Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

The one thing that gets me is how some reviewers rate movies, but only tells the parts that they hated. What about the rest of the movie. This one is much better than the first (Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 2002) by far. The story is very interesting this go around. The people of Japan are warned that if they do not dismantle Kiryu then Mothra will not fight for them rather against them.

This movie also has key elements from previous movies such as Mothra, and Godzilla vs Mothra, while still staying true to the 2002 flick. The special effects get better with each movie especially Godzilla's thermanuclear blast. The monster battles in this one were good as well, some reviewers think Godzilla has to be super evil to have good monster battles, shame on them. Mothra did her parts to hold off Godzilla until Hio and Mana (the larva) shows up.

I won't spoil the movie or the ending for you, but the doorway for Godzilla Final Wars has been busted open. Again don't trust reviews from critics whom couldn't tell you the difference between Godzilla and Zilla. This is a definite buy and an enjoyable movie. Who says you have to be a kid to appreciate the action of a Godzilla movie? Check this one out, you won't be disappointed.

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.

So I took a break from the world of Godzilla after MECHAGODZILLA II and SPACE GODZILLA disappointed me and the 1954 original (which I appreciated for what it was) bored me. But I'm a glutton for punishment, and I decided to try again and find a Godzilla movie that's more my speed. My next excursion brought me to GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S. While it has a lot in common with his run-in with Space Godzilla, I found that I enjoyed it a bit more. I don't know if I'm just getting used to the genre or it the movies just got better as the years went on. I guess TOKYO S.O.S. was the second-to-last of the Toho series films so I guess it's better late than never. Just because the movie's an improvement over the previous installments I've seen, that doesn't mean it's any less insane. The movie opens with the arrival of Mothra, heralded by his twin space fairies warning Dr. Shinichi Chujo that Mothra demands that Godzilla's remains (which had been used in the construction of Mechagodzilla) be returned to the sea where they belong. It never really explains why so I just assume Mothra's a stickler for proper burial procedures. Anyway Godzilla awakens (I thought he was dead and his bones were in Mechagodzilla?) and returns to Tokyo to exact revenge on Mechagodzilla for…having his bones? Mothra has offered to defend Tokyo in Mechagodzilla's place if the Japanese government comply with his request, and he is summoned to battle Godzilla when the beast arrives. Then, human characters step aside and we're treated to an hour of Godzilla, Mothra, and Mechagodzilla going to battle.

So, the first thing I noticed is that this movie trades in some elements of crazy (there are no psychics in this movie) for others (space fairies and a giant benevolent moth). Let's go ahead and just get this reminder out of the way. I am not a long-term Godzilla fan and only started watching the series when I realized that I was excited to see Gareth Edwards' 2014 reboot and wanted to get some history on the series. I did not watch them in order and I've only seen a handful of them. So I'm sure there are perfectly "logical" explanations for all of the weirdness I get such a kick out of but I'm more entertained by just assuming it was the writer's love for LSD. For example, why is Mothra's offspring born from an egg more resembling that of a bird than any insect? It doesn't matter. He's a space moth with hot twin space fairies that act as his voice to mankind. I'd always wondered why it appeared that Mothra had such a huge fan base and I think I get it. It's probably the most interesting of the monsters I've seen so far. It's not just some mindless beast rampaging through Japan. It's got personality and it's own agenda. It wants Godzilla's remains returned to the sea (again, for reasons unknown to me) and it's willing to become the nation's guardian in exchange for the disassembly of Mechagodzilla.

At the start of the movie, Mechagodzilla is in a state of disrepair and the government is weighing the option of shutting down the program. If Godzilla's thought to be gone, why continue shelling money out to repair their giant robot? While the government gives it consideration, Godzilla decides to pop in for some Tokyo- stomping and Mothra steps in, quickly proving that his offer to protect Japan was worthless. While I actually really liked the human story element here better than I have in any of the other movies, TOKYO S.O.S. suffers from the same issue that really bothered me about SPACE GODZILLA. The movie is 90 minutes long and 60 of those minutes is dedicated to the final battle. No joke. I'm sure all the loyal Godzilla fans out there are shrugging and mumbling to themselves, "Well, yeah, man. That's what these movies are all about." Well, I need more than just 60 solid minutes of monster vs. monster vs. giant robot. Admittedly, this battle was way more entertaining than those in both MECHAGODZILLA II and SPACE GODZILLA and the ending was a nice resolution, even if I didn't totally follow it. I was unaware that Mechagodzilla has a history of spirit possession, but there it went. Anyways, my final verdict on GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S. is that it's a nice improvement over the other Godzilla movies I've seen. Mothra was way cooler than I thought a giant space moth had any right to be. The final battle, while still excessive, was pretty cool and the visual effects have gotten much better so if I were going to recommend any Godzilla movie to a newbie, it would probably be this one.

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.

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.