By: John Lipartito
November 6, 2002
All photos from Toho's Godzilla Website
This weekend I was lucky to attend my second Tokyo International Film Festival
in what is now my second year living in dreamland Japan! Why do I say
“lucky?” That’s because advance tickets to this one sold out in the
first three days they were available! Tickets became on sale on a Saturday,
and unlucky me decided to go buy them the following Monday night. Fortunately,
my far too kind girlfriend (sorry for the shameless kissing-up) found several
tickets being auctioned on Yahoo Japan. So I was able to score a pair
of tickets in the dead center of Shibuya’s Ochard Hall for me and my otaku
(otaku=obsessed, loyal fan) buddy Hiro for the slightly inflated price of
2300yen a piece. PHEW!
As always at TIFF, before the film showing was a stage appearance by Cast
and staff including producer Shogo Tomiyama, director Masaaki Tezuka, VFX
supervisor Yuichi Kikuchi, actors Akira Nakao, Shin Takuma, and idol star
Yumiko Shaku. Like last year, everyone talked a little about their
involvement in the film and shared their hopes that we would enjoy their
work. The last actor to speak was Nakao (best known to fans as General
Aso from the Heisei series) and before he stepped back, the MC was bold enough
to ask him if there would be another Godzilla film after this one, to which
he replied, “I hope so,” an answer that commanded a full house of wild applause.
Then, Ifukube’s Godzilla’s theme filled the hall and a very nice promotional
suit of Wakasa’s new Godzilla design stomped across the stage spewing white
smoke from his mouth, again, just like last year. But this year, a
fantastic promotional suit of Mechagodzilla with glowing eyes followed!
In a clearly non-scripted moment, Mechagodzilla tripped over Godzilla’s tail,
which extended almost to the end of the stage! Kawaii-so! (Poor thing!)
Fortunately, Tomiyama and Kikuchi reacted fast enough to catch him.
Mechagodzilla was carrying a baseball bat which he then handed to Godzilla,
a respectful nod to baseball player Matsui, whose nickname is Godzilla and
just this week signed a contract with the New York Yankees. Matsui
also enjoys a brief cameo in the new film. Godzilla took a few wild
swings with the baseball bat, and a photo session completed the stage show.
Finally the lights dimmed, and the long awaited showing of Toho’s latest
Godzilla—the film to follow last year’s smash hit GMK—began. The beginning
was strong and ominous. The year is 1999. A typhoon is brewing
off the coast of Tateyama in Chiba prefecture and the Maritime SDF hurries
to secure their ships in the bay. This is the first time we see the
film’s heroin, Akane Yashiro (Yumiko Shaku), following orders and basically
being a good soldier. Then the typhoon hits, and as a reporter braves
the intense wind and rain to give a live broadcast of the storm, the bay
seems to bulge behind him and a scaly silhouette slowly rises. The
TV crew gasps in fear and try to run as Godzilla lets out a mighty roar!
Maser Tanks roll out to meet Godzilla, accompanied by the subtitles "Anti-Megalosaurus
Unit, established in 1966, 4072 members, to defend against monsters."
What ensues is a breathtakingly intense military confrontation with Godzilla
in the midst of a great typhoon. As we are used to seeing, Godzilla
is completely unfazed by both artillery and Mazer fire, and he quickly dispatches
the forces. In a panic to retreat from Godzilla, Akane swings her Maser
tank around, inadvertently knocking an army jeep off the road and into Godzilla’s
path, who mercilessly crushes the vehicle. Godzilla knocks Akane’s
Maser over with his tail and presses on unopposed, roaring defiantly as lighting
strikes and illuminates his dorsal plates. The title scene cued in,
and the audience erupted into applause.
Unfortunately, this intro marks what I felt were the best moments of an otherwise
not so good, not too bad entry in the Godzilla series. Ultimately,
I was quite disappointed in Godzilla X Mechagodzilla, not because
it doesn’t nearly become the landmark achievement GMK was (I never expected
so much of it) but because it’s a movie that never truly fulfills itself.
