Mekagojira no gyakushu (1975) Directed by Ishirô Honda

An era ended with this movie. The is the last movie out of the original first series and the big guy wouldn't reemerge again till 9 years later. It wasn't planned that way but it's only fitting that the director who started the original series, back in in 1954, also ended it, 21 years later, with this movie. It's far from Ishirô Honda's best or most enjoyable Gojira movie but it's still a pretty decent entry.

The movie is basically in tone with most of the Gojira sequels. Besides featuring a bunch of fighting kaijus, it also features a group of aliens in it again, who once more come up with a ludicrous plan to end humanity and takeover Tokyo. The only thing in their way is of course Gojira, who once again fights to safe humanity. It's also a movie with a heavy environmental message in it, which is a theme that always has been present, throughout most of the Gojira movies. In other words, it's a real typical sequel, that doesn't offer anything new or many surprises in it but it still brings some good entertainment.

For the first time ever it's also starting to become apparent that the series is aiming to be a tad bit more modern, in terms of how it looks. Most of the Gojira movies look incredibly old fashioned and in some cases even outdated but it's obvious with this movie that they were preparing themselves for more modern times and were trying to make the big guy 'modern-movie-proof'. That in this case mostly means though that the kaijus often get pushed to the background, in favor of the human plot lines. It actually isn't until the end that Gojria starts to play a big role in the story. It's somewhat disappointing to note but at the same time, all of the human plot lines are pretty amusing and once again very reminiscent of James Bond movies. Especially the main villain, with his crazy maniacal laugh, is very entertaining to watch and I also have to say that Katsuhiko Sasaki, who plays in quite a few Gojira movies, is a pretty good and likable main lead for the movie.

But don't worry, Gojira still fights of course! And not against one but two powerful kaijus this time, Titanosaurus and once again Mechagodzilla. Mechagodzilla was a great new kaiju in the previous movie "Gojira tai Mekagojira", so his return is a welcome one. I also liked the new kaiju Titanosaurus, despite his floppy neck. Both are two great and very powerful adversaries, who give Gojira a real run for his money.

The movie still mostly is a very silly one but that at the same time is also what makes it so entertaining to watch of course. You should never think think too hard about these type of movies, since rarely does anything ever make any sense in it. It feels very random with all of its developments and there isn't much logic behind any of it but once again, that's also what makes these movies very reminiscent of Bond movies, which in itself also are never bad movies to watch. Silly and over-the-top yes but definitely fun and entertaining as well and not bad to watch at all.

Bye-bye Gojira and thank you very much. See you in the '80's!

7/10

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