G2000. The worst point about this Godzilla is his lack of mobility. In fact, Godzilla seems rather dull and soul-less in this film. His movements, even in battle, seem primarily restricted to walking in a straight line or standing stone-stiff. Mechagodzilla, on the other hand, is quite well-realized both in design and suit-mation. Kiryu-Mechagodzilla is truly an effective combination of the 70’s and 90’s versions. The back-pack which serves as rocket boosters and missile launchers makes MG look top-heavy, and clearly weighs the actor down. Fortunately, this back-pack gets torn apart fairly early in the final battle with Godzilla, and the actor inside Mechagodzilla moves much more freely thereafter.

Overall, the Fighting is a mixed bag, sometimes the monsters move too slow and sometimes suddenly too fast, jarring the audiences’ perception of the action. Some CGI is also used to accomplish some of the more wild battle maneuvers, but these moments stick out rather sorely. However the action is quick, and far from boring, if even a little childish. Kikuchi has said that he wanted to recapture the feeling of King Kong Vs. Godzilla, something all too apparent when MG grabs Godzilla by the tale for a revamped Big Swing. But this kind of semi-comical, CG-enhanced pro-wrestling clashes with what heretofore has been a straight-forward simulation kaiju film.
SPOILER ALERT!!!The ending of the final battle is kind of cool, but left me a little unsatisfied. The soldier who hates Akane flies his White Heron kamikaze-style at Godzilla, who catches it in his mouth. He tells Akane (now piloting from within MG because Godzilla damaged the remote system) to forget about him and shoot the Absolute Zero cannon at Godzilla. But Akane refuses to be responsible for another comrade’s death and with the Zero Cannon powered up, flies to Godzilla, grabbing him and knocking the super jet from his jaws (saving her most disagreeable comrade) then speeds Godzilla out to sea where she detonates the Zero Cannon. The huge splash from the titans’ impact freezes into a strangely beautiful crystal formation then shatters. There is a moment of tense silence, when the icy water suddenly cracks open, and a wounded Godzilla emerges roaring then swims away. A badly damaged Mechagodzilla rises behind him, but has no power left for pursuit. Prime Minister Igarashi congratulates everyone on a successful anti-Godzilla campaign, Akane stands on Mechagodzilla’s shoulder watching Godzilla leave, and the credits role…but just like GxM, that’s not all. After the credits, we see Akane, Dr. Yahara, and Sara in the MG bunker. Akane declares the previous battle a draw but says Kiryu-Mechagodzilla will get another chance soon. Then she finally makes Yahara’s day by asking him out on a date. Owari (the end.)

At 88 minutes and 6 seconds, there is little room for this movie to fall into any extended lapse of boredom. Tezuka’s apt direction keeps the pace moving, and the battles exciting and intense. But even Tezuka can only do so much with a script that abandons common sense and creatively-challenged characters. I haven’t talked much about the special effects, mostly because they are pretty steady, but nothing spectacular. On the whole, Kikuchi’s VFX are better than Suzuki’s work on GxM, but a big step down from Kamiya’s work on GMK. To Kikuchi’s credit, this is most likely due to Toho’s reduced budget on this film. The score is difficult to remark on now, as the Orchard Hall theater is notorious for its mediocre sound system. All I can say is that Oshida’s powerful Godzilla theme is back, but that’s the only theme I could pick out. I could not discern a particular Mechagodzilla theme.

I want to make it clear that though I cannot say Godzilla X Mechagodzilla is a good movie, I did enjoy this film quite a bit if only as a diehard fan, and will certainly go to see it more than once, probably more than twice after its official release in December. But every time I watch it, I can imagine myself wincing again and again at moments when Mimura’s script crescendos only to fall of a cliff of great ideas that could have been if he took the time to develop them further.