By Joe Gibson
“Japan creates an
artificial black hole device to trap Godzilla forever, but a test of the device
creates new foes for Godzilla, car-sized dragonflies called meganula and their
queen, Megaguirus.” - IMDB storyline description for Godzilla vs Megaguirus (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255198/).
My Story With Godzilla
vs Megaguirus
Today, December 16, is
the 24th anniversary of the theatrical release of Godzilla vs Megaguirus.
This is not a strict
traditional review where I will argue a reasoned assessment of this film’s
flaws and merits, though that could occur at a later date. This is a
celebration of Godzilla vs Megaguirus because I honestly passionately enjoy
this film, which is a surprise to me given my history with it that I will also
detail here. While I am attempting to explain enough to make this accessible to
someone with no or at least very little knowledge about Godzilla vs Megaguirus,
I am hoping you have your own evaluations of the film’s stupidities and
strengths in mind as you see my evolving thought process on how I came to love
it.
I initially viewed the
Millennium series (that's the 6 movies made between 1999 and 2004 as a response
to the Tristar 1998 abomination) as wholly unnecessary additions that only
served to undermine Godzilla's legacy. Naturally there were some exceptions to
that. I have always respected Shusuke Kaneko's (of the Heisei Gamera trilogy)
2001 film Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah Giant Monsters All Out Attack, and
Godzilla 2000 (1999) is an all around fun monster mash (read Doug Gibson's
review here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2021/12/godzilla-2000-review.html).
But largely, I saw it as
an experimental era and a failed experiment, and Godzilla vs Megaguirus was the
most obvious failed experimental step because of the later adaptations to its
formula. It is no secret that Masaaki Tezuka got three directorial attempts in
this six installment series (debatably two more chances than he should have
gotten), and many people have articulated better than I can just the sheer
amount of observable ways that Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla 2002 is a far
more polished version of Godzilla vs Megaguirus 2000 in terms of basic plot and
characters. But you must recall I hated the larger Tezuka driven Millennium
series until recently (the only exceptions being Shusuke Kaneko of GMK and
Takao Okawara, who directed G2K as well as Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II 1993
that we have also discussed on this blog here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/11/part-three-godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii.html).
Gaining appreciation for
Tezuka’s 2002 masterpiece proved tantamount to admitting my issues with his
half of the series were overblown. And truly they were. While Tokyo SOS 2003
suffers from a split focus between being a sequel to Godzilla Against
Mechagodzilla and being one to the original Mothra, the premise of Kiryu (a
Mechagodzilla made from the original Godzilla’s bones) is executed for
excellent pathos in both. More interestingly, Vs Megaguirus and Against
Mechagodzilla each contributed a strong lead trying to overcome a past mistake
in a fight with Godzilla that cost them their teammates, a plot point so very
similar to Shikishima’s arc in Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One that it
warrants resumed study. But Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla was the elegant film
and Megaguirus merely the crude draft, so I would revisit Yumiko Shaku's Akane
Yashiro in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla time and time again instead of Misato
Tanaka’s Kiriko Tsujimori.
But a funny thing
happens when you want more of that archetype in a pre Godzilla Minus One world.
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is a very light and breezy movie clocking in at
only an hour and a half. With more ambitious ideas than Godzilla vs
Mechagodzilla II, I think it probably should have exceeded that film’s runtime
of 1 hour 47 minutes, especially because there is something very understated
about the film’s use of Akane, where the film as it technically ends leaves you
off on a cliffhanger in regards to her growth and only resolves her journey and
relationship with the other leads in the post credits scene. I should clarify
that Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, in my estimation, is still one of the very
best films in this entire series, but what holds it back from absolute
perfection is a lack of time to truly explore its own brilliance. What further
hurts this is that Akane is only in Tokyo SOS long enough to be written out,
so, for better or worse, we only get that first film with her. To truly
illustrate my point for a moment, let me use Godzilla Minus One as an example.
Think about how well the film explores the facets of Shikishima’s trauma in its
2 hours. I cannot think of a single scene of him that movie would be better off
without, much less an entire half hour, and I think Against Mechagodzilla
needed as much time and space with Akane as Shikishima had in Minus One.
But what’s this? Godzilla
vs Megaguirus is 1 hour and 45 minutes? Kiriko Tsujimori, the verifiable
template for Akane Yashiro, has some beats of her adventure that Akane never
adapted such as climbing on Godzilla’s back? I’ll just watch that scene then.
Now, make no mistake, when I learned that the milestone for the first human
character to touch Godzilla was wasted on Godzilla vs Megaguirus, I was majorly
pissed off, but I couldn’t look away.
