Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla
For Godzilla's 40th anniversary, although that is what they where advertising the last one as, they decided to bring new director, writer, and composer. For the new villain they went with another Godzilla doppelgänger making Godzilla the underdog once again to a larger more powerful foe. While Godzilla screen time is not as much as the last entry, the final fight is the longest so far.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A Counter Review from Trevor Monaghan aka Kaijumaster @TrevorM_335
ReplyDeleteHUMAN PLOT
The past has returned.
G-Force has begun pursuing two different options for defeating Godzilla. The first, M.O.G.U.E.R.A. Is a replacement for Mechagodzilla. The second is a psychic amplifier which will allow Miki Saegusa to influence Godzilla and prevent further destruction. A team consisting of five G-force members have taken up residency of Burse Island, where the Baby Godzilla now grown to Chibi Godzilla has taken up residence. Two members of the team are Yuki, The best friend of Major Goro Gondo who died during the events of Godzilla Vs. Biollante, and Gondos sister Chinatsu. Yuki has developed a specialized bullet which can kill Godzilla if fired into the soft tissue at a particular point while Chinatsu tries to convince him to give up this quest for vengeance. Meanwhile another member of the Team, Koji begins to form a romantic relationship with Miki. The Psychic amplifier is implanted but unsuccessful during the first attempt. A Yakuza team arrives on the island and kidnaps Miki to attempt to control Godzilla themselves. They are similarly unsuccessful and Koji and Yuki arrive to save her. The Team then takes command of MOGUERA to launch into Battle against Godzilla and the newly arrived Space Godzilla.
After the battle Miki removes the Amplifier from Godzilla, and admits her mutual feelings for Koji.
DaiKaiju Plot
An object determined to be a DaiKaiju is detected approaching earth. MOGUERA is launched and encounters the monster in the asteroid belt. Their assault is unsuccessful and MOGUERA retreats. An examination of the monsters cells picked up during the fight reveals it is a mutated form of Godzilla. This is theorized to have been either from Biplane or from cells picked up by Mothra two years earlier and taken into space having been exposed to a black hole and emerging from the other end as Space Godzilla. The new Kaiju arrives on Earth and Traps Chibi Godzilla and defeats Godzilla. It then travels to Fukoaka and set up a Crystal jungle to amplify its power. Godzilla and MOGUERA arrive and in a lengthy three way battle, Godzilla emerges victorious.
Link to Godzilla Franchise.
G-Force continues to play an active role in the story. Major Aso and Miki Saegusa return. The events of Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla are directly mentioned, as are the events of Vs. Biollante & Vs. Mothra. Godzilla uses the powered up atomic ray he received from Rodan in the previous film.
A Counter Review from Trevor Monaghan aka Kaijumaster @TrevorM_335
ReplyDeletePLOT - 23
Godzilla has always been a mixed bag of Human Vs. Kaiju in terms of story balance. Here the film creates a perfect balance as both plots play off each other and rely on previous entries for world building. Miki receives personal character development rather than just being ‘the psychic along for the ride’ like previous entries. Yuki and Koji are also well fleshed out. However the character of Kiyoshi is just along for the ride and fulfills little in the way of story other than filling space.
Directing – 20
The film moves at a great pace pace and each scene moves into the next. However the film feels very much like story we are not privy to happened in between the events of now and the previous film. In today’s media market there would most likely have been a web special or DVD extra filing in this time, but in 1995 no such special existed and it feel like the story is relying on a prequel to tell its tale.
MUSIC – 25
I cannot over emphasize how much I enjoy the soundtrack for this film. The music is eerie and appropriate for each scene. With an upbeat theme for Chibi Godzilla though, it clearly never loses focus. The overall battle theme which is heavily present during the climax of the final battle is one of the most memorable to me in the entire franchise. The heavy horns and percussion of the previous film were wonderful, but I have always been happy that they chose to go a completely different direction for this entry.
Effects – 10
Here is where the film really suffered. The Battle in the asteroid field is little more than minitaures bashing against each other in a field of Styrofoam balls. The Burse Island scenes typical land affairs for TOHO and the night scenes in Fukoaku employ heavy use of fog and dust from Space Godzillas crystal towers to hide the length of the scene. The central tower however is an impressive and durable set piece as are the three models for MOGUERA.
TOTAL SCORE: 78
FULL DISCLOSURE
I first viewed this movie through a subtitled VHS tape I received in the mail which I still own to this day. I’ve long found it to be my absolute favorite Godzilla film (Removing the original 54 film from competition) and jealously defend it. When my friend began his weekly reviews of the films I knew I would need to provide a counter argument for this film and he was generous enough to allow me.