For It Is Man's Number: kaiju

Showing posts with label kaiju. Show all posts

Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera 3: Revenge Of Iris (1999)

It's near the end of the road for Gamera, in terms of cinematic outings (one more main feature after this one, is it time for a revival?), and this particular outing brings together a couple of familiar characters to root for Gamera as it ends up fighting a giant creature named Iris that really isn't like a version of Mothra at all, honest.

There are more Gyaos around, dealt with by Gamera in a way that leads to major collateral damage (aka thousands dead). This leads to some once again viewing Gamera as an enemy of the people. Meanwhile, a young girl, Ayana (Ai Maeda), finds a stone egg that she looks after until hatching time, leading to the birth of Iris. Ayana and Iris have a bond with one another, and the girl is manipulated into directing her resentment and anger (her parents died during a previous kaiju incident) towards Gamera. Mayumi Ngamine (Shinobu Nakayama) knows the truth though, how things need to play out for the benefit of the human race, and she hopes that Asagi Kusanaga (Ayako Fukitani) can help Gamera to win what may be their toughest battle yet.

It's Shûsuke Kaneko in the director's chair again, and Kazunori Itô back as a co-writer, which guarantees a consistency of approach and style that helps to make this feel like a fitting third part of a trilogy. It never feels like a full ending though, with those involved perhaps hoping to make another movie that would serve as an immediate continuation of this particular cinematic chapter of Gamera (the next film, Gamera The Brave, would end up being released in 2006, with a different writer and director on the job). The special effects are very good, with Iris a particularly eye-catching creation, the pacing works well enough, and anyone who enjoyed the previous two movies in the series will enjoy this, even if it is a slight step down from the last film.

With both Nakayama and Fukitani reprising their main roles, the latter having been in all three of these movies, there's a solid through line for their character development, and it's nice to have that extra sense of familiarity, a comforting core of Gamera support while so many others view the creature as an enemy to be destroyed. Maeda is very good as the person inadvertently helping to destroy our hero, and Senri Yamasaki and Tôru Tezuka are good fun as the real villains of the piece.

Although not as memorable as I suspect it wants to be, this is another solid Gamera feature, and it does well in balancing the human element with the big fight scenes. It delivers what you would want, but doesn't quite do enough to exceed expectations. All in all, it's a good time.

7/10

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

Wednesday, 23 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera 2: Attack Of The Legion (1996)

When I first watched Gamera 2: Attack Of The Legion I wasn't too familiar with the series. I did enjoy it, a lot, but I had no major attachment to, or knowledge of, the main creatures at the heart of this (aka the Legion). Now that I feel fully-versed in the lore of Gamera, all I can say is that I enjoyed it even more. It's still slightly restricted by the boundaries of the kind of kaiju movie it is, but this is easily a fantastic time for fans of these films.

The plot is as simple as expected. Earth is visited by another alien beastie, although they work together as a crowd of beasties working together as one. As people start to figure out exactly what is going on, Gamera ends up poised to once again save our planet. The main people working on a solution, and waiting to support Gamera, are Lieutenant Colonel Watarase (Toshiyuki Nagashima), an engineer named Obitsu (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), and a science instructor named Midori Honami (Miki Mizuno). There's also a returning appearance for young Asagi Kusanagi (Ayako Fujitana, reprising her role from the previous film), a girl psychically connected to Gamera.

With both writer Kazunori Itô and director Shûsuke Kaneko returning behind the scenes, this is a great natural progression from the last film, although it also works very well as a self-contained story (one or two elements aside). Unlike every other Gamera movie I can think of, this takes time to make things surprisingly tense and creepy throughout the first act, potentially keeping the main antagonist as a mystery to those who may have somehow started watching it without reading the title. Starting things off on a relatively small scale proves to be a great way to turn this into something that stands out from the kaiju movie crowd, but anyone hankering for a bigger threat and more destruction doesn’t have to wait too long.

Mizuno is an enjoyable presence, and both Nagashima and Fukikoshi do well enough in roles that are, as ever with these movies, playing second fiddle to the titular creatures, but the real highlight is Fujitana, more because of being able to enjoy the continuity of her character’s journey than any superior acting performance.

Gamera movies are often inherently silly, and also happy to keep things as child-friendly as the more juvenile Godzilla movies. This particular film uses the groundwork laid by the previous instalment to deliver something a bit more tense and interesting, and the end result is one of the very best films in the entire Gamera filmography.

8/10

Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe (1995)

A reboot of the movie series featuring everyone's favourite flying turtle-like kaiju, Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe is good fun for those already familiar with the IP.

The Gyaos are also back for this adventure, looking to cause mayhem and destruction in Japan until the arrival of Gamera. Always one to protect any children, first and foremost, Gamera this time forms a strong bong with young Asagi (Ayako Fujitani). This bond helps Asagi to inform others of what Gamera is trying to do, but that doesn't mean that everyone will view Gamera as an ally, especially when the government sees all of the damage caused by its actions.

While not on a par with the special effects of many other mid-'90s blockbusters I could mention here, this is certainly a step up from the crude charm of the earlier movies. The "lo-fi" approach feels like a decision that has been made to avoid alienating fans, but there are some nice little details and clarity added to the creatures and their wider range of actions this time around.

