The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 18: Exodus

Godzilla 2000 (1999)


Most everyone hated the 1998 American remake of "Godzilla", especially the Japanese, so it wasn't long before the Big G returned to his homeland to start anew.  Released in Japan in December of 1999, "Godzilla 2000 Millennium" (as it was originally known) became a box office hit.  Not to be outdone, TriStar pictures, who produced and released the American remake and owned the Stateside rights to the Japanese entries, lopped "Millennium" from the title, re-edited it, re-scored it, re-recorded the dialogue with English-speaking actors, and released it in American movie theaters during the summer of 2000.  It bombed at the box office and was the last modern Godzilla movie to be released theatrically in America until 2014 (not counting the limited theatrical release of the original Japanese "Gojira" in 2004).

"Godzilla 2000" ignores the events of all previous films in the series.  In this story, Godzilla has been present for a long time.  He makes landfall now and again to snack on a nuclear power plant or two, and it's the job of the CCI (Crisis Control Institute) to ward him off.  Keeping an eye on his movements is the Godzilla Prediction Network, an amateur network of diligent citizens led by the father/daughter team of Yuji and Io Shinoda.  Their back story is never explained, but I suspect that the duo's determination to track Godzilla may have something to do with the absent mother figure.

The CCI discovers a meteorite at the bottom of the ocean floor and decides to raise it up.  As soon as it hits sunlight, it flies off to confront Godzilla.  Before you consider that the movie should have been called "Godzilla Vs. a Rock", it sheds its stone casing and reveals itself to be an alien spacecraft.  Meanwhile, Yuji discovers the secret to Godzilla's strength and healing ability, a cell they dub "Regenerator G1" ("Organizer G1" in the Japanese version).  The alien ship, after surfing the Internet for a while, learns of this discovery and sucks "Regenerator" straight from Godzilla's DNA.  The alien inside uses it to adapt to Earth's atmosphere and becomes a creature called Orga, who takes on Godzilla in a one-on-one fight for dominance.  Big mistake.  Orga opens up its mouth to swallow Godzilla whole, so Godzilla sticks his head right in and blows the critter up from the inside with his atomic breath (bad ass moment #1).  Then he confronts the head of the CCI (who's a real asshole), kills him face-to-face (bad ass moment #2) and stomps off victorious.

Directed by Godzilla veteran Takao Owara ("Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth", "Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II", "Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah"), "Godzilla 2000" represented a return to form for the series.  It was far from perfect, though.  The movie feels a bit piecemeal and uneven, due in no small part to its rushed production.  The digital effects artists were still going composite-crazy (as in the "Rebirth of Mothra" trilogy), resulting in many terrible visual effects (and a couple of great ones, too - one shot with a jeep in the foreground racing against Godzilla in the background is pretty cool).  The re-cut, dubbed American version is, surprisingly, the superior version of the movie.  While the English dubbing is ungodly in its cheesiness, it's still funnier and less annoying than the dialogue in the 1998 American remake.

Toho Studios even thought the American cut was better, so it became the default version of the film after it was released.  The editing was tighter, the music was better, and the movie felt more like a fast-paced ride than the slogging Japanese cut.  I'm not a big fan of the Millennium Series Japanese redesign of Godzilla.  His mouth and his spines are too freakishly big and he has too much of an unwieldy, Anime-inspired look to him (trivia note - he's the first green-colored Godzilla in the history of the series), but it's nothing I can't live with.  It was just great to see the real Godzilla on the big screen again.

Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus (2000)

Many fans consider this to be the worst movie in the Millennium Series (excepting the American remake).  I disagree.  I consider "Godzilla 2000" to be the worst (well, least best) entry.  I will detail my arguments below.  First, though, lets get to the basics.

"Godzilla X Megaguirus: G Extermination Command" is its Japanese title.  It was released in the year 2000 and was the lowest-grossing movie in the Millennium Series.  Newcomer Masaaki Tezuka took over the directorial reigns this time around and was working from a script by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura, who also wrote "Godzilla 2000".  TriStar Pictures had originally wanted to release this movie theatrically in the United States, but the box office failure of "Godzilla 2000" nixed that idea.

