| Back in 2000 I think it's safe
to say that many were excited to hear that a Japanese
Godzilla movie was finally going to hit the big
screen in the states. In fact, it had been 15
years since the last Godzilla movie had been given
the theatrical treatment overseas, which means
this was going to be a new experience for a whole
new generation of fans. Unfortunately, for those
of us who had already seen Godzilla 2000:
Millennium, our excitement turned mixed.
I don't think it would be fair to say that the
average Godzilla fan hated this movie, but all
in all Godzilla 2000 was certainly one
of the lesser entries in the long running series.
A movie that gets bogged down by its lackluster
premises and sluggish pacing, while the acting,
characters, special effects and even music fail
to really make the movie very enticing in the
least.
In regards to the story, the movie
starts out near the coast of Nemuro, as a nearby
lighthouse picks up word of a missing fishing
vessel. The whereabouts of which are quickly revealed
as Godzilla appears with the ship still locked
between his jaws. The creature, after plowing
his way through a neighboring town, makes his
way to the local electric power plant and proceeds
to tear the structure apart. Yuji Shinoda, head
of the self proclaimed Godzilla Prediction Network,
witnesses the destruction and comes to the conclusion
that the creature must have the motive to destroy
all of humankind’s energy sources.
Meanwhile, the government run
Crisis Control Intelligence Agency has discovered
a mammoth rock lying at the ocean's floor in the
Ibaragi Prefecture. Hoping that the rock might
hold the secret to a new source of energy, the
CCI attempts to bring the object above water.
However, during the process the rock suddenly
floats to the surface of its own accord, raising
speculation that perhaps a living being might
be encased inside. The remarkable occurrence is
interrupted, though, as the GPN tracks Godzilla
heading toward the Takaimura Nuclear Plant just
as Tetsuo Katagiri, the head of the CCI, is notified
of the same information. Both parties head out
to the area to formulate a plan of action, as
the head of CCI and the GPN meet in an unlikely
confrontation. The two voice their different ideologies
surrounding the beast, while Shinoda’s hope
of preserving the creature for research is ultimately
disregarded as Katagiri and the SDF plan a full
out assault near the Fuji River.
As day breaks and the attack forces
are in position, the nuclear leviathan appears.
The full might of Japan is unleashed at the creature,
yet, despite their technology, his advance isn't
halted. The situation is complicated, though,
when the rock in the Ibaragi Prefecture miraculously
takes flight and arrives on the scene. The large
slab of earth unleashes a concentrated blast from
its hidden cannon just as Godzilla releases his
ray. The resulting exchange sends Godzilla collapsing
into the water as the UFO, with part of its metal
exterior revealed, crashes near a bridge.
With the battle over, Shinoda
surveys the area and comes across a tissue sample
of Godzilla. Making an uneasy alliance with the
CCI, Shinoda is allowed to use their advanced
equipment to better study the sample. Upon further
research, Shinoda stumbles across a property that
he dubs Organizer-G1, which is the key to Godzilla’s
regenerative powers. The remarkable discovery
is overshadowed, though, as the UFO, after breaking
through cables that the SDF had used to keep it
in place, flies toward Tokyo. In route, the craft
destroys three nearby helicopters before landing
atop City Tower. In the face of the casualties,
the SDF immediately plans to exterminate the unearthly
invader, planting bombs in the top stories of
City Tower that they hope will eradicate the ship.
The plan gains a sense of urgency as the UFO begins
hacking the nearby computers by stealing their
data and leaving a cryptic “Millennium”
message behind. It’s then revealed that
the dilemma is spreading, as the alien invader
is following the fiber optic cables to neighboring
areas which could affect all of Japan, and eventually
the world, in a “Y2K” like scenario.
Unfortunately for Katagiri, Shinoda
enters City Tower to try and stumble upon the
invader’s intentions. Unwilling to accept
this setback, Katagiri detonates the bombs anyway
just as Shinoda stumbles upon what he was looking
for. The head of GPN, laying in the bottom stories,
is left unscathed by the destruction of the top
of the building; however, the UFO, unaffected
by the explosion, retaliates by destroying the
rest of the structure just as Shinoda goes below
ground and to safety.
Determined, Shinoda makes his
way to CCI’s temporary outpost at the top
of a neighboring rooftop. He reveals that the
aliens are, in fact, after Godzilla and the Organizer
G-1. No sooner then this discovery is revealed,
though, does the King of the Monsters himself
rise from Tokyo Bay. The creature makes a direct
line for the UFO, eager for a rematch with the
craft. The two skirmish briefly until the UFO
gains the upper hand by burying Godzilla beneath
a fallen building and extracting the needed genetic
makeup. With the Organizer G-1 in its possession,
the Millennian, the alien race in control of the
ship, basks in the Earth’s atmosphere. Unfortunately
for it, the creature miscalculated as the sample
causes a sudden mutation to occur, transforming
the alien into the massive Orga. Just then, Godzilla
reappears and does battle with both Orga and the
UFO. Due to Orga’s stolen regenerative powers,
the battle is fierce, but Godzilla eventually
destroys both opponents after completely obliterating
Orga's upper half. With the alien menace ended,
the King of the Monsters approaches the CCI outpost,
killing just Katagiri who accepts his fate, before
destroying most of the neighboring buildings with
his atomic ray.
Sadly, this meager story is, without
doubt, the biggest problem with the film. Now,
it shouldn’t go unnoted that the writing
process for Godzilla 2000 was both easy
and difficult. Easy in the fact that scriptwriters
Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru
Mimura were given a clean slate to craft an
interesting premises and not have to worry about
weaving the film into a previously setup continuity.
The difficult part of writing the screenplay,
though, is that it must also justify this new
series, make a case for why the continuity needed
to be dropped from the previous films. Something
that The
Return of Godzilla (1984) did with flying
colors as it removed the hero aspect that the
character had adopted during the twilight years
of the Showa series and returned Godzilla to his
1954 roots. In the case of Godzilla 2000,
though, the film fails hard on both accounts.
In fact, there is no back-story to the film, no
explanation regarding this Godzilla including
how often he attacks or when he first appeared.
In the 1984 film there was no problem in this
regard as the second Godzilla appeared for the
first time at the start of the movie, but for
the 1999 film this Godzilla is already on the
rampage in what appears to be, from the cast’s
reaction, business as usual. The writing doesn’t
just fail to meet the expectations of justifying
the continuity wipe, but also drafts up a dull
story that fails to render any memorable moments
or concepts. The Y2K style “Millennium”
side plot is also very questionable, as even with
that fear still alive back before 2000 the movie
fails to evoke any kind of emotion with the reference.
Also, the effects of the computer hacking, while
serious, seem pretty mundane in contrast to the
threats that previous Godzilla adversaries, or
the character himself, presented in movies. In
the end, if this story was a standalone movie
or another entry in the Heisei series it wouldn’t
have mattered as both Kashiwaba and Mimura fail
to make this entry in the least bit memorable.
Unfortunately, the problems with
the screenplay don’t end with the overall
story, as the pacing in Godzilla 2000
is just awful. In fact, for a Godzilla movie,
this 1999 entry seems to cut the title monster’s
screen time noticeably short. The film also seems
to take some joy in slowly moving along the plot,
while placing the only enjoyable sequences at
the start and end of the film so that the entire
middle act feels like a choir to sit through with
the promise of the climax seeming distant. As
expected, the highlights are related to Godzilla,
as his early raid toward the electric power plant
and the battle during the climax are the segments
worth watching. The nuclear behemoth also shows
up for the SDF raid, but the sequence is poorly
executed with Godzilla offering no counter attack
whatsoever, and fails to be interesting. Director
Takao
Okawara’s attempt to solve the problem
with the middle portion of the film seems to be
to inject humor into the sequences, such as slapstick
moments where someone is hit on the head with
a pole numerous times. Despite the director's
intent, these sequences fail to amuse and grow
tiresome as Okawara tries it over and over again
to no avail; furthermore, the “skits”
themselves could have just as easily been removed
to speed up the pacing with far better results.
When the movie isn't trying to take a lighter
approach to the material, it tends to focus on
the UFO, which ends up being one of Godzilla's
least memorable adversaries. I’m not sure
who came up with the idea of having Godzilla face
off against a giant flying rock for the first
bout, but it’s almost embarrassing to see
it actually unfold on screen. The fact that the
alien race, the Millennian, only appears fleetingly
during the climax was also a bad idea, as the
lackluster design of the UFO is left to carry
most of the film and makes nearly every moment
that it’s onscreen very dull.
Of course with most of the film
not focusing on the title character but the UFO
plot, one would think that the writers would be
better equipped to develop the human cast during
these sequences. Unfortunately, that couldn’t
be further from the case. There are vague references
here and there to try and develop them, such as
the whole college back story with Shinoda and
Miyasaka, yet none of them bare any sort of fruit
in terms of making these characters seem anything
more than one dimensional. Although the basic
premises of the lead character Shinoda is made
clear: he wants Godzilla to be left alive and
studied. I would assume that this character was
made in homage of Takashi
Shimura's role as Doctor Yamane in the original
Godzilla
(1954), as both share a similar view. However,
where Ishiro
Honda had the common sense to have Yamane
drop this perspective after seeing the destruction
the creature caused first hand, Owara makes no
similar resolution. In turn, it almost seems like
Shinoda is willing to sacrifice lives for the
sake of his obsession with researching Godzilla,
with his only consideration to this point being
that GPN was intended “to warn” where
Godzilla might land; however, I don’t think
Japanese citizens would take lightly to being
told on a monthly, or how ever frequently he shows
up, basis that their home’s destruction
was imminent. Of course, looking to the other
side of the coin with this view leads to the movie’s
antagonist: Tetsuo Katagiri. As expected, the
character is the counterpoint to Shinoda as Katagiri’s
desire is to destroy Godzilla, or the UFO as becomes
his later focus. There isn’t much exploration
into this character or any hint at his motives.
As the film’s villain, the movie does a
poor job of making the audience loath him at all.
In fact, the writing seems desperate to the point
of throwing in a scene where he decides to detonate
the bombs in a building that Shinoda entered.
Besides the fact that there is not a strong logical
motive for not waiting, with the urgency of the
alien's hacking not being brought up during the
ordeal, Katagiri's actions don’t really
even amount to much as the top story is blown
and Shinoda is, more or less, safe on the bottom
stories. The real danger to Shinoda comes from
the UFO blast that follows, which is something
that Katagiri couldn’t have predicted anyway.
The biggest sin with this character, though, is
that there is no justification for his suicide
at the end of the film, where he stands and allows
Godzilla to kill him. It’s one of those
extreme situations that needed a good justification,
yet the movie makes no attempt to do so. I have
heard excuses discussed for this scene, often
just chalking it up as a “Japanese custom”
after failing to defeat an enemy, but in reality
all that can be said is that it’s poor writing.
On a lighter note, and rounding
out the trio of main characters, is Yuki Ichinose,
the film's photographer. Yuki slowly evolves through
the course of the movie, at first loathing Shinoda
but then growing to like him and his daughter.
The only problem is that the writing fails to
make this change in character credible as the
transition seems to happen randomly and without
reason, as if the character was substituted midway
for a different one. All in all, the characters
are very shallow, and aren’t able to hold
the viewers interest enough to make the non-Godzilla
sequences in the least bit entertaining.
Now with the lackluster character
development, it likely comes as no surprise that
none of the performances in the film really stand
out either. Takehiro Murata plays the lead here
and does nothing of praise in regard to his portrayal.
Of course, Shinoda’s motives seemed backwards
to me, so I suppose the fact that I didn’t
hate him by the time the credits came up is a
testament to Murata in itself. The rest of the
cast doesn’t fare much better, although
particular scorning should be reserved for Naomi
Nishida who is sometimes obnoxious in her
role as photographer Yuki, and how the actress
ever got a Japanese Academy Award is beyond me.
Still, the worst blemish in regards to the acting
comes from Shiro Sano who plays Shiro Miyasaka.