Writer Kazunori Itô, who had a great 1995 with his work on both this and Ghost In The Shell, does a very good job of delivering some facts for the uninitiated while also keeping things moving along for everyone eagerly awaiting some Gamera and/or Gyaos action. The same can be said for director Shûsuke Kaneko, doing more than enough to satisfy all-comers without hitting nowhere near the heights that he would reach in the years ahead (having given us even better kaiju movies, as well as the first superb live-action Death Note movie in 2006).

Cast-wise, things are also pretty good. Fujitani is likeable enough as young Asagi, and Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, and Shinobu Nakayama do well as other main characters trying to figure out how to put an end to the giant creature battles before Japan suffers too much collateral damage. You get the usual selection of authority figures (police, military personnel, and, ummmmm, civil servants), but the plotting allows for Asagi and co. to remain the clear focus while moving around in the shadows of the kaiju.

It's not quite as fun as some other instalments in the series, but this does what is required to successfully reboot everything, allowing us to get a couple of movies that are even better (well, I know the next film is a favourite of mine, but I'm being presumptuous about the as-yet-unseen Gamera 3: Revenge Of Iris). Whatever your personal preferences when it comes to individual instalments in the series, this should keep you happy enough if you've watched the other films that came before it.

7/10

Wednesday, 9 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera: Super Monster (1980)

I didn't expect much from this at all, a Gamera movie that seemed to be nothing more than a cheap "megamix" of past encounters, apparently made just to help a studio get out of some financial trouble. I am sure that many others will dismiss this, and perhaps it barely counts as a Gamera movie when considered alongside other, more original, instalments in the series (but really . . . how original is any Gamera movie after the first one?), but I ended up really enjoying it.

An alien enemy is threatening Earth, and they also hope to reveal the identity of some superheroes living here, the Spacewomen (played by Mach Fumiake, Yaeko Kojima, and Yoko Komatsu). Unable to work as effectively as they would like, especially while trying to keep themselves hidden away from the searching alien presence, the Spacewomen end up enlisting the help of a young boy, Keiichi (Koichi Maeda), who can himself enlist the help of Gamera.

Although every main kaiju battle here is lifted from previous movies, that doesn't matter so much when the film is so much fun. Gamera ends up battling Gyaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron, and Barugon, all familiar creatures to those who have watched the previous movies, and the end result of each fight isn't made any less enjoyable by being a foregone conclusion. The developing relationship between Keiichi and the Spacewomen is done well, and entertaining enough to keep things well-paced in between the giant battles.

Surprisingly, the main cast members work really well in what some may view as nothing more than "filler" scenes. Young Maeda is as lively and optimistic as the young children in these movies usually are, and even a bit more likeable than usual, and Fumiake is very good as Kilara, the leader of the Spacewomen.

Director Noriaki Yuasa is working again with writer Niisan Takahashi, and working again with stock footage (of course), and he does well to make this seem even occasionally like a film that has been put together with some thought and care. I'm not saying that Yuasa and Takahashi didn't bother at all about what they were doing, but they certainly had limitations on what they could stitch together. The fact that the final product is as coherent and entertaining as this is quite extraordinary.

I could see myself watching this again, ahead of some other weak Gamera movies. It has a selection of highlights, a fun sub-plot with the humanoid characters, and none of the plodding pacing issues that some of the other Gamera movies suffer from. And maybe my poor memory helps me to enjoy sequences that still feel exciting and fun, despite the fact that I've already watched them, in a slightly different context, over the past few months.

8/10

Wednesday, 2 October 2024

Prime Time: Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)

Many people who review/critique movies for a living (or even, like myself, because of a need to keep myself mentally stable and happy with my own OCD approach to my own viewing selection) don't like to give immediate reactions. Some believe that it can take at least two viewings to fully form an opinion. Some believe that you need to let things sit with you a while before you put pen to paper (metaphorically-speaking). I don't think that way. I think that it can be good to dive into your own thoughts about a movie as soon as the credits have stopped rolling. That isn't to say that your opinion then will remain your opinion forever, but it's as good a time as any to take a snapshot of your feelings.

In saying that, however, I have to note that I ended up watching Gamera vs. Zigra twice. My first viewing wasn't great. Life threw a number of interruptions my way, and I was pretty unhappy by the time I got through to the end. I then waited too long to get my review written, which made me find time in my schedule for a second watch. I'm glad that happened, because the second watch was much more enjoyable. Maybe it was due to a lack of interruptions. Maybe I was just in a better mood.

The IMDb summary for this movie says this: "Space aliens arrive on Earth with their giant shark and intend to take over the planet but they must first destroy Gamera". I guess that's correct, but it actually doesn't do justice to the fun you can have with this one. Gamera once again pops up to remind us all that they are a friend to all children, which is handy when young Kenichi (Yasushi Sakagami) and his father, Dr. Yosuke Ishikawa (Isamu Saeki), encounter a female alien (Reiko Kasahara) who plans the aforementioned takeover of our planet. The alien has a handy spaceship that can transform into a giant monster, more like a swordfish than a shark, and the second half of the movie features a number of battles between Gamera and this dangerous creature.

Once again in the hands of director Noriaki Yuasa and writer Niisan Takahashi (credited here as Fumi Takahashi), this is a fun time for fans of Gamera. As long as you aren't a newcomer, and you know that these always tend to be more child-friendly adventures, this delivers what is expected. Gamera may seem to be offscreen for most of the first half, but they are given enough to do to ensure that presence is still felt keenly enough until it's time for the fighting to properly start.

