Part Two - Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II: Strengths and Stupidities

 

By Joe Gibson

 

To celebrate Godzilla Day 2024, I started a review of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, but it turned out to be too long for a reasonable single post. You can read the first part here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/11/godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii-strengths.html

 

In that first part, I discussed a broad view of the history leading up and extending beyond Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, because the context is very important for a film at one point intended to be a finale and regardless, this film did shift the trajectory of the Heisei series by making the moments of sympathy for Godzilla in the previous films amount to a greater payoff. Then, I began to work my way through the film’s plot, doing my best to analyze each plot point. We left off on Godzilla beginning a rampage while the main characters were gathered around the newly birthed (via pteranodon nest) Baby Godzilla.

 

Chapter 2 (Plot Run-through) Continued

 

Mechagodzilla is launched to intercept Godzilla, and if this seems too early for the title fight at only 30 minutes in, it is, I was serious about the 27 minutes of Godzilla screen time. Not only do we get a Godzilla vs Rodan warm up match but Godzilla and Mechagodzilla get at least two rounds too. The G Force Commander refers to Aoki as a jackass for not showing up, so they get a backup pilot. At this point, Mechagodzilla is in the hero role. Godzilla is an established menace, and Mechagodzilla is the weapon of the virtuous organization to defeat him, representing no threat to the innocent (just as Godzilla seems to be of no benefit to the innocent). The film even casts Mechagodzilla in a bright light just to make sure we are on the same page that it is definitely the good guy.

 

This fight plays out mostly as a weapons display for Mechagodzilla, with the rainbow megabuster mouth beam and plasma grenade belly button port that actually knocks Godzilla down from absorbing and redirecting his energy (reminder, this only works because of the aforementioned diamond plating). Mechagodzilla fires paralyzing missiles into Godzilla and another shot of the plasma grenade to prep the shock anchor, essentially a really big taser.

 

It seems as if Mechagodzilla has Godzilla dead to rights, but, if you’ve been paying attention to the Heisei series, you know that Godzilla does his best fighting to get back up off his back and even exactly how he will get back up. Whenever Godzilla’s mouth starts foaming, he is liable to release a nuclear pulse or else redirect energy, and giving him a literal direct line to overcharge you is never a good idea. Godzilla knocks over Mechagodzilla, and we learn where his rampage will take him: Kyoto, where the Baby is. Whenever I think of Heisei Godzilla rampage and evacuation scenes, I think of the montage as Godzilla finds his way to Kyoto.

 

The four main humans and Baby Godzilla go to a deeper secure level of the building they are in, and the characters conclude Baby Godzilla has been calling Godzilla to him and that Godzilla also went to the island in the first place solely for the Baby. Godzilla is a little bit too destructive trying to get into the building, scaring Baby Godzilla, and this causes Godzilla to leave, very suddenly and dejected, even avoiding other buildings on the way out, which is very interesting (it would be more understandable if Godzilla reacted to disappointment by destroying those buildings, but it seems the rampage is over from the moment Baby does not want to leave with him). 

 

Aoki, when chastised by the G Force commander for not being there when Godzilla attacks, tells him he used up some vacation time he had coming for him. It is very important that you understand that Aoki is a lackadaisical anarchistic free spirit that would rather crack a joke in the face of authority than honestly explain the major contribution he has made to their Godzilla research by being the only reason Baby Godzilla was born, because it is not a contrivance but a consistent character trait. Aoki only cares about pteranodons, and, as the only organic one in this film is presently dead, he will try to resurrect his robotic ones going forward. The commander is uncharacteristically peaceful during this exchange, and it turns out that is because he is reassigning him to parking lot duty.

 

While this is all happening, Azusa has become more comfortable with her role as the young Godzillasaur (affectionately called Baby)’s caretaker, as he begs her for a hamburger (the camera does not focus on burger as she does something to it before giving it to him, making it possible she removed the meat patty) on the way to their new enclosure within G Force. The G Force officials overseeing this refer to Baby only as a very important animal, and we learn why a few minutes later. Baby contains a nerve cluster/second brain near his back, and they intend to target that point on Godzilla (once more the juxtaposition of this innocent creature in captivity being Godzilla but also the key to his downfall.

