Monday, March 21, 2022

Gamera Vs. Barugon

And the versus commences until the end of the series.





In many ways I like this movie better than the first, yet in other aspects I can almost see why it isn't rated so highly. I will give major props to the story, taking a vast departure from the majority of kaiju movies I've seen in my entire life. So 6 months have passed since Gamera got shot into the void of space before a meteor crashes into the rocket releasing Gamera unto the world once more, as he regains some power and still keeps his antagonistic edge. Now the main story on the humans side involves three men who travel to New Guinea to find an opal that is hailed by the locals as cursed, and many deaths do follow in the wake of finding it but weirdly enough the opal is actually a monster egg and hatches Barugon, who is easily one of the most inventive and bizzare kaiju I've ever witnessed. So eventually both monsters meet, clash, and this is where I can see a lot of people tuning out for this film. Gamera truth be told is maybe in the movie 15 minutes total in an hour and forty minute flick, he loses the first fight and it takes until the last 10 minutes for a rematch and win for the flying turtle. That is a big issue for a movie called Gamera Vs. Barugon, when the kaiju stuff and our main star is more in the background. However I really actually like the human story a fair bit, almost turning into a revenge movie for our human protagonist Keisuke often conflicting with the man who double crossed him and left him for dead Onodera, while getting some help from one of the natives Karen. Yes Karen, the most exotic islander sounding name I've ever heard since Sheamus Mac An tSithigh. And they help the military deal with this mad bastard that bleeds purple, freezes and punches things with it's tongue, and shoots deadly rainbow beams that would make Mechagodzilla jealous and me jealous that the lovely folk of the LGBTQA+ community cannot do the same thing. Well let's see 1966, acid was probably a thing in Japan, case closed on the conception of this monster design. It does have pepperings of monster fights and military action with the most outlandish operation names ever said, but there's more the main story of us seeing these previous partners at odds. I don't hate that! Very misleading movie title, but not much else bad with it. The effects have improved, the casting is very good and I always applaud japanese actors who have to say this stuff out loud and they do it stone faced serious and will always have my respect, the story is still engaging, and the color footage and direction is solid and looks good. 3 stars, I give it a 7.5/10, so check it out and tomorrow we meet the Gamera equivalent of Ghidorah.

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