TALKBACK#18: Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:16 pm
It is this film that estalblishes the tone for the rest of the Heisei series. After the failure of Biollante at the box office the films began to harken back to the '60s films in tone (though not as good, and how could they be without the dream team they had back then?) and the committee-style approach to creative decisions meant a somewhat schizophrenic style (here's something to attract women, this is for kids, older fans will like that - but not blended together cohesively, leading to a patchwork feel).
The special effect take a step down from the wonderful realized visuals in Bio. It's nice to see King Ghidorah embark in city destruction again, but it's amazing how much better such scenes were done in Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster and Monster Zero.
...and if the story in the last film was slightly muddled than this one is extremely so! How do they remember Godzilla once he's be erased from history? Why does Ghidorah only suddenly appear? Why is the American military so darn fey? Mind you, the unese about Japan's economic power is a neat idea, and it harkens back to Atragon in a way, in terms of introspection about Japanese society.
I don't hate this movie at all, in fact I really enjoy the last 45 minutes as the story becomes much more focused when Godzilla shows up. The switch from Godzilla saving everyone to being the threat is well pulled off.
-That may be the biggest complaint from me about the post-Showa movies: they're too long and have too much going on that doesn't all tie up in the end! The Showa films were an hour and a half and tightly plotted and better for it.
Before I go I'd like to say that The Futurians' clothes remind me of Arnold Rimmer's costumes in the show Red Dwarf. I guess it's a 23rd century thing.
The special effect take a step down from the wonderful realized visuals in Bio. It's nice to see King Ghidorah embark in city destruction again, but it's amazing how much better such scenes were done in Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster and Monster Zero.
...and if the story in the last film was slightly muddled than this one is extremely so! How do they remember Godzilla once he's be erased from history? Why does Ghidorah only suddenly appear? Why is the American military so darn fey? Mind you, the unese about Japan's economic power is a neat idea, and it harkens back to Atragon in a way, in terms of introspection about Japanese society.
I don't hate this movie at all, in fact I really enjoy the last 45 minutes as the story becomes much more focused when Godzilla shows up. The switch from Godzilla saving everyone to being the threat is well pulled off.
-That may be the biggest complaint from me about the post-Showa movies: they're too long and have too much going on that doesn't all tie up in the end! The Showa films were an hour and a half and tightly plotted and better for it.
Before I go I'd like to say that The Futurians' clothes remind me of Arnold Rimmer's costumes in the show Red Dwarf. I guess it's a 23rd century thing.