GxMG is full of great and new ideas for the genre, but consistently falls
short of truly realizing any one of them.
Following the title sequence, we see the immediate aftermath of Godzilla’s
visit to Tateyama. Many residents are left without homes, and are crowded
into a high school gymnasium. We meet Prime Minister Machiko Tsuge
(Kumi Mizuno) who reflects upon the history of giant monsters in Japan starting
with the first Godzilla in 1954. Next she recalls Mothra’s attack in
the 60’s, which heralded the first use of the heat-ray cannon, and it is
said to have been effective. Then, “Bigfoot Gaira” (apparently without
Sanda) attacked, and was fended off by an improved heat-ray cannon, the Maser
Tank. But the Maser was clearly ineffective against this new Godzilla,
so Ms. Tsuge calls upon science minister Hayato Igarashi (Akira Nakao) to
develop a weapon that can protect Japan from its most powerful enemy.
The flashbacks of the past kaiju raids used stock footage pulled directly
from Godzilla ’54, Mothra ’61 and War of the Gargantuas,
save for a new scene showing Godzilla writhing beneath the waves under the
effects of the Oxygen Destroyer, then dissolve into a skeleton. Regarding
the new scene, the effects are not as gripping as one would hope. It
is in fact a new suit based on the G ’54 design, but somehow it appears rather
cartoonish on screen, like poorly rendered CGI, probably the result of the
poorly rendered CG bubbles engulfing him. I assume that this scene
was filmed in order to show that unlike the original events in G’54, in this
timeline Godzilla’s skeleton was not also dissolved by the Oxygen Destroyer.
From here, the story is pretty simple, and with a few exceptions, perfectly
predictable. Fast forward to 2003. Science Minister Igarashi
is now the new Prime Minister. The Godzilla skeleton is recovered from
the bottom of the sea and bio-physicist Tokumitsu Yahara (Shin Takuma) is
hired to extract DNA from the skeleton to build a bio-computer for the anti-Godzilla
robot. Note that unlike the rumors that were wildly circulating before
this movie came out, Mechagodzilla is NOT built around the skeleton of G’54,
he is simply programmed with the original Godzilla’s DNA. Why?
Well that’s the first good idea that went nowhere. Normal computers
can only process information using combinations of 0 and 1, making information
processing slow and cumbersome. But a DNA computer uses all four DNA
bases, ACT and G to create twice as many processing combinations and thus
process information more quickly, like a living thing. Sound complicated?
Don’t worry about it, like the Artificial Black Hole of Godzilla X Megaguirus,
this is throw-away science that you are just supposed to accept for the sake
of the story.
Actually, the DNA computer figures into only one major scene—the much anticipated
berserk Mechagodzilla scene. Godzilla rises along the Kawasaki coast
and MFS-3 Kiryu is immediately dispatched. “Kiryu” is the real name
of this Mechagodzilla which means “3rd Dragon”—possibly a reference to this
being the 3rd version of MG, or more likely, that Kiryu is the 3rd Godzilla
monster in GxMG’s timeline. In fact, Mechagodzilla is only Kiryu’s
nickname, given to him by Dr. Yahara’s young daughter, Sara (Haruna Onodera.)
Mechagodzilla unloads a barrage of missiles and maser beams at a stoically
standing Godzilla, who finally roars in defiance. Akane, piloting MG
from one of two White Heron super jets, readies the “Absolute Zero” Cannon
(MG’s primary weapon that can freeze the very atoms of its target) but the
robot monster resists the command and Godzilla escapes. Godzilla’s
roar had induced a flashback of G’54 within the DNA computer and Mechagodzilla
literally becomes Godzilla and goes on a rampage, unloading all his weapons
on the city a la MG2 back in 1975! After an hour, MG’s batteries run
out and the menacing robot stands lifeless before a beautiful Tokyo sunset.
