Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Battle on Fire!
Reviewed by Rhian (The Reverend Tegoth)

I had some pretty high expectations for this film, going in. To my delight, some of them were met, to my disappointment, some of them were not.

Sometimes the film, really, really captures the tone of the original Godzilla: Dark and merciless. For the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, Godzilla isn't portrayed as a misguided beastie that just sort of stumbles upon humanity, but as a raging torrent of EVIL. This Godzilla specifically targets humans and massacres them for the sheer joy of it. Personality-wise this was certainly the most malevolent we have ever seen the creature, and that was pretty awesome to behold.

The effects are also completely and utterly triumphant in this film. Repeatedly my jaw dropped open from the amazing sequences playing out before my eyes. Toho appears to have finally completely mastered the technique of inserting humans and kaiju into the same shot, and it's done repeatedly to great effect in this film. In fact, this is the first Godzilla film that I can remember in some time where the city wasn't evacuated before the monsters got there, and as a result we actually get to see the sort of widespread chaos and numerous casualties that a kaiju would inflict.

The monster fighting is also wonderfully done, and even with three different fights, never gets repetitive.

The script has some pretty fascinating ideas at times as well. PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD: GMK reveals that not only is Godzilla somehow a manifestation of the spirits of all the dead soldiers from World War II, but also that he's repeatedly attacking Japan because of the influence of all the dead American soldier's spirits upon him. While I’m not sure exactly how I feel about that idea, it certainly is an original notion.

The introductions of Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah are also an interesting take on these monsters, especially Ghidorah, who (outside of his "Mecha" version in the Heisei series) has never before been portrayed as anything other then a beast of wanton destruction.

The look of the other monsters is also very cool. Both the Mothra puppet and the fully CGI Mothra are gorgeous to look at, and without a doubt the best rendition I have ever seen of the monster. Baragon was never much to write home about before, and he still isn't, but the suit makers obviously did what they could with the silly design, and even managed to make him look pretty cool in some shots.

Ghidorah I have mixed feelings about. Prior to getting "powered up", Ghidorah (as a full body suit) looks pretty crappy in my opinion. The heads are all really, really nicely sculpted, and I like the way that they look, but the body is just lacking with its limp-noodle wings and silly neck placement.

After getting powered up, however, when Ghidorah forms those large bat-wings we know and love it looks pretty darned sweet.

As far as other things that I didn’t care for… GMK is one of those Godzilla movies that tend to slow down to a crawl when the monsters aren't on screen. Partially this is because the lead characters weren't as interesting in this film to me as they were in the last couple of films. The naval officer and his reporter daughter just never really captivated me, or made me care about them in any way. In fact, I can't remember any character in this film, outside of the monsters themselves that did.

The other reason the movie slows down between kaiju attacks is that to any true Godzilla fan; this story is old hat. It's being portrayed far more realistically and convincingly then before, but this is still essentially "Godzilla vs. The Japanese Military", and that's been done to death.

I was also pretty disappointed in the soundtrack and it's total lack of recognizable Godzilla themes until after the credits started to roll (actually, immediately before they start to roll, but you get my point). Over and over again the movie gives us these awesome shots of Godzilla and the destruction he is leaving in his wake, and all I could think was how much cooler it would all be if any of the classic Godzilla music was playing.

And when I mention the cool shots of Godzilla that’s despite the fact that I don't really care for this suit. From the neck up it's great, but from the neck down it looks like someone's potbellied grandpa (except for the legs, which are also pretty cool). A total step down, in my opinion, from the Millenium suit (I think it would have been much cooler if they'd just made the Millenium suit have pure white eyes like the GMK suit, now that would have been one malevolent looking monster!).

As I mentioned above the King Ghidorah suit is also pretty bad at first, but what I didn’t mention is how sick I am of seeing Ghidorah suck. In Showa movies Ghidorah was the frickin' destroyer of worlds, and it always took more then one monster (Godzilla included) to defeat him. Yet in every series since when Ghidorah appears he's been a total shadow of his former self, usually getting his ass handed to him by Godzilla alone.

I know that in both instances it was a different character with a completely different origin then my beloved space critter of old, but damn it! I want the cool Ghidorah back!

WARNING, ENDING SPOILERS AHEAD!

The ending to this film was also pretty weak. After watching the way this Godzilla handles himself in the earlier battles with Mothra, Ghidorah, and Baragon, seeing him be dispatched so relatively easily and without fuss was pretty disappointing. And considering that when he used his atomic ray earlier on in the film it left a mushroom cloud in it’s wake, you'd expect that the method of defeating him used would have resulted in something a wee bit more spectacular then what is portrayed. Instead the whole sequence is severely anticlimactic.

So overall GMK is a bit of a mixed bag. A welcome return to the dark and serious tone of the first Godzilla movie, it also tends to drag when the monsters aren't on screen. It's a film filled with incredible effects and forgettable characters. While it may not be the holy grail of Godzilla films that many G-fans proclaim it to be, it’s still a damn fine Godzilla film with more to say then most.