Chikyû kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan (1972) Directed by Jun Fukuda

Can't believe they actually brought Jun Fukuda back to direct most of the '70's Gojira sequels. He already was responsible for some of the least liked and worst Gojira movies back in the '60's but I guess that his movies all still made a high enough profit to bring him back in again to direct some more sequels, starting of with this one.

No, it's definitely not the worst sequel out of the many different sequels but it's not exactly amongst the best ones either. Problem again is that the movie is a tad bit too silly and all of the kaiju stuff feels secondary to the story, which is disappointing. Besides, Jun Fukuda never has been the best director when it comes down to the kaiju fights and shooting the overall action. It's never really anything or spectacular to watch, despite the presence of some of the best kaijus in this movie, such as Anguirus, King Ghidorah and of course the big guy, Gojira, himself.

Also weird to see how the series continues to start to become more and more like a James Bond movie, with its villains, story and just overall style and atmosphere. Maybe the Gojira series really was supposed to be the Japanese answer to the growing popularity of the ever-expanding Bond franchise but really, what's the point of mimicking other movie series, when you already have a very solid and original concept of your own, which you can use to do countless of various different, creative, things with.

And it's weird but in a way miniature effects from the '70's look far more outdated than similar effects from the '60's and '50's. Guess it has to do with the more 'modern' look of the movie, that's in contrast with the old fashioned looking miniature effects. Some of it still looks pretty decent but during all of the action sequence, it's pretty fake and silly looking all. The kaiju fights are still pretty decent but again, it's not filmed in the best way imaginable.

Still enjoyed the introduction of a new kaiju in this movie though. Gigan is a somewhat more futuristic villain, which was something new for a Gojira movie at the time. He's a pretty awesome looking kaiju with also some great, new, powers he keeps surprising Anguirus and Gojira with, during his battles with them. At the same time, he's also still a pretty silly and outrageous looking creature of course but you of course shouldn't be looking for any realism in a Gojira sequel. All of it works out well within the context of the movie and it's something that helps to still make this movie a pretty decent and entertaining one to watch.

The story still disappoints, in the sense that it never really effectively manages to blend the kaijus plot lines in with the human plot lines. This is actually something lots of the Gojira movies 'suffer' from. It often feels like you are watching two totally separate and different movies, even though the story lines are of course still connected to each other. The main story itself also remains a pretty silly one and random one in my opinion, while it seemed to have plenty of potential in it actually. I mean, I liked the whole peace-themed theme park concept but the movie does far too little with any of it unfortunately.

It's maybe not a terrible entry but it still feels like a step down from most of the Ishirô Honda directed sequels, in terms of the entertainment and its overall quality and creativity.

6/10

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