Like most of the other movies in Series 3, "Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus" pretends that all of the other movies don't exist.  The Plot:  Since Godzilla's first appearance in 1954, nuclear power has been abandoned in order to deter Godzilla's advances.  Humanity has turned to plasma-based energy to meet its needs.  In order to defeat Godzilla once and for all, Japanese scientists have developed a plasma-based satellite weapon which can create mini black holes to suck up all matter and energy within a predetermined area.  They call it the Dimension Tide.  During its preliminary test, a wormhole is formed.  A prehistoric dragonfly emerges from the wormhole, lays an egg, and returns to its original time period.  The egg gets into the sewer system of a nearby city where is splits into hundreds of eggs, causing the city to flood.

The eggs hatch into large dragonflies called Meganulas.  The Meganulas zero in on the biggest nearby power source, Godzilla, drain his energy, then transfer that energy to the Alpha Grub, also known as the Meganulon.  The Meganulon transforms into the super-powered dragonfly Megaguirus and battles Godzilla to defend its territory.  Meanwhile, a joint effort by the scientific team behind Dimension Tide (led by a young rebel hipster scientist named Kudo) and an anti-Godzilla task force, the G-Graspers (led by kick-ass female warrior Kiriko Tsujimori) conspire to get the satellite weapon up and working.  Godzilla kills Megaguirus (after one particularly bad ass moment where he bites off the giant insect's stinger), and turns his rage towards the city.  It seems that one of the Japanese politicians has been secretly experimenting with a nuclear power source beneath the city, putting everyone at risk.  Tsujimori puts her own life in danger to target Dimension Tide's final shot before its satellite burns up in the atmosphere.  Dimension Tide hits Godzilla, sucking him into a black hole.  Yay.  That doesn't appear to be enough, however.  During a couple of mid-to-end credits scenes, Godzilla returns.  It's not explained, but I'm guessing that he came back through a wormhole after a short vacation in prehistory.

I think this is a solid entry in the series.  Whether it's because of director Tezuka or not, I'm not sure, but it's a much more solid movie than "2000".  It's well-paced, the visual effects are much better, the music by Michiru Oshima is quite excellent (themes which originate in this film return in future installments), the cheesy comic relief is still present but there's much less of it, the characters are more well-formed and are less "arch", and the action sequences are more varied and original (like one scene where Tsujimori rides atop Godzilla's back).  Speaking of Kiriko Tsujimori, she's the first true female butt-kicker in the series (it's about time).  Godzilla's other opponent, Megaguirus, is a new take on an insect character which first appeared in "Rodan"(1956).  He's kind of a mash-up between Mothra and a Godzilla-copying creature like Orga, but he's got a bit of a sadistic personality and makes a great villain.

Overall, I find it to be a quite enjoyable film.  The idea of using a black hole to defeat Godzilla is a unique idea, but there are also many themes and characters that feel like rehashes of similar tropes from the series' past.  This may be why many critics consider this to be a lesser film. Whether or not these tropes are welcome is a matter of personal taste.  Tropes ain't all bad, if they're done well.

Coming up next, the final four films of the Millennium Series.  Here's where the Series gets really good. . .

The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 17: False Idol

The American Godzilla movie was released in May of 1998, marking the beginning of the Millennium Series, also known as Series 3 ("Rebirth of Mothra 3" was also released in '98, but is still considered to be a Series 2 entry).  The major distinction that sets Series 3 apart from the others is that it's not one long narrative - each movie in Series 3 (with one exception) is a standalone story.  Well, to be more accurate, most of these movies are a direct sequel to the original 1954 "Gojira" and pretends that all of the other movies don't exist.  This allows for new potential audience members to jump right into these movies without having to worry about not knowing any back story (beyond the original, which they often recap anyway).  It's an interesting approach.  Me, I've always preferred ongoing storylines.  I consider Series 3 to be the weakest of three.  It began in 1998 and lasted through 2004.


