Well it's the first day of October, which is the month where
I review horror movies. And after all this time of not writing that many reviews for the last few months, the lack of reviews that's been happening lately is over because the reviews that I have lined up for this month is mostly reviews on the Godzilla
films. After reviewing the original 1954 film; its American cut; the 1998 flop;
and the recent Godzilla flick; I really felt like reviewing more films from the series. However, since there are so many Godzilla films out there, I'm obviously not
going to get to review them all in one year (I give James Rolfe dozens of
credit for reviewing all Godzilla films in one Month). So I'm deciding to break my
Godzilla film reviews by reviewing one of the three eras a year which are the "Showa Era"; the "Heisei Era"; and the "Millennium Era". Oh, and don’t
worry, there will be other horror related reviews as well this month, and I promise when it comes to reviewing the next two Eras of the Godzilla films for the next two years, I will balance out giving you reviews as I prepare the Godzilla reviews. I also want to let you know that while I did plan to review all the Godzilla films in their original Japanese cut, I sadly had to review a few of these films in their English dubbed cut mainly because I couldn't find some of the film's in their original form. So to avoid confusion with which ones the original Japanese cut and which ones the English dubbed cut; you will see the words "English Dub" next to the title in parentheses, while the Japanese version of the film will just be the film's title alone. With all that out of the
way, let my review on the "Showa Era" begin, starting with my review
of the sequel to the first film...
GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN
Taking place a year right after the first film; this quickly made sequel is about a second Godzilla and a prehistoric monster named Anguirus (who's called Angilas in the subtitles, but screw it, we all know this creature by his most popular name) who have been awoken from the same hydrogen bomb tests that awoke the last Godzilla, to finish a rivalry that has lasted between them since the dawn of time. The two monsters eventually arrive in Osaka destroying the city as they fight, as the humans are trying to get rid of the monsters, but sadly have to find another way since they don't have the weapon that killed the first Godzilla.
Being a quickly made sequel after the success of the first Godzilla film, it seems pretty obvious that this film is just a pure cash grab that lacks the amount of scares, build-up, tension, and the dark and depressing aspect that the first film had, and it pretty much does. We don't get the same incredible build-up to any of the monsters like in the first film. The stuff that was creepy, disturbing, and depressing in the first film isn't carried out well here. And the size and scope of the film while close to being as big and edgy looking with the cinematography and use of black and white to match the dark and gritty tone that the first film had, it still isn't on the same level of size, scope, and atmosphere that was previously carried out. The film is obviously just meant to be a fun a giant monster B movie that the series is mainly known for, and while I do really love the first film for the dark, eerie, and depressing tone shadowing the Hiroshima attack; this film does deliver at being a fun and entertaining giant monster movie that's at times cool to watch.
Starting out with our leading monster Godzilla, while not as scary and eerie looking as he was in the first film, he's still for the most part awesome in this film! His trademark roar still sounds great. We get some really cool shots of the him (my favorite shots being when he's surrounded by flairs, and when he swims and rises out of the ocean). And for first the time ever, we see Godzilla kicking another monster's ass! A major difference that this film did with this monster is since the original Godzilla suit was so uncomfortable to wear, which gave the monster a slow and sinister animal like movement; the suit in this film was made to fit the actor better, so it can give the actor the ability to do the fight scenes. In a way, I do miss that slow monster like movement that made the first Godzilla so creepy, where here the physical movements from the monster make things seem a bit more obvious that it’s a guy in a rubber suit. But with that said though, it still looks awesome seeing Godzilla fight another monster. However, while I do praise some of the shots of Godzilla, the costume being made to fit the actor does look really cheap and looking at the amount of teeth it has for its close-up shots is more silly looking, than it is scary. Just an interesting fun fact, the original U.S. releases of this film changed Godzilla's name to “Gigantis: The Fire Breathing Monster", and there are two different stories to why they changed Godzilla’s name. The first story is because Warner Brothers could not get Permission to use Godzilla's name, despite that it's clearly a Godzilla film that they’re distributing and dubbing.And the other story was because the Producer of the American version wanted to give audiences the impression that it's a different monster, despite that it clearly looks like Godzilla! Whatever the story was for the change of title, they're both B.S. reasons.
