It’s time to go on another adventure with everyone’s second-favourite giant turtle beastie (because The Great A’Tuin should be number one on anyone’s ranked shortlist of giant turtles), and Gamera is once again on a mission to battle other strange life-forms and keep some children safe.
Two young boys, Akio (Nobuhira Kajima) and Tom (Miyuki Akiyama), end up spying a flying saucer landing that they then proceed to board. The vehicle then takes off with the boys on board, taking them eventually to a different planet, where Gamera fights a new foe, and also encounters an old enemy.
With everything once again in the hands of writer Niisan Takahasi and director Noriaki Yuasa, this is solid entertainment for those who are happy enough when the kaiju movies skew towards a younger demographic (as so many of them do). There is a sense of adventure and playfulness throughout, but no real danger, and the slight plot pauses for a few good smackdowns (and Guiron is a worthy opponent, in terms of both strength and design).
There’s no point in spending too much time discussing the cast (something I say during almost every kaiju movie review . . . seriously, just check out a sample of them and get back to me), but both Kajima and Akiyama are decent child actors, maintaining the right expressions of awe and nervousness as they watch everything happening around them.
Considering my past worries as I started to work through the Gamera movies, I am very happy to report my positive response to this one, and any Gamera features still in my future. Either the movies have moved on from the low point that had me worried or I have recalibrated my mindset as I become more used to the tone and presentation of these movies. Gamera fans will have some fun with this. Everyone else will just have to accept that they don’t like joy.
6/10
If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do
consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A
subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share
On Sunday I watched the last half of Gamera vs Zigra I think it is but it might be spelled differently. Definitely silly childish fare but fun if you're in the right mood.
ReplyDeleteI might have said before but I just don't know why they haven't tried rebooting Gamera since I think an attempt in the late 90s. Rights issues are probably a lot of it. Still, with all the money those silly American ones are making and how well Godzilla Minus One did, you'd think there'd be an impetus to get it together. Maybe try a cinematic universe with some other unused monsters.
I THINK it may be to do with the challenge of making Gamera less goofy while also staying true to the character. The '90s reboot series is quite superb, from the ones I have seen.
DeleteThe reboot series is down to $50 on Bluray in the States. A little too rich for my blood at the moment. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LNL4FWT
DeleteI have the super-duper Arrow video set that covers both eras. It is a thing of beauty :)
Delete