Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla

I may jump the gun but this is the best Godzilla movie of the 1970s.

It was 20 years after a genre, a metaphor for nuclear destruction, and the king of the monsters was born and Jun Fukuda went out swinging on his last Godzilla film. The plot concerns a statue being found at an excavation site and with it a prophecy of monsters, and I'll give you a buck if you can guess what I'm gonna say next. Aliens. Yes, another anonymous sect of extraterrestrials have created Mechagodzilla to destroy Tokyo. Why? Aliens. How did they build Mechagodzilla and why did they model it on a heroic monster? Aliens. Why does it move so fluidly in Godzilla camouflage and yet ultra robotronic without it? Aliens. It's like the Godzilla form of "It's magic, you don't have to explain it.". Granted it's the best Mechagodzilla design still to this day, and you get yourself a mighty fair dose of action. Hell there's enough explosions to put Infra-Man to dishonoring shame, my God they actually had a budget! You see what happens Toho? This is what happens when you have a budget in the effects Toho! Very well done on the suits, miniatures, action, and boom. Can't forget about the boom. And as we come to a close on 2/3 of the Godzilla series, I've yet to see a truly bad human story, the one aspect every fan wishes was simply not there. Now is there a gradient of human stories? Absolutely. But this is one of the best. You can tell a good human story by looking at the impact the characters have on the kaiju stuff. They are influencing events constantly, attacking the aliens, aiding Godzilla, summoning King Caesar (Not my favorite Caesar though.), relaying the prophecy. They put good effort into all of this and it shows. It's certainly the most bloody of any Godzilla movie I've seen, for a movie rated G and to have literal arterial spray at least 3 times is sort of shocking. I feel this is where the demographic for strictly kids ended, and that was a fair stint of 4 movies in a 15 movie series. And it all culminates in the best end fight since Destroy All Monsters, excellent use of effects, explosions, and brawling, a truly memorable highlight of the entire series. So it's no secret I love it, but really I haven't had any negative feelings towards any of these movies and I doubt that will occur with the final Showa entry. 4 stars, 8/10! Mechagodzilla will return. In the meantime I strongly and highly recommend Brandon Tenold's YouTube channel, he makes great reviews and his Godzilla stuff is engrained in my memory. So check it out and it all ends tomorrow.

Lady Snowblood: Love Song Of Vengeance

Pretty good? Yes. Better than the first? Not quite.

Now you understand why I wish the last movie was called Sword Of Vengeance. But anyway, this was still a very good movie with that same visual flair of the first film and rightfully so since Toshiya Fujita directed both. I was genuinely curious to see where on earth this story could go after a pretty definitive ending to the first one, but it was alluded to even in that movie that though her life's quest is completed she cannot change her nature. This was a woman who almost from birth was trained to be a weapon, a highly skilled and fearless sword wielder with retribution coarsing through her veins. So it's interesting to see Yuki on the run, constantly being hounded by police officers before she is tasked with eliminating an anarchist in exchange for immunity. But things grow more complicated as the story unfolds and she takes a firm stand against an institution that would much rather see her dead. Yet again Meiko Kagi is on top form, personified so frick fraking perfect in a single scene, where her target announces he knows exactly who she is and the facade just drops quicker than a snap of my fingers. Holy hot damn, this woman can act. Shin Kishida is a really good villain, just as visually striking and cold blooded as Yuki is and if he looks familiar to any kaiju fans out there he was in Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla, he just has that instantly recognizable facial physique. The rest of the cast is also very good, and do give the story the proper weight it needs. And it's not a bad story, I had no issue with Lady Snowblood being in this plot and it actually makes me quite curious to see how the manga develops through it's entire run, but it's not as engaging and excellent as the first film. But the style and execution of the story is pretty much the only reason you want to see it which is totally fine by me, I still had a really good time with this movie and think of it still as a very good movie. It's not often either on this show or in the world of movies to have a duology, so it's if anything fascinating just to see what the filmmaker is trying to accomplish. Now if Lady Snowblood was a one and done, I wouldn't have much to complain about but I also won't lie and say it's not a story that deserves continuation. I just feel that it's a story really any other character from other samurai films could fit into. But what do I know, see the film and judge for yourself! 3 stars, 7.5/10, and we got a trilogy to get through tomorrow so stay tuned.