I was eagerly anticipating the release of Gareth Edwards' GODZILLA in the spring of 2014 and soon realized I had never actually seen a Godzilla movie. I'd seen plenty of clips of his battles on YouTube and even gotten my daughter interested in him, but I had never watched more than a few minutes worth. With the release of Edwards' film, there was a collection of Toho's films as double features on home video. So GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II was officially my first full experience watching a Godzilla adventure from start to end. And, wow. Wow. That's not necessarily a good wow, or a bad wow either. Just wow. I didn't realize how insane these movies actually were. GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II is pretty much what it claims to be. In response to Godzilla's attacks on Japan, the United Nations have developed a countermeasures council to protect against future invasions. Their latest development: Mechagodzilla. As if it weren't obvious from the name, Mechagodzilla is a giant robot designed after Godzilla and loaded with a ridiculous amount of weaponry
eye lasers, plasma grenades, shock anchors, etc. While construction on Mechagodzilla is completed, a team of scientists discovers a live egg on Adona Island. Based on the surrounding fossils, they believe it to be a live pteranodon egg and bring it to Kyoto for study. The egg theft attracts some attention from both Godzilla and the mutated pteranodon Rodan, and Mechagodzilla will be put to the test as it fights to defend Japan against the two deadly, irradiated beasts.
I was excited from the very beginning when the film's first line of dialogue, "At last, now we have it: a weapon to kill Godzilla" was spoken with absolute seriousness. I knew I was in for a treat. I love that this movie is never deliberately campy and attacks its subject matter with a grounded tone. It only adds to the craziness. I had no idea what to expect with this film, except for a massive battle between two giant monsters and a giant robot. I never expected what I found. Apparently, there is a long history of mythology built around this series of films. I should've expected it, seeing as how this is the twentieth film in the Godzilla series. The concept of a G- Force (a Japanese government unit assigned to combat Godzilla) is a pretty obvious, if unexpected element, but then there's the whole psychic angle. When the lead character, Kazuma Aoki (Masahiro Takashima), is sitting in a cafeteria examining some strange fern found on the pteranodon egg, his friend Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) reacts strangely and begins hovering her hands over the plant. Confused, I was soon elated to discover that she has the power of ESP. And not only that, but there's an entire ESP school filled with small, creepy children! Surprise! I'm sure fans of Godzilla think nothing of it but, as a new initiate to the series, I couldn't help but laugh. But it's fine. I'm cool with the psychics. In a movie franchise where the main draw is a giant radioactive lizard with atomic breath, you have to expect some crazy cool stuff thrown into the mix to spice it up. I will admit, I was surprised to find out this movie was released in 1993. Based on the level of special effects, I really thought the movie had to have been done in the 80s. I guess it's just the Toho style. I'm cool with dudes in rubber suits stomping around miniature cities. It's got an awesome retro vibe. Godzilla actually looks pretty awesome, but Rodan doesn't fare as well. He must've been a little tougher to pull off. His movement's pretty limited and his attacks are relegated to flybys, knocking into Godzilla, and awkward close-quarters pecking. Mechagodzilla, as cool as he is, looks like something from the Power Rangers TV show. But it's cool. I can dig it. The battles, as numerous as they were, made for the best parts of the movie. The rest of the film (any part that didn't involve giant monsters fighting) didn't really do it for me though.
The plot is sort of simple and borderline stupid. It all could've been avoided 15 minutes into the movie when the scientists decide to take the egg. They did so while being chased by a giant pteranodon and dodging Godzilla. If two separate giant monsters stand between you and stealing the egg, just leave it alone. You have to know it's going to end badly. And then, when they get the egg to Kyoto and stash it in a secure facility, there's nothing to stop people from wondering in to mess with it. Kazuma shows up unhindered because he's a "pteranodon enthusiast" (a fact that his captain balks at, despite the country's many encounters with bizarre dinosaur creatures) to snap some photos. And then, after the eggs hatched into a Baby Godzilla and the little creature is moved to a new compound, the ESP kids just wander into the site with no issue to sing it a creepy song. A creepy song that freaked it out when it was still in the egg, freaks it out again, AND somehow reawakens Rodan. Another good idea: stop letting the little psychic kids sing. It never ends well. So there're a lot of ignorant decisions made in this film and it would've ended much faster without them. The plot is obviously nothing but filler to wrap around the battle scenes, which are the real focus. Thinking about the movie afterwards, I noticed a lot of stuff just didn't make sense or was flat out extraneous. I'm guessing this is a common element to these Godzilla films. Which I suppose is fine, but it hurt the film enough to make GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II nothing more than passable fun. We'll see though. There are plenty of other Godzilla films out there.
I was excited from the very beginning when the film's first line of dialogue, "At last, now we have it: a weapon to kill Godzilla" was spoken with absolute seriousness. I knew I was in for a treat. I love that this movie is never deliberately campy and attacks its subject matter with a grounded tone. It only adds to the craziness. I had no idea what to expect with this film, except for a massive battle between two giant monsters and a giant robot. I never expected what I found. Apparently, there is a long history of mythology built around this series of films. I should've expected it, seeing as how this is the twentieth film in the Godzilla series. The concept of a G- Force (a Japanese government unit assigned to combat Godzilla) is a pretty obvious, if unexpected element, but then there's the whole psychic angle. When the lead character, Kazuma Aoki (Masahiro Takashima), is sitting in a cafeteria examining some strange fern found on the pteranodon egg, his friend Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) reacts strangely and begins hovering her hands over the plant. Confused, I was soon elated to discover that she has the power of ESP. And not only that, but there's an entire ESP school filled with small, creepy children! Surprise! I'm sure fans of Godzilla think nothing of it but, as a new initiate to the series, I couldn't help but laugh. But it's fine. I'm cool with the psychics. In a movie franchise where the main draw is a giant radioactive lizard with atomic breath, you have to expect some crazy cool stuff thrown into the mix to spice it up. I will admit, I was surprised to find out this movie was released in 1993. Based on the level of special effects, I really thought the movie had to have been done in the 80s. I guess it's just the Toho style. I'm cool with dudes in rubber suits stomping around miniature cities. It's got an awesome retro vibe. Godzilla actually looks pretty awesome, but Rodan doesn't fare as well. He must've been a little tougher to pull off. His movement's pretty limited and his attacks are relegated to flybys, knocking into Godzilla, and awkward close-quarters pecking. Mechagodzilla, as cool as he is, looks like something from the Power Rangers TV show. But it's cool. I can dig it. The battles, as numerous as they were, made for the best parts of the movie. The rest of the film (any part that didn't involve giant monsters fighting) didn't really do it for me though.
The plot is sort of simple and borderline stupid. It all could've been avoided 15 minutes into the movie when the scientists decide to take the egg. They did so while being chased by a giant pteranodon and dodging Godzilla. If two separate giant monsters stand between you and stealing the egg, just leave it alone. You have to know it's going to end badly. And then, when they get the egg to Kyoto and stash it in a secure facility, there's nothing to stop people from wondering in to mess with it. Kazuma shows up unhindered because he's a "pteranodon enthusiast" (a fact that his captain balks at, despite the country's many encounters with bizarre dinosaur creatures) to snap some photos. And then, after the eggs hatched into a Baby Godzilla and the little creature is moved to a new compound, the ESP kids just wander into the site with no issue to sing it a creepy song. A creepy song that freaked it out when it was still in the egg, freaks it out again, AND somehow reawakens Rodan. Another good idea: stop letting the little psychic kids sing. It never ends well. So there're a lot of ignorant decisions made in this film and it would've ended much faster without them. The plot is obviously nothing but filler to wrap around the battle scenes, which are the real focus. Thinking about the movie afterwards, I noticed a lot of stuff just didn't make sense or was flat out extraneous. I'm guessing this is a common element to these Godzilla films. Which I suppose is fine, but it hurt the film enough to make GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA II nothing more than passable fun. We'll see though. There are plenty of other Godzilla films out there.