Five years after Godzilla’s return, a grieving scientist
uses some of the Kaiju’s cells to prolong the last living gift from his
daughter. To his and the rest of the
worlds horror, this gives birth to a new breed of plant like monster,
Biollante. And this couldn’t come at a
worse time as Godzilla finally awakens to resume his relentless assault on
Japan. But Biollante calls to the King
of the Monsters, born of the same cells.
An battle is imminent and the fate of the world hangs in the balance
once more.
1985’s Return of Godzilla reminded the world just what
kind of a force of destructive nature the King of the Monsters can really
be.
For his second adventure in the
Hesei Era, it’s time to remind the world of the other thing he does best:
kicking fellow Kaiju ass.
Godzilla vs.
Biollante actually goes a bit beyond that with a story that actually continues
on from Return of Godzilla, building the world up and actually using Human
characters who aren’t annoying when on screen.
Many Godzilla fans cite this one as one of the very best in the
series…but is it really?
Godzilla’s titular foe is pretty amazing from a creative
and threating stand point.
Basically
Biollante is the Little Shop of Horrors on Kaiju steroids: towering and
imposing, deceptively beautiful in its first stage, and probably takes a crazy
amount of behind the scenes work to portray it effectively.
Biollante is just straight up awesome and its
numerous attacks to make up for some of its physical shortcomings give Godzilla
quite the hard time.
The only problem I
have is Biollante’s lack of screentime.
She’s put to good use for sure but the film sort of has the exact
opposite problem of other Godzilla films: usually it’s the main monster foe (or
the Humans) getting more screentime than Godzilla himself.
There’s nothing wrong with Godzilla wrecking
the place up, it’s what we come here for.
But Biollante not doing more destruction itself or going up against the
military feels like a missed opportunity.
Surprisingly, this is a rare Godzilla film where the
Humans don’t really distract but rather add to the films effectiveness and
world building.
It’s interesting to see
the world in a new kind of bio weapon arms race to see who can make the best
use of the cells recovered from Godzilla’s rampage in 85.
Some want to use it to combat Godzilla
himself while others have more nefarious plans for the world at large.
Characters like Professors Kirishima and
Shiragami & Colonel Gondo, among others,
all offer varying points of view on how to best handle the use of Godzilla’s
DNA in world affairs.
And while most of
the human cast is fine and doesn’t do anything off putting or annoying, the
little mini war between two Bio Weapon Companies gets a little too silly,
especially considering the use of broken English for some scenes and the
inclusion of a Terminator style super agent, SSS9, whose appearance just takes
you out of the moment cause he’s just trying to look too cool when the chaos is
erupting everywhere.
It must be said that the visual effects of this second
era of Godzilla are freaking incredible.
Like I said, Godzilla taking a destructive stroll is part of the fun of
these movies and Biollante has some of the best looking of these scenes
ever.
This is a Showa Era rampage
looking refined and perfected in every way from camera angles to explosions to
the many close ups on Godzilla to show just how peeved he is when someone or something
interrupts his walk.
Even the scenes
where Godzilla is fighting the Super X2 and the military more than Biollante
have their good moments because of how good the movie looks.
Truly, if you wanna show someone how a
classic Godzilla rampage is supposed to look, Godzilla vs. Biollante is a good
go to.
While Biollante takes a backseat to more classic Godzilla
vs. the Military action and the firefights between hapless shadowy
organizations can distract, Godzilla vs. Biollante is a pretty strong
continuation for the Hesei Era after Return of Godzilla.
Biollante’s complex and gorgeous design is
one of the best in the series and the film offers some of the most awesome
looking large scale destruction to satisfy all fans.
And when you can make a sub plot about a new
era arms race as interesting as the Kaiju throwdowns, you’ve actually somehow
managed to make a Godzilla film that works on almost every level like Shin
Godzilla or Godzilla Minus One.
Not bad
Biollante, not bad.
8/10
Next week, the Hesei Era goes back to its Showa Era roots
with a tale involving Time Travel, Terminators, Godzilla’s greatest arch
nemesis...and Major Spielberg?
It’s
Godzilla
vs. King Ghidorah, Next Monday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
This one is definitely in the Top 10 for me of Godzilla films, maybe Top 5. Personally, I feel this film set the tone that should have been followed for the rest of this era. One where Godzilla is a threat, even when another monster is around. There’s seriously treated storylines and characters, even when there’s giant monsters and girls with psychic powers. And that the effects look top notch. Not all the Heisei films sadly will follow this standard, which I find a slightly missed opportunity.