Sakagami is fine in his role, as is Saeki, but Kasahara is a highlight, whether explaining the plans for planet domination or wandering around Japan in very little clothing as she searches for the two humans that escaped her clutches. As ever, it's all about the creatures though. While Zigra may not be the best of the opponents that Gamera has had to battle, they're well-designed and threatening enough to feel like a worthwhile creation. Zigra makes things very difficult for Gamera, as expected, and the ongoing fight leads to a final moment that is kind of hilarious and brilliant.

If you saw this film some time ago and didn't like it then I would recommend giving it another go. You may still feel the same way about it, but you may end up finding it a bit more enjoyable than you remembered. I'm glad that I ended up giving this a second chance, and it also served as a nice reminder that people should bear in mind the fluidity of personal opinions whenever browsing through the many movie reviews available here, there, and everywhere.

7/10

Thursday, 26 September 2024

Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)

My second disappointing kaiju movie in as many weeks, Godzilla vs. Gigan seems to pretty much ignore the previous instalment in the series to get back to the Monster Island plotting that allowed Godzilla and friends to remain gathered together in the one place to be handily called upon when needed.

This time around, aliens are wanting to secretly colonize Earth. They take human form, hiding their actual insectoid appearance, and end up making use of Gigan and King Ghidorah in their plans to destroy the human race, which leads to a predictable third act that puts Godzilla in the heart of the action.

Whether it was due to this feeling like a step backward after the previous movie, or due to the action scenes being slightly mishandled, Godzilla vs. Gigan is one of the lesser movies in this enduring series. The tone never feels properly set, with the shape-shifting alien plot strand ripe for some darkness and thrills offset by the comparatively juvenile Monster Island moments, there's somehow no real stakes in the big battles, and none of the main characters feel well-rounded enough to really care about. There's just nothing here for viewers to "hold on to", which is a failing from director Jun Fukuda and writers Takeshi Kimura and Shin'ichi Sekizawa (who were both tasked with coming up with story ideas that were then blended together).

The main cast members are Hiroshi Ishikawa, Yuriko Hishimi, Minoru Takashima, and Tomoko Umeda, but we all know that the main cast members are actually Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Gigan, and, this time around, Anguirus. Everyone, and every kaiju, does what they need to do, and there are individual moments that hint at how enjoyable this could have been, but they're generally unable to elevate the material.

It would seem that every subsequent instalment in this series leads to me writing ever-shrinking reviews, but there's nothing new to say. I don't want to spend too much time being critical of a template that others may still appreciate and retain a fondness for, especially when my own reaction may be based as much on my own mood when viewing the films as it is based on the films themselves, but there's certainly a notable difference in quality between something like this and one of the more fun instalments, whether aimed at general audiences or skewed towards a younger viewer demographic.

Will anyone come along to tell me how wrong I am about this one, or is it generally maligned by all? I'll just have to wait and see, but I'll be interested to find out if anyone can convince me to revisit and re-evaluate this one day. Because I can't see myself even remembering it within a month or two.

3/10

Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Prime Time: Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)

After enjoying a number of my recent kaiju watches I have to say that this week hasn't been great. I watched this film, as well as one other that I am preparing to review for next week's schedule, and spent almost the entire runtime wishing that I was watching a better instalment in this series.

With a number of early scenes that are more reminiscent of Lassie than anything else, a bunch of people are trying to move a large statue when they are given some aggressive fly-by action from Gamera. Puzzled by Gamera's behaviour, they nevertheless keep going. Once moved, the statue is found to make a constant sound, and that sound ends up bringing Jiger, a large creature with an array of built-in weaponry, such as projectile quills and a stinger in her tail. Oh, and this is all happening as Japan prepares for the Expo '70 about to be held in Osaka.

With Niisan Takahashi back on the writing duties and Noriaki Yuasa back in the director's chair, there's no reason for this to be as bad as it is. Maybe others love it, and there are one or two memorable moments (including a sequence that has some children going inside Gamera to help revive it), but the whole thing just felt a bit lazy and dull for me.

While human characters are usually the least important element of most kaiju movies, the entire cast here feels quite redundant. I could tell you about Tsutomu Takakuwa, Kelly Varis, Katherine Murphy, Kon Ohmura, and Junko Yashiro, but I'd be in trouble if you asked me about their main contributions to the film (aside from Takakuwa, who plays young Hiroshi). That would be fine if that kaiju acton was up to scratch, but it isn't. It all feels as if people are going through the motions while being restricted by that Expo '70 setting, which is basically what happened. Board members had forbidden any destruction of the Expo '70 buildings, and having monsters fight amongst buildings that can't be destroyed is a bit like having Rambo looking at a bunch of deadly weapons he cannot equip himself with in a tooling-up montage.

Maybe I'll revisit this one, and maybe I will enjoy it more if it catches me in a better mood. I don't know. I certainly wasn't in a bad mood when I pressed play on it, which makes me suspect that the film itself just soured me throughout most of the 83-minute runtime. It feels overlong, and is the wrong amount of silly without being the right amount of fun, but I'm happy to hear from anyone trying to convince me that I am not giving it enough credit. There's still just enough here for me to find individual moments I liked, but they're stuck in a feature that I really didn't care for.

