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Monday, October 23, 2017

GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S. (AMERICAN DUB)

You know at this point of the series, after seeing like 4 reboots in a row, with 3 involving the origins of the 1954 classic, I've just come to accept the fact that Toho is just going to be throwing one reboot after another during this Era. So I lost all hope for them ever trying to continue at least one of their films from this Era. So let's get right on to the 5th film of the "Millennium Era"...

  

As MechaGodzilla is being repaired to fight Godzilla if he ever comes back to attack Japan, an elderly Dr. Shinichi Chujo who has previously appeared in the events of "Mothra" (played once again by Hiroshi Koizumi) is approached by Mothra's twin fairies (Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka) to ask him to convince the Government to drop the bones from the first Godzilla (that's used to construct MechaGodzilla) into the ocean where it belongs, and have Mothra defend Japan from Godzilla instead (and they couldn't have told anyone about this before the creation of MechaGodzilla after all those years because...???). Conflicted by this decision, the Japanese Government decide to give Mothra a chance, but when things don't seem to be looking good, they bring out MechaGodzilla to take part in the battle.



AT LAST, Toho has finally decided to give us a follow-up to one of their films from this Era, instead giving us another reboot dating back to the original! It feels like a breath of fresh air to see a Godzilla film continue after the one I just reviewed, and see what happens next after getting a bit of a cliffhanger of Godzilla running out of sight, to fight again for another day! Furthermore, I love that Toho also decided to make this film a sequel to the film "Mothra" as well, to make it even more interesting and nostalgic, resulting with us getting 3 sequels (4 if you count "War of the Gargantuas" since the event was mentioned in the previous film, and the Maser cannon that was introduced in the film is used in these two films, despite the events of that film not being as relevant as the events from the other 3 films are played out here) in one movie. However, as much as it feels like a second parter to both "Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla" and "Mothra" (even feeling more of a continuation to "Mothra" than "Mothra VS. Godzilla" was) there are a few gripes that I have with the film.

 

Discovering that this is a sequel, since I enjoyed the characters so much in the previous film film, I was excited to see what they are doing now and how these events are going to affect them. But as I let the film play on, the only previous character that's present for most of the movie is the Prime Minister (Akira Nakao). We get a few short scenes of the soldier Yashiro (Yumiko Shaku) who helped defeat Godzilla in the last film before she leaves this film, but that's about it. Which is a real downer. Don't get me wrong, I felt connected to the Prime Minister in the first film and you still feel connected to him in this film too, but it was Akane, the scientist Tokumitsu, and his daughter Sara, who were the real stars of the film. Which disappoints me that we see very little of Akane, and never see the other two. Now the characters replacing them here are not that bad, you do feel an attachment to characters like Yoshito Chujo (Noboru Kaneko) the mechanic and protagonist of the film, his nephew Shun (Kenta Suga), Dr. Shinichi Chujo, and the Twin Fairies for the same reasons you feel attached to most of the characters in the series. And the writing and pacing is definitely more flowing than it was in the last film. But with that said, the characters, their arcs, and the events that they go through are very reminiscent to the previous film. You have a pilot who bullies Yoshito, only this one has almost little to no purpose for his actions, or at least is not established as well as it was in the last film. A romantic relationship between a pilot and one of the men working on MechaGodzilla, only here it feels pointless and easy to miss. Our lead being trapped inside MechaGodzilla during the climax, and willing to risk his life. And the theme of the characters about "Life and Death" that isn't done as poor as it was in the previous film, but feels preachy and forced. And as if the film itself doesn't heavily resemble the previous film, it also carries plenty of similarities to "Mothra VS. Godzilla". Mothra fights Godzilla as she is slowly wasting away. The fairies try to warn Japan to give back something that isn't there's which will result with dire consequences. And her twin Larvae’s join in the final fight after hatching out of an egg. It almost as if the film is trying to remake both movies, and pass the film off as a sequel since it ties into the other movies.



What's even more half-baked about the film are the things that this sequel could've explored a bit more. I was hoping that we'd get more of a personality from Godzilla, and get a real feel of the first Godzilla's pain inside MechaGodzilla. And to be fair, there is some of that. We discover the bones inside MechaGodzilla (who is no longer referred to as Kiryu, maybe because we all know him by the machine's actual name that was even in the title of the first film) is the reason why Godzilla’s attacking; and they do attempt to give MechaGodzilla a heroic and tragic personality when it gets possessed again. But the reasons for Godzilla being attracted by MechaGodzilla's bones only exists as an excuse that makes little to no sense. And the soul of Godzilla now deciding to become a hero and a tragic character, feels more like a quick way to wrap things up. I understand that it wants to sleep peacefully in the ocean, and take the second one with him, but like in the last film, we hardly feel connected with him in order for us to feel sorry for him. People talk about why we should pity him, but we ourselves never get the chance to experience his torment and misery before the climax since he's always portrayed as a lifeless robot up until that point. It feels kind of random that we now have to sympathize with it and see it do the right thing after seeing it do nothing in this film, and destroy stuff in the last film. What I also wished that we could've learned more about is the giant turtle monster that Godzilla killed off-screen. Apparently it was going to be Anguirus, but was changed to the monster Kamoebas from "Space Amoeba" to avoid fans from being upset by this, which is a wise move if you were just going to show Anguirus lying there dead with no fight. But it still feels pointless to the overall plot as you sit there wondering, who this turtle is (if you're not familiar with this monster), where did it come from, and what went down between it and Godzilla? I know this scene is supposed to build-up to Godzilla's appearance, but if you cut that scene out, you would miss nothing!



But as much as I complain about most of the things in the film, there are still tons of great stuff in it, and that's mostly revolving around the scenes with the monsters fighting each other! Again just like the last film, and the film before that, I don't have anything that new to say about the effects, the fight scenes, and the designs for the monsters! Some of the designs have been altered slightly, like giving Godzilla a scar from the last fight, or having the Larvae's eyes turn from blue to red for when they get mad for example, but they still mostly look the same. The only real major difference with these scenes of chaos and destruction is that aside from the pre-opening credits scene, we don't get to the giant monster action and brawls until the last half of the movie. The first half is just simply building-up to this big battle as we’re given time to connect with the new characters. But as soon as the army fires against Godzilla, the action and movie finally begins and doesn't stop until it’s all over, as we witness the characters get into the middle of all of it. For a climax like that, that lasts for almost an hour long, I can see people finding it being tedious after a while, but personally I never had a problem with it, for how awesome it is, while it still manages to nicely balance out the characters subplots in the fight, and giving us one or two touching moments (mainly the scene with Mothra and her babies seeing each other).

OVERALL THOUGHTS

It’s great to finally be watching the first and only actual sequel to a Godzilla film made in this Era, and truthfully its just as good as the last film. Everything regarding the monster action is as grand as it was in the last two films. And the new main characters are as likable as the ones in the previous film, where their arcs, backgrounds, and relations move at a much better pace. But the film still suffers from lazy writing. And aside from being the only sequel for a film from this Era, nothing about it really stands-out as anything different or groundbreaking for how safe it is. Also if you try to watch this film as a stand-alone without seeing the last one, you will be lost. It to me feels like that this film, and “Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla” are simply just one long movie, with “Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla” being the set-up, and “Tokyo S.O.S.” being the climax. And apart from the characters that we’ve grown attached to in the first film being mostly absent, and the second part rehashing many elements from the previous film (and “Mothra”), it works well as one movie. So if you plan to view this film, be sure to see "Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla" first. 

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