Godzilla X Mechagodzilla

Now this is definitely cool. At this time, Toho is once again reviving some of their classic creatures to costar with the King of the Monsters, this time the mechanical doppleganger Mechagodzilla. Like the other films of the Millennium series, this one is a direct sequel to the 1954 classic, but it also makes references to other classic Toho films. Get ready to crumble because this is Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla!

Plot: Nearly fifty years after the attack on Tokyo back in 1954, a second Godzilla creature has risen from the depths to challenge mankind. Desperate, the government assembles the greatest minds of Japan to create a weapon to defeat the beast: the cyborg monster Mechagodzilla (also called Kiryu for some reason). Piloting the massive mech is Akane Yashiro, a fairly complicated woman struggling to find her place in the world. But when Mechagodzilla starts to have a few nasty glitches, can the government find a way to bring it under control? It all leads up to the thrilling building-smashing showdown between Godzilla and his mechanical double.

This is a fine entry to the giant-sized series. The Godzilla suit is fantastic, one of the best ever and Godzilla himself is an awesome force of destruction. Mechagodzilla has an impressive design, a cool set of weaponry, and is actually given something of a personality. Most of the effects and miniatures are excellent and the action scenes are a true delight to watch.

The human characters are actually pretty interesting, which is something one hardly gets in the Godzilla films. Akane is surprisingly complex and has lots of good emotional qualities. She's kind, sympathetic, tough, and level-headed, which makes her far more superior to the arrogant and vengeful female lead of "Godzilla vs Megaguirus." The other characters are good to like Dr. Yuhara and his daughter who befriend Akane. Dialog between the characters is fairly top-notch, hardly any exaggeration even in the English dubbing. I just wish that they'd stop calling Mechagodzilla "Kiryu."

While this movie may leave you wishing for a little more, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is a satisfying entry in the classic Toho film series. At least it has a sequel (Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S.) unlike the other Millennium films. Overall, not bad so check it out. All hail the King of the Monsters.

This Godzilla movie has a better storyline than any of the other originals. The special effects used were excellent, however the Godzilla and MechaGodzilla (Kiryu) costumes were similar to the ones used in the early Godzilla movies.

The performance of Japanese Pop Idol Yumiko Shaku (Yuki from Shura Yukihime/The Princess Blade) was great, she really portrayed her character (Akane Yashino)'s emotions well.

The overall its a good movie to watch for fun!

After the giddy heights of "GMK," the Godzilla series returns to pleasant mediocrity with this strangely "Top Gun"-like entry. Godzilla himself has a very minimal role; most of the film deals with the construction of new version of Mechagodzilla, who looks rather like a glorified Transformer. The battle scenes are pretty cool (especially the missiles!), but as another reviewer observed, Godzilla is motionless in several shots and looks either like a big action figure or, during one especially embarrassing moment, a cardboard cutout (for the curious, it's when he blows up one of the jets). Still, I liked the heroine and the fun flashbacks to the old Godzilla, so on balance I'd have to say this is above-average for the series. I just don't understand fans who tout this as a "return" to the classic Godzilla after the controversial GMK - a return to cheesiness, you mean?

The story starts with truck load of unknown object being moved out of Tateyama city. Shortly after that, Godzilla appears in Tateyama city. What's the connection ? The object that was moved out of Tateyama city was the remains of the original Godzilla that attacked Tokyo in 1954. Japanese special defense force JXSDF (Japan Counter-Xenomorph Self Defense Force) attacks Godzilla but it's weapons are ineffective against the Godzilla. Prime minister Takushoku (Kumi Mizuno) assembles a team of scientists to build a robot based on the original Godzilla's skeleton named Kiryu (Mechanical Dragon) to counter Godzilla's attack.

This movie had good special effects, the Mecha Godzilla (which only Dr. Uhara and his daughter refers to in this fasion in the movie) 's design was by far the best of all Mechagodzillas. They really took the effort to get the details right on this movie with cool looking cargo planes Shirasagi (White Heron) to transport Kiryu from its base to battle ground. Yumiko Shaku's performance as Akane Yashiro was engaging, and acting was believable. The plot was good and the score which was performed by Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra was in my opinion best of all Godzilla series.

This Godzilla was just as entertaining as the original Godzilla of 1954 which it pays homage to. None other Godzilla film even comes close to the quality of finish this movie has except for the 1954 original, and for this reason, movie scores a high mark.

Better than last year's GMK, in fact, (still, I give that one ****). After the original Godzilla is destroyed in 1954, Japan has become the stomping ground (pun intended!) for a host of other kaiju over the years(featured in brief flashbacks). A special branch of the Japanese Defense Force is created to counter this threat, resulting in the creation of MechaGodzilla, a biomechanical monster created from the dna recovered from the remains of the original Godzilla. After it's initial encounter with Godzilla, the thing goes berserk when it "hears" Godzilla's roar which triggers a genetic memory in the robot's control system, causing it to go on a rampage.

GODZILLA vs MECHAGODZILLA returns the Big G to his sci-fi roots. The beginning is very similar to that of GODZILLA vs MEGAGUIRIUS, which is no surprise since it's directed by Masaaki Tezuka, who also directed GxM. The acting is superb, and the special effects are top notch-light years ahead of any premillennial G-films, or even GODZILLA '98 for that matter. I won't give away the ending, but it does leave room for a sequel currently in production in Japan, so stay tuned.

Rating: ***** out of *****