4/10

Thursday, 5 September 2024

Space Amoeba (1970)

It seems that I just can't see one of these kaiju movies that I don't really enjoy recently. I'm either in the midst of a golden period for these things or I'm just completely accustomed to what they deliver, and how they meet the expectations created by the film-makers over the years.

While the title of this film is Space Amoeba, and while it does contain something that could indeed be called a space amoeba, this is a great adventure that presents a variety of giant creatures, all made powerful and aggressive by the titular entity. The main human who ends up endangered by these creatures is a photographer named Kudo (Akira Kubo).

While it seems like the obvious choice to once again praise director Ishirô Honda for his work here, and he always deserves praise, Space Amoeba has a very fun premise fleshed out by prolific writer Ei Ogawa. Starting with the sci-fi element that almost feels like a curveball once the alien lands on Earth, Ogawa knows exactly what people want to see, but he delivers everything in a way that feels more playful and interesting than some of the movies that just recycle a lot of footage from earlier monster battles.

Kubo is a perfectly decent lead, and I'll also give nods to Atsuko Takahashi, Yukiko Kobayashi, Kenji Sahara, and Yoshio Tsuchiya. They're all good at looking on in disbelief, and/or panic, as giant creatures get busy causing havoc.

The featured beasties here include a giant cuttlefish, a giant stone crab, and a giant mata mata (which I really wanted to use in some groan-inducing pun, but I will behave), and it's a pleasant surprise to find that they are all equally enjoyable to watch.

I didn't think I would have too much to say about a film titled Space Amoeba, and I was correct. It's not as slight and silly as the title may suggest, but it's also not re-inventing the wheel. The effects are nicely done, it feels like it attempts to fulfil the potential of the premise, and the heroes struggle to come up with a plan that will turn any sea/shore-dwelling monsters into sushi. Basically, it does everything that you hope it will.

8/10

Wednesday, 21 August 2024

Prime Time: Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)

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

Friday, 16 August 2024

All Monsters Attack (1969)

I knew that this wasn't going to be as good as Destroy All Monsters, I definitely knew that, but there was still a part of me hoping that it would be. Every kaiju movie viewing is a chance to discover a new favourite, whether darker or lighter in tone (and this is very much in the latter camp). I'm not going to "bury the lead" here though, this is certainly not as good as the movie I just watched last week, but I still had a lot of fun with it.

The story concerns a young boy named Ichiro (Tomonori Yazaki), who visits Monster Island in his dreams, witnessing some Godzilla battles and becoming friends with Minilla AKA Son Of Godzilla. Ichiro doesn't often have his parents at home, both are very busy workers, and he has a problem with bullies tormenting him. He might also have a problem when he explores an empty factory that is being used by a couple of bank robbers.

Although once again going down the route of recycling some footage from other movies in order to keep costs down, this is another feature from director Ishirô Honda and writer Shin'ichi Sekizawa. Although you cannot say that every film from this duo is a guaranteed winner, they did more for Big G and co. in this era than anyone else, whether presenting Godzilla as a dark and terrifying force of nature or, as became more common, a temperamental ally to humans whenever they were being threatened by other strange creatures.

Honda and Sekizawa know what people want, even if they have to fit the better stuff around a plot that gives younger viewers someone to more easily identify with. There are decent action moments here, mainly in the first act, but the film is also helped by the ongoing hardships affecting Ichiro, which often play out a lot better than the scenes that have him talking with Minilla in moments that feel like odd PSAs aimed at schoolchildren.

Yazaki is fine in the main role, and Sachio Sakai and Kazuo Suzuki do well enough as the bank robbers, but it's unsurprising to find that, yet again, this is all about the monsters. The human characters work better than some of the past assembled casts, benefiting from the fact that we don't need a large selection of scientists, military personnel, doctors, and so on, but nobody can ever be the main attraction when in a movie with Godzilla.

Despite it being a bit childish and silly, I still enjoyed this a lot. It's a playful fantasy for younger viewers, but delivers just enough kaiju action to placate those who may not enjoy the grounded content not set on Monster Island.

7/10

Thursday, 8 August 2024

Destroy All Monsters (1968)

This is cinema. This is joy. This is a contender for the most deliriously fun kaiju movie of all time, although I am saying this with a number of other great films still to check out. Destroy All Monsters feels like a joyous celebration of a cornucopia of wonderful movie creations. Some may be critical of the fact that it doesn't really feel like a proper movie, but those people are simply not fans of joy.

All of the monsters on Earth have been housed peacefully in a location known as Monster Island. There are various safeguards in place, and the situation is being closely monitored. Everything changes when the monsters manage to overcome the safeguards though, heading off for a stomp and a stamp through some major cities. This is all down to a race of aliens who want to give Earth a major headache, and things will culminate with one other famous monster being brought along to join in with the fighting.

I have known people who are happiest when they are viewing films without having to think about reviewing them, mainly because they can just sit back and enjoy the film without thinking about how they will critique it after. I have never had that problem, but that's mainly due to the fact that sometimes I just put my critical faculties to one side. Some films need a lot of exploration, some need to be discussed in an ongoing conversation that brings up the positive and negative aspects, and some are just an absolute blast that should be viewed as an absolute blast. Destroy All Monsters falls into the latter category.

There are some human actors, of course, but they're even less consequential than usual. They do what they have to do, and move the plot forward, but this is all about Godzilla and co. Whether they are being shown just chilling out on Monster Island, smashing up some cityscapes, or fighting against a common enemy, they are as full of personality and life as they have been in any of their previous movie appearances. Nothing really matters, aside from the chance to spend time in the middle of all of these wonderful creations.