 

Dr Asimov is the obligatory English speaker (though the actor is Italian) in a Heisei Godzilla movie, overseeing the Mechagodzilla project, and Aoki traps him in the parking garage in order to convince him to reinstate Garuda as an official part of the Mechagodzilla project to “increase Mechagodzilla’s maneuverability.” A computer simulation shows us a mockup of Garuda’s functionality, and Asimov agrees they can make it so that Garuda can attach to Mechagodzilla when needed in combat.

 

Baby is mischievous in captivity, and Aoki visits to hit on a more receptive Azusa by showing off his small personal flight vehicle the Pteranodon. This scene is subject to many memes and much ire as he wins her over by flying around stupidly and irresponsibly on a pteranodon robot for little to no reason other than that he (or at least someone on the creative team) wanted it to be so. In my analysis, this is yet another example of how much he enforces his will on the plot by liking pteranodons and yet being unable to have any substantive interaction with a physical one. People complain that he does not interact with Rodan more, and, yes, that is weird, but these same people get annoyed by and ignore when his pteranodon passion trait still influences his key scenes. Another point of interest is when he, in this same scene, refers to his promotion as being back to flying again, a way he can be like the pteranodon just like on his dumb two seater robot.

 

How Baby Godzilla feels about anything at any given moment is a little unclear because the suit is not as clearly defined as the Heisei Godzilla suits and animatronics. He expresses some fear in situations involving Godzilla and Rodan but usually only when directly in danger. He is perfectly docile when a robot that somewhat resembles Rodan flies overhead, and when he shows agitation following the psychic children singing the plant song and incidentally reviving Rodan, it is not fear and is instead because the song gives Baby power too. Actually, while we are here, I am not entirely sure why this time the song was sung, it revived Rodan into Fire Rodan, but it did not the previous time. The only variable difference is between that of a recording and a live production of people very high in psychic energy. Gun to my head, I think that is what the film is going for, but they should have better expressed that unless I missed something.

 

G-Force’s plan is to use the Baby to lure Godzilla to the Ogasawara Islands and have Miki on Mechagodzilla to psychically locate the second brain for their G-Crusher attack, and, this is where the dubious morality of G-Force fully comes into play. Beyond just using the military pieces against the giant monster, G-Force is now using Baby and Miki, two peaceful innocents, as chess pieces in this game. Azusa pleads to a UNGCC higher-up that Baby is an intelligent being that deserves his own life, but the retort is that G-Force’s most important task is defeating Godzilla no matter the cost. Now, the obvious wrinkle here is that if G-Force knows Godzilla will follow the baby, that means they can figure out his only attacks this year have corresponded to the baby, so using the baby under any circumstances assures Godzilla’s activity, and they really should not have him anywhere near their main base of operations.

 

Miki being present at the meeting of higher up G-Force members might screw with my interpretation of her and Aoki both being outsiders and sitting together consequently, but she is still the odd one out, and her input in not only the planning of but participation in a G-Force mission is meant to be an escalation in story, so I do not think it damages the earlier plot point. After the meeting, Miki, Aoki and Azusa all compare notes, pondering that Baby Godzilla was born 65 million years too late to have a good life…or maybe too early if dinosaurs might come back as Azusa contemplates.

 

Baby is loaded into a van in chains and a collar, and his eyes light up in fear just so that it is clear this is an inhuman animal rights violation and not just putting a dog in a temporary moving kennel (again the design is good, but it is very difficult to tell its emotions without the eyeball lights flashing, something by no means true of Heisei Godzilla, who by this point has scowled, done a double take and even cried very visibly and clearly in previous films). Azusa decides to go with him, and Fire Rodan goes after the container. Rodan’s devotion to protecting his adoptive baby brother is the most interesting thing that has been done with this character since the debut film (where he was devoted to his spouse even to the point of dying together rather than living alone), and I think it speaks to my earlier point equating the Shin movement with the original Heisei philosophy. This was not just a different take on Rodan; this was the true and new Rodan after things got a little out of hand with the superhero with the droopy beak. Omae has been out of the movie for a little bit, but here he gets to jump to the conclusion that Baby and Rodan are communicating, despite there being little to suggest that from his perspective (obviously he is right, but he strains credulity after a certain amount of omniscient rants unless he too is supposed to be psychic, which we can just call the Trapper Beasley Effect, see my Godzilla x Kong review for more information: https://youtu.be/AI_FMxtTlIk?si=EA51lODIQp2LUVr1).

 

Miki hesitates to put on her special helmet, once again driving home that the Heisei series’ main character and otherwise moral center is not fully in this fight. Aoki is all in but for different reasons, as he informs the G-Force commander that he built Garuda and has to see it through (but we must also remember Azusa was literally just kidnapped by Rodan, so that is an additional two incentives for him to fly out to meet them).

 

Rodan circles and finds a place to land. His red Fire Rodan coloring stands out against the night backdrop. (Whether or not Rodan standing out against a dark backdrop is intentional, it is still interesting that back when this conflict was clearer, Mechagodzilla was the shining hero with a gleaming background, but this fight will take no such opportunity to make Mechagodzilla look so good. Mechagodzilla will even lose an eye to Rodan and consequently look somewhat sinister and at least less human). Rodan opens the container, and Baby screeches (or yawns, his eyes aren’t red). Mechagodzilla and Rodan finally square off, and Rodan immediately fires a purple heat beam (this was the Heisei era after all). Mechagodzilla preps the plasma grenade, but the commander places his trust in Aoki to distract Rodan first. I would have liked more scenes between them to justify this turn, but it is still cathartic to see Aoki finally taken seriously after he has stepped up to help out.

 

 

Aoki flies around and attacks Rodan, siccing the pteranodon on himself. Rodan’s air superiority knocks him out of the sky, and the commander is actually displeased to see this happen to Aoki. The plasma grenade knocks Fire Rodan into a tall building, and Mechagodzilla slowly approaches him to finish the job, more of a slasher villain than good guy in presentation. Rodan does the aforementioned eye pecking but gets blasted and starts to bleed out and foam at the mouth. Mechagodzilla approaches again, even more sinister looking than before. I forgot Omae was here for the climax, but he arrives to try and get Azusa out of the container just as Godzilla pulls up. 

 

A UNGCC official comments that Godzilla is there at last, and here is a point of hypocrisy on their part. This fight is not happening on the uninhabited Ogasawara Islands, per the plan, and Mechagodzilla has already caused considerable collateral damage by blasting Rodan into the tallest building there. Continuing the plan to exterminate Rodan and Godzilla here rather than move the now unguarded container to the aforementioned islands represents a rather huge moral compromise that G-Force and the UNGCC made unflinchingly. If you think I am reading too deep into this, then explain why the G-Force commander hesitates before launching into this attack. However, there is still a great deal of complexity here as Mechagodzilla is still the underdog for having lost the previous fight, and Godzilla immediately shows off his strength by lifting Mechagodzilla and throwing him. Similarly to earlier, Godzilla’s focus is not the buildings, but he is just so physically impressive that he is a constant threat.

 

Aoki leaps back into action to attack Godzilla to buy the Mechagodzilla crew time to right themselves, and the commander and Aoki have genuinely nice banter as Garuda joins up with Mechagodzilla to share weapons and energy systems to become Super Mechagodzilla. Super Mechagodzilla has all of the weapons of both mechs and releases them as a barrage on Godzilla. This is something the Showa Mechagodzilla as a villain did in his two movies, and Super Mechagodzilla hides behind buildings to evade Godzilla’s beams. The two opponents roar quite a bit at the start of this scene, so I want to highlight that Mechagodzilla has a roar, which is quite strange taken any way other than symbolically. Its roar is uncanny, an artificial imitation of Godzilla’s, an easy way to communicate it is unnatural. Super Mechagodzilla finally prepares the G-Crusher, and the UNGCC brass pressure Miki into targeting Godzilla’s second brain, something she clearly does not want to do.

