Honestly...I'm not a fan of this movie. Don't get me wrong, Sanda and Gaira's interaction is cinematic magic. That's pretty much all this movie has going for it, though. And their interaction doesn't even start until the last half-hour. Sure, Ifukube's music is alright, although the main theme is a bit too overpowering. The SPFX are also stellar, but Tsuburaya was doing better work at this time.
Frankly though, the human storyline is EXTREMELY uninteresting. The characters are dull and the acting is a step down from FCTW. I mean, the scenes between Tamblyn and Mizuno's characters during the climax grind the film to a total halt. I'm sure Honda did this on purpose to make the audience feel more invested with the kaiju storyline than the human one, but that's such a lame excuse for how much the humans drag the pacing of this film down.
Also, the sudden volcano eruption at the end of the film is a lame cop-out and reeks of lazy writing. It's as if the writers were forced to come up with an ending to make sure the flick was less than 100 minutes. Plus, I never want to hear "The Words Get Stuck in My Throat" EVER again. Dumb song, horrible songstress.
It's FAR from a terrible movie, but it's (IMO) far from Honda's best. It's certainly rewatchable, but not as rewarding as FCTW.
