| One of Ishiro
Honda’s last kaiju films, Space
Amoeba feels like a very tired effort from
the director. In fact, nearly every aspect of
the production is poor, from a haphazardly constructed
plot and characters, to acting which barely registers
as mediocre. Even maestro Akira
Ifukube’s score seems to be lacking,
as he borrows heavily from his previous work while
the new themes are overused. However, the true
blemish of the film is Teruyoshi Nakano’s
rather meager special effect work, although some
consideration should be made on his behalf as
this was his first monster picture following the
death of Eiji
Tsuburaya.
Space Amoeba's story starts
with humankind's continued interest in space,
as the Helio 7 rocket is launched in route to
explore Jupiter. Unfortunately, the rocket stumbles
across an extraterrestrial amoeba, which latches
on and sends the craft back to Earth. Four months
later, the rocket crashes into the sea, allowing
Taro Kudo, a photographer, to see the craft briefly
before it tumbles into the water. As fate would
have it, Kudo is later dispatched to Selzio Island
by the Asia Development Corporation to take photos
for prospective investors. As it turns out, Selzio
Island is located in the South Seas near where
the Helio 7 rocket crashed. A small group is ferried
to the isle, as Kudo is accompanied by Ayako Hoshino,
an employee of the company, Kyoichi Miya, a professor,
and Makoto Obata, a traveler who takes an interest
in the region’s culture. Unfortunately,
the island is attacked right before the group’s
arrival by a massive cuttlefish named Gezora,
which kills one of the corporate agents located
on the island. Consequently, the island natives
meet the incoming expedition with notable hostility,
as they blame Gezora’s emergence on the
corporation's activity on the isle. After their
arrival, it’s not long before Gezora reappears,
killing another agent but leaving the area after
some nearby bats are disturbed. Following the
incident, Kudo spots Obata rummaging through the
wreck left by the monster until he uncovers the
corporation’s plans for the island, revealing
that he is actually an industrial spy. Once Kudo
reveals this to the others, Obata confesses and
return the plans to Hoshino.
The next day, Kudo and Miya go
scuba diving, finding the submerged Helio 7 and
Gezora, who spares the two after a flock of dolphins
converge on the area. With his thirst for death
unquenched, the creature goes on land, destroying
the village and some of its fleeing inhabitants.
During the incident, though, it’s discovered
that the creature is extremely weak against fire.
A plan is then quickly set in motion, using oil
drums located on the island, and the creature
is burned alive. However, the threat is still
quite real, as the terrestrial Amoeba leaves Gezora’s
corpse, and finds another local form of life,
creating the monster Ganimes. Night falls as the
creature finally attacks the island. However,
it’s also defeated, as Kudo, using a rifle,
shoots out both of the creature’s eyes,
causing it to fall into a nearby ravine.
The menace is far from over, though,
as the Amoeba, now frustrated by these setbacks,
divides so that it can control Obata, mutate a
snapping turtle into the monster Kamoebas, and
create another Ganimes. Thankfully, the key to
the Amoeba’s defeat is discovered when Riko,
a local native that had been in a state of shock
since Gezora’s second attack, recovers and
reveals that the creature shied away once the
bats emerged. Miya then concludes that supersonic
waves are the key to driving away the monsters,
as Gezora also retreated when a school of dolphins
swam near. With this knowledge in hand, the natives
go around and trap the local bats in a cave, sealing
it shut so that it can be opened to instantly
let the flying mammals loose. The plan is almost
ruined, though, by Obata, under the control of
the Amoeba, as he sets the interior of the cave
on fire. Thankfully, the Amoeba’s control
weakens, and he regains his senses just in time
to remove the seal on the cave. The bats then
fly out just as Kamoebas and Ganimes converge
on the location. The supersonic waves cause the
two giants to become confused, as they engage
each other in combat, which leads to their eventual
demise in a nearby volcano. Obata, now burdened
with the last remnant of the space invader, leaps
into the lava with the two monsters, ending the
being’s threat once and for all.
As a whole, the plot is straightforward:
introducing the concept with minimal setup, while
scenes involving the monsters are frequent once
the group hits the island. Unfortunately, some
aspects aren’t explored as well as they
should be. The most obvious point here being Obata’s
joining of the group. The other three have a noticeable
loathing of the character from the start, while
he is very vague about his practice. It all feels
like very sloppy writing, as scriptwriter Ei Ogawa
knew that he wanted to get the character on the
island so he could be discovered as an industrial
spy, but didn’t want to extend any effort
into why he was allowed to be there. The reveal
of him being a spy is as weak as it sounds too,
as Obata confesses instantly and simply gives
up the plans without a fuse. In fact, all of the
writing here feels extremely rushed, and gets
to laughable levels at times, such as when the
villagers are conveniently bringing drums of gasoline
nearby just as Gezora’s weakness toward
fire is discovered. As for the film’s climax,
Ganimes vs. Kamoebas, it’s decent. The pacing
makes it feel a little long though, despite that
it’s a rather short sequence. Granted, it
is a little disappointing though that Gezora never
shows up for the final confrontation, as is hinted
at by promotional stills, the movie's poster,
and the opening title sequence.
Still, a weak story can get by
if the characters are well developed, although
Space Amoeba has no such luxury. In fact,
the character development here is pretty meek.
