Notzilla

I'll harken back to Vincent Canby's review of Phantom of the Paradise where he points out that you can't make a parody of something that is already so ridiculous. The premise of Notzilla is nothing original, it sets to spoof the long tradition of Japanese monsters, namely Godzilla. What sets this film apart is that despite the infinite spoofs of Godzilla films in the past, their hasn't really been a full length one. (Well technically that's not true, there are films like Death Kappa and the X from Outer Space Strikes Back. In retrospect some of the films it attempts to parody are already parodies in an of themselves). Notzilla doesn't really do anything different then your average episode of MST3K does. A film like this has to tell you what to laugh at and sometimes literally spelling out the joke.

The main issue that Notzilla has is it's length. The jokes and humor becomes constantly repetitive. This is a genre that has always been mocked and derided so you really have to be inventive in developing some original jokes. And every single joke is exactly what one expects. Add to that a copious amount of flatulence humor and it runs itself a bit thin. It can fill up a short, but not necessarily a feature length film. Also there tries to be an emotional story with the Japanese scientist and the woman scientist but it the film's tone and acting works against it. It wouldn't be all bad if the film didn't focus on it since you barely get any monster action.

The effects are unfortunately more reminiscent of Full Moon projects like Zarkor or Kraa. They lack the campy artistry of the old Godzilla flicks, or even the silly creativity of the Gamera films. I'd say more miniature sets instead of the use of rear projection would be nice. It's more of a parody of what general audiences picture old Godzilla movies to be, rather than a genuine deconstruction or parody. Simply put the effects in this makes something like Godzilla vs. Megalon look like Jurassic Park (And no, it supposed to look like that is not a valid excuse, you need to actually put in some actual effort).

If one is looking for an intelligent parody that takes apart the genre and flip some tropes then this won't really satisfy. There are a few laughs to be had but the end result is overall a miss.

There is every reason to be put off by this but don't be.

I hate American humour. Its obvious, strained and just not funny.

This is funny. Very funny. Has its bad moments but its a total leg pull that doesn't even try to hard to be good.

Watch it

Initially when I sat down to watch the 2019 movie "Notzilla" I was a little bit hesitant. But since I hadn't seen it, nor even heard about it, I ended up watching it. I do like watching new movies after all.

This is not a top of the line with the latest and greatest of special effects and CGI. By no means.

Turns out that "Notzilla" was a nice surprise of a movie. Now, this is a spoof on the classic Japanese "Godzilla" movies, no doubt about it. Writer and director Mitch Teemley had managed to put together a storyline that was equal parts spoof and equal parts tribute to the old styled Japanese classics. And that was definitely something that was enjoyable.

From the in-your-face-obvious toy cars and fake scenery to the monsters whom are just people in rubber suits - it was all there. And it was all so very enjoyable. I must admit that I was more than entertained by "Notzilla".

The storyline was actually enjoyable and good, and it was very reminiscent of the style seen in the old classic "Godzilla" movies. And that most certainly attributed to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

They also had put together a good ensemble of casted actors and actresses to portray the various roles in the movie. I wasn't familiar with the cast, so that was enjoyable for me.

The effects in "Notzilla" were not multi-million dollar effects as seen in Hollywood movies. No, they were very true to the effects you would see in the old classic Japanese "Godzilla" movies, and the special effects team really pulled that off very well and very nicely. And of course I must comment on the Notzilla creature itself; it was very loveable, and I just loved the zipper in the front that were made no effort to hide, it was just brilliant. And the fact that he guzzled beer like there was no tomorrow, another great concept for the movie.

I can warmly recommend "Notzilla", especially if you enjoy the often goofy and campy old classic Japanese "Godzilla" movies. Thumbs up to writer and director Mitch Teemley for this movie.

My rating of "Notzilla" is a six out of ten stars.

This was an extremely cheap and low budget spoof so I wasn't expect much, but man is the "humor" and acting in this just real cringeworthy. There was only one visual gag with a train that was interesting but most of the stuff was very obvious and too on the nose. And for a supposed monster movie, most of it deals with the scientist's story which is quite boring and uninteresting. Lord wonders when actual good spoof movies make a comeback.

Go in to this film not expecting it to ever take its self seriously and some times that's just want you want watch people being silly telly a very silly story