Four years after Godzilla reappeared in 1999, the
Japanese Government is ready to face him with a new secret weapon. Using the skeletal remains of the original
Godzilla, a new Mechagodzilla, codenamed Kiryu, is born. At the helm of this mechanized titan is Akane
Yashiro, an officer looking for redemption after a previous encounter with
Godzilla. But Kiryu proves to be just as
unpredictable as the King of the Monsters. With this Mechagodzilla emerge
Japan’s savoir or join its flesh and blood brother as its destroyer?
Seeing as how bringing back multiple Godzilla favorites
in GMK proved a box office success, Toho’s next Millenium Series entry returns
to that well with another beloved Godzilla fan favorite.
Personally, I don’t know why they didn’t just
call this Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 3 (ok GvMCG 2 in the Hesiei wasn’t a
sequel to the 70’s film but still the title is cool).
But that hardly matters when Godzilla Against
Mechagodzilla proves to be a more than worthy follow up to GMK with impressive
visuals, a long awaited rematch for Godzilla and a very cute and capable
actress at the helm of a decent human side story.
Much like how Godzilla and Ghidorah were given new roles
and origins in GMK (Mothra was pretty much the same), Godzilla Against
Mechagodzilla does some rewriting on Mecha G and it’s pretty creative.
As with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Kiryu
is a man made weapon rather than an Alien machine.
But this time, its been constructed around
the skeletal remains of the original Godzilla from 1954.
This causes Kiryu to go berserk when it
recalls some of the memories of its past life.
It makes Kiryu just as much of a wild card as Godzilla, doing just as
much damage as he can and with a lot more firepower. This concept, while unique
to Mechagodzilla, feels directly inspired by Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis
Evangelion.
In fact, there are a lot of
references and nods to Eva in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, so much so that I
wonder if Toho tried to approach Anno about directing this one before he’d
eventually direct 2016’s Shin Godzilla.
Godzilla is back to his old self this time around, pupils
and all.
Weirdly enough, he feels kind
of bog standard in this film. Sure he can still bring the carnage like nobody’s
business.
For once though, Godzilla
feels like the least interesting element of his own movie, especially when you
place him along side the new Mecha G and the Human Cast (I cant believe I just
wrote that).
Yes, Godzilla Against
Mechagodzilla has another no nonsense and bad ass female lead at the helm with
Yumiko Shaku’s Akane.
There a nice,
gradual defrosting of this hardened soldier with a chip on her shoulder.
At first, she wants nothing more than
redemption for the men she lost to Godzilla.
But thanks to her rather cute and touching interactions with a bumbling
scientist, who has the hots for her, and his adorable daughter, Akane does grow
as a character, doing more than scowling and wishing for her own death as
payment for her sins.
She and Kiryu make
a good team, so much so they genuinely outshine Godzilla himself.
Visually, this film seemed rather light on CG for the
most part until the finale.
Both
Godzilla and Kiryu look fantastic.
Kiryu
makes quite the statement decked with more armaments than any other incarnation
of Mechagodzilla before it and you can never go wrong with a giant robot armed
to the teeth.
The continued use of suits
and wide shots over model cities continues to work just as magically as it did
back in the 50’s and 60’s and it still looks amazing for an early 2000’s Kaiju
flick.
Of course, some of the CG and
background composites don’t always gel and there were instances where the
monsters standing still as stone while they were shelled with artillery were a
bit odd.
Still, Godzilla and
Mechagodzilla’s long awaited rematch is nothing short of awesome and some of
the fighting footage isnt even slowed down at points, allowed to run in real
time like Godzilla vs. Angirus in Godzilla Raids Again.
This allows us to really see Kiryu go at it
and Godzilla give an equally fast and ferocious reply in return.
I really liked Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla but is it
better than GMK?
It think it stands just
as strong alongside it for its own reasons.
Kiryu is a fascinating take on an old Godzilla foe.
Akane shines through her scowl with her
determination and thawing heart.
And the
fights are just as epic and fun as GMK, though not as bleak as that one.
It’s proof that 28 years after they first
locked claws, Godzilla and Mechagodzilla can still deliver the Kaiju goods.
It’s worthy of one of Akane’s proud (and kind of cute) salutes.
9/10
I guess my biggest concern is after two back to back
hits, can the Millenium Series keep the hype train going?
Well it’s gonna try with yet another rematch
between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla as we take a look at the first (and only)
direct sequel in the Millenium Series with
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S Next
Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
Godzilla Against Mecha-G is prob my top contender for the Millennium Era alongside GMK. The new take on Mechagodzilla into Kiryu (which means Machine Dragon, how cool is that?) was a good one. While I like the idea of Mechagodzilla being a anti-Godzilla/kaiju weapon as done in Mechagodzilla II, they didn’t really make him stand out as a character. Showa Mecha-G is nice and villainous, even though he’s also a controlled weapon. Heisei Mecha-G sort of lacks that. Kiryu though with its tragic background and conflicted nature though really stands out. As to whether this is better than GMK? It’s a bit of a toss-up. I dig the various serious tone of GMK and the pure villain Godzilla. However, while I’m glad there’s a female lead in Yuri in GMK, she’s not as good as Akane. So it’s a bit of wash a little, as both films do some stuff better, and some stuff worse. Against Mecha-G certainly is aiming for a lighter and more fun tone at times for sure.
ReplyDeleteIt'd be interesting to know when Anno was approached for any involvement in the Godzilla series. GMK’s director, who first worked on Gamera had approached Toho earlier but was turned down. Once the Heisei Gamera films were a success though, he had the clout and Toho now needed his help. Anno would have already had that as well. Though since the films at the time were being paired with the Hamtaro films, maybe Anno was considered too dark of a creator? I mean could you imagine something like Shin Godzilla paired with an anime hamster double-feature LOL
While Godzilla is a bit ‘standard’ here, I still think he stands out. After all this look got used quite a bit in the comics at the time. I agree though the standout characters are Kiryu and Akane. She’s probably my favorite protagonist of the Millennium Era as she has a proper arc, and I enjoy her bad ass personality. She’s the character from Godzilla vs Megagurius done right this time. Overall, Godzilla Against Mecha-G, feels like a refinement of that storyline into something better.
The effects in this rock, from the suits to the miniatures. There’s only a handful of bad shots, compared to say the earlier entries. I think less reliance on matting in this and GMK was an improvement over the first two Millennium films.
But yeah good score, and quite a good Godzilla film for the era.