For a change of pace (well in terms of approach rather than subject matter) I thought it was time to return to monster mayhem, but also to reappraise a few entries in the Godzilla series. You see these are films that I was pretty lukewarm about initially when viewing them several years prior to this. But they're instalments that fans often bring up when talking about their favourites in the franchise. So I thought what the hell, why not do a double bill of sci-fi nonsense and see if I was more invested than I remember being in the past. To cut a long story short... a good time was had by all.
The second movie in the second iteration of the Godzilla series is an odd one. Clearly this is a follow up to the darker 1984 reboot storyline in which the big guy was last seen tumbling unceremoniously into a volcano. But at the same time it's a bridge between that film and the subsequent 1990s series where things get a lot crazier. I guess it can all be chalked up to audience reception but the result is a fairly grim plot about Godzilla as a natural disaster, but also a film about psychic powers and science fiction gadgets. It's bleak in some scenes and silly in others, but it doesn't involve time travel or outer space just yet. Although it does get strangely supernatural in places as things go on.
However before I get ahead of myself lets discuss the opening. To kick things off they make sure you know it's the '80s with a lot of scenes of espionage and a lot of talk about G-cells and cloning. Bad guys wear sunglasses at night while driving sports cars and a new Godzilla alert system describes the stages of an alert with some sweet computer graphics. Later they even throw in some wireframe visuals depicting the attack and the counter measures being used. There's a lot going on and the story isn't that coherent, with some of the scientific moral dilemmas presented feeling more like afterthoughts than deeper themes. But it's still pretty entertaining overall.
The overarching narrative involves the aftermath of the previous Godzilla attack, during which shady American military guys try and steal samples of monster goo from the ruined buildings. However a third party sends in agent SSS9 (Manjot Bedi) to steal the sample for fictional nation of Saradia, which is definitely an original creation and not a stand-in for any real life oil supplying country. For one reason or another Dr. Shiragami (Kōji Takahashi) and his daughter Erika are working here on a project that aims to replace Saradia's economic dependency on fossil fuels with some kind of immortal plant life that will transform the desert into a fertile landscape. But it's not to be when the research is crippled by a bombing and Erika is killed.
The initial premise is pretty absurd, after all it's crazy that anyone would want to cross a plant with radioactive monster cells. However things soon get weirder when the good doctor decides that his daughter's soul lives on in the rose flowers he was researching, and decides to carry on the research. He initially decides against continuing his work when the Japanese government asks him to use the G-cells to create a radiation absorbing bacteria, which might actually help the situation. Instead he ends up creating the titular Biollante, a part reptile part plant abomination that uses giant tendrils to kill a pair of American spies. Afterwards it escapes and grows to enormous size so that there can be a monster battle in the third act.
Things get more complicated when the American agency tries to threaten the Japanese science team, saying that if they don't hand over the remaining cells a bomb will release Godzilla from his volcanic prison. Things get even sillier when Godzilla inevitably goes on the rampage and a psychic girl Miki (Megumi Odaka) is sent to try and divert him from attacking a nuclear reactor. This all results in some great monster mayhem scenes and the deployment of an upgraded Super-X flying machine... Super X-2. The set pieces are all pretty good, particularly when they reach the city. The most memorable scene involves Godzilla taking his anger out on a military commander after experimental drill rockets are used. It's not quite the same as the Super-X destruction last time around, but it's still a fun bit of shock spectacle.
The main event isn't that interesting as Biollante just sits there or uses a series of tendril and acid attacks before trying to eat Godzilla - which never ends well. It goes a bit Little Shop of Horrors but at least the design is interesting even if the thing isn't very mobile. Maybe it should have sprouted legs. Godzilla's visual upgrade is a plus at least. But why are they fighting? It's never entirely clear like many of the plot elements. Maybe they just don't like being related to each other. Maybe it was Erika's ghost all along. But ultimately there's never a dull moment and there are various inclusions like all the sci-fi ideas, the espionage plots and the involvement of SSS9 that keep the momentum going throughout.
4/5
BONUS REVIEW
GODZILLA, MOTHRA, AND KING-GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL OUT ATTACK (2001)
Moving forward to the Millennium series it seems like history repeats itself. After a couple of new ideas with Orga and Megaguirus, Toho once again decided on old school monsters and went back to the usual roster. Well in the case of Ghidorah and Mothra anyway. There's no time travel here but there are other new ideas. Not mentioned in the title is Baragon... the subterranean cattle eating antagonist from Frankenstein Conquers the World. I guess this would make more sense if it was Anguirus? The other title characters seem to have been changed after the first draft when the studio decided to play it safe, so a non-Godzilla creature is a strange inclusion. But it doesn't mean that the film is any less entertaining.
Once again this is a stand alone story in the post 2000 franchise that decides to start over without referencing the previous film. The even decided to play around with the idea of Godzilla's purpose here. While the plot directly references the events in 1954, he's now supposedly a kind of supernatural force that was created from the suffering of people killed during war time. Meanwhile Baragon and Ghidorah are now on the same team as Mothra after being reinvented as guardian spirits that fight for mother nature. Why? It's unclear. But the results mean that a bunch of drunken teenagers are squashed when they intrude in rural village locations where the monsters are sleeping. Some returning creatures may have had their size and powers reduced, but it's nothing major.
Godzilla on the other hand is a completely destructive force again this time around, with a new dead-eyed visual overhaul that sort of resembles the original version. He moves around way too quickly like something from the Showa series, but overall he's mean and cantankerous causing the deaths of bystanders and military forces alike. Bad CGI is minimal here and the scenes of carnage use a lot of really impressive miniatures to create some of the best spectacle in franchise. The rest of the story about a plucky female reporter and her grumpy army general father I can take or leave, and the tone sometimes shifts between wacky and dark without warning. But the end result is a stand alone monster brawl that is easy to recommend.
4/5