Megaguirus herself is
the next relevant factor. If you are unaware, she is the queen of the Meganula,
a dragonfly horde that originated in the original Rodan 1956, now mutated to
have a reptilian-esque face because part of her origin in the 2000 film
involves the use of Godzilla’s DNA and energy. Compared to the dark “battle
Mothra” Battra in Godzilla vs Mothra The Battle For Earth 1992 (also directed
by Takao Okawara) who had copious amounts of energy beams and earth shattering
strength, Megaguirus is quite weak, depending on her great speed and a tail
stinger to siphon Godzilla’s energy so that the title fight is even a slight challenge.
It was quite easy to use this to support my anti Tezuka bias initially, but,
the more I think about these characters, the more inherently interesting this
makes Megaguirus.
So, there is a lot of
utility to making the villains resemble the hero in more than just cosmetic
similarity; if they represent two different sides of an idea or concept,
similarity strengthens the overt contrast present (such as how I argued Skar
King and Kong represent different fatherhood styles in my review of Godzilla x
Kong The New Empire here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/part-two-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html).
Contrast of some kind is
always necessary. It can also be interesting to see similarity in fighting
style too, but, make no mistake, that shifts the conflict from testing
character’s ideals to just how good at their fighting style they are compared
to essentially a clone. And the problem that emerges in a lot of modern
storytelling is that many stories conflate those contrasts. Think about most
superhero movies especially consumed back to back.
“Oh, Iron Man is special
because he has a robot suit…but Iron Monger also has a robot suit, so they
fight normally. The Hulk is special because he has super strength…but so does
Abomination so they have a normal fight. Captain America is a super soldier,
and so is Red Skull, so outside of their clashing moral outlooks of self
sacrifice vs world domination which thankfully are there, it is just a normal
fight. Rinse and repeat for the shrinking of Ant-Man and Yellowjacket and
reflexes and super durable suits of Black Panther and Killmonger.”
Battra comes dangerously
close to this Mirror Match fight for Mothra, only set apart by having copious
beams…oh wait, this was the Heisei series, so Mothra also had beams (we can
blame special effects director Koichi Kawakita for that). That film mitigates
the pitfalls by having Mothra and Battra end up teaming up against Godzilla,
but, in a similar way to how a really good purposeful and self aware mirror matchup is exciting, it is
equally exciting for Godzilla to have a villain nothing like him, because he
cannot just fight with punches and beams if Megaguirus is faster than both of
those and actively siphoning his energy. Add to that the automatic
characterization the film milks from her maneuvers and reactions in the fight
scenes, and Megaguirus won me over a lot sooner than her film did. That said,
GMK Mothra also uses a lot of these building blocks just as effectively.
The depiction of
Godzilla in the Millennium series compared to Showa (1955 to 1975) or Heisei
(1984 to 1995) was always a bit of a sore spot for me, since I very much
appreciated seeing Godzilla grow and evolve in the Showa and Heisei
continuities. Still, the unresolved fierceness of Godzilla in the Millennium
series was something interesting to glance at with the spiky edgy design and
lack of the linear redemption arc between enjoying continuity. Upon realizing I
preferred the Heisei Godzilla’s anti hero persona to even Showa Godzilla, I had
to acknowledge that Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs Megaguirus both showed the
clearest picture of anti hero Godzilla that you get outside of Godzilla vs King
Ghidorah 1991: Godzilla will destroy the attacking monster but then turn around
and destroy Japan himself. Godzilla vs Megaguirus also shows a dangerous morally ambiguous Godzilla (he attacks as much as he wants to, but it seems to correspond to the use of banned energy) and shows off design improvements. MireGoji
(the name for the suit in G2K) and GiraGoji (the vs Megaguirus suit) are very
similar, both having the rougher edges and green skin texture, but GiraGoji,
whether from filming in more daytime scenes or not, seems to have a more
vibrant green that I now very much enjoy.
It took the MireGoji
similarities in Godzilla’s Evolved form in Godzilla x Kong for me to reevaluate
these suits, but, after that, it was only a short time for me to realize I
really enjoy both suits, and GiraGoji may be my favorite Godzilla design of all
time (though any Heisei Godzilla suit and Minus One Godzilla also have claim to
that title). At this point, I still thought it a tragedy all these enjoyable
aspects were relegated to this film in particular. I attempted to revisit the
film, but that was the dub. (Some dubs are worse than others. Because the
English speakers in the Japanese cuts of the Heisei series are even worse than
the dub actors, those films, for instance, are far better in dub than
subtitled, and most Showa dubs are not so terrible. Godzilla vs Megaguirus has
an abysmal dub that is the kind of thing I can really only appreciate if I have
the original recording in my mind.)
