by jamaal7 » Sun Oct 05, 2014 12:23 pm
I think one of my issues with Godzilla X Megaguirus is that I really want to like it. The reason is simple: it's director, Masaaki Tezuka is a fan, an unabashed fan. You gotta like a guy like this. So, I want his efforts to succeed. And, for the most part, IMHO, he has with his Millennium Series Godzilla films. I saw him at the screening for the Kiryu Saga at the Egyptian Theater, and he looked like a fan, with his t-shirt and popcorn. He was enjoying it, the whole experience. It was an honor to see and hear him speak about his films and Godzilla in general. His enthusiasm was infectious. I feel that this carries over into his films. Some people speak about him in a way that gives the impression that they feel he's not as artistically gifted as some. I disagree. There are little things, maybe not noticeable to some, that indicate a craftsmanship and insight that make his Godzilla films so enjoyable. For example, in GxM, we have a Late Showa Era-style romp, with the antics of the Kaiju and the way Godzilla emotes; the Head Shake, the Flying Tackle, the Stare at Tsujimori after the failed attempt to kill him on Kiganjima Island, etc. Megaguirus smiles during the fight with Godzilla. I think it was after she caused part of a building to fall on him. Then there are her ninja-like attacks and strategy, using her speed and maneuverability. Perhaps the idea was to provide the fans (and non-fans as well, I guess) with a lighter, more fun-filled adventure after the rather dark and serious Godzilla 2000 Millennium, which I love, by the way. I think adventure is the key concept in GxM: the G-Graspers (I love this title), hunting Godzilla with the SGS, giant dragonflies, the Swarm on Kiganjima, Tsujimori being an aiming point for the Dimension Tide, all of it is fun and quite fantastic, not probable or really reasonable, but daring and innovative. GxM speaks of a kind of desperation on the part of the Japanese government after discovering that Godzilla likes Plasma Energy as much as he likes nuclear power. The result is a micro black hole devise in the form of the Dimension Tide. So for me, the theme in Godzilla X Megaguirus is Audacious Adventure. Let's up the ante in the struggle to eliminate Godzilla, once and for all. Not just mitigate him or limit his damage. No. Rather, let's wipe him out, even if means deploying a weapon that is cost prohibitive and dangerous. Which the Dimension Tide proved to be. In this way GxM was the opposite of Godzilla 2000 Millennium. The latter was grounded in the real world in terms of weaponry and tactics. GxM was literally other-worldly, or at least dimension-bending because of the worm hole the resulted from the test of the Dimension Tide. And it's danger was recognized, at least by Professor Yoshizawa, so very well played by Showa alumni Yuirko Hoshi (Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster). She presses Sugiura to promise to destroy the weapon after Godzilla is destroyed by it. We all saw his vague, non-committal response. His compliance was feigned and not convincing. He was looking ahead to other uses of this dangerous devise, a weapon of last resort. The exchange between Professor Yoshizawa and Sugiura is one of the ways that Tezuka, with an economy of dialogue, establishes a great story point. It's the well-known Science vs. Government/Military Theme so often seen in the Godzilla series. That this serious and dark moment show occur in such a colorful and somewhat tongue-in-cheek film is really quite remarkable.
Maybe I'm reaching here. But this kind of contrast, found also, by the way, in the other Tezuka Godzilla films, make them interesting, endowed with a depth that is not readily apparent at first glance.
“Godzilla is a force. He is not something that can be stopped by human weapons. He is brutal and severe. My Godzilla will be the cruelest and fiercest in the history of the series.â€