In my ongoing journey through some of the classic kaiju films, and the word classic is being asked to do a fair bit of heavy lifting there, I have already grown accustomed to being a bit disappointed. The highs are really high, but there have been quite a few low points, especially over the past few weeks. Ebirah, Horror Of The Deep, also known as Ebirah, Terror Of The Deep, is not a low point. In fact, it's a new favourite, and I'm sure that many fans of these movies will already be exasperated every time I offer an opinion that is ridiculously late to the kaiju party.
The story concerns a group of men who steal a yacht. One of them has recently had a brother go missing at sea and he's determined to find him. They end up on a mysterious island, controlled by terrorists, and the waters surrounding the island are home to, as if you couldn't guess already, Ebirah, a creature that looks very much like a giant lobster. Perhaps Godzilla can be called upon to help. Or maybe another one of the gigantic creatures that we've encountered in previous movies.
Written by Shin'ichi Sekizawa, this is a fun adventure film that feels more like Mysterious Island at times than a standard Godzilla movie (and it's worth noting that Big G only really appears for a short period of time during the third act). While the characters are as forgettable as usual, as individuals, there are at least various factions interacting with one another. Yata (Tôru Ibuki) is the missing man, Ryôta (Tôru Watanabe) is his brother, the terrorists are standard baddies, and Daiyo (Kumi Mizuno) is a young woman trying to maintain her freedom on an island that has been turned into a prison. Sekizawa does well to keep bringing things back to these main players, ultimately allowing them to interact with one another until it's time to bring on the monster battles.
Director Jun Fukuda does a decent job, although the island setting means that he doesn't have the opportunity to show any truly impressive destruction, there is no major cityscape to be stomped on here. He keeps everything moving well enough though, helped by the plotting of Sekizawa's screenplay, and proves to be a very solid stand-in for/successor to the legendary Ishirô Honda.
There's no point in mentioning the performances of the cast members. They do what is needed, and Mizuno once again adds some glamorous beauty to the proceedings, but they're really just moving set dressing until the big beasties come along, and those big beasties will keep the fans happy. Godzilla is a delight when onscreen, but Ebirah is definitely one of my favourite creations from the list of many supporting kaiju that I'd never previously heard of. It looks impressive and dangerous, and the practical effects team all work hard to make it feel like a plausible oceanic threat.
A real joy from start to finish, even if it could have done with a bit more screentime for Godzilla, this is one I am glad to have finally seen. And I'd happily rewatch it any time.
8/10
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He looks like a giant lobster, which begs the question: how much butter would you need to go with that?
ReplyDeleteALL the butter.
Delete