Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
In case you thought I was puffing the wacky tobaccy tonight...
I'm not even sure tonight just happened. I mean, I just saw GODZILLA FINAL WARS at its Hollywood premiere. This is a once in a lifetime event, no Godzilla movie will probably ever screen in Mann's Chinese Theater ever again, and here I am writing in about it. I mean, I got to eat sushi and not pay (literally)! What a pleasant surprise tonight ended up being, seeing a freshly subtitled print of FINAL WARS before Japan gets it!
But on to the movie - GODZILLA: FINAL WARS is joyous. It is not only the Godzilla movie any fan has wanted, it is the action movie I've been dying for throughout summer after summer of lackluster disappointment. It is Ryu Kitamura's breakthrough movie, without a doubt. I cannot wait to see what he does with the inevitable American career!
If you don't want some spoilers, then move along, my joy cannot be restrained on this one! Not that it matters - watching and reading about this movie are completely different experiences! Kitamura is the first director that doesn't seemed burdened by the scope and tradition of the Godzilla series, or playing catch up with Gamera, and propels the series in the first exciting direction I can think of. Here's someone perfectly in touch with what makes these movies fun, and from the moment the TOHO-SCOPE logo fades in he embraces the crazy silliness of the 70's Toho films, even including clips of such classics as Varan, Yog, and The War of the Gargantuans in the opening credits! Its the kind of movie that would change your life if you were 10 years old, but instead I can only thank you Mr. Kitamura, for the most fun movie I have possibly ever seen.
Its almost an hour before Godzilla's triumphant rise from the Arctic ice, but we already have more movie than we deserve. I am simply in AWE of how much movie Kitamura has packed in FINAL WARS! I mean, we all know how its a double the normal budget worldwide extravaganza, but before the hour mark we have super kinetic disco-lit kung fu, mutant anti-kaiju defense leagues, space-battleship on sea serpent action, undersea volcanoes, alien space ships, some of the most glorious monster devastation ever seen, the most incredible man vs. kaiju scene ever filmed (more on that later), cocky, well dressed aliens with impeccable hair styles, 50's era body snatcher alien narratives, humanity referred to as cattle, the best motorcycle fight scene since AKIRA (fuck Matrix Reloaded in the ear!), and one of the COOLEST alien fortresses ever put to the screen. I cannot believe his proportionally miniscule (to Hollywood) budget got this much out of it!
This is simply the best looking Godzilla movie ever made and if you feel inclined to criticize some of the fx as sub-par, rot in your own hell where you never got to love this movie like the rest of us. I can't remember the last time a movie forced me to cheer out loud time after time. Remember the joy of seeing 5th Element for the first time, of seeing a HEAVY METAL comic-book world come to life? That's FINAL WARS it in a nutshell, a constant assault of cool looking shit!
You want plot? Aliens appear to save the world from a massive attack of kaiju simultaneously destroying the world's major landmarks. A new era of peace seems to be upon the universe, until a few plucky humans uncover a plot to replace world leaders with alien duplicates and enslave the human race as cattle for the superior alien society's next buffet. The last hope for the Earth is for the remaining M-Force to awaken Godzilla from his icy prison in the arctic... Once he emerges, its a battle royale with G taking on all comers. It feels like the formula of the great 40's and 50's monster films, from Astro-Monster to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers to Them!, all applied to Godzilla, and it never stops!
As I said, there's so much IN the movie that any technical flaws are rendered irrelevant as the effects range from blatantly fake to sublime. For every shot of toy tanks we get something as awe inspiring as Rodan's attack on the Big Apple, which is its own perfection. Ebirah (the giant lobster) vs. the M-Force is one of the great scenes in action movie history - we see a team of super-humans go mano-a mano with a kaiju successfully for the first time, and it feels so fresh to finally see the type of giant monster scene the series has always avoided due to budget or lack of enthusiasm!
Every monster gets a moment of glory (with one exception...more later), and even Minya, one of the wonkiest creatures to waddle out of Toho, manages to become not only adorable comic relief but an awesome character in its own right! I was giggling with joy every moment Minya was on screen - Toho, give the new Minya his own series of kids movies please! There's never a character who overstays its welcome, even the token Japanese kid, and every member of the cast (human and kaiju) exists for a specific purpose.
