Gamera 2: Region shurai

I must say, I picked this one up expecting it to be just another Japanese rubber suit monster movie and thought it might be a bit of a laugh in that 'so bad its good' type of way. I was surprised however to find a very decent film which kept me engaged from the beginning, with a logical and 'plausible' storyline (if you can suspend disbelief when it comes to pre-historic flying turtles stomping their way through miniature cities etc.) and a decent script. The special effects are also pretty good, even though the main protagonists are of the 'men in rubber suits' variety. The only problem is, I'm now going to have to go and hunt down the other 2 installments! I've watched many worse Hollywood films recently and would recommend this to anyone who likes a good 'creature feature'.

Gamera 2: Advent of Legion is really good. Not perfect, and not as good as Gamera 3, but still pretty good. The movie uses several innovative techniques new to the kaiju world. For example, the movie introduces the human-sized legions as a horror element. They attack (and actually kill, something rare in kaiju films), the people on a commuter train. And it has pretty good marionetes. The mother Legion itself looks pretty good and has remarkable mobility for a creature of its size. If you compare it to Destroyah...well, no contest. Gamera looks different too, and has a new mode of flight. His hands transform into flippers when he flies. This is a controversial change, to say the least, but I think it looks ok. Anyway, I think there is enough good stuff about this movie to purchase it. A step up from Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe and a step up from the Godzilla series. Don't worry Godzilla fans, Godzilla can still make the best destruction films, but for an actually GOOD kaiju movie, check this one out. But if you want the best go for Gamera 3...

Upon watching Gamera 2 I've come to the conclusion that this is the best kaiju movie ever.#1 Gamera faced an impossible enemy who not only had thousands of deadly offspring,but was over twice his size with awesome fire power.#2 There was also a daytime battle in which you got to get a better look at both monsters.#3 Need I say more on how cool Gamera looked when he inhaled oxygen from the Legion pod before he blew it to pieces.#4 The destructive blast to the city of Sentai that took Gamera out as well was second to none.#5 Who can forget about how before the last battle Gamera flew into a side slide landing as well as blasting Legion with Plasma Fireballs.#6 Need I say more about the Plasma blast Gamera fired from his chest that took out Legion once and for all.I think this movie was better that any Gojira movie ever made.

The second part of the Gamera trilogy is a very enjoyable movie! On one hand, it successfully imports the trademarks of the 70s (focussing more on the monster battle than on the human characters), but stylistically it is up-to-date for the 90s with its fast editing, cutting to photos and different locations all the time - that provides the bizarre action (come on, a turtle with jet engines?) with a realistic CNN report look. The 100 speedy minutes feel like 80. Gamera battles a giant crab (similar to actual giant crabs of the Pacific Ocean) and a swarm of smaller monsters here which may break out of the ground any moment - pretty effective compared to the monsters of old days who used to walk across the country so you could see them coming from miles away. When Gamera is covered by thousand of small creatures, the agony is almost tangible. Also, this time we have not much treachery, wickedness, ignorance or controversy among the humans - they all agree Gamera is the one who deserves support and it's a well organized co-operation this time.

Now this is what I call an excellent giant monster film. There's a plot: which concerns an invasion by alien insects who wish to turn Japan into a nest so they can spread their colonies all over. There are characters that are well-defined and interesting. There is suspense. There are realistic special FX, cool-looking monsters, and brutal kaiju battles. This film expertly shows Japan in panic and the effects of a kaiju on the country. It's also good to show how the military handles the situation. This film far surpasses the first movie in the series. Legion was a far more formidable villain than Gyaos. There are many classic scenes, including Legion's demise, Gamera getting covered with insects, and the destruction of Sendai. This can be either a great introduction to the genre or one of the quintessential giant monster films. Great fun throughout.