Son Of Godzilla

Quite a leap from decimating Tokyo and being an allegory for the most horrific weapon in existence.

All good jests aside, Son Of Godzilla while massively divisive in the States didn't showcase the worst of this series. I put it on par with Ebirah, and urge everyone to see it just to find out where you stand. The story once again goes tropical with a team of scientist's working on a weather machine to influence food growth for the world, but apparently they never knew the premise of Geostorm otherwise they would have ended the project, but if that wasn't enough multiple kaiju are found on the island. Of course you have Godzilla and his probable son Minilla, but you also have giant preying mantises, and a spider that would put Tarantula to shame. Now I need to say, while the setting of the movie was purely for cost effectiveness because of the budget which is no bad thing I mean studios have shot films in local places for decades, just look at Vasquez Rocks and Bronson Cave, and the monster suits are pretty good. I seriously have no clue how they pulled off Kamacuras and Kumonga, because it's not your average man in suit technique which makes me think it's pure wirework but they do such a good job with it that it seems there is far more to it, once again showing even in the lesser renowned entries in the series that these special effects are an artstyle as much as just an effect. It's praise worthy for sure. Though I will admit the Godzilla suit is my least favorite of the series thus far, and Minilla while going through phases showing his growth isn't horrible, it's kind of easy to pick on this being the least good design of Godzilla's son. Now I've heard tale Minilla is quite well recieved in Japan but here in the States it's a true love or hate situation, do I feel it was entirely necessary? Nope! Even the writers really had no clue what to do next so they were throwing anything that would stick. Despite Toho being the most world known Japanese studio besides perhaps Studio Ghibli, they were on hard times in the late 60s through the 70s nearly going bankrupt. The Godzilla movies from Ebirah onward were made essentially to keep the studio in production because of how succesful they were with audiences, more so children now at this point, so I somewhat see the decision to appeal to as many kids as possible to keep tickets selling. But you can tell even with less than great entries it was never a cash cow for Toho and they still put a lot of effort in it. I think the human story is kinda interesting, the new monsters are good additions, the interactions between Godzilla and his son do work and you can tell what's going on through visual storytelling and physical acting, I even kinda like the relationship thing going on between Saeko and Goro Maki (yep the same name from both 1984 and Shin Godzilla, guess Hammer wasn't the only studio guilty of renaming protagonists), so I can't genuinely say this is a bad movie. You need to be in a specific mindset but I didn't mind it much. It's a kaiju family film and I can appreciate that somewhat. 2.5 stars, 6/10, the supposed end is near next time.

King Kong Vs. Godzilla

I find it so bizzare that the Criterion Collection release has the english dub and not the original japanese release. Cause every other film is in native japanese so it's the black sheep of the set.

However I found out, 45 minutes into the american dub by the by, that it does include the japanese cut. On the bonus disc. And I will state right now I am so happy I watched the japanese version, now obviously I don't have a stigma toward english dubs of Godzilla movies, they practically introduced me to this genre, nor am I a snob and say, "Well the japanese version is obviously better." but I had way more fun and got more enjoyment out of it in the japanese cut. Like I said, I haven't seen most of the Showa era films so I have no nostalgic ties to english dubs, and I mainly want to experience it how audiences in Japan would have. So that's my whole tangent on that, how's the movie? Absurd but highly entertaining, a classic in it's own right, not only the most attended Godzilla film ever but one of the most succesful box office films in japanese cinematic history. The story involves a pharmaceutical company who hear of a specific berry found on an island, and quickly find out the island is home to King Kong. Meanwhile the iceberg that contained Godzilla for 7 years melts away and the king of the monsters does what he does best. Somehow, I don't know or never will know how, they craft a raft for Kong and bring him to the mainland and pretty soon the bets are on to see who wins the fight of the century. There's more to it of course, even a fair amount of satire produced by Ishiro Honda concerning television programmes and their sponsors which is pretty sad to say it still holds up all this time later. I dare you to say television companies wouldn't capitalize on two monsters brawling. But despite it's more outlandish moments like Kong being transported via weather balloon, or the fact that when the, and I want you to pay attention here, pharmaceutical company meets the natives of Kong's island and gives them cigarettes including to a child, or that electricity powers King Kong up and I quote, "Like Popeye with his spinach", it's still a very good and greatly entertaining film. The effects look great, from the octopus attack that literally was done by a real octopus, to the miniatures, this Godzilla suit is my third favorite from the Showa Era, and while Kong looks like ass it still works for me. And I wasn't twiddling my thumbs waiting for the human scenes to end, I thought the human plot was quite good and I do like these characters. It's a hit for sure, but I think maybe even more so than the 70s Godzilla movies, this is the movie where it depends the most on how far you can stretch your suspension of disbelief. If you can't roll with even a smidge of what I disclosed to you here, you're not gonna like it even a bit. If you can, oh boy you gonna have a real grand time good buddy. I loved it, truthfully and fully, I can't wait to see what they do with it in the new one, I'm so happy I own it. 4 stars, 8/10! Rematch, here we come.