Truly Dreadful Film

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

While the latest Gamera film is more "kid friendly" than the 90's trilogy, it still maintains enough death and destruction to be a watchable film for adults. I was also impressed with how well the special effects turned out. It is refreshing to see a film where CG isn't used as a catch all for effects. As good as CG has gotten, there is still a very tactile realism to model and make-up effects that can still look good when done well. As mentioned earlier, the story is aimed at children but it is taken seriously and doesn't spare the audience from the carnage that would happen when giant monsters fight or why a monster would be so bad that we would put up with Gamera's usual "bull in a china shop" style of heroics. The main character does get a bit annoying with his protectiveness of and failure to accept that his "Toto" is Gamera. The monster fights were done well enough to painfully leave me hungry for more. With as well as this one turned out, it really deserves a sequel.

I was looking forward to seeing movie and at long last have. After Shusuke Kaneko's Gamera trilogy, as well as the Shinsei or Millennium Godzilla films, one was left wondering where Gamera had once more gone. Then came this movie, and anyone who's seen Kaneko's Gamera movies knows there's a lot to live up to. 90s Gamera was dark, bloody and very nihilistic in its tone and this film kind of veers away that. Like the classic films, the movie's central characters are children, but unlike the terribly campy 70s Gamera the acting here is more than solid enough. The story is emotionally strong, despite being slow at times but I rather enjoy the journey.And the special effects are just top notch thru out. In an era where CGI is over-taking everything, this movie blends the old wit the new quite well. The opening pays tribute to "Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys" quite nicely, while also paying tribute to the vintage kaiju era. The monster designs are quite awesome, myself loving the new monster Zedus, who himself was inspired by Barugon of that classic 1966 film "Gamera vs. Barugon". Gyaos appears briefly in the beginning, but looks pretty damn awesome. One of my few complaints is the removal of Gamera's trademark roar thru much of the movie in favor of the 1976 King Kong roar. To begin with, I do not really care for the 1976 King Kong starring Jeff Bridges, but that's a whole nother review in itself (which I have reviewed if you want to check it out).Anyways, definitely check out "Gamera the Brave".

I've never been a fan of the older Gamera films, since they were real cheesy compared to the older Godzilla films. The Gamera films of the 90's were great and had a darker tone to it. This is a new Gamera, a mixture of old Gamera with the 90's Films. It starts out with a battle between an old villain of Gamera's, the Gyaos. Now, this Gamera, tough but weak as hell couldn't stand to the challenge and blows himself up. Then thirty years pass to present day in Japan. A man who witnessed Gamera's death is now a grown man with a deceased wife and and son. The son see's a red flashing light on the island where Gamera died, so the kid decides to check out and finds an egg. The egg quickly hatches it and raises and notices he get's unusually bigger and disappears. Then a monster, named Zedus, arrives and causes panic to the town. Then as the boy's father tries to save his son's friend from getting eaten, the once baby turtle is now Gamera and saves the boy's father and friend. Then a battle ensures between the monster and Gamera until the Baby Turtle kicks it's butt and the government step in and take the turtle away. Then Zedus returns to battle Gamera and tries to kill him for good.This film does drag and we don't see Gamera in his larger stage, it's a little sulcata tortoise running around for the first half-hour. Then when we have action it's pretty much short which is not fun for the older fans of the serious. You can pretty much tell it's aimed at children of like 8 and under. I myself enjoyed it and give it a 7/10.

The latest entry in the Gamera series is something of a a let-down, for me at least.To start on the positive side of things, it boasts some of the best special effects work in any kaiju film to date, surpassing any of the Millennium Godzilla films. (Though in the case of GMK and Tokyo SOS, not by much) Also, Zedus (Jidas) is an awesome monster which is likeably evil, and looks great.Unfortunately, pretty much everything else is below par. The story is overly simplistic and very child-orientated, the Gamera suit makes the cookie monster look intimidating, and the music is bland and even corny at times.Problems also arise with the pacing, as the final battle is constantly interrupted by poorly placed scenes of human drama.The worst part, however, is that for the most part, the final battle isn't that great to begin with, as it largely fails to evoke a strong sense of struggle, mostly because it's very one sided and frequently quite slow.In the end, Gamera the Brave is a mediocre kaiju film, on par with Godzilla vs Megaguirus or Godzilla 2000. If you're a kaiju enthusiast, you may want to check it out, but if you want to see a great modern kaiju film, watch GMK* instead. (*Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-out Attack)