Ishirô Honda is the man at the helm once again, and he also helped to write the screenplay with Takeshi Kimura. You couldn't really ask for safer hands on the wheel, and they know exactly how to make use of all of the monsters without moving them too far away from how they have come to be viewed as the movies have progressed to more lighter and family-friendly fare. If you want fierce beasts then you'll need to look at other eras of these films. This is all about the cuteness, as far as I'm concerned.

I could easily watch this on a loop, and it sits up there with the very best kaiju movies. I am pretty sure that many will agree with me, but for those who don't like their creature features to be quite so wonderful and silly . . . there are dozens more to opt for instead.

9/10

Thursday, 1 August 2024

Son Of Godzilla (1967)

Sometimes, quite often actually, I watch movies that are a lot of fun, but prove to be very difficult to consider reviewing. But part of the reason I watch many movies is to also review them. Son Of Godzilla is one of those movies. I had a blast with it. I'm not sure how much I have to say about it though. Let's give it a go anyway.

Written by the prolific Shin'ichi Sekizawa and less prolific Kazue Shiba (this is the second of only two screenplays that they worked on), what you have here is a kaiju movie that feels even more aimed at children as the last one I recently watched. Some may view that as a bad thing, but it depends on what kind of Godzilla movie you want on any given day. I enjoyed this, and I am glad that I am finally discovering it now, along with the many other kaiju movies I am finally catching up with.

The story concerns a team of scientists who are busy doing weather-related science stuff on an island. Of course, that's not all that happens on the island. There's a mysterious woman (played by Bibari Maeda) living in the jungle, some large praying mantises, a large egg set to hatch a baby Godzilla, and some kind of giant spider that should be avoided. All of these elements come together as a reporter (played by Akira Kubo) finds himself in the middle of a bigger story than anything he could have imagined. Oh, and Godzilla is due to turn up, of course.

Director Jun Fukuda returns to this long-running movie series with an instalment that clearly revels in the variety of creatures and adventures available. The script may be silly, but it's also undeniably fun, and often feels more like a Jules Verne adventure than a Godzilla movie for most of the runtime. I understand why that may displease some, but I loved it.

Both Maeda and Kubo are decent human players in the middle of the madness, and joined by some familiar faces (including Tadao Takashima, Akihiko Hirata, and Yoshio Tsuchiya), and they react convincingly enough to the parade of wonderful creatures who end up on the island alongside them.

The style here is cute, as opposed to anything approaching fearsome or realism, and I can't say that I mind cute being the aim when a story involves both giant praying mantises and a giant spider. While it's all safe and clearly fake, it's also still easy to appreciate as something put together by people working hard to put a variety of practical effects onscreen in a way that captivates and entertains younger viewers. Very young viewers might still get a bit scared by a couple of scenes, but most should be just fine, and there's no maximum age limit on enjoying this kind of thing, thankfully.

6/10

Wednesday, 17 July 2024

Prime Time: Gamera vs. Viras (1968)

I had some trepidation when I picked this film for my latest "kaiju-watch", having not been a big fan of one or two of the films preceding it, but I'll be damned if I allow myself to be beaten before I've even managed to get about halfway through this journey through the world of giant Japanese monster movies. Thankfully, Gamera vs. Viras is a lot of fun.

A couple of boy scouts, Masao (Tôru Takatsuka) and Jim (Carl Craig), get themselves aborad a small submarine and spend some time getting up to mischief underwater. Gamera appears, spending some time racing them and generally playing around, which is only a precursor to a potential alien plan to cause havoc on Earth. The aliens find out about Gamera's weakness, how he will always try to protect children, and they end up capturing Masao and Jim until they can get Gamera in their clutched, placing a controlling device on the back of his head, and then using him to start destroying cities. This eventually leads to a battle between Gamera and the aliens, who merge together to form the giant Viras.

It's hard to sound intelligent and critical when discussing this film, as it can be with a lot of the kaiju movies, but the main thing to convey to other people is just how goofy and endearing this film is. Director Noriaki Yuasa and writer Niisan Takahashi make great use of what makes Gamera stand out from other well-known kaiju figures, and it helps that there's a sense of real joy and playfulness throughout, even as things start to get a bit tricky for "our hero' as we move fully into the third act.

Takatsuka and Craig are enjoyable in their roles, the design of the aliens makes them an interesting onscreen presence, and Gamera is allowed to keep busy doing Gamera things, which is what you want to see in any Gamera movie.

This won't please anyone looking for scenes of mass destruction, those are just a very small part of the runtime, but it should please Gamera fans. It's in line with the films that have come before, it stays true to the character, and it's a highly enjoyable and brisk 75 minutes. Best described as knockabout fun, with the emphasis on the second word in that descriptor.

7/10

Wednesday, 26 June 2024

Prime Time: Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)

It’s been a while since I watched a Gamera movie. Not that long in the grand scheme of things, but long enough for me to already forget whether or not I was truly enjoying this era of the giant turtle beast. This film soon reminded me that I found these films to be middling entertainment, at best, and I usually rate them generously because of my innate love for most films of this kind.

The plot is summed up by the title. Gamera is awakened once more, just in time to battle a creature named Gyaos. Gamera is also befriended by a young boy named Eichi (Naoyuki Abe). Meanwhile, there’s some dull b-plot about the building of an expressway.

