Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

This is a continuation of the previous Godzilla movie, but where the previous movie was one of the best Godzilla movie, this one falls way short. The biggest culprit is the poor choice of actors which Toho seems to be an expert at. They had a pretty good combo in the previous version with Koh Takasugi, and Yumiko Shaku, but this one had bunch of kids which really had no acting abilities which really drew all life out of the plot. This is shown in the fact that this movie had such a poor turnout at the box office in Japan (13 million dollars) , that it was officially decided that the next Godzilla movie Godzilla Final Wars will be the final Godzilla movie.

The story plot was boring, and also annoying with all the young actors trying to steal the lead which added to the unfocused plot. I think it was a bad idea to make a mechanic the main character of the movie. He was having a hard time being a hero. The guy who should have been the hero - the pilot of Kiryu was a horrible actor and he wouldn't have engaged the audience to a degree Yumiko Shaku did. Music was way down from the previous movie.

Special effects was pretty good, and might be the best part of this film. Mothra's depiction was the most realistic of all Toho movies. But somehow I can't get used to the millennium Godzilla's face. It has no expression, and I don't get the sense that it's such a big menace. Godzilla looks small throughout the series after Godzilla 2000.

So nothing as its center piece, this movie falls apart as plot moves forward.

First, a disappointment: Megumi Odaka, the young woman with the very large ears who communicates with Godzilla telepathically, is NOT in this one...My children and I have dubbed her "Mickey Mouse" and enjoy seeing her in the series...

This movie has the BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS of ANY Godzilla movie that I have seen. The planes look like planes; the tanks look like tanks; and, Godzilla looks so COOL! He has gone through another make-over and has been given a cobra-like neck to go with the newer, smaller head and the glowing spinal plates.

Who else has a new look? The women that Dennis Miller refers to as the Mothra Chicks. New outfits, bare midriffs, ugly shoes...more contemporary ideals of beauty. And, they sing just as well as the originals...

The effects are most spectacular with Mothra, although I hear that Mothra is not really a moth, but a stunt butterfly in a moth-suit. The look of the giant insect is most realistic and the effects of his near miss flybys can almost be felt by the viewer.

Mechagodzilla looks pretty neat as well.

I won't give much of the plot away. There is less screen time for the child actors, but the movie is perfectly fine for children. No discernible death, just a lot of good clean monster fun...

Get ready to crumble because there goes Tokyo! Finally, some continuation in the Millennium series. Previously, Godzilla once again faced off against his mechanical double in "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla." Both monsters return alongside Mothra in one hell of a battle between man, monster, and goddess. The result is Godzilla Tokyo SOS.

Plot: One year after the epic battle between monster and machine, Mechagodzilla is still undergoing repairs as is Tokyo. Meanwhile, Mothra, Earth's insect guardian, demands that the bones of the original Godzilla creature, currently inside Mechagodzilla, because apparently humans should never touch the souls of the dead. Soon enough, Godzilla returns, forcing the government to make rushed adjustments and send in their mech after the beast with Mothra's help. Can their combined might defeat the King of the Monsters?

Basically, it's Godzilla vs the world and I just love it. This is practically a fan's dream battle as Godzilla faces both Mothra and Mechagodzilla at the same time, the latter two being challenging opponents. The action scenes are totally crazy as these monsters beat the living (and metal) crap out of each other and buildings everywhere get smashed and blown up. The designs of the creatures are just excellent from Godzilla's awesome Hensei/Millenuim hybrid look to Mothra's insectoid features.

The story is pretty interesting, though most of the new human characters are not as charismatic as the ones from the previous film who also show up here. What's really cool, though, is veteran Godzilla actor Hiroshi Koizumi returning as his character Dr. Shinichi Chujo from the original Mothra movie! He has a prominent role here and it's so nice to see an old face from the original series. The music is also a real treat, especially the classic Mothra song sung by none other than the twin fairies, the Shobijin.

Nothing much to say other than this Godzilla film is a blast. With epic action scenes, an intriguing story, good cast, and a surprise creature cameo, this is sure to please any fan and beyond, so check it out. All hail the King of the Monsters!

Sorry people. I just saw this at the G-Fest. It was a let down! It really was missing something... Godzilla wasn't mean enough. Sure the affects were good. But it lacked the mean spirited fun of GMK(last years choice for G-Fest). The focus on a repair guy and his father was boring. Was it suppose to be dramatic? Shusuke Kaneko is a better director and he added his own take to GMK. I could let the lack of violence slide IF there was an awesome monster for G to fight. I am bored with MechaG and Mothra. They just aren't exciting anymore. Oh, and the prior reviewers jab at Space Godzilla are just pathetic. Space G is my favorite Godzilla from the 90's and deserves a second look. Godzilla rules despite SOS. I hope the next outing is more exciting.

I agree with reviewers who write that the film is competently made and reasonably entertaining, but I also agree that with this movie, the series seemed to have gotten stuck in a rut.

In fact, towards the end of what is known as the "Hesei" period of Godzilla films, the film-makers of the series developed a formula which became standardized for the "Millenium" phase: as the movie opens, we find the humans worried about a possible attack from Godzilla. Then they either build another monster, or have one flown in. The two (or three) monsters have a big fight in down-town Tokyo, Godzilla is tossed back into the sea, the end.

Of course, all genre films use formulas and conventions. But the stronger entries in any genre are precisely those in which the film-makers try out new approaches and variations to these formulas. In the so-called "Showa" phase of the Godzilla films (1954- 1985), there were plenty of multi-monster wrestling matches and attacks on Tokyo, etc.; but there were also some weird experiments, some that worked (Son of Godzilla is highly entertaining, if one doesn't ask for much) and some that didn't (Godzilla's Revenge). But the real point is that they were different, and challenged their viewers to decide whether the differences ought to be kept or scratched for the next episode in the series.

But with Tokyo S.O.S, it became clear that the 'Millenium" series writers and directors could only rarely innovate or improvise. The fight scenes in Tokyo became pretty much same-old same-old, film-to-film, and this is a dangerous thing to do when your protagonist is a guy in a rubber monster suit. When we see the same thing, film after film, we start getting bored, and when we start getting bored, we get distracted, and notice things like, hey, isn't that really just a guy in a rubber monster suit? Tokyo S.O.S. isn't quite down to this level; it is very professionally made. But there's no doubt that by the time it was made, it was time for something new.