Dreadfully Boring

Don't Believe the Hype

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

A direct sequel to 1993's "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II", this film follows a number of the same characters as a space-born clone of Godzilla flies in to threaten Earth. There is a lot of talk and racing around on motorcycles before the action picks up, so if you are not engaged by the characters, the first half of the film is not that interesting. In keeping the 'multiple monsters' shtick, Godzilla and Space Godzilla are the targets of the U.N.G.C.C.'s latest unlikely looking flying tank, a vaguely penguinoid mecha called M.O.G.O.R.A. (no relation to the bird-like robot 'Moguera', in Toho's 1957 classic tokusatsu "The Mysterians"). Not surprisingly, cloyingly-cute 'Baby' has grown into an equally cloyingly-cute 'Little Godzilla. I can usually suspend my disbelief and accept the 'reality' of a suit-mation monster but "Little Godzilla' is just a guy in a lizard costume who looks more like a mascot for a candy company than a kaiju in the making. As for the adult monsters, I was not too impressed with the new Godzilla suit. The upper body and head were fine but the thighs were immense, making Godzilla look either morbidly obese or like he's suffering from elephantiasis. The design of Space Godzilla was interesting, the head and teeth were great but the massive shoulder 'crystals' didn't look very crystalline. The film's special effects were variable: the miniature cityscapes were quite good as were the pyrotechnics but the asteroids that M.O.G.O.R.A. passes through were completely unconvincing. Some of the matte shots were outstanding, seamlessly integrating the monster into the background of scenes with people or objects in the foreground (the reciprocal shots, in which the monster is in the foreground were generally less effective). The music was a bit of a let-down. Other than a few moments of Akira Ifukube's iconic Godzilla and Mothra themes, the score (by Takayuki Hattori) is not great, especially the chipper playground tune that accompanies Little Godzilla, the cheesely-heroic music that backdrops M.O.G.O.R.A., or the sentimental final coda Touchy-feely new-age psychic Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) is back and is upset that people want to kill Godzilla, either ignoring, or rationalising, the fact the Godzilla has (presumably) killed thousands of people when he levels cities ('presumably' because, regardless of the destruction, this series of movies never shows any actual death). Her spiritual interactions with miniature Mothra-spirits and the tiny 'Cosmos' girls slows the movie down and (IMO) adds little to the story but, like "Little Godzilla", are elements not targeted at viewers in my demographic (i.e. 'old guys'). The dubbed script was OK (despite an excess of clichéd tough-guy soldier talk, especially by M.O.G.O.R.A.'s crew) and dubbing itself was OK, although there were the frequent mid-sentence pauses, mismatched body/voice combinations, and odd choices of idiom, all of which are often lampooned in parodies of the genre. Typical of the franchise, the plot is driven by improbable science, prescient guesses, and the occasional inconsistency. Considering that, over the years, Godzilla has taken innumerable bullets, shells, and missiles in the chest, some fired at close range, from a variety of small arms, tanks, artillery, ships and planes, I was 'surprised' when embittered Yuki (Akira Emoto) announced that there was a "weak zone" in the monster's torso that could penetrated by a rifle. All in all, number 21 in the franchise is undemanding fun and the slow start and mushy new-age sentimentality is balanced a great climatic kaiju brawl.

The Japanese government implants an electronic device in Godzilla's brain in order to have more control over the hulking behemoth. Meanwhile, nefarious doppleganger Space Godzilla arrives on Earth with the specific intent of killing Godzilla so it can take over the planet. Director Kensho Yamashita, working from a tight script by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Kinji Kashiwa, relates the entertaining story at a steady pace, maintains a serious tone throughout, and stages the monster fights with flair (the climactic lengthy confrontation between Godzilla and Space Godzilla totally cooks). Godzilla looks real strong and fierce while Space Godzilla makes for a fearsome and ferocious opponent. Mothra makes a welcome (albeit brief) appearance. As for Baby Godzilla, he's simply adorable. The sincere acting by the able cast helps a lot: Jun Hashizume as the earnest Lt. Koji Shinjo, Megumo Odaka as tender psychic Miki, Akira Emoto as the scruffy and vengeful Major Akira Yuki, and Yosuke Sahara as evil nerd Dr. Susumu Okubo. The filmmakers warrant extra praise for treating Godzilla with admirable respect and compassion, as the human characters realize that they need The Big G in order to defeat Space Godzilla. Masahiro Kishimoto's sharp cinematography provides a neat slick look. The special effects are generally acceptable. Only Takayuki Hattori's bland score leaves something to be desired. Worthwhile viewing for fans of The Big G.

this is a decent movie. it doesn't sport the obvious & somewhat pathetic shortcomings of previous monster movies ( EG the Guargantuas & the smog monster ones ). As i say, these are not the movies for you if you seek tremendous FX resources and-or terrific acting: go watch star wars VI or a Shakespeare play. However this movie is definitely 90-ish. The plot is quite straight: on Godzilla island there is some warped soldier reminding of those Japanese soldiers left behind on some tropical island, who never learnt the war had ended; this freak wants to kill godzilla with some blood clotting medicine ( Blade the vampire vs deacon frost, anyone? ), land mines etc. Two military nerds meet the warped man on the island; stay behind with the psychic girl, then rescue her from the mafia...as soon as they enter the main door, they are requested to pilot Mogera...when did they actually learn it? On the island all they did was to dig sand!Some scientists wants to control godzilla remotely via an head implant. The first experiment looks like a success, then three minutes later everybody says it's a failure & goodbye. There is little godzilla, whom i liked much more than the other one looking like Mickey Rooney. Then a silly John Woo subplot about the psychic girl being kidnapped by the mafia...bangbangbangbang! The score is a distinct plagiarism of major Hollywood hits, such as Robocop (Poledouris), Bond Movies (John Barry etc ;you only live twice etc), James Horner (Star Trek) OSTs etc.There is Mogera [ exhumed from "the mysterians ], a robot able to convert into an airplane and a tank...it looks very static, like those $19,99 kid toys from the 80's...it got legs & arms but cannot walk & barely lifts the forearms 90 degrees to shoot drill missiles. A real loser even compared to the pretty active 1974 mechagodzilla. The fact 20 years later they couldn't come up with anything better makes you wonder.Overall a decent monster movie with the usual clichés of the monster franchise: cartonbox cities being stepped upon by men in suit; monsters heading south, then suddenly eastwards, etc; lots of grave looking senior Japanese in uniform; lots of decently crafted sets with plenty of blinking colorful lights & buttons.

Dear Godzilla,Once again, I feel compelled to remind you that, regardless of your Toho contract you do not have to sign up for every single piece of tripe they toss at you. I am sure that the idea of getting your son his first major role was an important selling point, but did you even read the script (assuming there was one) before you agreed to get involved with this? By the way, Gadzuki was quite adorable and played his part with real conviction. I thought the scene you culled from your home movies with him scorching his toe while practicing fire-breathing was a real cute kick! And your female lead, the spectacularly beautiful Megumi Odaka, with whom you have made so many films, is always worth staying up until 3AM to see. Why you and Megumi can't ever seem to make a film worthy of your combined talents, however, is very hard to comprehend.Let me see if I got this right. A mass of crystals with a very small lizard (he looked about 2cm long while hurdling through space) looking vaguely like you lands on your island home and disrupts your family life, imprisoning your son and committing other rude acts. Another very small creature, this one looking like a defective Transformer action figure (Moguera) from the 1980s, has a duel in space with the little crystal lizard thing and suffers one of about 7 humiliating defeats, returning home with its scorched little mechanical tail between its legs. Oh, and somehow both of these are not only your size, but the space critter no longer has an entire carapace of crystals attached to his back when he arrives on earth. Meanwhile, a few inept military officers and government employed scientists are trying to either kill you or work out a way to telepathically control you. As the space impostor then begins the usual rampage through Tokyo, you begin your attack on him, and Moguera joins in, crashing and burning several times and even separating its own legs from its torso! Oh ya, I almost forgot, Mothra and the twins (or, as it seems this time "mothra/the twins") also show up a few times for no apparent reason.I have a few questions.Why didn't you invite Ghidorah, or maybe King Kong? This could have really been a family reunion.Was your son traumatized by this? Is this film the reason why he is rarely seen in public today? What has Megumi been doing lately, besides appearing at a couple of your fan conventions? Do you keep in touch?Have you at least managed to put your foot down at... errrr... I mean "on" Toho's studios yet? If so, why didn't that scene make the final cut? Please keep in mind my ever-open invitation to come to America and wreak revenge on Hollywood for their plagiaristic and disrespectful hiring of an understudy for that recent film they used your name for. As I've said before, large retired actors have unlimited prospects for employment in the state of California, and just think of the reforms you could enact on the film industry as governor! Yours affectionately,