Wednesday, December 7, 2016

THROWBACK REVIEW: Godzilla VS Destoroyah (1995)

Godzilla VS Destoroyah is Exhibit A when it comes to my expectations of a good Godzilla movie. Plain and simple, end of the sentence, class dismissed. This is one of the movies I look to when I set my expectations for new Godzilla movies. THIS FILM...is one of the reasons I was as harsh as I was to films like Shin Gojira! Watching it again, I found myself even more surprised with certain things. The one thing on my mind right now is that I need to get myself in the Japanese cut of this film, because in Toho, this is one of the elite films of the Godzilla franchise. Is it perfect? No. It still has common flaws that plague other Godzilla films. But when putting into perspective the absolute best of the best, if this film isn't in your top five, then shame on you. And if you're wondering why I'm tackling this film this week? I got plans I want finished before January.

Watching this film, I can't help but wonder if the other five films in the Heisei era are even necessary. I mean sure, events in certain films do happen which carry over into this film, but watching this, I can't help but feel that I sat through five films of filler just to get to this film. Oh well, I'm not here to complain about the other films. Let me just say that it was well worth the wait to get to this monster of a film. So with it being as good as it is, I'll once again address my problems with it before I shower the praise. The first thing that comes to mind is the setup. I think the concept of Godzilla on a meltdown, which threatens the world is a really really cool idea, but it suffers in the way the Supernova does in the Star Trek reboot film of 2009. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, in that film, a highly unstable star explodes with such force that it threatens a good chunk of the Milky Way Galaxy. The thing is, had the comics not explained why the explosion was so powerful, you'd be left with a big sense of "bullshit". And again, you'd need to read the comics to understand that. However,  Godzilla doesn't have that kind of luxury, so we're left only with the suspense of disbelief, that Godzilla will reach a breaking point, explode/meltdown, and take the world with him. There's no explanation why. I would have liked one.

Another thing is that despite how incredibly awesome the climax is, I do feel that it is very underwhelming. In fact, it can be very deus ex machina in a way. I felt that the final killing blow of Destoroyah (pronounced Destroyer) was really not that impressive, and in a final film, that should have gotten me out of my seat cheering. I feel like we also get a bit of a forced happy ending, but I guess I'll talk a bit more about that shortly.

There is not a lot of room to complain here. I'm very impressed with this film. And I only own an English dub. Despite a few of the common flaws I've come across in all of these films, I loved the characters here, which branched from characters of the original film of 1954. You see Toho, this is one way of giving me a reason to care about your characters. That short explanation of Dr. Yamane having an adopted grandson who studies Godzilla often, and comes up with theories gives me a reason to care! Was he executed perfectly, no not at all, but I could follow him...even if he doesn't do much in this movie at times. The psychic characters, the pilots which remind me of Yuki from the last film, the scientist that invents that micro-oxygen, I feel these characters were all handled well, and contributed to the story. There is no dropped subplot, everything is here for a reason. And there was no forced romance! Thank you Toho. Now just remember how to make these characters so I can care about them again!

Another thing I'm giving props to strangely enough is the soundtrack. Despite having a lot of the common classic tracks that we've grown used to in these films (that make me glance over it most of the time), I do believe that more was done in this soundtrack to enhance it, and make it stand apart from other films. It made an impact almost immediately after it started playing, so Akira Ifukube gets some mad props from me for the kickass soundtrack here.

It doesn't take long to get the ball rolling in this film. In fact, right off the bat, Godzilla is rampaging in Hong Kong, and we see him scarred with that famous burning scar as we get that fun, but implausible end of the world threat. And we see a scientist conducting research in something eerily similar to Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer, used to kill Godzilla. This was something I actually kinda liked, despite knowing that all the work on that weapon was destroyed. And it doesn't just rehash that plot! It does give us something new, and something very intimidating I must say. The only criticism I have here is that for a bunch of people facing the end of the world, there is a lot of stubbornness. One of the older characters, I think she's also from the original movie, I guess doesn't want anything like the Oxygen Destroyer ever created...yet it's hinted at that this is the only way to save the world. And so this woman was pretty much willing to destroy the world so that the thing that could save the world, which was used to save Japan before, doesn't get made again...woman I see where you're coming from, but to quote Spock... "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." This is the end of the world we're talking about! Let them make the damn thing.

