Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Strange title but no more stranger than Vs. Mechagodzilla 2 that had nothing to do with the first one.




Another fine addition to the franchise from Mr. Tezuka, this is certainly one of the more interesting entries in the Millenium series. Once more all films except the 1954 original have been ignored, with the japanese military undertaking the creation of a bio-mechanoid codenamed Kiryu built around the bones of the original Godzilla to use as a deterrant for the modern Godzilla, why in the hell they couldn't have built a giant robot without a skeletal wireframe is beyond me, but somehow through biology or SCIENCE(!!) memory fragments of the original Godzilla override the protocols and failsafes of Mechagodzilla leading to two kaiju on a rampage as everyone scrambles to reassert control. It's an interesting concept for sure, still have no idea how bones retain memories but hey screw it, it's a giant monster movie not Interstellar. I feel the human plot has basic elements from Megaguirus, again with a female soldier named Akane who holds a grudge against Godzilla because of the deaths of her comrades and is kind of on a suicide quest to take him down with her but beyond that it's new stuff. We get acquainted with the specialist team who created Mechagodzilla in particular a single dad named Tokumitsu and his young daughter Sara, as both have grievances with the creation of such a machine and Tokumitsu shamelessly crushes on Akane. Cutie pie though she is, I say he's doing a good job being a single parent. I advocate for more single dads in fiction, it's a new lense to view stories through and it's just something you don't see much of. I know people may say this feels like a very average kind of Godzilla movie, nothing too much special happens and it ends fairly wrapped up but it has a direct sequel Tokyo S.O.S. so who knows what could happen next. The effects are still rock solid with admittedly less experimentation but the models and the new design for both Godzilla and Kiryu are really cool, and they still have a bag of tricks with all the weaponry utilized. I didn't entirely hate the human story but it didn't grab me as strongly as Megaguirus, but like I said the story continues and that could readily change for me so it'll be interesting. We never get a great deal of reoccuring characters until the Heisei series and that paid off in aces so I'm looking forward to it. It's a good Godzilla movie with a basic format and a little lemon twist of ideas, so let's find out tomorrow how it truly ends. 3 stars, 7/10!