Kaiju Khristmas continues on!! Welcome everyone to Week 2 of the Marathon. From December 8th through December 14th, we have some stellar movies coming up!! And I can't wait to see them all!!
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Eh. I wasn't very impressed by this one. It was unfortunate, because I did have some high hopes going in. Varan as a concept is very, very cool. The idea of an all terrain monster is sick. But I don't think it was utilized very well in the movie, but I imagine a lot of that was just due to the limitations of the time.
The story was boring and ultimately extremely forgettable. Once Varan wakes up, it basically just becomes "shoot Varan. He went back underwater. Shoot Varan again. He went back underwater. Bomb Varan. He went back underwater." Repeat until they finally bomb him for good.
Characters were extremely forgetable and boring. I can't remember a single one that stood out. The other movies have, so far, at least had one or two memorable characters. This movie felt like they just had standins for characters. Generic male protagonist. Generic female damsel. Generic male sidekick. Generic scientist. Etc.
I could forgive all that if the action was good, but it really wasn't. Nothing super spectacular happened, nothing that we haven't already seen in the other Kaiju movies done better. A total shame considering they really could've done some cool stuff with the all terrain idea. But I get that they were probably held back from fully realizing that idea.
Over all, terribly mid movie. Varan himself was alright. And I'd love to see a more modern take on him that can fully realize his all terrain concept.
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I like how it didn't waste a whole bunch of time. It wasn't too long before we had both Monsters showing up. The story felt like a bit of a rehash of King Kong Vs. Godzilla though. Just with a few parts switched around. It even ended the same way, with Godzilla falling into the ocean. No wonder he keeps coming back. Everyone seems to think an aquatic Monster falling into the ocean means beating him!!!!!!!!!!
The scene with Godzilla fighting Mothra was really fun. But, again, my biggest complaint comes back. The Mothra larva are just nowhere near as interesting. I know why they did it, but it's still disappointing. Especially when two literal babies are able to beat Godzilla.
The two babies hatching from the egg was a great twist though. I didn't see it coming, so I was completely shocked by it.
The Tiny Beauties were great again. But once more none of the human characters were really that interesting. Just kind of generic again. Though I did recognize that one actor from previous movies. I'll try to figure out his name.
I do hope going forward the other fight movies have a plot that isn't just "We happen to have found another monster, right as Godzilla wakes up and starts rampaging again". I don't need anything too crazy, but at least a little different set up would be nice. The set up between this and King Kong was basically the same. So I hope things mix up in the future.
Overall, I liked it. I actually think this was a much better movie than King Kong Vs. Godzilla, despite my love for King Kong. I think it was set up a lot better. Because Mothra actually had good motivation for stopping Godzilla. Rather than King Kong, who was just kinda put in front of Godzilla and decided to fight.
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No new Kaijus to rank, but I think this actually boosts Mothra up a spot. I really liked her in this movie. But Mothra Larva showed up again, so I think they deserve to be on the list. And I find them so fucking boring. So they're going at the very bottom. Most of that is because I want to see more actual Mothra, so they make me more annoyed everytime they show up. If I was being more fair, they'd probably be in 9th place instead of last.
That was a top tier movie. We're finally starting to get into the really good stuff with this one. Best fights, best villain, best effects, this one has definitely stolen the show from the other movies.
King Ghidorah has never been my favorite monster, just based off what I'd seen of his design. But wow. This movie completely turned me around on him. Absolute badass from the moment he shows up. His design, which was something I didn't really like, is much much better in motion. The wings and his three heads look great for the time. And his lightning breath looks leagues better than Godzilla's atomic breath does at the time. His sound effects were also really good.
He's just a total beast. Destroys entire planets, and was only able to be beaten when three whole Monsters teamed up to defeat him????????? Idk how people call Godzilla King of The Monsters with him flying around LoL.
Rodan and Godzilla were awesome in this movie too. Especially Rodan. I didn't even know he was in this movie, so to see him suddenly show up like that was a really fun surprise. And he kicked a lot of ass in this movie from the get go. Godzilla was cool too, but since we've seen him so much so far it doesn't feel like as big of a treat as Rodan did.
