In all honesty, the Showa
Gamera was an alright monster, but his films
paled in comparison to Godzilla’s. While
Gamera:
Guardian of the Universe (1995) blew
the old Gamera out of the water (along with
many of the Heisei Godzilla films, if I might
be so bold), it was hard to believe the giant
turtle could continue on with this newfound
stamina. But he did, and in all honesty, Gamera
simply surpasses Godzilla in the Heisei Era.
While the Millennium films for both series
would invert this dynamic, I can honestly
call the Gamera Trilogy a triumph of kaiju
films. Gamera 2: The Advent of Legion
is no exception; it is a masterpiece of a
kaiju cinema with which I can find no faults.
It’s the best of the trilogy.
Not long after the climactic
battle between Gamera and Super Gyaos, things
begin to return to normal around Japan; that
is, until an approaching meteor shower is
detected. While the meteors don’t cause
a great deal of damage, the largest specimen
crashes to Earth near Sapporo. Almost instantly,
strange events begin to occur, and the meteor
is nowhere to be found! A bright green light
appears in the sky above the impact site,
and this anomalous aurora gives off an electromagnetic
wave that shorts out technology as oxygen
levels rise. Soon, sources of silicon throughout
Sapporo begin to go missing and finally, a
subway falls prey to an assault by hordes
of insect-like creatures, which are quickly
identified as alien life forms from the meteor.
Suddenly, a massive flower
erupts in Sapporo. Midori Honami, a science
instructor, discovers that the plant is essentially
a huge launch pad to hurl the plant’s
seed into space and, with it, another colony
of these creatures. If this were to occur,
the detonation would be equal to that of a
nuclear blast, capable of leveling Sapporo.
The military launches an attack on the creatures,
but cannot safely destroy the plant without
destroying the city. Just as it is about to
detonate, Gamera arrives and sucks up all
the oxygen from the flower, using it to let
loose a massive plasma fireball that obliterates
the botanical offender. As he moves in to
destroy the rest of the plant, the entire
swarm emerges and attacks Gamera, covering
him from head to toe and viciously tearing
into his flesh. It is here they earn their
moniker from Mark 5:9 of the Bible; these
creatures are named after the infamous demoniac,
Legion. Gamera is forced into retreat by the
swarm of ravenous space aliens, and green
blood covers the city as he desperately flees
toward the ocean to recover.
As the aftermath of the event
is examined, the Earth begins to quake and
the gigantic Legion queen erupts from the
ground and takes flight, with jets in swift
pursuit. Though she is shot down, all that
can be found of the queen Legion is her wing.
Another flower soon sprouts in Sendai and
Gamera arrives to destroy this one as well,
only to suddenly find himself knocked out
of the sky. The Legion queen tears herself
out of the Earth, alive and well, and brutally
assaults Gamera. Forced to hold the mammoth
space monster back to protect a rescue helicopter,
Gamera can barely do anything against the
colossus. Even once the helicopter is safely
out of the way, Gamera is still overpowered
by Legion and suffers a severe wound. Sensing
her flower is about to detonate, Legion dives
underground and retreats. Gamera bravely approaches
the Legion pod and topples it, but doesn’t
have the time destroy the living bomb before
it detonates, decimating Sendai completely.
Gamera has seemingly sacrificed himself in
the process of trying to save Sendai.
With two pods thwarted and
unable to launch, Legion assaults Tokyo in
full force. With the military helpless before
Legion’s awesome power, mankind’s
only hope is to somehow resurrect Gamera.
But even if Gamera is restored, will he be
able to topple this alien tyrant or is Earth
doomed to become one huge Legion nest?
The story is phenomenal. Legion’s
arrival and the purpose of the pod tie into
each other quite well. While we never find
out where Legion specifically came from, what
we know of her modus operandi renders the
point moot. Gamera arriving to kill Legion
makes perfect sense as well, as he was spawned
to defend the Earth from any threat. As for
the human side of the story, in a way, there
isn’t an entirely separate subplot;
it’s pretty much the same as the main
story. Given how well this works out, it becomes
quite clear that a parallel narrative isn’t
a prerequisite for kaiju movies, as the characters
still get plenty of development. Though there
is a very mild side story with the military,
it fits well and makes sense. In the original
film, Gamera was viewed as an equal (or perhaps
even greater) threat as the Gyaos by mankind.
Here it has carried over and Gamera, while
clearly not as big a threat as Legion, still
remains untrusted by humanity. After much
convincing, the military decides to band together
to assist Gamera in fighting back the Legion
horde.
The human characters
are all excellently handled, Colonel Watarase
is something I honestly love in a kaiju film,
an effective and open-minded military character.
Not only is he the first to accept Gamera
as an ally instead of an enemy, he’s
willing to accept that an alien may have arrived
on Earth. Toshiyuki Nagashima’s acting
is excellent too. Considering we see a similar
character in GMK
(2001), it seems as though Shusuke
Kaneko has a specialty for crafting this
brand of unique character. Midori Honami (Miki
Mizuno) is another worthy addition to the
character roster. Despite being a scientist,
she is also open-minded and caring. Asagi
Kusanagi (Ayako Fujitani) is also a triumph,
and portrays an innocence to her character,
while showing an unwavering trust in Gamera.
Another thing to point out
is a sprinkling of comical lines throughout
the movie, which breaks up the otherwise ominous
and threatening undertone. Not only does this
give the film a bit of atmospheric lightening
and prevent things from becoming too serious
(which can easily be to the detriment of a
kaiju film), it adds to the realism, as people,
even in the darkest of times, have a habit
of joking around in order to ease the mood.