ReplyDeleteAlso, one small nitpick. Return of Godzilla came out in 1984, the film itself is SET in 1985. As the Heisei Era films all take place one year ahead of their release date (hence why Godzilla vs King Ghidorah opens with the 1992 AD date, despite coming out in 1991).
Biollante was a great idea for a new kind of Godzilla foe. The late 80s were a boom in discussions of the power of genetic technology, hence why Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park in this era. And ironically the success of the film Little Shop of Horrors helped convinced Toho to begin work on a new Godzilla film. Maybe more could have been done with Biollante as a threat herself, but I feel like the story is organized the right way. Where Godzilla is the primary threat, and Biollante is a result of that and Dr. Shiragami’s grief and arrogance. She’s the tragic monster and more sympathic of the two this go around. So, her fighting the JSDF or threatening the characters I think would distract from that for the audience. Her twin forms are quite good, with the more monstrous but feminine flower, than the more beastly creature for the final battle. I’d love to see Biollante done with modern effects, to maybe give her even more life. Not that the Special Effects or puppetry here was bad at all.
The characters are indeed what I find to be one of the stronger cores of this film. Sadly, in the Showa Era the characters were always pretty stock and to varying levels, bland. Even Return of Godzilla had a less engaging lead, though Dr. Hayashida and Prime Minister Mitamura gave great performances. Biollante, however, gives us lots of great characters. Kirishima with his concerns over genetic engineering and the Anti-Nuclear Bacteria and his role in it, Colonel Gondo fulfilling our engaging bad ass of the film, Shiragami with his mix of grief and scientific arrogance. Plus the supporting characters are good too, Okochi being a representation of the powerful Japanese Businessman and part of that more nationalist streak some powerful people held. He’s got a lot inline with Jurassic Park novel John Hammond (who is a bastard unlike film Hammond) in his attitude and views of genetic power. Major Kuroki, who is a reflection of the new JSDF as well. Young, believing in new high technology, and a nice contrast to Gondo and the old school but not clashing with him. His goal is to deal with Godzilla, with other factors being secondary. Not to mention the introduction of Miki Saegusa, who would become the human face of the Heisei Series.
DeleteAfter all the silliness of the Showa Era, a plot involving nations, competing corporate entities, and starting to slightly world build really appeals to me. Not to mention the fact that continuity does matter. The film opens right after the events of Return of Godzilla, with the clean up and the battle for Godzilla’s Cells. Like realistically, lots of powers corporate or otherwise would be interested in Godzilla. So having Bio-Major, Okochi’s Company, and the Japanese/Saradian governments all with roles to play and desires for the Anti-Nuclear Bacteria later on is great. Yeah, the corporate stuff is a bit silly. Like what set of corporate lawyers are going to sign off on Kaiju terrorism LOL Even Gordon Gecko would probably think twice about that. The English lines in the OG Japanese version are pretty bad, so much so HBO/Miramax who handled the initial U.S. Home Video release when they did the dubbing, DUBBED EVERYBODY so most of that issue is addressed if you can see that version. SSS9 is I’m pretty sure a nod to Director Kazuki Ōmori’s love of James Bond, for good and for bad. Overall, I really enjoy the more mature storylines and debates of this one.
And absolutely, the effects in this one kick ass. The Godzilla and Biollante suits/puppets are superb, with Godzilla getting closer to my favorite look. Koichi Kawakita, the Special Effects Director just delivers amazing scenes time and again in this one. My favorite probably being the naval battle between JNSDF ships and Godzilla shortly after he escapes. The music, action, and intensity of the scene are just awesome. One of the best Godzilla vs the military scenes out there. Plus, his love of military and mecha stuff gave us my favorite looking Maser Tanks of the series, which will get used time and again. And I love again the continuity at play. Super X2, being a continuation of the idea from before. Only this time it’s unmanned, designed to better stand up against Godzilla, and introduces the idea of reflecting or using Godzilla’s Atomic Breath against him is created here. Visually, this one looks amazing.
DeleteIt's shame they kind of turned away from this going forwards, since the film under performed. As we’ll see next time, the sillier elements are back. I really would be curious to see the timeline where more serious Godzilla films were the norm for the 90s era.