Mothra, character wise, was great. I like that it expanded further on her more guardian like role in the world. Showing up to not only fight King Ghidorah, but also being the mediator between Rodan and Godzilla. And when they said no, she was fully ready to go fight him one on one. All by herself.
It'd be great...... IF SHE WASNT A FUCKING LARVA AGAIN. DO THEY LITERALLY DO THIS EVERYTIME SHE SHOWS UP???????? SERIOUSLY???????
Also what happened to the second one from the end of Mothra Vs. Godzilla? They specifically mention that movie, but they don't talk about what happened to the sibling. Would've been cool if they mentioned it had stayed behind on Infant Island to protect it.
I also, shockingly, really liked the side plot with the princess and the hitmen. Normally I don't really give a fuck what the humans are up to, but for some reason I found this one to be really cool. Maybe because the Princess was directly involved with the whole King Ghidorah plot, so it felt a bit more important.
I think a reason I don't really care about the humans all that much is that they really don't matter in the long scheme of things. I know they're not the real point of these movies. But it would be nice if there were more reoccuring human characters. I have noticed that one actor that has shown up in like half of these movies though. I wish I knew his name, because he's a favorite of mine. He'd be a top character if he played the same guy in every movie.
Also the music was killer. Especially Rodan's theme. And the visuals were just absolutely stellar.
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King Ghidorah in my top 5 was NOT something I expected. Also this movie bumped Rodan up into second place, and Anguirus down into third. Sorry Anguirus! Maybe after your next movie you'll go back up a spot! Rodan was just too cool to ignore.
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While not my favorite movie so far, I don't think its anywhere near my least favorite. I do agree it dragged a lot in the middle, moreso than the other movies have. And the fight wasn't as flashy as a lot of the other ones. Especially coming off the back of King Ghidorah. But I actually liked a lot of this one.
I've made it plenty clear by now how much I love Hedorah. I think she's extremely unique compared to the cast of Monsters we've had in the marathon so far. Toxic pollution monster is a really cool concept when we've mostly just had dinosaurs, with a few exceptions. And her design is really cool. Especially her eyes. Even though they're vagina eyes. (Which I was graciously informed of during the middle of the movie)
Her powers were absolutely devastating. Disintegrating people by just flying over head. And even being toxic enough to melt Godzilla's hand. And she's all terrain!!!!!!!!!!!! This is exactly what I was hoping for when I said I wish Varan took more advantage of the concept. We thoroughly get to see Hedorah dominate on land, air, and sea.
I think this movie has an absolutely excellent monster, with a pretty boring movie surrounding it. None of the movie itself really wowed me, and the tone was all over the place. I honestly think this movie would've been better if it just got to be a freaky solo monster movie, rather than a vs. event. Though Godzilla himself did have some excellent moments in it. Even if some of them were pretty goofy.
It did have one moment I really liked though. This scene the only scene I think has been creepy in any of the movies so far. The music cutting out, and just cutting instantly to these dudes being drowned in sludge was creepy in the best of ways.
Overall, Top tier Monster, low tier movie. Not something I'd watch again, outside of watching Hedorah's specific clips on YouTube.
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Its hard to explain the feeling this movie gives, the feeling all the movies have given. But watching all of them in (more or less) order, gives a really good look at how Godzilla was evolving through the Showa era.
He went from a terrifying Monster, to more or less being a Marvel superhero in this movie. Complete with a side kick.
I don't think its necessarily a bad thing, but its certainly different than how he started out. And I think I can firmly say I like it more when Godzilla acts like a real Monster.
That being said, this wasnt a bad movie. If I disregard my feelings towards how Godzilla is portrayed in these more recent films, they're pretty good.
The plot in this movie was very compelling. In that it.... Actually felt like a real movie. LoL. The human plot was honestly more interesting than the Monster fight in this one. The characters were really solid and the plot with the aliens and Godzilla Tower, and their plan to take over Earth was really neat.