This whole thing sets in motion one of the coolest stories of the entire franchise, and builds up one of the coolest monsters Godzilla will ever fight. Destoroyah. What I like about this best is that he's not just a big monster to fight Godzilla. It's this plethora of creatures that tangles with soldiers, can swarm Godzilla, combine itself, and has some really awesome powers, Destoroyah is just a beast in this, and he looks badass. Godzilla? Why even bother talking about him? He's Godzilla.  His roar is fantastic, the burning is brutal...even Godzilla Junior was somewhat charming. Never thought I'd say that.

And if the monsters themselves weren't fun, the action...easily the best of the franchise. While I still think the overall effects look slightly better in Godzilla VS Mothra: Battle for Earth, the intensity, and gruesome atmosphere of these battles is on a whole other level than anything of the Heisei era. And I could be somewhat mistaken, but I do believe some of that success owes a thank you to a certain film which began its trilogy earlier that same year...you know the one.  Regardless, each monster fight is an absolute treat to watch, and you will get your fair share of them, because it feels like the entire second half of this movie is pretty much a big monster fight. And it's not just monster fights. There is plenty of action that involves the humans, and it is all wonderful to watch. At times is actually downright intimidating. It's a fun cherry on top, even if the monster fights are the main spectacle here.  Of course by the end, I was slightly put off by the forced happy ending, and a little underwhelmed by the lack of showing us what exactly they were describing. What I mean by that is they pretty much declare Tokyo to be an uninhabitable wasteland, but they don't really show us anything of it. A little showing of the consequences after the fight would have been great. Then we get the forced happy ending with Godzilla Junior...suddenly alive as the new King of Monsters. No explanation, despite getting obliterated by Destoroyah, he's alive and well. And the fact that we only see a split second of it just kinda irritates me. A little more explanation as to what happened after Destoroyah is defeated and Godzilla melts down (spoiler) would have been very much appreciated, and we don't get that. And before anyone asks, no, I didn't cry at that scene. I doubt a Godzilla movie will ever make me cry.

Regardless of these few flaws, Godzilla VS Destoroyah is still among the absolute best of the best. I'm actually gonna put my foot down and I say that out of all the current films that have ended Godzilla eras, from Destroy All Monsters to Final Wars, this is the best of them. When I say I hold Togo to expectations of a Godzilla movie they actually try on, this is a perfect example. It's not a best picture, I'm not even sure I wanna call it the best Godzilla film. But I can tell that they tried harder here than they did with other Godzilla films that I've been harsh towards. The characters aren't perfect, but I still liked them. The story isn't flawless, but it's still exciting. And despite it being so  present in this film,  I don't just consider this to be some big monster brawl fest. It's a satisfying conclusion to one of the best series of films in this franchise, which isn't afraid to take a few risks, and even give us afew nostalgic moments here and there without leaning on it. 

It's my go to example of a proper story closing in this franchise, and therefore it easily gets one very solid three and a half star rating out of four. As much potential it did have to gain that full four star rating, there are flaws that do get at me that withhold it from that rating, but that should not matter to you because this film is amongst the best, if not the absolute best of the Heisei Era, maybe even topping Godzilla (1984). So don't question it, just watch it. It's awesome. It's spectacular. It's mind blowing.  A film I'm happy to end this marathon with. And I'd have it no other way.

And that's it! That's the final Heisei Godzilla film (even if technically Godzilla is still in the Heisei era)! I'm done, and I gotta say I'm kinda thankful. You might think watching a lot of Godzilla in consecutive weeks isn't that big a deal, but when you're 26, and have a hobby of film critique, let me tell you, even with the nostalgia goggles, Godzilla doesn't always leave a good taste in your mouth. And despite my love for the Big G...a lot of the time, his movies are really silly ludicrous. Even if the final film was wicked radical.  I need a beak from Godzilla. So....

LET'S GO GAMERA!!!

Gamera! Gamera! Hirohito Gamera! Hirohito Gamera! Hirohito GAM-ER-AAAA!!!

See you all next week when I tackle the Heisei trilogy of everybody's favorite giant flying fire-breathing turtle monster. But until then, feel free to request any film you'd like to see me review, leave a comment down below explaining how you felt about this film, and as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 3.5/4

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