 

The G-Crusher discharges electric pulses to Godzilla’s second brain, paralyzing him. Whether or not we should consider this a death for the character is unclear. Previous drafts had Godzilla die here, and, if we compare Godzilla to Rodan, Rodan died a couple days ago but was able to revive and is currently bleeding out. My point is that these are death scenarios that are not permanent, thereby meant to leverage our sympathy more so than denote the end of a character.

 

With Godzilla defeated, Aoki ditches Super Mechagodzilla to go help Azusa. The commander looks very solemn during this, and Aoki clearly cares more about Azusa, so at this point, Super Mechagodzilla the entity is no longer on our side as the audience. Super Mechagodzilla continues to pelt Godzilla with every attack it has, and Baby cries in sadness at Godzilla’s impending death. This inspires Rodan to circle back, and Super  Mechagodzilla shoots him out of the sky. But Rodan lands on Godzilla and sacrifices his life and essence to give Godzilla the radiation he needs to heal his second brain. Rodan was once again so devoted to his family that he sacrificed himself, and this moment is one of my favorites in the entire Heisei series.

 

 

Because of the new energy, Godzilla is able to melt that diamond plating we had all film building up to, so Godzilla unleashes his new Red Spiral heat Ray to destroy Super Mechagodzilla. As I compared the diamond plating to the BEAST Glove, here is the ultimate third-act payoff. After it has worked thus far across the film and is based on past technology, it ultimately fails as a cathartic moment, which I find to be an apt comparison to the BEAST Glove, which had some setup but no relevance until it worked flawlessly even when it should not have (see the third part of my Godzilla x Kong review for more information).

 

Godzilla’s Red Spiral Ray overpowers Super Mechagodzilla in a beam clash and knocks over the mech. Red flames akin to hellfire engulf Super Mechagodzilla, and the robotic operating system of Mechagodzilla claims there are no survivors when really there were no casualties. I did not highlight it yet, but there has been a minor theme in this film about how unreliable technology is compared to organic. Mechagodzilla breaks down and only has a finite amount of energy even when Garuda joins with, but the familial power Baby Godzilla and Rodan share is enough to fuel Godzilla when he breaks down. The pteranodon robot also breaks down abruptly, and Rodan can easily beat Garuda in a fair fight. Artificial life truly is lesser than organic throughout this entire film.

 

After a tearful goodbye, Azusa bids Baby go with Godzilla, and Godzilla tries to convince the kid to leave him with him, but Baby is scared suddenly, and Azusa asks Miki to ask Godzilla to take the Baby with his telepathy. This is stupid, because Godzilla clearly is on that same page, and it is Baby Godzilla that stands in the way of this. Miki realizes this, and the film’s editing shows us that she alleviates Baby Godzilla’s fear rather than communicate with Godzilla (honestly, this was probably a mistake of the dub, but also, speaking practically Godzilla probably knows that Miki is the one that just killed him, so negotiating with him is unwise). 

 

As Godzilla and Baby walk off into the ocean together, the commander and Mechagodzilla team pontificate about the differences between life and artificial life. This is a common criticism of the movie, but I have already argued it portrays this. My only issue is that the commander was not present for all or even necessarily most of the showings of the tenacity of natural life. Yet more controversial is Aoki and Azusa speculating that a dinosaur age awaits. I have heard a lot of complaints about how the film does not really justify or earn this dialogue with any profundity, but that is really not the point. This is how Aoki and Azusa as they have been written thus far would reflect on these events, so it is an example of good writing, and if your analysis does not even allow for character consistency as an option for a creative choice you do not understand, then I do not think you are putting enough thought into your analysis. I am not perfect in this, but I always try to approach a film with its due respect and meet it within what it aims to say and how. I guess I just want to ask how we ruled out that the film is just merely keeping consistent with established character traits rather than rushing a plot development we did not see.

Unfortunately, I'll have to end this part here (at least we finished the film this time). Throughout this review, I've highlighted some key concepts whenever they appeared in this film, and, next time, I will bring this all together for some commentary on the thematic content I see in this film and what conclusions I draw based on these scenes. Stay tuned for the final part soon.