This is taken to an extreme with an alternate
dub track on the DVD, with a certain humor
that many are sure to enjoy.
As for the monsters, Gamera
is even better in this film than the last
one, looking fierce and realistic. His plasma
fireballs and flight are both excellent visuals
and truly awe-inspiring. However, nothing
compares to the awesome effect of his Mana
Beam, which is one of the most amazing kaiju
attacks ever accomplished on the big screen.
Had it not found explanation, such an attack
would have come off as a virtual deus ex machina;
however, the explanation for why he only used
it in dire straights makes perfect sense and
actually provides an excellent setup for the
third film. This sudden power, which would
normally be a poor choice cinematically, actually
averts the stale cliché and works to
solidify the trilogy’s excellence. Also
worth noting is the scene were Gamera defends
the helicopter from Legion. He refuses to
budge, even as Legion’s horn tears into
his flesh, until the humans are safe; a statement
about his character. The symbiotic Legion
are another great visual, and they’re
extremely menacing, as well as alien-looking.
They truly inspire some real "jump moments"
throughout the film. The scene were they swarm
all over Gamera is absolutely disturbing and
outright scary, possibly even moreso for me
as the idea of being eaten alive by swarming
insects is one of the most disturbing thoughts
in the world.
As for the queen Legion, she
is one of the most impressive suits ever designed.
Standing a head taller than Gamera and nearly
twice his size, she is a juggernaut of a monster
and looks absolutely fearsome. Despite her
mass, her flight scenes are very well done
and look realistic. In fact, the explanation
of how the species moves around through hollow
bodies powered by air pressure adds credibility
to the possibility that such an enormous monster
could take to the sky. While she is damaged
by human weapons (like most monsters in the
Gamera series), it doesn’t make her
seem fragile. The only two parts of her body
to be affected in this manner are her wings
and upper legs, which are thin and small.
The fact that she withstood being shot down
from a high altitude and returned in Sendai
with very little damage shows her main body
is indeed extremely strong. As for her non-physical
abilities, they prove to be stunning visuals.
Her energy beam is amazing, the build up and
firing are amazingly cool, not to mention
devastatingly powerful. One blast is capable
of blowing a hole clean through Gamera’s
shoulder and shell, even most Godzilla monsters
aren’t nearly this formidable. Her energy
field is also an outstanding effect; this
adds to her power as she is capable of completely
negating Gamera’s devastating plasma
fireballs without suffering any damage in
the process. Possibly one of the most stunning
moments in the film occurs after her horn
is severed, when Legion’s eyes light
up blood red. She proceeds to let loose her
energy whips. Not only does this show the
extent of Legion’s emotions, it is also
unveils a ferocious dimension to her character.
The energy whips are extremely powerful and
deadly, as well as a stunning visual. Finally,
it’s worth noting that Legion is the
first monster in the Heisei series to effectively
pierce Gamera’s shell. While Iris would
prove capable of such a feat in the upcoming
film, the ease with which Legion makes this
unthinkable injury occur shows her awesome
might. In all honestly, I personally believe
Legion is the most powerful of the Heisei
series monsters.
Another interesting fact about
Legion is this, she doesn’t come across
as an evil entity right off the bat. While
the Showa era space monsters were clearly
evil and villainous in their motives, Legion
doesn’t come across this way. She’s
essentially the ‘Gamera’ for her
own species, their guardian to ensure survival.
This shows in the final battle when the Legion
swarm is destroyed, the Legion queen is clearly
infuriated at the slaughter of her offspring;
in fact, as strange as it sounds, one almost
feels sorry for her, as she does indeed care
for her children like any mother would. That’s
something I like about the Heisei series of
Gamera films, none of the monsters come off
as completely evil and malicious, they all
have an instinctive motive that brings some
level of humanity to them. Despite being the
main villain, Legion is a character, and in
some ways, sympathetic to a degree.
As for Kow
Otani’s musical score, it’s
fantastic. The theme that plays as Gamera
marches to try and stop the second flower
is dramatic and reflects the gravity of the
situation. On the other hand, Legion’s
theme is very sci-fi-esque, but at the same
time, ominous to the core. Her intimidating
presence is amplified.
One more thing worth mentioning
is a number of impressive visuals that really
grip the viewer by the lapel. One example
is the scene were Gamera emerges from the
ocean into the air. It’s beautiful and
very dramatic. Legion’s first appearance
is also very powerful and startling, both
for the symbiotic Legion and the queen Legion.
The scene of the Tokyo Tower, still in ruins
from the previous film, is stark and ominous,
showing a brutal difference between this film
and Godzilla films. In the latter franchise,
collateral damage rarely carries over to the
next film. Another amazing visual is the scene
of Gamera’s ‘corpse’ in
the ruins of Sendai, a sorrowful and solemn
sight. On the opposite end is the amazing
and striking revival of Gamera, and later
his use of the Mana Beam, both are outstanding
and carried off amazingly well.
When all the figures are added
up, Gamera 2: The Advent of Legion
is one of the best kaiju films ever made and
I absolutely loved every second. I can find
no fault with this movie; even devices that
would normally manifest themselves negatively
are cleverly crafted in such a way to add
to the movie and the trilogy as a whole. This
is truly a masterpiece of a kaiju film, and
I definitely recommend it. Even if you wince
at Showa Gamera, let me assure you, the new
trilogy takes things to a completely elevated
level.
|
(5/5)