Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

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...

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is the only film of the Millennium series that is preceded by another film. Picking where Godzilla X Mechagodzilla left off, the Japanese Defense Force is in the process of repairing Mechagodzilla after his last outing with Godzilla. Yoshito Chûjô, played by Noboru Kaneko, is an mechanic working on Mechagodzilla and was visited by the tiny twin fairies of Mothra, the Shobijin. They warned him that the people must return Mechagodzilla to the sea, for the dead must not be disturbed (Mechagodzilla was created from the bones of the original Godzilla). If the people do not heed to their warnings, Mothra will declare war on mankind, which I think is a departure from Mothra because she has always been depicted as a benevolent creature. But, without Mechagodzilla, Japan has no defense against Godzilla.

This film provides many references to previous Toho films, including bringing back the two character leads from Godzilla X Mechgodzilla, containing footage from the previous movies and even bringing back Kameba, the gigantic turtle from "Yog, Monster from Space" (1970). Perhaps the most notable mention is the return of Professor Shinichi Chujo, played by Hiroshi Koizumi, from the original 1961 Mothra movie. Koizumi reprises the role he did 42 years earlier, and delivers drama about Mothra's previous attack on Tokyo and referenced photographs from his trip to Infant Island in the original Mothra film.

The movie is filled with drama and heroism. The part where Chujo's grandson made the Mothra sign to call her for help was one of my favorite scenes. Michiru Ôshima gave another brilliant music score and Eiichi Asada did an awesome job on the special effects. Mechagodzilla's rockets and Mothra's wing attacks were among my favorite special effects in the film - all contributed to exciting action-packed monster mayhem. Some downsides to this movie is that as this movie also serves as a sequel to the original Mothra movie, Mothra and her larvae were not emphasized enough. Godzilla was also portrayed as very weak - in some of the battle sequences with the robot, Godzilla just stands there as if he is letting Mechagodzilla attack him. And, Godzilla rarely gets any chance to do some city stomping. As with most films in the Millennium series, this movie focuses on the military - an element that gets repetitive. But, on another note, the cast of characters are likable for the most part and Mothra's design is this film is my favorite of the monster, though she is really overused by this time.

Grade B-

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.

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.

Direct sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. Surprise, surprise, Godzilla returns for revenge against his robotic counterpart. This time the end of the world may also follow suit, as humans have managed to annoy Mothra as well. I loved the way in which Godzilla's bones helped create Mechagodzilla, and save humanity, are now the cause of all the controversy may destroy humanity. There is less human conflict in this film, but the action more than makes up for it. Another wonderful Godzilla movie then. I'm sad I only have one left to watch. But I must stress, don't just tune into this and expect the effects to win you over. You have to make an effort.