Godzilla's opponent Anguirus, despite being the first monster that Godzilla has ever fought, just like the M.U.T.O's in the most recent installment to the Godzilla franchise, I didn't think Anguirus was that much of a threat towards Godzilla. This monster looks like that it was ready to get its ass kicked from the very start, not once did I feel like that this monster was going to win. While I felt the same way about the M.U.T.O's, at least they were some what close to killing Godzilla compared to this monster. Anguirus hardly ever causes any destruction when he's not fighting Godzilla. However, what I do give this monster tons of credit for is the creativity that was put into it. I mean seeing this Dinosaur like creature with spikes all over his back and tail, as well as having more than two horns on the top of his head is very creative, especially when compared to the M.U.T.O's that pretty much look like every monster we've seen in American cinema. It's even more creative than America's most recent reptilian monster the Indominus Rex in "Jurassic World". How come for the majority of films, America can’t get creative with a giant monster? So yeah, despite being a lame opponent I at least give the people who created this monster tons of credit for the imagination brought to it, and who knows, maybe it will be a worthy opponent in the other Godzilla films that follow.
Despite Anguirus being an easy foe for Godzilla to fight, the fight scenes are still awesome! Just the amount of destruction and chaos that these monsters bring when they're fighting against one another is so cool and enjoyable to watch, that much like the first film, it doesn't matter if we're looking at obvious models as guys in rubber suits destroy them. I can see many people laughing at how noticeably fake the models that the monsters are destroying look, but there's still a fun and awesome entertainment value to these scenes with the way that these scenes are shot, edited, and choreographed. There's even a climax in the snowy mountains as the Jet planes try to take down Godzilla by burying it with snow and ice, and as obvious as it looks that the planes that Godzilla is destroying are fake, it's still great seeing Godzilla take down these planes as they fire missiles at the mountains. For me, I think the two effects that I found to be so cheesy that I didn't think there was anything cool about them is the shot of the crowd of people running away from Godzilla, which looks more like they're running past a giant projector screen. And the other one being an overhead shot of Godzilla in the snowy mountains which is so obvious that they're using a Wind-Up Toy of Godzilla that hardly works, that it looks pretty lame and awkward instead of cool. I also do wish Godzilla and Anguirus’ first fight when they're on the Island was a bit longer. However, all this stuff I'm pointing out are really just nitpicks that don't really ruin the enjoyment to these fight scenes. Now I here people complain about how these action scenes drag on for a longer running time, and as much as I can understand why since the scenes do feel long, in all honesty, I enjoyed every single bit of these scenes for how entertaining, and action-packed they are.
Another major things that the film lacks compared to the first movie are the characters. Alright I'll be honest, I didn't think these characters were boring enough to slow the film down, and they aren't over the top annoying either. They don't even feel like bland and exaggerated one dimensional cardboard cut out cliche characters either. They do feel like real people, with real relationships and interactions between one another. The problem I have with these characters is I just didn't find them interesting or memorable, nor found the stuff that they were going through sad or interesting. I didn't care for the friendship between the two pilots. I wasn't invested in the love relationship between one of the pilots and his girlfriend. I didn't feel sorry for the loss of the girlfriend's Father's business. And I didn't even feel sad when one of these characters gets axed off. They're pretty much like Akria Takarada's character in the first film. Boring and uninteresting as a character, but not badly acted and is tolerable enough to get through the film. The only character I did like in this film is Takashi Shimura reprising the role as the Paleontologist that wanted to study Godzilla in the first film. But he's only in the movie for a very short time, who in reality is just there to recap the events from the first film as he shows footage of the first Godzilla destroying city, which has me questioning of where he got the footage and who filmed it? I also enjoyed the comical criminals who escape out of a prison truck, despite that they seem out of place for a Godzilla movie considering that the way they run and act looks like they're from an old silent movie.
Aside from the uninteresting characters, the weak opponent, the costumes looking cheap, the fact that the film doesn't have the same exact grim tone that made the first film so great, and feels quickly made to cash in on the success of the first film, it's still a fun and important sequel that broke new grounds to give us the things that we admire from a Godzilla flick. It started the fun B Movie camp factor that we're all familiar with when it comes to Godzilla films, which the film itself did a nice job at doing so (whether it was intentional or not). It gave Godzilla his start at fighting against another monster, which as a result gives us fun and awesome fight scenes, that are so cool and entertaining that it doesn't matter how obvious the models look. And it marks the first appearance of the famous Godzilla monster Anguirus, who maybe a weak opponent in this film, but is still a creative monster none the less. I know it's not one of the better Godzilla films or that good for that matter, but I don't think it's the worst or as bad as people make it out to be and I still think it's an important Godzilla film that may not be as good as the first film, but should still be at least appreciated for the stuff that it brought to the series despite its faults.
RATING 3/5
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