It’s tough to muster any enthusiasm for this, a kaiju film that has even less human characters worth caring about than usual, and fights that lack any real spectacle. Everything between Gamera and Gyaos is far less exciting than it should be, and there’s never a real sense of proper large-scale destruction.

Director Noriaki Yuasa returns to the series, as does writer Niisan Takahashi, but you wouldn’t know that they had any experience with this kind of material from the end result here. The opening scenes are some of the best, especially when Gamera befriend Eichi, but it’s quite a consistent slide downhill after those moments.

As for the cast, I will continue to single out Abe as the only highlight. His young character is singularly optimistic and cheerful throughout, and his relationship with Gamera works well, even as he spends most of the movie just looking on and being supportive from the sidelines.

Gamera still has one or two good moments of getting to do Gamera things, but the crude design and unimpressive characteristics of Gyaos leave a lot to be desired. It isn’t a memorable creature, and it never feels convincing when it gets the better of Gamera.

I have said all I need to say here. In fact, I have said plenty when I had the option to sum this up in one word: Poor.

3/10

Sunday, 9 June 2024

Netflix And Chill: Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Look, I think we can all agree that, whether you love them or not, the American Godzilla movies have greatly improved since the debacle that was served up to us in 1998. There's a sense of overdue atonement, even if purists might still balk at them. There's also a sense, however, that the Japanese can keep coming along every now and again to remind us of how to REALLY do Godzilla movies. They did it back in 2016, and they've done it again now. This is a very strong contender for the greatest Godzilla movie of all time, although the first film is still a tough one to beat.

Ryunosuke Kamiki plays Koichi Shikishima, a "failed" kamikaze pilot who has to deal with his personal shame while those around him deal with the after-effects of being on the losing side of a world war. Shikishima has also survived an encounter with Godzilla, but that seems less likely to be a constant worry in his life as more time passes. Making a home with a young woman, Noriko Oishi (played by Minami Hamabe), who needed help after the war, Shikishima takes a job on a boat that is helping to clear some of the many sea mines floating around off the coast of Japan. And that's when Godzilla reappears. While Shikishima is terrified by this gargantuan monster, he also knows that this could be his shot at redemption. If he can help to destroy the beast before it destroys more of Japan then maybe he can feel as if his life has had purpose. Even if it means a death that he considers overdue.

Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, this is absolutely brilliant stuff from start to finish. Unlike so many other kaiju movies, there are a number of human characters that you get to know and like, with a complex and sympathetic lead character who maintains a bigger interest in the whole situation than anyone else. Much has been made of the relatively low budget already, so all I will say is that you cannot guess at that from the quality of the special effects onscreen, whether it's the destroyed and rubble-strewn landscapes or Godzilla itself. Everything looks and feels as realistic as you could hope. It's helped by cinematography from Kôzô Shibasaki and music by Naoki Satô (you know the theme by now, and it's used here, of course), as well as excellent production design, set decoration, and on and on the list goes. I'd love to name every single person who helped to put this together, but I only have so much time and space.

I don't normally set aside much space to praise the acting from the people in Godzilla movies, because they all tend to be present mainly to witness the glorious and fearsome beast, but there are performances here worth praising. Everyone here does fantastic work, with Kamiki and Hamabe a wonderfully sympathetic couple at the heart of everything, making a home for themselves (as well as an orphaned child rescued by Hamabe's character near the start of the movie) while struggling to figure out exactly what they should or shouldn't be doing for the sake of post-war recovery and developing their potential relationship. Sakura Ando is also great, playing a resentful neighbour who dislikes the fact that Shikishima didn't carry out his main objective, but soon starts to help out when she sees them struggling with a baby. Hidetaka Yoshioka, Munetaka Aoki, Kuranosuke Sasaki, and Yuki Yamada all end up helping to battle Big G, but all of them also help our leading man to find his way through a dark part of his life until he can finally see the smallest dot of light at the end of a very long tunnel.

The human moments are still interrupted by Godzilla carnage though, and Yamazaki handles both elements equally well. In fact, more so than any other movie I can think of, this film makes Godzilla genuinely terrifying. The first appearance is intense, despite the fact that Godzilla isn't yet at full size, and every subsequent appearance brings a real sensation of dread, with a major sequence set on the sea just about as perfect a homage to Jaws as you could hope for. Whenever Godzilla decides to attack the tiny figures and fragile environment around it, there's often nothing to do but run, hoping that you're getting away from stomping feat and the range of the atomic breath.

You've already heard all of the praise for this. I am just adding my own tiny portion to the huge pile. The first film deserves to maintain a spot at, or near, the top of any ranked list of kaiju movies. I say that this one just edges ahead of it though. It's perfect, and I was delighted to FINALLY get the chance to see it.

10/10

Sunday, 19 May 2024

Netflix And Chill: Godzilla: City On The Edge Of Battle (2018)

Oh dear. The fact that this is the second in a trilogy that has already gone from bad to worse does not bode well, but I'll inevitably be scheduling the third instalment to be watched next week. The completist in me wouldn't have things any other way, but my expectations are now about as low as it's possible for them to be.