For the most part, he pulls in an acceptable performance,
but his infamous scene of collapsing in front
of the camera, after learning of the UFO’s
intention, is just cringe worthy. It makes the
viewer feel bad for Shiro doing it and gets one
wondering why Okawara didn’t intervene and
ask for another take. To end on a slightly brighter
note, Hiroshi
Abe actually does a decent job, all considering,
of playing Katagiri. The actor is given next to
nothing to work with yet, thanks to his trademark
facial expressions, makes his portrayal something
that one will at least enjoy while watching, even
if the only memorable aspect is his out of the
blue suicide at the movie’s closure.
Special effects wise, one shouldn’t
be surprised that this is yet another uneven effort
for the Godzilla series. However, special effects
director Kenji
Suzuki takes it to the next step as the film’s
failures in this department will more then make
the better sequences a distant memory. For one
thing, the green screen shots look a lot worse
then previous entries in the Heisei series. If
there was one thing that Koichi
Kawakita deserves credit for it was his tendency
to produce good, or at least acceptable, mat shots.
Suzuki, on the other hand fails in this area,
producing such embarrassing shots like Godzilla
first venturing on land during the SDF assault.
The choice to have Godzilla destroy mostly mat
work backgrounds, instead of models, during his
entrance into Tokyo was also pretty poorly thought
out, as the effect isn’t nearly as convincing
or enjoyable to watch. In fact, Godzilla's sense
of mass is rarely portrayed effectively in the
film. The model sets, when used, just don’t
pass off well as an actual cityscape. What's rather
odd is that this was the primary reason for having
Godzilla return to his near 50 meter height, compared
to the 80-100 meter size of the Heisei series
Godzilla, as models could be larger and show off
more detail so they would look more convincing.
Yet, in actuality, this aspect of the production
falls notably short instead. The film also makes
the fallacy of relying far too much on CGI, something
which Suzuki and his team can’t produce
with any level of quality control. Overall, it's
better than what was seen in his previous film,
Rebirth
of Mothra 3 (1998), but the only problem
is that it’s not downplayed and used sparingly
like in that feature. For Godzilla 2000,
the computer animated effects take center stage,
producing numerous embarrassing sequences, most
of which are in relation to the UFO. As for the
more traditional suitmation, well it fares better
then the other aspects, but it's still not worthy
of praise. For example the Godzilla suit is decent,
but a mechanized head for close ups would have
been appropriate as the lack of movement in the
eyes becomes painfully noticeable at points. Unfortunately,
the Orga suit is even less impressive, as the
creature comes off as being very stiff while the
design's best aspect, the giant hands, are never
used effectively as they can’t grasp anything.
In regards to the film's musical
score, composer Takayuki
Hattori fails to impress. None of the themes,
save perhaps the “UFO march”, is in
the least bit memorable. As poor as Hattori’s
score is, though, it would be far preferable to
hear more of it instead of the long gaps of silence
that the production crew opted for instead. In
fact, a vast majority of the movie is music-less,
something that when combined with the wretched
pacing makes for a very tiresome experience. There
is a light at the end of the tunnel, though, as
Akira
Ifukube's Godzilla theme is thrown in during
Godzilla's arrival in Tokyo bay, which arguably
turns the segment into the best part of the film.
Overall, it’s not hard to
see why Godzilla 2000 was poorly received
in Japan. I don't doubt that this film was also
the biggest influence in Godzilla
vs. Megaguirus (2000) utterly tanking
at the box office, as disappointed moviegoers
likely made up their mind to skip the next one
regardless. For what’s worth, the US version,
created by Michael Schlesinger and his crew, is
infinitely better than its poorly paced Japanese
counterpart. In all, the US version make numerous,
badly needed cuts from the film to tighten it
up and also increases the number of musical cues.
Granted, the movie does poke fun at itself in
the US version, but director Okawara left little
other choice with the number of times he attempted
to splice in his out of place jokes only to have
them fall flat time after time. Regardless, Godzilla
2000 ends up being a fairly forgettable entry
and a poor start to justify the Millennium series
of films.
|
(2/5)