INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER
Two astronauts are sent to investigate a distant planet called "Planet X", and upon arriving on the planet, they meet a race of alien cyborgs called "Xiliens" (that also call the Planet the same name as the humans call it) who request the help from the people of Earth to let them borrow two of their giant monsters which are Godzilla and Rodan to fight off King Ghidorah (Who they refer to as "Monster Zero") once more and save their planet, promising the humans that they will give them a cure for cancer in return. However, in a very predictable twist (Because of the shot with the Xilien leader smiling menacingly as the Astronauts blast off to Earth after their first visit), the Xiliens are actually evil and tricked Earth into giving them Godzilla and Rodan so that they can control them along with an already controlled King Ghidorah to take over Earth! Why didn't the Xiliens just beam the monsters to their planet instead of pulling off this charade, well we wouldn't really have a movie now would we? However, my real question in terms of plot is the title. Who is the Astro-Monster? Is it supposed to be King Ghidorah, it sounds like it, but the Xiliens refer to him as "Monster Zero", so shouldn't it be called "Invasion Of Monster Zero" (The English dub title "Monster Zero" has a more appropriate title than the film's actual title); or are the Xiliens supposed to be the Astro-Monster, well if that's the case, shouldn't it be called "Invasion Of The Astro-Monsters" or "Invasion Of The Xiliens"? It's just a really confusing and misleading title. As for those of you who are wondering where Mothra is, the effects team couldn't fit her in due to budgetary issues, which is disappointing that she's not in the movie and the fact that the film never mentions her, or her ever being apart of the fight in the last film. Ok well aside from a misleading title, an obvious twist, the absence of a giant monster, and a plot hole, is this film any good?
Starting with the monsters, in terms of the plot, they're not really the star or focus of the movie; it's really the rivalry between the humans and the Xiliens that's the main focus of the film, as the monsters play off as a tool for the Xiliens to conquer Earth. We hardly get any build-up to the monsters. When we first see Godzilla and Rodan, they don't make a grand entrance, we just see them being beamed up as they are sleeping. The only monster that makes a grand entrance is King Ghidorah, but the build-up to him is supposed to play out as a mystery, when actually it’s totally obvious that it's going to be him because of the lightning effect. When it comes to the design of the monsters, they do look better than they did in the last film. King Ghidorah still looks awesome and Rodan looks way better than his "Sesame Street" Muppet design, and the best thing about these two flying monsters is the wires are not as visible as they were in the last film. As for Godzilla, the suit has been tweaked around AGAIN, and while he still doesn't look and act like his menacing and badass self, as well as still playing out to kids with his personality and his silly and infamous Godzilla victory dance, he’s still kickass when he fights, and his design as kid friendly as it is, looks way more plausible than his design from the last movie. As for the fighting scenes we get only two, and the first one happens in Outer Space with Godzilla finally using his atomic breath on King Ghidorah! We also get one whole sequence of the controlled monsters causing destruction. As awesome, fun, and entertaining as these scenes are, the fights between these monsters are sadly very short (Especially the first fight in FREAKIN' OUTER SPACE!); the destruction scenes at times looks very toy-like, especially when we see the toy vehicles that aren't shot in an angle where they look real; and we get some stock-footage from the destruction scenes in "Rodan" and "Mothra". However, the use of stock-footage isn't that bad; it at least looks like it was part of the movie with the footage looking cleaned up. Trust me, the stock-footage here is not as shameful as some of the later films.
So with the monsters being a tool for the Xiliens to use for destruction, how are the human characters? Truthfully they are pretty likable that come across as boring. The two Astronauts played by Japanese actor Akira Takarada and American actor Nick Adams both make for a perfect and interesting duo who are fun, curious, and adventurous. Sadly though, Nick Adams' voice is dubbed in Japanese which makes this American looking actor have the most accurate sounding Japanese accent ever, which is at times silly. And ironically, in the English dub of the film Adams' voice is the only voice that isn't dubbed, while the rest of the cast is. I do find his casting a bit of a miscast, but the character and the expressions from this dubbed actor are still as good, that is if you can get passed the fact of how obviously dubbed that this American actor is. Adams' character in the film outside of being an explorer who communicates with the Xiliens along with his partner, also has a love subplot with a girl, and I will admit that while the subplot didn't interest me at first, as I watched the film play it out, it did get interesting, despite how short it is. The film's second major human protagonist is played by Akira Kubo as an inventor who creates an invention that annoys people, but turns out to be worth something when businessmen come to buy it, and he too is a likable and interesting character. The only thing that isn't interesting about him (As well as the film itself) is his relationship with the Sister of one of the Astronauts who's pretty forgettable.
Out of all characters in the film, the most interesting and memorable ones out of all them including the monsters are the Xiliens. Despite the predictable twist with them being the villains, and the fact that they could've easily done something different and simple when capturing these monsters, I did find myself enjoying how this alien race fool the human's in a way so fun and convincing that a part of me wanted to deny the predictable twist involving these characters. The performances from the actors playing these aliens are fun, while also making this alien race demanding and threatening at the same time. The suits that they wear are silly and campy looking, but yet is so fitting for this Cyborg Alien race that it in a strange way makes them look cool and classy at the same time. Another thing that I found interesting as the Xiliens pretended to be friends with the human characters is getting to see their planet and how they live, which is both interesting and creative, especially the sets and space effects looking colorful, imaginative, and even at times dark and atmospheric. How the film depicts Space and the planet where the Xiliens live on is almost like a mix with "Star Trek" with its colorful and campy look and effects; "The Twilight Zone" episode "To Serve Man" with the aliens acting as the good guys offering the humans peace when really they have an evil plan involving the humans, as well as the music at times sounding similar to "The Twilight Zone"; and "2001: A Space Odyssey" with some of its shots and atmospheric moments of being inside a rocket ship in space and seeing the Astronauts explore different parts of this dark alien planet. The crazy thing is this film was made before "Star Trek" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" and in all honesty I'd be surprised if any of the two took some kind of influence from this movie.
"Invasion Of Astro-Monster" was another one of the Godzilla films on my list that I wanted to see and went into with high anticipation and while flawed in some areas, I did enjoy it a lot better than the last film that I reviewed that I went in with high anticipation. Despite the monsters not being the stars of the movie along with having their fights cut short; they do look better than they did in the last film; and the fights and scenes of destruction as short as they are, are still as entertaining as you would expect them to be. The human characters are likable characters that you do give a crap about them (Well aside from the relationship between the Inventor and the Japanese Astronaut's sister), and as hilariously dubbed as Jack Adams is, his character still manages to remain serious and likable. However, what I really admire most about the film is the visuals that are colorfully campy and yet look so cool at the same time; and the Xiliens who are the most interesting characters in the whole entire film.Yeah, their plan maybe flawed and the twist of them being villains is predictable, but you put up with it to enjoy the good stuff that goes on during these scenes. I'm not saying the film is a great Godzilla film, in fact, I think a great amount of Godzilla fans will hate that the monsters aren't the focus and that the fight scenes in this film only last for a short time, but for me personally, I think this is a fun movie, with some cheesy and cool visuals.
RATING 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment