Godzilla, Angirus and King Cesar vs. Mechanical Godzilla After dialogue-clouds, handshakes Godzilla and the participation of the king of monsters in a superhero series, Toho apparently wanted to make something more serious than children's films, and the crisis of ideas still pressed. It was decided that the idea of fighting a mechanical replica of the monster should work - it worked in King Kong's Escape, there was Mehani Kong - and here Meha Godzilla.
From the subject of the invasion of aliens, too, did not depart, not coming up with anything more interesting. At least alien monkeys look a little better and a little more logical than alien cockroaches. In addition, it probably contributed to the American fiction.
To give the picture at least some originality - a mystical element was introduced into it. Not that it was a novelty - Varan was someone's god, Motra was someone's deity, this time the picture also includes another kaiju god. Toho turned to the ancient legends of Okinawa about Shisa – guardian statues representing a cross between a lion and a dog. Guard spirits on guard homes, often found in Asian culture, ornaments and jewelry.
King Shiza – sounds kind of bad, so the monster is known around the world as King Caesar, King Cesar, King Caesar and other versions of his English nickname – King Caesar. The Japanese, it seems, were still inspired by the American “King Kong”, since they sculpt the royal prefix “king” wherever they get – King Gidora, King Cesar, their paintings about the same Kong (although Godzilla “King of the Monsters” was called by the Americans themselves).
More than that! The film opens with a prologue about Angirus. That is, Kaiju is shown to us already in the very first scene, you do not need to wait long. Other monsters are also not long in coming, but Angirus here somehow got a new ability to dig underground burrows. At first, the main force of Baragon was used by Horosaurus in "Destroy All Monsters", now Anquilaz - Toho generally did not monitor the adequacy of all components, simply taking monsters more popular.
Anyway, in the film again as many as four kaiju! Well, yes, one of them is a mechanical Godzilla robot, and ankylosaurus doesn't have much screen time, but it will be remembered. Angirus did not fight with Godzilla so long ago that even the main characters of the film are surprised by their skirmish.
By the way, Godzilla appears here under a foreign roar and has a yellow atomic ray - but to panic early, everything will be a logical explanation. Even for the first time on the screen "Sunday fight of two yakozoons" in the form of a skirmish between two Godzillas! There everything will fall into place, with a roar, and with color, and only on the main musical theme the viewer will clearly miss.
Constantly tormenting Godzilla with a nightmare that has nothing to do with music, the composer Masaru Sato actively continues to mock our ears even in this film Yes, maybe everything is not as bad as the jazz peeling of Godzilla vs. Sea Monster, but the essence it still does not change. At least Godzilla doesn't make any stupid gestures here. Only once too quickly jumps to his feet after the fall of his massive carcass.
It's not a children's movie. Perhaps the most serious and severe of all that Fukuda shot. Honda’s masterpieces like Sanda vs. Gaira, Frankenstein vs. Baragon, Radon and, in fact, the first Godzilla are certainly far away here, but violence, blood and cruelty whip from all the cracks. This includes monsters and human characters.
By the way, if anyone is aware of Godzilla’s guest participation in the series “Zone Fighter”, then in this film not only Godzilla is again played by Isao Zushi, but also in one of the main roles Zon-Faiter himself – Kazuya Aoyama. He's kind of an archaeologist, a cave explorer. The brother of the main character who contacted the researcher.
There are six leading characters in the film, but most often they are divided into three characters familiar to the viewer of Kaiju paintings. There are already two classical professors - one plays such a regular of the genre as Hiroshi Koizumi, and the second himself the legendary Akihiko Hirata - Serizawa from Godzilla, who has already pretty aged over the past twenty years from the first picture, but who has already played in a huge number of other Toho films. In the cameo will even Kenji Sahara – he played the captain of the ship, which is even partly important for the plot of the tape.
Godzilla has several costumes here, which is often confusing. It rises in one form, rises in another and so on. The main costume is made in the spirit of Godzilla vs. Megalon, but still improved and relatively put in order.
The Monster King is not spared the most. Here with him is perhaps the most memorable of the bloody scenes in the Shova-era. The mechanical opponent turned out to be quite strong and complex, it is for the best, more interesting to watch their battle. Human characters are needed more to summon King Shisa.
Godzilla's mecha is so full of all kinds of weapons that a lot of it doesn't even have time to use, like the rockets shown in the mouth. He looks outwardly at the same time so-so - some too thick, which especially cuts eyes in flight scenes.
The creator of special effects and costumes - Teriyoshi Nakano again has a problem with the belly of monsters and with his hands - Mehagozilla does not fight manually at all, his brushes rotate with mixers-drills, and his fingers are endlessly changing each other missiles.
There are many things in the course besides these rockets, although the rainbow rays are more reminiscent of the hip film Godzilla vs. Hedora, rather than looking like a good find. Oh, these seventies! But the ability to turn your head backwards is curious, the truth is to spin it with the speed of creating a barrier is a little strange.
King Cesar does look like a beast, but he’s pretty plush, although Toho has raised the film’s budget over his latest Godzilla Kaiju products. The creature is able to reflect all the same rainbow rays, but does not show a set of spectacular abilities, dispensing with its paws and dexterity.
Godzilla received new powers - to soak up lightning and thunderstorm discharges, like Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla, and then turn his body into a super-magnet, attracting the bloody power plants that filled the atomic lizard with the edge, and at the same time the metal replicant enemy.
A lot of successful action and bloody fights, well woven into a fantastic plot of a mystical line about an ancient mystery, a statue and the awakening of a furry deity from legends. There are few mashups and actions in cities, there are no scenes of military equipment and evacuation of residents.
“Godzilla vs. Mehagodzilla” although continues to suck out of the finger delusional plot ideas about the invasion of aliens, tries to present it with a sprinkle of more recent ideas. The film is not bad and it at least does not try to be sharpened for a very young audience, and also does not drown in cuts from self-repeats.
7 out of 10
Original