Godzilla (1998)

Imagine if a movie studio remade "Star Wars" (the original, "Episode IV: A New Hope").  What if that studio decided to remove the concept of "The Force" and replace it by having characters tap into a magical computer energy field with personal tablet devices in order to achieve the same powers.  Lightsabers would similarly be replaced by goggles which would shoot laser beams.  The character of Luke Skywalker would no longer be a teenage farm boy with big dreams, he would be a successful middle-aged banker going through a messy divorce.  Then the filmmakers decide to make Darth Vader a super intelligent toddler who rides around in a floating baby stroller, throwing hard candy at those who displease him.  The setting?  It no longer takes place in outer space - now it takes place during Woodstock.  The plot?  It's no longer about a noble rebel alliance and their struggles against a vast and oppressive evil empire, now it's a story about a dispute over the taxation of trade routes.  In short, it's not "Star Wars".

That's how we felt about the 1998 American "Godzilla" - it's not Godzilla.  When I say "we", I mean all those who've seen a true Godzilla movie.  To the majority of American moviegoers, Godzilla was just a giant rampaging lizard who was woken up by an atomic bomb blast. 

Wrong. 

There have been dozens and dozens of movies made over the past century featuring enormous radioactive reptiles, and they are not Godzilla.  So, what makes Godzilla who he/she/it is?  Let me try to explain this another way - I will now recount the ways in which the 1998 Godzilla is not Godzilla:

1) Godzilla is a force of nature.  He is not a giant iguana.  He is not an animal at all, really - he's the personification of our arrogance and recklessness turned against us (or, in some cases, fighting for us).  I like to think of him as 75% natural disaster and 25% Frankenstein's monster.  There is a sympathetic side to him, but that sympathy occurs not because he's a dumb animal who destroys things because he doesn't know any better, but because he's a misguided child of the human race who knows exactly what he's doing, he just doesn't care.  There is no place for him on this Earth, yet the Earth is the only place he can call home.  Godzilla is a bit of a paradox, an unwanted child who never should have been, but exists, for better or worse.  You root for him because, well, humans deserve a little comeuppance for what we've done to the planet and ourselves, but at the same time you fear him and want him to go away.  He's an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a big frickin' lizard.

2) Godzilla has atomic breath.  The 1998 Godzilla has nothing.  The element of Fantasy is an important part of the Godzilla mythos.  Much like what happens with "Tarzan" adaptations, the Americanized version wrongheadedly tried to take a realistic National Geographic approach to the character.  Thus, no atomic breath.  People who've seen 1998's "Godzilla" swear that he breathes fire in the movie, but it's not true.  There are two scenes in the movie where the monster roars and its breath sends the flames from nearby explosions billowing forth, making it appear almost like fire breath, but it's merely meant to be an homage to the original character.  Lame.

3) "Godzilla does not run from helicopters."  That's an exact quote given by a Toho Studios executive immediately after seeing the American version for the first time, and it's very true.  When Godzilla is attacked, he moves toward his attackers.  I like the idea of a fast moving Godzilla, but it takes away from the "walking natural disaster" portion of his character if he's always retreating and avoiding danger.  If he'd had his atomic breath, he could still have unleashed the requisite amount of mass destruction, but, alas. . .

4) Godzilla cannot be killed by four dinky missiles fired from fighter jets.  Come on, people.

5) Godzilla movies do not end with terrible Puff Daddy songs.  The Wallflowers song was okay, though.

6) Godzilla movies do not grind to a halt with a bland, overlong sequence involving raptors/baby Godzillas chasing our heroes through Madison Square Garden.  If I wanted to watch "Jurassic Park", I would watch "Jurassic Park".  Actually, this sequence would have been cut out of a "Jurassic Park" movie. 

What does this movie get right?  A couple of the action sequences are okay.  It's got the right character spread - the main human characters in Godzilla movies usually consist of a combination of certain archetypes, namely a scientist, a reporter and a military person.  The 1998 movie has those characters, except that here they are all incredibly grating and annoying and unwatchable.  I like a few of the actors involved here (Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno), but they're all terribly played and screechingly unfunny when they're supposed to be endearingly amusing.  In this case, cheesy voice dubbing would have improved the movie.

