Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a look at the newest GODZILLA flick... which, obviously, has a male wearing some sort of rubber outerwear in order to portray the titular monster... What's that called? Dude in Costume? That's not right... Hrmmmm. Anyway... no, this is not the Kitamura GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, which I believe is still filming, but it is the newest to hit theaters, a sort of sequel to GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA called GODZILLA X MOTHRA X MECHAGODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S. Phew... that's a long-ass title. I personally liked GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA, but don't think it was as fun as the few Godzilla flicks that hit before it. But any opportunity to shout DUDE IN COSTUME! DUDE IN COSTUME!... dammit... that's not it... Doesn't have the same ring... Oh well, here's the review!
GuerillaTokyo’s Review: Godzilla X Mothra X MechaGodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
***************SPOILER WARNING*****************
Well, it’s Godzilla’s latest outing, and presumably his next to last. This film is actually a direct sequel to 2002’s Godzilla X MechaGodzilla (A.K.A. Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla). Masaki Tezuka, the same director of the previous film returns for this one as well. According to set up in the beginning of the film, it has been one year since MechaGodzilla and Godzilla threw down in Tokyo. Repairs to MechaGodzilla are finally being completed, and he is given some new weaponry for fighting the good fight against Godzilla. BUT there are those in Japan’s government who don’t really want to see Kiryu (MechaG’s nickname in this continuity) back in action. These members of Parliament aren’t the only ones. Apparently Mothra and her twin fairy representatives aren’t too pleased with Japan using the remains of a dead Godzilla as the skeleton for Kiryu.
Hiroshi Koizumi reprises his role from the original Mothra as Dr. Chujo, the linguist who first discovered and dealt with Mothra and the twin fairies. His son is conveniently the head Mechanic for Kiryu, an odd, quiet young man who is better with machines than he is with people. LOSER! The rest of the cast is rounded out with the stereotypical Godzilla film types. There's the heads of the government who seem to be wishy washy about everything, even when the capital of their country is being leveled. There’s the hot shot pilot who isn’t as capable at handling MechaG as he thinks he is, Chujo’s former mechanic colleagues who aren’t sure if they’re his friends, or his rivals, and of course, the annoyed shrilled voiced child that always manages to not get killed my rampaging kaiju (although we do come close this time).
Actually the human cast of characters is one of the weakest parts of the movie. I know it is a monster movie and that the monsters are the most important part, but the human element is a big factor as well. Without a somewhat believable cast of human character that you can care for, there is no way of understanding what the monsters are fighting for or against. It’s really impossible to give two shits about any of the human characters involved. The most interesting purpose that any of them serve is to be fodder for Godzilla’s reprisals.
Another complaint about this film, and the rest of the millennium series in general is the continuity (or lack there of) with the rest of the Godzilla/Toho Kaiju Mythos. Tezuka and Co. just pick and choose at random the things that are Canon in this film, and the things that aren’t. Some of it is cool, and some of it is frustrating. For instance, in this continuity, the events in the original Mothra film happened, but Mothra vs. Godzilla form 1964 did not. It makes their confrontation in the film interesting, since we made to believe it is for the first time. BUT it would’ve been more interesting if they were old adversaries reprising an old feud. What makes this fact worse is that the dynamic between these two monsters plays out just like the original Mothra vs. Godzilla. The first fight between these two is awesome, but more on that later. Another oddity thrown in here to screw with continuity is the inclusion of Kameba from Yog, Monster from Space.
I used the word inclusion loosely because the monster is D.O.A. when he is introduced, most likely killed at the hands of Godzilla. So now Yog, Monster From Space is part of the millennium continuity? Good lord, why not just include that goofy ass flying lion from Latitude Zero! It’s very strange.
Now, the fight sequences, I’m sure that’s what you’ll read this for so I won’t delay it any longer. Some of the action in this is fantastic. My favorite Kaiju in this was probably Mothra. I usually don’t like Mothra, because He/She/It tends to come off as a lame as hell monster that always manages to beat Godzilla somehow, BUT she sells tickets in Japan, so we have to put up with her. Well, in this one, Mothra is a dangerous adversary for Godzilla, and really earns her place as Godzilla Arch enemy. Tezuka has given Mothra agility, and grace than event Susuke Kaneko gave her in GMK. Most of her attacks are the same she used in Mothra vs. Godzilla. No bullshit Antenna rays, or bug shit shrapnel bombs that always come of as handicap cheats in some of the previous films. It’s just a giant Bug grappling with Godzilla until it’s very last breath.
Now, about MechaGodzilla, I don’t know what happened this time. In the last movie, MechaG was awesome, he handed Godzilla his ass! In this one, he barely pulls his own weight until the end of the movie. MechaG hasn’t sat on his ass this much since Terror of MechaGodzilla. It actually makes me glad that he is sitting the next Godzilla film out.
As for Godzilla, he is a total badass this time around. He is as nasty, and vicious as he was in the original Mothra vs. Godzilla from 1964. He is also a better fighter than he was in the last film. He doesn’t just stand there and take a beating like last time. One of the concepts I liked was the inclusion of a massive scar covering Godzilla’s chest. It is just something different, which is what I think the filmmakers were going for.
What I thought were some of the highlights were some of the Non-MechaGodzilla military confrontations with Godzilla. Some of them might actually remind viewers of Godzilla 1985. This includes a first appearance involving the destruction of a Gaijin submarine, and a landing in Tokyo Harbor that includes the mass destruction of many Japanese military men. One of the best confrontations was Godzilla getting bombarded with dozens of Ground to Air missiles. The sheer number of these things as they pound the holy hell out of Godzilla is pretty awesome.
In closing, this isn’t one of the best Godzilla films of all time, or even in recent memory, but it is definitely worth a look if you want to see some decent monster fights. Just don’t expect much more than that.