But that’s all Mimura’s script allows us to see of Mechagodzilla’s inner
tension. He is supposed to be a robot controlled to fight Godzilla,
yet in reality he is another Godzilla. But this idea gets carelessly
thrown by the wayside. Dr. Yahara somehow (we never are told exactly
how) reprograms Mechagodzilla, who never shows any will of his own again.
Mimura’s failure to completely develop his ideas extends from the plot to
the characters. Early in the film, I felt a good human drama was about
to unfold. Unlike what many people assumed before the film came out,
Yumiko Shaku’s character, Akane, is not a carbon copy of Misato Tanaka’s
vengeful Kiriko. Whereas Kiriko was driven by revenge, Akane’s motivation
comes from self deprecation. She feels that she is responsible for
the deaths of her comrades in the Tateyama battle. Her desire is not
so much to kill Godzilla as it is to make up for her errors in the past.
This leads into the central theme of the movie, which seems to be that “no
life is worthless.” Akane has lost all self worth and sees herself
to be nothing more than a soldier who follows orders—like Mechagodzilla,
she is programmed and has no will of her own. However, this theme comes
across as very childish, and rather than being subtly implied, is beaten
to death by heart-wrenchingly corny exposition by the young but wise Sara.
The theme is further broken by the disregard for Mechagodzilla’s personal
will after the berserk scene. Akane clearly feels some kind of sympathy
for Mechagodzilla, but to little effect in the story. Though Akane
feels a kinship with the robot monster, we never get any sense that Kiryu-Mechagodzilla
has any affinity for her.
As far as the rest of the human drama is concerned, it’s not much to speak
of. There is an embarrassing love interest between the socially bumbling
Dr. Yahara and Akane, as well as a soldier on the Kiryu team who threatens
to tear a rift in the group because of his hatred of Akane. The reason
for the latter is that his brother was in the jeep Akane hit with her Maser
tank back in 1999.
There is also political and international tension, which, like most of the
film starts out strong but fizzles out roughly half-way through the film.
On a positive note, I would like to mention that this is the first Godzilla
movie since Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla ‘93 that makes any reference
to international military support against Godzilla. It is amazing how
just one simple line in the opening Tateyama battle (announcing that the
American Navy is on standby) enhances the audience’s suspension of disbelief
in this confrontation with Godzilla. This trend of subtle realism continues
as Prime Minister Tsuge takes a lot of heat about her super-robot proposal.
Other countries are nervous that this signifies the re-armament of Japan
contrary to its pacifist constitution and the Japanese public whines about
the tax dollars needed to realize the project. But again, this theme
fails to develop any further. Particularly I found it quite strange
that no one raises a skeptical eyebrow during the first test of the Absolute
Zero Cannon. Isn’t such a devastating weapon more frightening than
the monsters themselves? What if it ever fell into the wrong hands?
As I said before, the scene when MG goes berserk is a high point in the film.
There is even fear that Kiryu-Mechagodzilla might unleash the Absolute Zero
Cannon. To Mimura’s credit, the political tension Igarashi and the
military face over using the robot again is fairly well done. Igarashi’s
decision to approve the use of Mechagodzilla without further testing is adequately
tense, but thereafter the tension is lost. As I stated before, after
MG’s amazing reprogramming, he never shows willfulness again. Therefore,
there is no reason to fear that he will go berserk again. There is
no further tension that savior may become apocalyptic destroyer.
I also have mixed emotions about the monsters. Wakasa’s new Godzilla
design streamlines and naturalizes his older millennium designs, but lacks
the look of power and fear of Shinada’s GMK-goji. Also, the head is
unsettlingly small, reminiscent of the latter Heisei designs. The head
is able to rotate in any angle, but when it does so, it seems terribly mechanical.