What about the plot?  It's very simple.  Atomic bomb testing in French Polynesia creates a giant mutant hybrid lizard.  Said mutant hybrid lizard eats a lot of fish and heads for New York City in order to make a nest - see, it reproduces asexually and is currently pregnant.  After blowing up Madison Square Garden and killing off the babies, a couple of fighter jets kill the big lizard.  The End.  The human characters have stories too, but they take up far too much screen time and make me sad.  But, hey, at least the advertising campaign was cool!

Toho blindly trusted filmmakers Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin to bring their beloved character to the shores of America.  After the success of their previous film "Independence Day", Toho handed over the rights to a U.S. remake with the confidence that they had made the right decision.  Instead they ended up with a movie that barely resembled its source material, was filled with wrongheaded emotional beats, and had absolutely no themes or subtext whatsoever.  Everyone was disappointed and the movie underperformed at the box office.  In Toho's official monster lineup, the American Godzilla is known as Zilla.  Fans have taken to calling him GINO (Godzilla In Name Only).  There would be no sequel.

Well, that's not entirely true. . .



Godzilla: The Series (1998-2000)

The 1998 movie ends with a baby Godzilla hatching from an egg which has miraculously survived the destruction of Madison Square Garden.  That baby would grow up (quickly) and star in 40 episodes of a follow-up animated series that aired on FOX.

I disliked the source movie, so I never bothered to check out this series - until now.  Color me surprised, because I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would.  Picking up exactly where the movie ends (even recreating the climactic action sequence in animated form), Matthew Broderick's character of Niko Tatopoulos (now voiced by Ian Ziering of "Sharknado") discovers the young Godzilla, who imprints on him and becomes much more human-friendly than it's predecessor.  Soon after, more mutant critters begin to appear, so Tatopoulos and his newly-formed crew of specialists (and Godzilla, of course) must deal the monstrous threats and save the Earth.

It's a Saturday morning-style cartoon, so you know what to expect, but it's well done for what it is.  The actors do a better job playing the animated characters than the live action actors did (a couple of the actors from the movie reprise their roles in the show), a lot of the jokes are actually funny, and the plots are reasonably enjoyable.  In short - it's better than the movie.  It's also better than the Hanna-Barbera cartoon from the late '70s-early '80s.

The animated Godzilla is even a step closer to being the real Godzilla: He has fire breath (not atomic, though), he's much tougher to kill, he's larger, he fights other monsters, and he even has a bit of an attitude.  He's still not quite Godzilla, but the producers were heading in the right direction.  None of the monster foes in the show ever became official Toho monsters (although a couple of them resemble famous Toho creations), but they were varied and interesting enough to drive the stories forward and entertain.

The series ended in 2000.  Zilla would only make one more appearance, in " Godzilla: Final Wars" (2004).

Godzilla returned to Japan for the rest of the Millenium Series.  But he made one more theatrical appearance in the States. . .

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review

In accordance with tradition, I will now continue from where I left off in my review of "Thor: The Dark World" by briefly touching upon all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe stuff that's been unveiled since then.  After that, the "Cap" review.


Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

It just keeps getting better and better.  The long, seemingly random gaps between the airings of the episodes really annoys me (damn you, ABC), but the show is keeping me interested.  It's not on a "Breaking Bad" level of good, it's more on the same level of something like "Fringe", but the central mystery is intriguing, the characters are reasonably engaging, and the way it ties into and expands the MCU is still neat.  The action is still a bit lacking, and the show sometimes comes across as gimmicky, but I still enjoy it.  After the events of "The Winter Soldier", however, the show should get really, really interesting (there are, I believe, six episodes left in this season).

Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King

They've done it again.  The last One-Shot, "Agent Carter", was the best of all of the MCU short films - until "All Hail the King" was unleashed with the home video release of "Thor: The Dark World".  Primarily a comedy, this is the story of Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley), the British actor who was set up by mega mogul Aldritch Killian (Guy Pearce) to portray made up super terrorist "the Mandarin" in "Iron Man 3".  "All Hail" takes place after that movie: Slattery is in jail, and a documentarian played by Scoot McNairy (from "Monsters" and "Argo") is there to interview him.  We learn much about his past acting career, his time as "the Mandarin", and the fact that there are some very bad people in the world who aren't very happy with his portrayal.

