“Godzilla 2000” Review

I always felt that Takao Okawara was the most under-appreciated director in the Godzilla franchise. The guy’s work produced some of the biggest ticket-selling Godzilla movies of all time: 1992’s Godzilla Vs. Mothra, 1993’s Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla, and 1995’s Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah.

Granted, not everybody likes those movies; let alone this one. That’s okay. Not everyone is going to enjoy the same thing. But, I feel that Okawara is the second best Godzilla director right after, of course, Ishiro Honda. When I found out, back in 1999, that Okawara was going to be directing this movie, I was stoked!

The story centers around a father and his daughter, Shinoda and Io, who are attempting to collect data on Godzilla’s biology and behavior. But an old friend, Katagiri, who is a jughead with the JSDF, has other plans. He is hellbent on killing the King.

Meanwhile, a meteorite has been discovered at the bottom of the Pacific. After some unmanned submarine lights hit it, it “turns on” and rises to the surface. The JSDF and scientific community are baffled. It eventually rotates itself according to the position of the sun and finally breaks free from its rocky tomb and the clutches of the JSDF. It goes out in search of Godzilla.

As it turns out, this flying rock reveals itself to be a flying saucer and attacks Godzilla. Godzilla and the saucer get into a beam war with it ultimately ending up in a draw. After the battle, Shinoda finds some Godzilla skin cells and visits the laboratory of another friend, Miyasaka. Both men realize why Godzilla is nearly indestructible: his cells, after being damage, regenerate at an extremely fast pace. Hence the men dubbing their discovery Regenerator G-1.

The saucer finds a home on top of a skyscraper in the Tokyo area and proceeds to hack into every computer system; stealing any information on Godzilla and the planet it intends to inhabit. Godzilla shows up to save the day, but the saucer won’t have any of it. It blasts Godzilla into a few buildings and, while Godzilla is buried under the rubble, steals Godzilla’s genetic information.

Why? Well, the alien invader is nothing more than a formless blob. Once it leaves the confines of its ship, it needs any sort of genetic information in order to form itself into an organism similar to those it’s intending to destroy. Godzilla’s DNA information give the newcomer a squid-like form at first until it forms into a creature that looks as if it has yet to fully evolve: Orga. Godzilla and Orga then proceed to battle it out, with the fate of the world at stake.

I absolutely love this movie. Part of it may have to do with the fact that I saw it in theaters back in August 2000, but I feel that this movie is extremely well made. None of the other films in the Millennium era (1999-2004) felt like they were made with the same care and attention that this one got. I’m not saying the other films aren’t any good, but it definitely felt like the rest of them were rushed.

Sure, Godzilla shows up only a few times in the movie, and that annoys some fans, but I feel that the story and characterizations here are absolutely top-notch. These are characters that I truly care about (or in Katagiri’s case, see him die) and the story doesn’t feel like it was a first draft.

The special effects are amazing here. One of my favorite scenes is Godzilla swimming underwater. Sure, it’s in CGI and it doesn’t look all that great compared to Hollywood movies of the time, but it still looks damn good. Godzilla’s powering-up and the actual releasing of his beam are done wonderfully; and I happen to love the orangish-reddish tint of the beam.

The kaiju designs in this movie are really well-done. I love the more “extreme” look Godzilla received; including the purple jagged plates on his back. His face is well-sculpted. Since I first saw this film, this particular Godzilla design has remained one of my favorites. His personality shines in the movie and you can get a good feeling as to what the Big Guy is thinking. He seems to be highly intelligent as well.

Orga is one of my favorite villains, despite the fact his suit, though well-designed, looks terribly clunky; especially in the hands. Everything about Orga is executed very well except his hands. They are too big and I’ve never seen them actually open up. It’s a bit of an eyesore. I wish the hands would have either been a bit smaller or even animatronic in order to give some movement to them.

Takayuki Hattori’s score to this is film is lightyears better than his score for Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla. His theme for Godzilla is one of my all-time favorite Godzilla themes and the rest of the score really captures the action and emotion in their respective film scenes.

The acting is really great here. I feel that we get some of the best acting in the entire franchise in this movie. Once in a while, however, a couple of the actors tend to over-exaggerate their character’s reactions. Such is the case in the scene, nearly right at the end, when Godzilla confronts Katagiri on a nearby skyscraper and warns him that he’s about to take him out.

My memories of seeing this movie in theaters back in 2000 are still fairly fresh. I clearly remember during the ending battle my brother and I nearly cheering Godzilla to kick Orga’s butt in a loud voice tone. We were both really into this movie. It’s a shame that it didn’t make much money in Japan and only $10 million in the States. It was a sad sign that Godzilla was losing some ground…especially in his homeland.

I find this to, not only be my favorite, but the best Godzilla film out of the Millennium saga. The movie has a wonderfully fleshed-out story, great acting, superb special effects, awesome kaiju designs, and a terrific score. It’s too bad Okawara never went on to direct any more Godzilla movies in the Millennium era. Why that is, I have no idea, but he certainly did one hell of a job with this movie.

I highly recommend this movie. It’s not cheesy like many of the other Godzilla movies. It has a moderate darkish tone to it and the ending battle is well worth the wait.