Still with a hunger for
this movie but unwilling to admit it after failing to sit through the dub, I
listened to the soundtrack, which is honestly amazing. I have defended Tom
Holkenborg’s Godzilla vs Kong and Godzilla x Kong scores for their semi
memorable leitmotifs, but this film honestly blows it away, and that’s not an
unpopular opinion. Of the Godzilla film composers obviously Akira Ifukabe is
the biggest name with his contributions lasting through the end of the Heisei
series, but, for the Tezuka films, Michiru Oshima composed, and her incredibly
memorable Godzilla motif in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla originated in
Godzilla vs Megaguirus as it turns out. Moreover, this soundtrack represents
Megaguirus through the use of very shrill and ugly string instruments that
build suspense but also weave in and out of tracks with the other motifs very
well (this makes almost every scene set in Shibuya or about the Meganula nearly
perfect). Regardless of your opinions on Masaaki Tezuka, this film did have one
certifiable genius working on it, and since the music is another way to enjoy a
film, if I am enjoying pretty much every aspect of this film already, there is
no reason not to rewatch it, so let’s just run through what’s left to speak of
about the plot (with a couple tangents on my thoughts on the quality of some
plot points because I can’t help myself).
The Film’s Plot
The film begins with a
news broadcast exposition to ground us in this new continuity, where there was
no Oxygen Destroyer in 1954 so Godzilla kept attacking at his own pace (again
two months after the 54 film, then the first nuclear plant in 1966, and for
plasma energy in 1996), and his design was canonically always the green with
purple spikes body and red beam in this continuity. When Godzilla attacks,
soldiers including Kiriko Tsujimori fight against him with bazookas, and her
Commanding Officer dies saving her from rubble after they accomplish very
little.
The next time we see
Tsujimori is in 2001 as part of the G Graspers (the military side of the
operation) where she is recruiting whimsical inventor Kudo into the latest
project to destroy Godzilla: a black hole gun spearheaded by Professor
Yoshizawa, who serves a mentor role to Kudo. Mr. Sugiura is the other major
character of this plotline, someone who is responsible for the current
situation in more ways than one. Tsujimori and Kudo have a flirtatious banter
(though she is more focused on defeating Godzilla), Tsujimori and Yoshizawa are
both haunted by the deaths of comrades, and Tsujimori is compassionate to her
team of G Graspers (getting them to safety to risk only her own life on two
occasions) with Yoshizawa as a maternal influence on the cast to mediate the
disagreements and arguments that do occur (especially between Tsujimori and
Kudo)..
A subplot that weaves in
and quickly out of this story is about young boy that just so happens to live
near the facility of the first Dimension Tide test and have an interest in
insects, so when DT causes a dimensional space anomaly that lets through a Meganula
that lays an egg, he takes that back to Shibuya but then dumps it in the sewer,
allowing that side of the plot to continue. The film establishes his loneliness
and also guilt over the whole situation to where I buy his actions even if they
do rest on some contrived set up (personally, if I were writing it, I would
have combined him with the Doctor that exposits on the Meganulon/Meganula
species later on and possibly both of those with Yoshizawa just for peak
editorial efficiency). The boy’s other contribution is his conversations with
Tsujimori that humanize her and somewhat clarify her drive to defeat Godzilla:
that her CO told her that when you are scared, you should fight and not run.
Some Meganulon hatch
from the egg and begin to prey on citizens of Shibuya as they gradually flood
the town to help them mature into Meganula (winged versions) and grow their
queen Megaguirus that they feed with Godzilla’s nuclear energy absorbed through
their stingers. This subplot occurs over a variety of scenes that all
effectively use the soundtrack to enhance the often wordless scenes of the
Meganula, and the first of these scenes, a very tense horror scene of a
Meganulon slaughtering people is so brilliant and suspenseful in the original
Japanese audio. A comparison in Western media that seems apt is the scene in
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 where it briefly becomes an Evil Dead film about
Doctor Octopus’ tentacles wreaking havoc on doctors and nurses: abrupt but
memorably shows off directorial talent for horror.
The G Graspers track
Godzilla over the course of the film, and the Meganula seeking out Godzilla
intersects these plotlines, leading to an ocean confrontation between
Tsujimori, her team and Godzilla while taking samples of a Meganula carcass.
This is the scene where Tsujimori climbs on Godzilla’s back, and it is a
testament to her tenacity and leadership as she sends her teammate back to the
ship and survives the struggle, even placing a tracker in Godzilla’s skin. From
there, it builds up to its final action set pieces with a skirmish between
Godzilla and the horde of Meganula interrupting the first Dimension Tide
attempt on Godzilla on an abandoned island, and Tsujimori and Sugiura becoming
more desperate to use Dimension Tide on Godzilla as soon as possible compared
to the more cautious Kudo and Yoshizawa.
Because I find it a
little weird that this subplot was resolved after the title fight and not
before, I’ll wrap it up here. Sugiura acts strange throughout the movie, and,
with the emphasis the film places on Godzilla’s 1966 and 1996 attacks being
energy related (nuclear then plasma), there is an implication something could
be stirring Godzilla now. It turns out that Sugiura has known that the Science
and technology Bureau has still been using plasma energy to some degree and
that attracts Godzilla. (In any eventual full review of this film, the areas I
foresee the most weakness in the script are here and the little boy from
earlier. These clearly do not detract from my enjoyment of the film but are
necessary considerations when speaking on quality.)
