Monster X gegen den G8-Gipfel

It's not always easy to track down a Minoru Kawasaki film, but it is always worth the effort. This one is exactly what it sounds like it would be from the title: The Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit does indeed feature Monster X attacking the G8 Summit. I didn't even realize it was a sequel/parody of sorts to a much older giant monster movie I'd seen some time ago, but it was fun to learn that after the fact in any event.

This isn't as good as Calamari Wrestler or Executive Koala (those two are so slept on it's absurd), but it's still quite good. It's got some pretty funny satirical stuff on top of being an intentionally goofy homage/parody of classic kaiju flicks. It's pretty funny, and I found it entertaining for the majority of its runtime.

Today I had the good fortune to catch the new "Monster X" flick on the big screen here in NYC. Although there could have been some more monster action, it definitely was not a disappointment.

The original "X From Outer Space" from 1967 starred newcomer Guilala, a monster who looked so ridiculous, that there was no way they could have made this sequel anything but a comedy. At least I think it's a sequel - while the title indicates Guilala does indeed "strike back" after being beaten 42 years ago in the first movie, there is a scene here with a kid (who looks like he walked out of a 60's Gamera movie) who names the creature "Guilala," as if he was never named or seen before.

As for the movie being a comedy, believe it or not, it's actually a decent comedy. Eight world leaders meet in japan for a summit, and take turns offering (failing) suggestions on how to kill Guilala. But the jokes aren't random - there's actually a lot of clever writing here. This isn't a movie full of dumb jokes.

There's also two reporters (including a hot girl) try to uncover the secret of Guilala through an odd jungle cult, who do a strange dance to worship a god named Take-Majin, who they later convince through their dancing and chanting to fight Guilala.

My main gripe is that there really isn't much destruction by Guilala. Actually, his best scenes come right at the beginning of the film, just minutes in - he lands on Earth, destroys some buildings and walks off. We then see Guilala fend off the occasional attempt to kill him, and of course his fight with Take-Majin, but the destruction ends right at the start.

The special effects are pure 1960's retro, from the buildings to the fire that Guilala spews out of his mouth, to the cheap-looking costume. This was all obviously done on purpose to pay homage to the charm of the original film.

Funny monster, pretty girls everywhere, and clever writing make "Monster X" a good bet for giant monster fans. And before the film, we had a 17-minute original giant monster comedy called "Gehara - The Long Haired Giant Monster" and a great preview of the new "Kappa" (Gappa) film coming out, and it won't be a comedy.

The monster Guilala was originally a monster made by now defunct Shochiku studio in 1967. This movie is somewhat of a remake, but the story is a camp satire of G8 summit and head of the states of the world, a giant monster, Kim Jon il and Korean nuclear missile, and can you believe - a Japanese comedian named Beat Takeshi who appears as Takemajin.

Monster Guilala lands near lake Toya in Hokkaido attached to Chinese space probe called Beta (which is the same design as the space ship Beta that appeared in the original 1967 movie). There was a G8 summit going on at lake Toya, and US president immediately after hearing the arrival of the monster vows to destroy the monster as an attempt to raise popular support. He recruits the efforts of other heads of the state to defeat the monster. Earth Defense Force (TDF) of Japan takes on the duty of actually carrying out the orders. The joke of TDF is is that it's comprised of only one tent and about a dozen men working around it. The commander is played by Susumu Kurobe who was a member of Earth Defense Force in the original Toho's Ultraman series back in 1966. Meanwhile in a near by village, there's a shrine that for some reason houses three objects. An ancient scroll depicting Guilala and another figure called Takemajin, a statue of Guilala,and the statue of Takemajin. Villagers gather at the shrine and chant "Nechikoma, Nechikoma" repeatedly, and Takemajin comes to life. Now its a showdown between Guilala and the Takemajin.

The intent of people who made this movie is not clear. While I was watching this movie, I was thinking this is a story I would have come up with. It was that bad. But obviously being camp was the intention of the producers.Special effect is homage to that of '60s kaijyu movie. They must have done this to appeal to the original viewers of 1967 version of Guilala.

Interesting and funny movie to come from Japan that parodies the original Guilala, politicians, and the Japanese culture.

Before Grindhouse was released and completely ignored by American audiences, Quentin Tarantino had talked of his plans to make a few more B-movie revisits with Robert Rodriguez and other directors, expanding the concept to all possible genres. It's sad that such a project will not materialize, because The Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit is definitely a movie QT would enjoy, and it director the kind of guy he would love to work with: an energetic, grown-up child who loves every single frame of the films he makes, no matter how much crap he has to take from the critics (which is why he's called "the Japanese Ed Wood"). Monster X, which was shown Out of Competition at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, is a quintessential B-movie: geeky, cheap and aware of its silliness. In plain English: a lot of fun.

The film acts as a sort of low-budget Godzilla reboot, with the big reptile replaced by an alien of sorts named Girara. The seemingly invincible creature awakes suddenly from a very long sleep, and starts destroying everything in sight. Too bad this happens at the exact same time as a G8 summit in Kyoto: given the disastrous situation, the participating nations (USA, Germany, France, Italy, etc) do their best to stop the monster, only to fail each time. Perhaps the key to sorting out this mess is hidden in a freaky temple in the woods, where people worship a being with a strange fascination for his, uh, private area.

The G8 subplot would indicate some sort of political intent behind the movie, but that's just a load of rubbish: any kind of satire requires subtlety, and when the French President tries to seduce a woman with the phrase "I'm the Eiffel Tower and I want to penetrate your Arch of Triumph!", you know that's the last thing you'll ever find in the blatantly trashy script (by the way, since when do Brits speak with an American accent?). The "plot" is just an excuse for two silly-looking freaks to beat the hell out of each other, in scenes that could have been shot by a toddler in anyone's back yard or in an average workshop. It's that shameless "bag of dirt" quality that makes Monster X a guilty pleasure like few others. It's a movie made by geeks for geeks, and by not aspiring to any higher artistic consideration it actually manages to bring back the eight-year old hidden inside all of us, much like Peter Jackson's aptly titled Bad Taste, while more "noble" attempts to achieve the same effect have a tendency to fall flat on their backs.

So yes, it's incredibly, incontrovertibly silly, cheap, whatever you want to call it. But it's also one of the most enjoyable "bad" movies that one can find. Plus, it has the additional treat of Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano voicing the "good" monster: how much more can one ask for?

What can I say? I thought this film was funny! Some of the humor may get lost in translation, and kaiju fans looking for epic scenes of city destruction will be disappointed. The locations are limited and the scope is small. I do not mean these as criticisms, just facts.

The acting from the Western stars is decidedly awful, but endearing in a hilarious way. The various schemes the leaders devise are quite comical and struck a humorous cord. There is enough tributes and homages to daikaiju eiga for fans to appreciate.