TALKBACK #25: GMK

[extremedalek]

Saw this last night. What a spectacle. Completely loved it. Not sure I followed the spiritual side of the plot but the battle were immense. Godzilla was mean, just how I like him, and Ghidorah being a good guy didn't phase me as much as I thought it would.

Sent From My Kindle Fire HD

[jellydonut25]

[Gman2887]

[Dr Kain]

During the late 90s, Daiei had director Shusuke Kaneko bring their giant monster Gamera back to the big screen. His movies were very story driven with some truly incredible updates and effects used throughout the trilogy. As such, Toho approaching him to do a Godzilla movie was an obvious choice. Unfortunately, not all went by for the man as he originally wanted the movie to include Anguirus, Baragon, and Varan, but Toho was not keen on the idea as they felt the movie needed the big names in order to be successful. They allowed Kaneko to keep Baragon, but both Anguirus and Varan were replaced with Mothra and King Ghidorah. What we got was a truly epic Godzilla movie, one of the best in the series, and one with some of the best effects seen in the series in years.

The movie’s plot is quite simplistic. Godzilla has returned after 50 years and it is up to three guardian beasts to protect Japan from his threat. Being able to sum it all up in one sentence might sound like the movie is too simple, but in reality, there is so much more behind this movie. First, the movie begins with an SDF admiral discussing monster attacks that have occurred over the world since the original Godzilla’s attack, which does an excellent job of setting up this world’s history without having to dig deep into it. Add on top a nice little burn towards the US version of Godzilla along with a gripping soundtrack that fits the mood the moment the movie starts and you have a really interesting universe within the first two minutes of the movie. Another piece is that the idea of Godzilla being back is truly something the Japanese fear as is displayed through the characters’ emotions and expressions. Just seeing people’s faces as they think about Godzilla’s return really shows the true terror this monster brought forth to Japan in 1954. It also helps to show how horrific he is when he first uses his atomic breath and it leaves a mushroom cloud for all to see in the distance. Then there is the mythology being built around the world with its guardian beasts and Godzilla being a force of natural powered through nuclear armaments and the spirits of the dead. Kaneko has done an amazing job with everything he brought in here as he took the best elements of Godzilla and combined it with the best ideas from his Gamera trilogy. Finally, the characters are quite an interesting combination as we get an admiral who experienced Godzilla’s rampage in 1954 and his daughter, who works for a TV studio that usually makes cheap monster documentaries.

It is not usual that we get a heavy focus on characters who are part of the military and who are (sort of) a journalist at the same time. These movies tend to focus on one group for one movie and then another group later. Sure, similar casts have been done before, but it is rare and the main characters are not usually related to one another. The dynamic between Yuri and Taizo is brought out with Yuri wanting to make her TV station more than they are and to fully report Godzilla’s actions while Taizo is worried that Godzilla’s rampage will be a repeat of what it was in 54. Now to be honest, I thought it was a little odd Taizo having been a child in 54 as he does not even look close enough to be that old. However, his actor, Ryudo Uzaki, was born in 1946. Oh those Japanese and their inability to age after a certain point.

The monster designs in this movie are nothing short of spectacular, and yet, there are some downsides to them. Godzilla just looks down right monstrous. He is big, mean, his eyes use a negative effect to make them look evil, and that is exactly what he is in this movie, pure evil. Other movies have made Godzilla look like a threat, but none of them have made him look as grim as he is here. It also helps that the movie does an excellent job of building up his return and when he does show up, he is on one unstoppable rampage. Everything he does truly represents that he is a walking atomic weapon. He also has some of the best animatronics in his face done since “Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah” as he snarls, the brow above his eyes move, etc. There is nothing to complain at all about him. The first guardian beast to battle Godzilla is Baragon. Baragon has not been seen since “Destroy All Monsters,” so it was nice to see him get an update and one with an excellent costume. Like Godzilla, Baragon moves around realistically whether he is crawling or jumping at Godzilla. It is a shame the monster was too small to put up any sort of fight against Godzilla, but it just goes to show Godzilla is not to be played around with.

