Gojira vs. Biorante (1989) Directed by Kazuki Ohmori

Lets see; throughout the decades Gojira fought against dinosaurs, a bunch of giant spiders, a crab, King Kong himself, a giant moth, space monsters and giant robots, just to name a few things. So what could be next? Well, a giant rosebush of course!

The main concept is ridicules and perhaps even more so than having Gojira fight a giant moth or crab. A plant of course isn't the most threatening thing that comes to mind when thinking of something scary and powerful and it's something you can also very easily make fun of but you know what? Biorante is actually one pretty impressive and awesome kaiju! He has surprising powers as well as a very good look. He definitely gives Gojira a run for his money in this movie.

I even have to say that the kaiju fights in this movie are surprisingly well shot and perhaps even the most spectacular ones I have ever seen in any Gojira movie, as of yet. Besides the kaiju fights, there is also plenty of old fashioned stomping and destruction in this movie. It's always fun to watch Gojira smash into building and cause chaos. It's a very visual movie, especially during all of the movie its action moments and luckily all of the effects are pretty good and convincing to look at, which helps to make the movie a both entertaining and effective one.

But really, besides its entertainment, this movie doesn't have an awful lot to offer. Yet again, they try to provide the movie with a certain sense of realism, by approaching things scientifically. But let me just tell you that realism and science don't go very well together in a movie that involves a giant radioactive lizard, who's fighting a giant, monstrous, rosebush. Luckilly about halfway through the story also gets almost entirely abandoned, in favor of the movie its action and entertainment. And I'm definitely not complaining about that! I really was surprised by how fun and good this movie was to watch, once it gets turned into a modern, mindless, action-flick.

Also definitely good to see how the humans are truly giving Gojira a hard time for a change. They aren't just shooting with 'pea shooters' at him but use advanced technology and weaponry to try to put a halt to Gojira's rampage. Finally the soldiers become some true, thinking, characters and it also was great to hear the classic Gojira 'military march', by Akira Ifukube, in this movie, which actually is very uplifting.

Another thing that was great that someone finally had the common sense to give Gojira a bit of a makeover. I of course always have liked his look but in the close ups his face always looked absolutely terrible, fake and heavily outdated. Not as much in this movie though! Gojira's face is better and more threatening looking than ever before, which alone already makes the movie a better looking- and more effective one as a whole.

A surprisingly entertaining and spectacular 'modern' Gojira movie!

7/10

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