by Dr Kain » Mon Feb 03, 2014 4:24 pm
After the disappointment that was Sony’s American made Godzilla movie, Toho decided to bring Godzilla out an extremely short lived hibernation and put him back across the screen. This time though, they made drastic changes to his costume as they prepared Godzilla for the next millennium.
“Godzilla 2000 Millennium” is a strange movie in the way it was executed. For starters, it is completely a standalone movie with no idea on what came before and what will come after. All we know is that Godzilla has been around for some time and that the military still continues to try to find ways to defeat him. There is nothing information as to whether it is the same monster from 1954, or even if Godzilla had attacked Japan then. It is just assumed he did. There is also no way to know what happens after this movie either due to there being nothing that follows it from a story point of view. Nevertheless, we are treated to a unique movie in the franchise with no history to build upon and no future. This is something that can be tricky to do at times, but Toho must have been on their A game here because they made it work.
What we do get is a good cast of characters set in a world with no established rules or history, and the actors do a great job with them. The father/daughter dynamic between Shinoda and Io is well done and you do care about them even if they don’t have the greatest amount of development when compared to other characters throughout the franchise’s history. They work for a group called the Godzilla Prediction Network and they essentially act like storm chasers as they are trying to study Godzilla along with determine where he is going to show up next. On the other side of the spectrum though, we get two other characters, Katagiri and Miyasaka, who work for the Crisis Control Intelligence, and their job is to destroy Godzilla. It is also revealed throughout the movie that they used to work with Shinoda, bringing another interesting dynamic to the movie’s characters. Unfortunately, the final character of the movie, Yuki, is just your average run of the mill reporter stereotype characters this series has been known to have. She is not unlikable, but she is just a bland character over all.
The movie’s plot revolves the CCI finding a UFO in the ocean and it comes to life as they bring it to the surface. It attacks Japan, takes the form of a new monster using Godzilla’s DNA, and a battle commences. From a story telling point, it is standard fair for a Godzilla movie, but having a UFO without any actual aliens showing up to make some giant lie as to why they are trying to help humanity is a nice change from the norm. In fact, everything that is done with the UFO plot is done extremely well and the usage of Godzilla’s DNA does give off a “Godzilla vs. Biollante” feel without it ripping off that movie at all. I think this movie’s biggest issue is its pacing takes a nose dive around the fifty-five minute mark (the part when the UFO lands over the City Tower) and nothing really happens for the next ten to fifteen minutes. Outside of this, the movie’s story is interesting because its characters keep it interesting.
As previous mentioned, the costume design for Godzilla has had massive alterations, with his spines not being large, pointy, and purple. The new design is one of the best things about the movie as it brings new life into the monster and helps it stand out among his brethren of the past. There is also so much detail put into Godzilla’s face and the animatronics used for his facial movements are incredible. Watching his eyes alter when light is put into them is amazing to watch. Not to mention his atomic blast is a nice orange color, something we only saw him do in the Heisei movies when he was extremely powered up or about to meltdown. The UFO’s design is simplistic, but effective. Finally, there is Orga, who is a mix between Godzilla and the UFO, as the top portion of his body looks like an organic UFO while his body itself is derived from the Godzilla DNA the UFO obtained. He is big, massive, and a great threat to Godzilla’s well-being.
The effects for the most part are done incredibly as well. The miniatures used here are extremely detailed, which might be due to Toho shrinking Godzilla back down to the 50 meter range, as it means the miniatures do not have to look as small compared to the monster’s size. The tanks look realistic as well. However, the most stand out portion of the movie are the backgrounds and camera work. There are so many beautiful looking backgrounds in this movie. Two of my personal favorites include the red background when the UFO is sitting on top of the tower and the other is the orange and black smoky one from Godzilla’s attack early in the movie. As for the camera here, there are a lot of great angle shots used here. My favorite scene in the movie is at the beginning when Shinoda is driving his truck past Godzilla and Godzilla gets farther away in the distance as the car speeds across the land. A lot of care was put into this movie, making it a great start to an interesting era of Godzilla movies. Unfortunately, being that the movie is from 1999 and on a small budget, the CGI is lackluster and shows its age. It could be worse, but it can be distracting to the viewer at times, especially if one were to watch this movie for the very first time today.
Overall, this movie is a great addition to the Godzilla franchise and one of the best movies of the Millennium films. It has some pacing issues, bad CGI, but the top notch monster costumes, camera work, miniatures, a good musical score, and its characters make this movie stand out. In the end, I give “Godzilla 2000 Millennium” a nice 7/10.