Though only fifteen minutes in length, it made me laugh quite a bit.  Kingsley, one of the major highlights of "Iron Man 3", is still in top form, the direction is airtight, Brian Tyler's score is fantastically retro, and there's a very cool cameo appearance over the end credits.  Sure, there's obvious, fanboy-appeasing retconning going on in the plot (complete with cheap shots at angry Internet trolls), but I really don't mind where they're going with it.  It's entertaining.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Simply put - it's one of Marvel's best and will likely end up on my Favorite Movies list for 2014.  It ranks right up there with the first "Iron Man" and "The Avengers" in quality.  Heck, it may even be better than those (time will tell).

It's certainly superior to the previous film, "Captain America: The First Avenger".  I liked the original's retro charm and rampant Golden Age morality, but it was definitely a flawed flick.  "The Winter Soldier", while not totally flawless, is so overwhelmingly stuffed with gooey goodness that the flaws don't matter.

What follows is a brief list of Pros and Cons.  I will keep things Spoiler-free for the uninitiated, but keep in mind that the movie has a great many hardcore twists, turns, cameos, shout outs, planted story seeds and plain ole' surprises - I will not ruin it for you.

Cons: There's only one major flaw that kind of irks me - but it's no big thing:  The overall plot of the film involves the timeworn "the enemy comes from within our own government" gambit, one that American action movies have been playing for many years now.  This particular plot concept is getting a little long in the tooth, but "Winter Soldier" ups the ante in terms of stakes and quality of execution.  Plus, it's far too easy to pick out who the main villain is going to be, which doesn't matter in the end because the villain is fantastic.

The 3D is generally well done, but the movie features lots of quick cutting and some "shaky-cam" editing techniques which, while extremely well-utilized, are not entirely conducive to the 3D format.  It's still worth seeing in IMAX 3D, however.

Hummable theme music.  Henry Jackman's score is great and accentuates the movie quite nicely, but there's no "Captain America theme" to whistle as you exit the theater.  The first "Cap" had theme music, so what gives?

Pros: Almost too many to list.

Chris Evans owns the role.  He may be the most morally-centered and "whitebread middle-America" member of the Avengers, but it's precisely those qualities that make him such an interesting character in such an out-of-this-world, shades-of-gray cinematic universe.  He easily out-Supermans Superman in the "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" department.  Plus, the dude can kick some serious ass.

Speaking of ass kicking, the action sequences are perfectly done.  PERFECTLY.  They never outstay their welcome (I'm looking at you, "Man of Steel"), they're punchy, satisfying, breathtaking, and as gloriously old school, in execution, as a modern superhero movie can get.

The cast - unbelievable.  You've got the series regulars (Evans, Scarlett Johannson, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Hayley Atwell, etc.) proving why they are series regulars in the first place ('cuz they're good).  Then you've got Anthony Mackie (awesome as the Falcon), Frank Grillo (a great, gritty character actor), Emily VanCamp as Agent 13 (there will be more of her in the future), Robert Redford (ROBERT FREAKIN' REDFORD), and Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier.  Let me say this - the Winter Soldier is easily one of Marvel's best bad guys.  He may not be as "fun" as Loki, but he absolutely takes no prisoners and is just plain scary.  Add a dash of "Frankenstein's monster"-style pathos to his character, and, voilà - instant three-dimensional character.

It's a fantastic, fun, full throttle movie.  It's not all fist-pumping action, though.  It's thoughtful.  It's surprisingly emotional.  It's funny and charming.  It's scary.  It's far better than "Iron Man 3" and Thor: The Dark World".  It blows everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to hell - and I admire that.  "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is going to be very interesting in the coming month, and the stage that's been set for "The Avengers: Age of Ultron", well. . .

Have I said the word 'interesting' yet?