Now where the movie does somewhat fail is with its designs for Mothra and King Ghidorah. There is nothing wrong with either of these two, it is more about their scale where they falter. Mothra has a really great update to her, my favorite design next to the original. She has a stringer that brings about a brand new way to attack Godzilla instead of just using the same ones we have seen during both the Showa and Heisei eras. Her eyes are a greatly lit purple, but where the costume disappoints is in her wings. They are just too small. Of course, it does benefit as the wings are always flapping when they are supposed to. It really gives her the ability to look like she is actually using them instead of them just being there for the sake of her being a moth. Regardless, she just looks puny without giant wings to compensate for her small body. Ghidorah’s downside is that he too is too small for his own good. In all of the previous movies, Ghidorah towered over Godzilla, making him seem like the threat he was. Here, it is reversed, but it also makes the fan favorite three headed dragon appear weaker. The heads themselves are nice, as is the tail, but again, his wings and body leave a lot to be desired. His motions are done with precision as he heads do not just tumble around, so like Mothra’s wings, the motivations behind it are justified even if it feels like the character has been downgraded.

Like the rest of the movie, the effects are some of the best the series has to offer. The ground shakes when it should. Godzilla’s tail crashes into buildings instead of just conveniently missing them. Wind and dust fly around as Godzilla is charging up his atomic blast. Debris from destroyed planes fly into houses. Glass shatters when Godzilla roars. Monster bits rain down when Ghidorah is blown up in the sky. There is so much praise to be had here. Kaneko took everything that made his effects phenomenal in “Gamera III: The Revenge of Irys” and brought them here to this movie.

Overall, “GMK” is one of the finest Godzilla movies to ever hit the big screen and it feels more like it would have been a better 50th anniversary piece than “Godzilla Final Wars.” Kaneko brought his A game to the production of this movie and it shows. Nevertheless, it would have been a unique experience to have seen what Kaneko had originally planned for the movie, but he did not let Toho’s dictatorship decision making effect his talent at all. It is a shame we were never given a sequel to this movie as the ending definitely showed Godzilla was not done yet. Who knows, maybe Toho will call Kaneko back to the fold during their next era of Godzilla movies and will let him use whatever monsters he desires in the process of giving us another terrifying Godzilla. I give this movie a vast 9/10 and it is my absolute favorite Godzilla movie to date.

[jellydonut25]

^I disagree with a lot of that. I don't want to sound overly harsh on the movie becasue I do like it but...

-the effects are FAR from flawless, and the gaps in the Godzilla suit really distracted me the last time I watched it.
-I don't see what about this makes it feel like it'd be an appropriate "anniversary film" (though to be honest, I've always HATED the notion that an "anniversary film" - whatever that is - has to be a certain thing)...Godzilla is wholly different here from any way he's been portrayed in the past, as is King Ghidorah.
-The plot isn't even remotely simple. It's overly convoluted and rather pretentious: the souls of all those affected by world war ii have manifested themselves in four monsters, one of which is evil but he didn't necessarily start out as a representation of the evildoings of world war ii only over time as Japan has forgotten its sins while some creepy old man makes "gestures" in his prison cell because he's been arrested for....being old I think...and the cast look at pictures of things that "aren't there" anymore even though it's not readily evident what the hell isn't there anymore and for some reason the souls of the monsters spew into fairy dust and enter each other and....i've gone cross-eyed.
-The animatronics in Godzilla's head are fine...but "best since Gvs.KG" glosses over some of the spectacular facial motion of the latter Heisei designs, specifically Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, which IMHO, has FAR better work than GvsKG with regards to face/eyes.
-Baragon doesn't move around realistically...he has the same issue all Toho four-legged monsters have with his rear legs.
-the heads of the KG design are, to me, the worst part.
-Tazio looks fine for his age. He's supposed to be in his 50s, not his 70s. He looks like he's in his 50s.
-this Mothra design can't hold a candle to Tezuka's Mothra.


some stuff I do agree with you: The dynamic between the two leads is decent, the character types are somewhat unique, as I feel like we hadn't followed a military LEADER in any detail since early in the Showa series, in general the portrayal of Mothra is solid with he wings flapping regularly...