It's all of the same people behind the scenes (co-directors Hiroyuki Seshita and Kôbun Shizuno, and writers Gen Urobuchi, Sadayuki Murai, and Tetsuya Yamada) for this continuation of the story that began in Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters. A battered and bruised Haruo (Mamoru Miyano) still wants to take down the mighty Godzilla, although that might be more difficult now that the real size and power of the legendary kaiju is now known, and he has some more people alongside him to apparently help him in that endeavour. One or two may have strange ideas about precisely how to do that though, especially when they discover a location full of nanometal that was clearly the birthplace of Mechagodzilla, and is therefore named Mechagodzilla City.

Although it looks nice enough throughout, that's all that Godzilla: City On The Edge Of Battle has going for it. The plotting feels weak, especially with the relatively small amount of screentime given to Big G, there's nothing/nobody to invest in (considering what happened to so many characters in the last movie, and considering how individuals are simply defined by their need to fight Godzilla), and there's something particularly depressing about the middle feature of a trilogy that doesn't seem interested in actually progressing things further.

I want to be kind to Miyano, as well as Takahiro Sakurai, Kana Hanazawa, Jun'ichi Suwabe, Reina Ueda, and Ari Ozawa, to namecheck a number of the key players, but there's nothing that feels exceptionally praiseworthy. They're all perfectly fine, considering what they have to work with, but nobody stands out, not even the apparent hero of the whole thing. This is all down to the writing, and the fact that the concept of this animated trilogy mishandles Godzilla, but the cast members subsequently suffer because of the decisions made elsewhere.

I am sure I remember some people enjoying this trilogy when it was first release. I definitely recall people mentioning that things improved after the first instalment. Now I have seen numerous people advising me against wasting my time with this (it's too late now!), but there are still some who claim that it's a treat for Godzilla fans. I assume that those people were maybe desperate for anything that reassured them that their favourite kaiju wouldn't be trapped in the bombastic and wildly-varying American projects built around it. We now know that different Godzilla projects can be delivered concurrently, and I would say that the past few years have handed us quite the full platter to pick and choose from. So there's no need to remember that this exists.

Once I have watched the next, and final, instalment, I'll be doing my best to wipe them completely from my memory. Unless that somehow does enough to make the whole trilogy feel worthwhile.

3/10

Sunday, 12 May 2024

Netflix And Chill: Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters (2017)

It is the future. A rampaging Godzilla has pretty much destroyed Earth, making the planet so hostile and uninhabitable that the only hope for humanity is to find another planet to colonize. Captain Haruo Sakaki (voiced by Mamoru Miyano) doesn't think that will happen though, and he's unhappy with the plan to send the elderly ahead as scouts on the planet that has been picked as their potential new home. Convincing people that Godzilla does actually have weak points, a plan to return home and kill the beast is hatched. If it is still alive by the time that they return. Godzilla IS still alive, as are many other creatures that now thrive in the radically altered ecosystem of Earth.

Co-directed by Hiroyuki Seshita and Kôbun Shizuno, and written by Gen Urobuchi, this is a strange feature for many Godzilla fans. On the one hand, it's always good to see the big monster used in ways that keep it in the public consciousness. On the other hand, it's a bit odd to suddenly be served up some animated Godzilla that isn't a return to the late '70s cartoon that had such a great theme tune, and the cuteness of Godzooky. Setting up an animated trilogy, and I'll be getting to those next two instalments in due course, Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters feels like something that should have been a short prequel to the main adventure. Unfortunately, it has been stretched out to 88 minutes.

The voice cast are all perfectly fine, but they're portraying characters who aren't all that interesting. Nobody stands out here, aside from Sakaki, which makes the work feel much harder to appreciate. Still, it's worth mentioning Takahiro Sakurai, Kana Hanazawa, Tomokazu Sugita, and Yûki Kaji, alongside Miyano. Of course, many (most? all?) Godzilla films take more care with the monsters than with the human characters, so having a cast of people we don't ever really care about isn't exactly a reinvention of the formula. It's just a shame that the rest of the film doesn't deliver enough spectacle to make up for the weak characters.

It's all just a bit lacking in actual kaiju action, and the plotting doesn't let the one or two main points make the impact that they should. The animation is mostly nice and smooth though, and the third act is more enjoyable when we finally see some proper action. I am hoping the next instalment is better though. This sits quite near the bottom of the rankings when compared to all other Godzilla movies, but I might feel a bit different about it if everything has been put in place for an epic story that needs three features to do it justice.

4/10

Friday, 26 April 2024

Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)

You would think that sending Gamera into space would have been enough to keep Earth safe, but Gamera vs. Barugon quickly shows that not to be the case. First of all, there are always new creatures that can suddenly come along and cause panic. Secondly, a travelling rocket being hit by a meteorite is enough to send Gamera back down to our planet. And that's really all you need to know.

There's a bit more to the plot, of course, and Barugon is a creature hatched from an egg that people mistakenly think is a large opal, but things only ever liven up when people are trying to figure out how to deal with a new monster menace. Barugon looks a bit goofy, Gamera still looks great, and the humans feel even less significant than ever.

Directed by Shigeo Tanaka, and written by Niisan Takahashi, this follows on from the first Gamera film in a way that is simple enough, and also a bit disappointing. The contrivance to get Gamera back on our planet feels a bit lazy, Barugon is far from the best big beastie we've ever seen onscreen, and there's a major void in the cast that isn't filled by anyone we can empathise or sympathise with.