The lead character here is Kudo, a photographer
whose interest is in snapping shots of actual
monsters. His passion makes him a fairly odd hero,
particularly when he seems to almost jump for
joy after being told that Sakura, one of the company’s
agents, was killed by a monster. As for Hoshino,
her development here is extremely weak, as the
only motivation is the unexplained and deep admiration
she has for the island's native customs. It should
be noted that her name isn't even mentioned during
the course of the film, always a bad sign. Doctor
Miya, the group's on hand Professor, fares better,
although that's not saying much. The doctor’s
interest is in marine life and uncovering the
truth behind monsters told in legends, as revealed
during his introduction. Beyond this, though,
not much is learned of the character, save his
desire to exterminate the Amoeba at all costs.
As it turns out, Obata, the industrial spy, is
the most developed of the lot. His only concern
is own needs, which is displayed in some comical
moments such as when Ayako rushes to save some
villagers while Obata flees in the opposite direction.
His other objective is to avoid conflict at all
costs, which is showed rather sloppily in the
film when he simply reveals his true intentions
as a spy. However, he is also the only character
to evolve through the course of the film, as,
once infected by the Amoeba, his own motives change
entirely as he attempts to resist the space invader’s
influence and protect the others. A change in
character motives that peaks during his final
scene, where he leaps into the lava to end the
threat once and for all.
Given the rather simplistic characters,
I suppose it's no surprise that the acting, as
a whole, fails to entice. Akira Kubo, as the Kudo
the film's lead, feels like he is on cruise control
here. He does give an energetic portrayal of the
character, but it feels like it has all been seen
before and there isn’t a whole lot to make
this performance memorable in the least. As for
Atsuko Takahashi role as Ayako: she’s cute
when she needs to be, but that’s about the
only complement one can devote to her. To put
it bluntly, Takahashi’s acting ability feels
very inadequate. She’s fine when not much
is demanded of her, but during some scenes, particularly
when she is trying to convince Obata to resist
the Amoeba, it seems like a more experienced actress
would have been better. Actor Yoshio Tsuchiya
has the role as professor Miya here, a brand of
character which is at least slightly unfamiliar
to Tsuchiya’s expansive portfolio. Unfortunately,
his performance here is far from note worthy.
However, he does give the best performance of
the lot, and only seems to be held down due to
the lack of material to work with. Rounding out
the four leads is Kenji Sahara, who plays the
role of Obata; a role which ends up being a fairly
taxing once the Amoeba takes control. As for his
performance, he does a great job portraying the
sleazy character at the start of the film, but
seems to struggle during the scenes where he is
under the Amoeba’s influence. Past the leads,
Chotaro Togin shouldn’t go unmentioned here;
however, it’s for all of the wrong reasons.
He has a relatively small part as Yokoyama, the
second agent killed by Gezora, but his acting
is just god awful, in particular when he runs
away screaming after finding Sakura’ watch.
Another notable performance comes from Yu Fujiki,
who has a role here as the promotion manager for
the Asia Development Corporation. Fujiki screen
time is fairly miniscule, but the actor's delivery
is commendable, and his energy during his scenes
actually elevate what could have been a boring
sequence to something that is enjoyable.
Looking past some of the visual
aspects of the production, one comes to Akira
Ifukube's score for the film, which is often
a highlight of any movie he is associated with.
The same could be said here, although, in this
case, only because the rest of the film is lacking.
As a whole, the soundtrack feels stale. A lot
of the composer’s previous work is reused
here, and doesn't sound improved upon in the least
over earlier renderings. The most shameful instance
in this case, though, is the island’s native
chant, which sounds identical to the same music
heard eight years prior in King
Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). To the composer’s
credit, the opening title theme is quite enjoyable;
unfortunately, it’s used so often during
the course of Space Amoeba that by the
time the end title card roles it has lost a lot
of its splendor.
When all is said and done, Space
Amoeba is a monster film, so naturally a
lot of importance should be given to the special
effects, but Teruyoshi Nakano seems to do more
wrong then right here. In fact, there are a couple
of cringe worthy moments, such as shots of Gezora’s
tentacles that rapidly change in size as the different
shots are edited together. Once or twice, the
tentacle effects are animated as well, much in
the same way they were in Dogora
(1964). In regards to the kaiju suits: they look
good in still shots, but move unconvincingly,
especially Gezora as his shell tends to wiggle
uncontrollably, and almost appears like it's going
to fall off on occasion. Ganimes looks fairly
good here, except for the scenes where the leg
part of the suit is visible, as it looks odd to
see the creature's small crustacean like legs
flanked by the two lager ones in the back, which
are the suit actor's. As for Kamoebas, the final
member of the trio, the suit looks decent. His
neck extending could have appeared more organic,
but the effect is serviceable. A nod should be
given to Nakano, though, for creatively hiding
the creature's back legs for most of the film,
as, like the Anguirus suit, the actor in the costume
is forced to walk on his knees.
Overall, Space Amoeba
is a fairly forgettable monster film. The contrast
in appearance and abilities of the three monsters
is nice, but the entire production feels like
it was hurriedly slapped together. Worth wasting
an afternoon on, although not something that one
is likely to come back to again and again.
|
(1.5/5)