And finally, to bring
this back around to my earlier point about the intrigue of Megaguirus as a
villain, Godzilla has to use his wits to turn the tides of the fight: crouching
at just the right moment to use his dorsal fins to slice her, pretending not to
see where she is so he can wrap his tail around her, and getting into a tussle
so he can bury her stinger in the ground and belly flop on her (yeah, if you
were unaware, that level of creative Showa era buffoonery happens in this
fight, and it’s justified on a storytelling level). Ultimately, he bites her
tail off, and the first atomic breath he lands on her sets her on fire because
their fight was testing different aspects of him than how strong his fists and
beam are.
Conclusion
Like I said, this is not
a traditional review of mine where I focus on using the film evidence to come
to a conclusion about its quality, but here is why today's approach is also important sometimes.
Because we are not objective creatures, our subjective sense of liking or not
liking a film proves important in our motivation surrounding how thoroughly we
investigate a film’s plot points and with what degree of enthusiasm. We all do
this subconsciously, but here is a conscious example pertaining to this
film.
One of the most common
criticisms I have seen for Godzilla vs Megaguirus is that, at the beginning of
the movie, Tsujimori and her squad are going after Godzilla using bazookas and
not tanks or maser tanks or anything more than big guns. I suspect that the
people that do not appreciate any aspect of this film or otherwise do not have
any respect for it will stop there; the film does comment on that somewhat. The
opening fight takes place in 1996, and while the presentation makes it a little
hard to tell, it seems like Tsujimori is not yet in the G Graspers. In any
case, 1996 is the year that the Science and Technology Bureau opened their
Institute and the year that made major progress in the fight against Godzilla.
The following five years' worth of development leads to a G Graspers unit well
equipped with SGSs (Search Godzilla System), as well as branded rafts, The
Griffon Jet and advanced equipped suits. There is clearly supposed to be a
contrast between the 1996 and 2001 efforts against Godzilla, and criticizing
the film for that is missing the point of what it’s trying to say. That said,
the ultimate plan against Godzilla is the Black Hole Gun: Dimension Tide, which
is a patently awful idea especially when considering they plan to put in space
and fire down at the Earth unobstructed at any moment (how
did the UN allow this?), so…either the film just is irredeemably stupid or it
is trying another more subtle juxtaposition at the heart of its story rather
than just in act one (admittedly, both could also be true).
Because I like this
movie, I have more patience around the proposition that maybe there is
something deeper there. Tsujimori herself demonstrates an interesting mix of
traits that make her both the best person to fight against Godzilla (general
badassery and the compassion for others) and the worst (an unanswered
recklessness where she advocates stronger for Dimension Tide than the actual
scientists working on it to the point of siding with the twist villain
briefly). Indeed, her great hero moment at the end of this film is looking at
her CO’s dog-tags reminded on how he said to fight not run but saved her by
making them run away from Godzilla. Not only that, but she is wearing the G Grasper uniform
using the G Grasper tech that only exists because of villain Sugiura (who has been luring Godzilla) to save
people from Godzilla by firing Dimension Tide at Godzilla IN A CITY. (Indeed, only the first attempt of Dimensio Tide on Godzilla took place on the uninhabited Ogasawara islands.) The
similar contradictions in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II indicated some deeper
themes, according to my analysis, so perhaps the same will be true here. If I
find nothing, I find nothing (and any review will reflect that), but it is
because I like this movie that I’ll look more into what themes it could have
before doing a dedicated review of it here.
Today, it is the film’s
anniversary, and, over my part in its first two dozen years, I have held a
variety of viewpoints on it. I will take this time to remember it fondly and invite
you all to do the same, but if you have any thoughts positive or negative on
this film, you can share them as a comment below. Here at Plan9Crunch, Godzilla
is not our main focus, but you can check out a good assortment of content from
us about the franchise if you care to do so.
Links to other
Plan9Crunch Godzilla articles and videos:
https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2023/06/review-godzilla-versus-kong-2021-remake.html
https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2014/03/godzilla-is-on-this-authors-mind.html
https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2021/12/godzilla-2000-review.html
https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2010/02/godzilla-versus-monster-zero.html
https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-nuanced-deconstruction-of-godzilla-x.html
https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/part-two-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html
https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/07/part-three-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html
https://youtu.be/yV6i2xX0pf4?si=Nu9RWsP5k6CbT68H
https://youtu.be/1HMV1hMPgzs?si=1Iip-2qfPxDe6G_B
https://youtu.be/pSosxtg51oM?si=CoDIwTko6C5N5DCY
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