This movie feels like a really solid continuation from Hedorah, as well. Because environmentalism plays a big role in the aliens trying to take over the world. And the not so subtle metaphor of what happened to their world.
Don't get me wrong though. The monster fights were very exciting. Absolutely jawdropping. The moment Ghidorah showed up, I was on the edge of my seat. It was such a cool way to bring him back.
Gigan was also an awesome new edition. His scythe arms and buzzsaw stomach really make him feel like an alien threat.
And of course, there was the return of my beloved Anguirus. Unfortunately, this movie didnt do much for him. Except for that pretty gruesome scene where he got sliced by Gigan.
Idk how Ghidorah went from needing Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan all teaming up to take him down, to being able to lose against just Godzilla. But I guess he had time skip training on Monster Island. (Which is also the first time its been mentioned in my marathon, but it probably showed up first in another movie I didnt watch this year.)
Overall, top tier. This was an absolute thrill to watch. I think Ghidorah and Gigan being summoned will go down as one of my top Kaiju moments period.
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Godzilla Vs. Megalon was a fun movie. But for every good thing I can say about it, I can say one equally bad.
On one hand, I like most of what happened in it. The idea of an Undersea Kingdom is a really cool idea, and the aesthetics of it were pretty tight.
Megalon and Jet Jaguar were cool new kaijus to introduce. (Yeah yeah. Jet Jaguar is technically not a kaiju. For the purpose of my reviews he's getting included as one). I liked Megalon's bug like design, his beetle wings and drill arms were sick. And Jet Jaguar I ended up liking more than I had thought I would. He was silly, but had some cool fight scenes. And the added trivia that he was technically created by a kid, was really cute. The fights were fun and solid the whole way through.
Also I loved seeing Gigan come back. Along with the reference to the M Space Hunter aliens. Which I didnt expect them to do.
But on the other hand, the movie wasn't that great. The tone was probably the most goofy its ever been in one of these movies so far. It felt like some B tier superhero flick rather than a Kaiju film.
Even though I liked Seatopia, it was functionally the same as an alien invasion. Which we just had happen, and would happen again in the next movie.
Megalon's design makes no goddamn sense. If he's supposed to he an aquatic Monster, then why is he a giant bug?
I did still like the fight at the end though. Was really fun and made it all worth it. Especially finally getting to see the fucking tail slide LOL.
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I gotta be honest. I think I liked this one even less than Megalon.
Starting off with the positives.
MY. FUCKING. BOY.
Anguirus is back!!!!!!!! Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!
And then he just gets his ass beat again 🙁 My poor babey is just the punching bag of this universe.
Also King Caesar was ADORABLE. I loved him and his big old ears. His ability to absorb Mechagodzilla's lazers were awesome.
Mechagodzilla himself was really badass. Cool design, loved how many fucking weapons he had on him. Unfortunately no personality, because duh. So I dont think he's gonna rank too highly for me. But I still enjoyed him. I hear later versions of him get even better.
I enjoyed the aliens vs. humans plot in this movie for the most part. Its not really anything that great, but I liked the kind of almost James Bond/spy movie shit that was going on. Especially the chase scene on the boat. The interpol agent was also a cool enough character.
I did also enjoy the initial reveal that "Godzilla" was Mechagodzilla. It was a pretty cool scene seeing the fake suit come off and reveal the robot beneath.
That's about where my compliments for the movie end unfortunately. The rest of it was kind of ass.
The plot of the movie almost entirely revolved around waking up King Caesar. Only for King Caesar to do basically nothing the whole fight. He woke up and immediately got his ass beat. Also the like 5 minute song to wake him up was annoying.
Another alien invasion was a really boring plot choice. I would've liked it more if it were the M Space Hunter aliens again. Because then Gigan, Megalon, and Mechagodzilla almost could've been a little trilogy. (They still do feel like one in a few ways).
The final fight felt mid too. The only part I really liked was that part where Mechagodzilla just fucking magdumps all his ammunition, going absolutely buck wild shooting everything he has.
I really enjoyed Godzilla Vs. Gigan, so I'm a little disappointed that Megalon and Mechagodzilla didnt really jive with me in the same ways.
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