Godzilla’s heat ray is well-rendered and retains the classic blue-white color
restored in GMK. His dorsal plates flash intermittently briefly before
using his breath, but this is actually less dramatic than the slow build-up
of power that we’ve become used to since G2000. The worst point about
this Godzilla is his lack of mobility. In fact, Godzilla seems rather
dull and soul-less in this film. His movements, even in battle, seem
primarily restricted to walking in a straight line or standing stone-stiff.
Mechagodzilla, on the other hand, is quite well-realized both in design and
suit-mation. Kiryu-Mechagodzilla is truly an effective combination
of the 70’s and 90’s versions. The back-pack which serves as rocket
boosters and missile launchers makes MG look top-heavy, and clearly weighs
the actor down. Fortunately, this back-pack gets torn apart fairly
early in the final battle with Godzilla, and the actor inside Mechagodzilla
moves much more freely thereafter.
Overall, the Fighting is a mixed bag, sometimes the monsters move too slow
and sometimes suddenly too fast, jarring the audiences’ perception of the
action. Some CGI is also used to accomplish some of the more wild battle
maneuvers, but these moments stick out rather sorely. However the action
is quick, and far from boring, if even a little childish. Kikuchi has
said that he wanted to recapture the feeling of King Kong Vs. Godzilla,
something all too apparent when MG grabs Godzilla by the tale for a revamped
Big Swing. But this kind of semi-comical, CG-enhanced pro-wrestling
clashes with what heretofore has been a straight-forward simulation kaiju
film.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
The ending of the final battle is kind of cool, but left me a little unsatisfied.
The soldier who hates Akane flies his White Heron kamikaze-style at Godzilla,
who catches it in his mouth. He tells Akane (now piloting from within
MG because Godzilla damaged the remote system) to forget about him and shoot
the Absolute Zero cannon at Godzilla. But Akane refuses to be responsible
for another comrade’s death and with the Zero Cannon powered up, flies to
Godzilla, grabbing him and knocking the super jet from his jaws (saving her
most disagreeable comrade) then speeds Godzilla out to sea where she detonates
the Zero Cannon. The huge splash from the titans’ impact freezes into
a strangely beautiful crystal formation then shatters. There is a moment
of tense silence, when the icy water suddenly cracks open, and a wounded
Godzilla emerges roaring then swims away. A badly damaged Mechagodzilla
rises behind him, but has no power left for pursuit. Prime Minister
Igarashi congratulates everyone on a successful anti-Godzilla campaign, Akane
stands on Mechagodzilla’s shoulder watching Godzilla leave, and the credits
role…but just like GxM, that’s not all. After the credits, we see Akane,
Dr. Yahara, and Sara in the MG bunker. Akane declares the previous
battle a draw but says Kiryu-Mechagodzilla will get another chance soon.
Then she finally makes Yahara’s day by asking him out on a date. Owari
(the end.)
At 88 minutes and 6 seconds, there is little room for this movie to fall
into any extended lapse of boredom. Tezuka’s apt direction keeps the
pace moving, and the battles exciting and intense. But even Tezuka
can only do so much with a script that abandons common sense and creatively-challenged
characters. I haven’t talked much about the special effects, mostly
because they are pretty steady, but nothing spectacular. On the whole,
Kikuchi’s VFX are better than Suzuki’s work on GxM, but a big step down from
Kamiya’s work on GMK. To Kikuchi’s credit, this is most likely due
to Toho’s reduced budget on this film. The score is difficult to remark
on now, as the Orchard Hall theater is notorious for its mediocre sound system.
All I can say is that Oshida’s powerful Godzilla theme is back, but that’s
the only theme I could pick out. I could not discern a particular Mechagodzilla
theme.
I want to make it clear that though I cannot say Godzilla X Mechagodzilla
is a good movie, I did enjoy this film quite a bit if only as a diehard fan,
and will certainly go to see it more than once, probably more than twice
after its official release in December. But every time I watch it,
I can imagine myself wincing again and again at moments when Mimura’s script
crescendos only to fall of a cliff of great ideas that could have been if
he took the time to develop them further.
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