Gojira tai Mekagojira (1974) Directed by Jun Fukuda
This movie is absolutely crazy! Just imaging Gojira meets James Bond, meets Terminator, meets Planet of the Apes and that should basically sum up how this movie is like.
But that's not any criticism by the way. Out of all of the Jun Fukuda directed Gojira movies that I have seen so far, this one is definitely the best and most enjoyable one! The fact that it's an absolutely crazy one and goes all out makes this an extremely fun one to watch.
Yet again, the movie is very reminiscent of a Bond movie, with its crazy and nonsensical villain's schemes, secret volcano bases and random action moments/fight scenes, in which villainous characters are after the 'heroes' of the movie. But for the first time I can say as well that it works out as pleasant and entertaining for the movie. It's also good to see that they don't just try to appeal young kids anymore and also give the hardened kaiju movie fans what they want; lots of fights and some new kaijus.
What's more powerful than Godzilla? A Mechagodzilla of course! With this movie, the franchise continues to focus on it's more futuristic science-fiction themes, by yet again featuring aliens as well as a giant robot in it. Mechagodzilla is a pretty awesome adversary, with his strong powers and great look.
Normally none of the plot lines impress much in any of the Gojira sequels and while the same could be said for this movie as well, the plot lines at least aren't as messy and random as they usually are. The movie actually does a pretty good job following a main story, that of course isn't very solid or anything too original but it still is something good and pleasant to follow. I believe that one of the reasons for this also is the fact that the human- and kaiju plot lines are well connected to each other and the movie doesn't feature too many needless distractions in the story.
An absolutely fun entry in the long running Gojira series and I have to admit that it's one of my personal favorite ones so far!
8/10
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