Godzilla vs Megaguirus

Megaguirus often gets the short end of the Millienium Films as it is typically seen as a porotype for the story seen Masaaki Tezuka's later film, Godzilla against Mechagodzilla. The latter film certainly proves superior as the story in this film feels aimless at times. Perhaps a symptom of franchise fatigue that this entry comes of as rather dull and unremarkable though there are things to appreciate. Megaguirus is an interesting opponent for Godzilla and the original soundtrack is fantastic.

I avoided this movie for months; most online reviews I read were negative, and it just had a bad stench about it. But then my ever-wise brother recommended it, and I'm glad he did.

It's fun - damn fun. Where else can you see Godzilla besieged by giant dragonflies, or cool visuals like a half-submerged city and a woman riding on Godzilla's purple-tinged spines? Many of the special effects shots are a touch sloppy in execution (obvious CGI is rampant), but they're tremendously imaginative in concept. So, improbably enough, they work.

Megaguirus is a cool opponent for Godzilla, and their climatic battle is practically high comedy. Both monsters get great reaction shots and some particularly nasty moves. In one infamous - but quite amusing - shot, Godzilla wallops Megaguirus with a leaping tackle that evokes the wrestling maneuvers of his 1960s-70s movies. Fans who complain that too many of the Big G's more recent battles have been decided by "beam contests" should delight in the wacky grappling on display here.

The human characters have interesting motivations, and are even allowed to be selfish, which is a nice change of pace from the preachy and saintly types you usually get in these movies. There's even a cute kid who manages not to be annoying. In short, it's all good - I like the silly monsters AND the incredibly earnest humans AND the totally insane visual effects. All these ingredients add up to a rare Godzilla feast.

Now I'm more jazzed than ever to see "Final Wars"!

The Godzilla series came to a dramatic end with the death of Godzilla (after 22 films and 41 years) in GODZILLA VS. DESTROYER (spelled in the U.S. release as DESTOROYAH) in 1995. The survival of little Godzilla, grown up from Baby Godzilla in the two previous films, paved the way for a sequel. Instead, sequel plans were squelched by Sony's planned American version, which came out in 1998, and Toho Pictures instead produced a series of three new Mothra movies. After Godzilla fans expressed supreme disappointment with the Hollywood remake, Toho revived the franchise in Japan with GODZILLA 2000, which dispensed with all of the history and events of every Godzilla movie since the first one and was touted by Toho as a sequel to the very first Godzilla movie (1954). Some Godzilla fans bought this and some didn't, causing great debate over the film's merits or lack thereof. Leaving aside the issue of where the film fits in the Godzilla timeline, G2K still came up short in the areas of monster battles and urban destruction. MEGAGUIRUS is a half-hearted effort to keep the franchise alive until someone can come up with new ideas. It offers a bit more action and urban rampage than G2K and features a couple of no-nonsense women as the leading characters. It has no real relation to any other Godzilla movies and simply treats Godzilla as a monster menace who needs to be stopped at all costs.

The military and government agencies charged with the task of stopping the Big G come up with a device called Dimension Tide that's designed to create a black hole that will presumably suck in Godzilla. In the course of testing it, they somehow create giant dragonflies which morph into an awkward, clunky, flying insectoid monster dubbed Megaguirus by some handy old male scientist whose only role in the film is to tell us this. Before the morphing, the dragonflies invade Tokyo, causing a devastating flood which inundates the Shibuya district. What causes the dragonflies to transform into the monster is never explained. G and MegaG eventually battle it out in Tokyo to great destructive effect.

The human cast is, thankfully, rather small and they keep to their assigned roles efficiently, in contrast to the overbearing busybodies in G2K who kept getting into G's face (sometimes literally!). Interestingly, the two female lead characters, one an officer (Misato Tanaka) devoted to neutralizing Godzilla, and the other an older scientist (Yuriko Hoshi) overseeing the Dimension Tide project, dominate the action with their resolute behavior and forceful personalities. The actresses are quite good and one wishes they'd been given a little more to do with their characters (but not too much).

While this film decidedly breaks no new ground, it does offer enough action and destruction to please the less discriminating Godzilla fans. Although its effects are not sophisticated enough for the jaded palates of today's JURASSIC PARK-weaned monster fans, the film's bursts of imagination might well surprise them.

I rate this a 7 for fans of the very earliest Godzilla movies. For everyone else, it's going to rank 1 or 2 points lower depending on you're comfort level with tacky special effects and dubbing.

If you're a fan, forget timelines and developments from previous movies. This movie is basically Godzilla vs. both Japan and another monster. Sound familiar? It's basically a throwback to a 1970s look and feel (even though it takes place modern day). Toy buildings, dubbing and obvious "man in a monster suit" special effects all give it a special nostalgia charm.

But that's not all that's good. The fast paced plot keeps the viewer well engaged at all times. Something is always happening. The basic plot is simple: during a failed attempt to destroy Godzilla using exotic means (creating a mini black hole), another creature enters this realm. It is eventually learned that it is a winged creature. Naturally, it's only a matter of time before there's a showdown between the two.

If you liked early 70's Godzilla movies, you'll like this one. If not, you're probably better off looking for a different movie.

I guess Tokyo is flooded. Meanwhile, G Force once again must deal with Godzilla by implementing a weapon that shoots a black hole that sends whatever organism it touches to another dimension but upon utilization instead unleashes a giant dragonfly that wants to do stuff. Oopsie doodles. The dragonfly is cool but I found its powers to be a bit weak. All it does is fly around fast and uses its tail to drain energy. Monster fights were a bit quirky and weird looking in terms of how it was shot but overall enjoyable and the acting and the story blows but of course that's predictable. And I hate that butch Japanese lesbian. I wish Godzilla fried her flat @$$ into oblivion. Not a bad entry but could've been better.