Kôjirô Hongô, Kyôko Enami, Yûzô Hayakawa, Takuya Fujioka, and Kôji Fujiyama are the cast members I will mention here, but they're just there to look on in awe as the creatures do their thing, when people aren't squabbling over the "opal" that leads to the appearance of Barugon. They do what they're asked to do, but they're just not asked to do anything that helps them to feel worth spending time with.

Gamera is still great, and the reason this is worth your time, which makes the fact that the rest of the movie is so weak seem even more disappointing. It needed either a better foe for our "hero" to battle or just some more scenes showing Gamera doing what Gamera does best. All the rainbow rays and mirror traps in the world aren't enough to make up for the disappointing sidelining of Gamera in one of their own movies.

Knowing how much better the later Gamera movies are (the 1990s films, referred to as the Heisei era) is enough to keep me powering through these, but I am worried that I'll end up slogging through a lot of lesser fare until I get back to those more enjoyable features. I've watched a lot worse though, and every film has the inherent plus of the second-best kaiju in cinema (a point I am sure could be argued over by fans for a long, long time). There's also something about kaiju movies that somehow makes it impossible to rate even the lesser films as a complete waste of your time. There may be less moments of absolute brilliance, but there are always some small treats here and there.

5/10

Thursday, 11 April 2024

Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964)

There’s no reason for me to be cagey about this film. It was the most fun I had this week with my clothes on. It’s a new favourite kaiju movie, but I am starting to worry that I will be saying that for every film I am belatedly discovering for the first time. I cannot imagine fans of these movies disliking this though. It is quite simply, to use the proper cinematic term, absolutely awesome.

Bear with me as I rush through the main plot points, which are quite ridiculous. A meteor hits the Earth. A princess, being guarded by a detective, seemingly dies in a plane crash, but then returns while seemingly possessed by the spirit of a Venusian prophet. The mighty Ghidorah is due to rise up and cause some stress for humans, to put it mildly, but there is a chance that Godzilla and Rodan could work together and overpower this mutual enemy . . . if they can be persuaded that Ghidorah IS an enemy. That persuasion comes from a young Mothra, with translations offered to the audience by the fairy twins (once again played by Emi and Yumi Itô).

If that all sounds pretty bonkers then, trust me, it is. It is also hilarious and entertaining, particularly during one key scene in the third act that is the kaiju equivalent of kids being talked into moodily doing some housework. As is so often the case, none of the human characters make much of an impression, although the oddness of the tale helps them a bit, but this is all about the monster madness, which is delivered with gusto in the finale.

Director Ishirô Honda is working again with writer Shin’ichi Sekizawa, and both seem to make the most of the silly premise, adding plenty of humour throughout to let viewers know that it’s fine to grin and chuckle your way through this one. And grin and chuckle you surely will.

The effects seem a bit cheaper and more crude than some of the previous stuff we have seen, but that just adds to the feeling that this has been made with an emphasis on the daffy fun.

I will mention Yôsuke Natsuki, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, and Akiko Wakabayashi here. They all do fine in their roles, the latter particularly enjoyable as the aforementioned princess (who, let’s not forget, appears to become possessed by a prophetic Venusian), but they are, as expected, secondary to the monsters. And when the monsters are onscreen, well, the humans are quickly forgotten.

If these films keep being as good as this then I will just kick myself harder for not watching many of them years before now. Part of me hopes they are wildly inconsistent, but part of me is absolutely gleeful at the prospect of more features that are as much fun as this one.

9/10

Thursday, 4 April 2024

Gamera, The Giant Monster (1965)

When it comes to giant monsters that have caused havoc throughout various Japanese movies, Godzilla will always be at the very top of the charts. There are a number of strong contenders for the number two spot though. I love Mothra, for example, and one or two others have sizeable fanbases, but Gamera is surely the one that comes closest to dethroning Big G as the monster king. It is another great creation, a giant turtle, and has, in my limited experience, been served well by a number of consistently great movies through the years.

This first film featuring the giant flying turtle (because that is what Gamera is, and I like to think of it as a distant cousin of The Great A’Tuin) sees the giant beast being rudely awakened by a burst of atomic energy and subsequently watched with awe and trepidation as scientists hatch a plan to get rid of them. That’s about it, in the simplest terms, although it is worth noting that the plan will make use of more energy resources, and there’s also a young boy who just loves turtles.

Directed by Noriaki Yuasa, and it is worth noting that this is not a Toho Studio production (Gamera came to us courtesy of Daiei Film), this is absolutely on par with any other kaiju film you can think of. The practical work is very enjoyable, the small handful of human characters are pretty insignificant in comparison to the titular creature, and the finale is a wonderful use of movie science that stretches plausibility while feeling absolutely viable in this onscreen world. Writer Niisan Takahashi has the kind of extensive filmography that many Japanese writers have, but Gamera is the creation that provides him with a proper legacy, and this is an excellent first outing for the monster.

As for the cast, Eiji Funakoshi is perfectly fine as the main scientist of the film, but it’s young Yoshiro Uchida who almost steals the film, his character feeling a connection to Gamera that allows him to remain unafraid while everyone else panics and evacuates any potential target areas. That’s all I need to say, especially when we all know who the real star is.

I have already seen a couple of the later Gamera movies, films from a different era with even more impressive tricks and effects onscreen, so maybe that has given me a slight bias, but this is a very enjoyable debut for what I would say is the second-best kaiju in Japanese cinema.

8/10