“Godzilla 2000” Review
July 2, 2010
Q&A with Nik Ainu
July 15, 2010
Godzilla 2000 is my favorite movie out of the Millennium era. But Godzilla X Megaguirus is my least favorite out of the era. Although, it must be noted, that this is slowly growing on me.
I can remember when NessMasta and I watched this on Sci-Fi a number of years ago, along with GMK, when they made their official U.S. debut before being released onto DVD a few months later. I heavily anticipated both of them, but this one left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t hate this movie, in fact I love all Godzilla movies; I just think some are better than others. This one, was a disappointment.
After Godzilla’s continuous attacks on Tokyo, the Japanese capital is moved to Osaka. The government builds a weapon named Dimension Tide, which shoots black holes into another dimension. It’s a gateway between our world and any other random world. The government plans to use it on Godzilla, but it needs a test run first. Upon the conclusion of the test run, a dragonfly-like creature drops off an egg and retreats through the black hole. A young boy disposes of the egg down a sewer. This is bad news for the egg begins to disperse into thousands of tinier eggs and they all begin to hatch.
Once the creatures are hatched, they begin to terrorize Japan in swarms called Meganulon. The Shibuyu district of Tokyo begins to flood and many of these creatures, who now have transformed into Meganula, give up their lives to bring Megaguirus to life. Godzilla meets up with Megaguirus in Osaka for a battle over who possesses Japan.
For the second consecutive film, we’re treated with a new Godzilla foe. Megaguirus, and its metamorphoses, were an inspiration drawn from the 1956 Rodan film. The story is unique in that it involves a new super weapon in the Dimension Tide and a female lead that is hellbent on enacting her revenge on Godzilla, who kills her commander at the beginning of the film some several years prior to the movie’s contemporary setting.
The acting is well done here, but the male lead, the goofy computer whiz, is a bit of a sore spot in an otherwise well-acted film.
The effects are very top-notch and the kaiju designs look great. One of my all-time favorite Godzilla suits returns in this movie and the Megaguirus design is neat despite its simplistic form. The Godzilla suit moves well but the same cannot be said for the Megaguirus prop. Like the Battra and Mothra props eight years earlier, this one is way too stiff. There is even a scene where, after it is “born”, it flies off…but the wings are stationary and wires-galore can be seen directing the prop. This scene, for me, is the biggest eyesore I’ve ever seen in any Godzilla movie. Although it’s said that Tristar brightened these films for the American DVD release and that said wires could not be seen as easily in the Japanese version.
Michiru Ooshima’s score for the film is decent, but I really can’t say it’s anything terrific. With her being the first female to compose a Godzilla outing, it’s okay. She has talent, it won’t really shine through until the Kiryu saga starting two years later.
Masaki Tezuka’s direction, at least with this film, takes some elements of the 70s Showa films. The Godzilla leap onto Megaguirus certainly reminds me of Godzilla flying in Godzilla vs. Hedorah and his slide kick in Godzilla vs. Megalon. I certainly don’t mind such nods to another part of the franchise, but that leap really came out of nowhere considering the tone of the entire film up to that point. Of course Godzilla films aren’t necessarily known for their tight continuities or story-telling capabilities. I do find Tezuka to be experimenting here. I can see he’s using elements that have worked in the past while trying to incorporate his own style. This will definitely pay off when he directs Godzilla X Mechagodzilla and Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. His direction here isn’t terrible, I want to make that clear. Obviously, it isn’t my favorite style either.
While the movie has slowly grown on me, there’s a lot about this film I couldn’t care for. The characters, while well-acted, aren’t fleshed out. Some of the camera speeds, story-telling, and kaiju portrayals are just bizarre and cheesy. It puzzles my mind as to why Toho never went back to Takao Okawara after a well-crafted Godzilla 2000; unless Okawara didn’t want to do Godzilla films anymore.
Godzilla X Megaguirus is by no means a bad movie, but it certainly isn’t great. I even went a one-and-a-half year period where I didn’t even bother to watch it. The movie has some fun and neat parts in it, but Tezuka’s style just doesn’t do well here. The female lead’s personal story isn’t fleshed out, but it goes on for far too long and doesn’t add anything further to the story other than hitting the audience over the head, repeatedly, like a ball-pean hammer that she absolutely hates Godzilla. The acts at comedy are horrendous as well but the final battle, despite the sumo-jump, makes up for quite a bit of the movie’s many shortcomings.
I hope to one day love this film, but I don’t know if that’ll ever happen. I don’t hate it, but I certainly do find it to be way down on my list of favorite Godzilla movies. I really wouldn’t advise checking this film out unless you are a die-hard Godzilla fan.