I just REALLY feel like you're giving so many things a pass that you wouldn't if the portrayal of Godzilla was different in this movie.

Honestly, how can you think this plastic-y thing:

looks better than this:

?

No need to outright lie to yourself and others just to justify loving the movie. If you love it, you love it, but best Mothra design aside from the original? LIES.

[klen7]

Just from feedback i've seen in various toy threads, there is a lot of love for the GMK Mothra. I personally don't like the wasp portion of the abdomen, so i'd rank it below the other Millennium entries, but over most of the Heisei entries. Got to disagree with you about the Baragon performance, but the sparkly souls element is really the weakest portion of the film to me (i've posted before about the mysticism elements).. but I do think this is a strong movie despite its flaws, and would easily put it at the bottom of my top 3 overall because it is an enjoyable entry.

[jellydonut25]

the big negative for GMK Mothra to me is that it looks like plastic. Sure, that helps the toys of it look 100% accurate, but it makes the on-screen version of the monster look like a prop and not like a creature.

[Dr Kain]

I didn't say it was the best designed Mothra, I just said she was my favorite next to the original. Those are two totally different things. GMK is my favorite Godzilla movie but the original is the best Godzilla movie. I just love the purple eyes and the stinger A LOT!

BTW, Taizo actually looks like he should be no older than 40.

[Gman2887]

[jellydonut25]

I dunno man, when I give it a re-watch maybe I'll pull a couple screen grabs of the shots where I think Mothra's head looks rather plastic-y.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

As far as effects go, I felt the ones in the two Kiryu movies were the best among the Millennium films. They just had better matte shots in comparison. Easily

[Dr Kain]

[Gman2887]

The night time climax battles of both Kiryu films is where they lose me. They feel and look like sound stages often with the shots covering the battle in a certain profile. When they try to change this up in Tokyo S.O.S. it feels like buildings are simply shuffled. Some will magically appear behind Godzilla to crash into in a following shot. I never found this to be a problem with GMK which was more consistent during its night battle-- the city looked broad in scope with more natural lighting.

On the subject of Mothra, the plastic/armored/glossy head does at least make the rims around her eyes blend with the rest of her better. Even the Mothra from Tokyo S.O.S. has the issue of those black, plastic rims rounding the blue eye covers. Not that I think it makes the overall model inferior to the one in GMK. I was simply glad there was some effort to incorporate that rather artificial piece with the design in Kaneko's film. I think it works for the most part-- not in every shot, but Mothra comes alive in a way she hadn't since the 60s.

[Jorzilla]

GMK Godzilla is the scariest of the Godzillas.

http://gfycat.com/DenseTenderFlyingsquirrel

[jellydonut25]

[eabaker]

[Dr Kain]

[jellydonut25]

once you see it, you can't unsee it.



Absolutely GLARING gaps in the Godzilla suit. Plainly visible any time he's viewed from the back (or a mostly back-ish angle)

[Gman2887]

Never noticed those before. Still a better costume than the other Millennium suits which just don't look very organic.

[Jorzilla]

I think going for non-organic spikes was a mistake of a lot of the Millennium designs. I was disappointing with G14 inheriting that design cue but at least they look more natural than even Kiryu-Goji's design.

[Gman2887]

The spines aren't even really my issue. I always felt the Millennium suits were a major step down from the Heisei suits which had a softness about them that really came to life. The skin actually looked like some sort of organic tissue. There was real substance to it. Even the Showa suits do a pretty good job of this. But there's something very hardened and "plastic" about the skin of the Millennium costumes. It's a trait the GMK suit doesn't share.

[Jorzilla]

Agreed on G2K suits, but I think the Tokyo SOS is a lot better....not as good as GMK, sure.

It's probably something to do with whatever they used for the outerlayer of the suit. I've seen recent pictures of the GMK suit and it is absolutely THRASHED while the Kiryu Suits still look good. GMK probably uses softer foam rubber or something other than Vinyl.

[klen7]

^ i believe the GMK suits were made by a company other than Wakasa's Monster's Inc group, but it does seem like the GMK suits move a bit better than most of the rest of the Millennium suits, so maybe they did use a different material

[eabaker]

[MekaGojira3k]