Godzilla exists to kick ass and take names.
Despite its awkward snout, this Godzilla suit is phenomenal in motion. The actor inside seems freed to a new level of performance by its sleek frame. There's an energy to this Godzilla, like a race horse sprinting onto the track the moment the gate opens. Within seconds of rising from above the frozen tundra he's unleashing atomic death with gusto! There's also respect for the qualities that helps Godzilla endure - a balance between saving the world and destroying it. One moment Godzilla's battling King Seesar, Anguilas and Rodan, the next he's attacking our heroes. Its a balancing act that maintains suspense throughout the end. There's been much speculation on whether Godzilla survives to fight another day, but I will say his fate remains pretty perfect for the icon's 50th anniversary.
So much has been made of Gino vs. Godzilla, but this film legitimately enters Devlin and Emmerich's debacle into the Godzilla universe. The CG is surprisingly great, and the scenes where it is wreaking havoc upon Syney prove that a little imagination is all that monster needed to work. Kitamura does more in 5 minutes with that overblown iguana than those 2 hours I'll never get back. If the Big G's infamous tail bitch slap doesn't make you cheer, the Xilien remark about how worthless Gino was will elicit cheers from any fan. Godzilla then plows through the subsequent beasts, but its a nice change of pace - we see Godzilla vs. 10 monsters here, with lots of one-hit kills! If you want drawn out battles against the individuals, you have those glorious new Sony DVDs to indulge you, here its quantity baby!
The only monster to get the shaft is Hedorah (Smog Monster) - it exists for about 10 seconds of screen time, and every other kaiju has a truly memorable moment of destruction before Godzilla wipes the floor with them. Too bad, since that was the one I was most excited to see Kitmaura go nuts with.
That and the final credits' music are the only gripes, everthing else remains bliss. I really saw so many things I've wanted to see in a movie, and the final battle between good and evil has such personality! I can't remember a villain who loathed his opponent so much! You'll want to actually cheer for the heroes and hiss at the villains (SUCH GOOD HAIR! SUCH STYLISH JACKETS! SUCH A NICE FACE FOR CATTLE!), and Kitamura basically fulfills everything I felt cheated out of by the Matrix sequels, the American Godzilla, lackluster superhero movies, ID4, Jerry Bruckheimer productions, and the Star Wars prequels... Kitamura's Godzilla is as filled with love for the pop culture that spawned him as Tarantino with Asian cinema in KILL BILL, but here that translates to an 80's American action movie sensibility that works better than the current crop of US hot-shit directors.
He does all the same MTV style shit we've been inundated with, but manages to do it so well I'm beginning to think flashy style is pumping through his blood.
Kitamura's movie MUST be released stateside, it will get Americans psyched about Godzilla once again. He's done everything that goofy sci-fi movies have done since the 50's, but he did them better. I still can't believe how good this movie was. I still haven't even mentioned UFC's Don Frye - so cheesy but so good. He says the craziest shit, but it gets a grin every time, even if he doesn't seem capable of delivering his lines in English! I still haven't gotten to the sexy heroes. The sexy aliens. The Xilien pop star. The dudes stationed at the Arctic Post. The kid playing with Godzilla toys. The massive amount of debris raining upon the screen. The pimp in NYC. The random shots of people watching tv. The pug dog. Anime style battling. Gigan. The best Mothra, EVER. The best head splitting open alien shot since THE THING... Kitamura just loads the films with moments of small bliss alongside every big set piece. If only the movie didn't end, I'd follow this Godzilla for another hour easily. The movie is non-stop payoff.
There's so much joy to be had here, and Kitamura fulfilled everything I could have hoped for. Its more movie bliss than we deserve, so enjoy it when you can.
I'll refer to myself as Hal Solo
I’d like to request that an American distributor buy this film now. Today. And then tell me so I can give you a big wet public kiss. Thanks!
"Moriarty" out.
