| As a huge fan of GODZILLA
(1998), I was disappointed when it appeared certain
that the idea for a direct sequel had fizzled
away into obscurity. It was obvious however, that
most fans were relieved at the lack of a GODZILLA
2, and were ecstatic to hear that Toho was
going to produce yet another traditional entry
in the franchise. Even better, this was going
to be the first Toho Produced Godzilla
movie in American theaters since 1985, and it
was going to be appropriately dubbed: Godzilla
2000. Shortly before the film's release,
rumors started to permeate through the fandom
that the upcoming entry was going to be part of
a new timeline, and some internet users even suggested
that this movie would only link to Godzilla
(1954), The
Return of Godzilla (1984), and/or Godzilla
vs. Biollante (1989). In the end, no
firm continuity was drawn to any previous movie,
and Godzilla 2000 heralded the arrival
of the first standalone Toho Produced Godzilla
film (a pattern that produced a couple excellent
movies, but in the end, the unfortunate lack of
continuity may not have been worth it). After
the release of Godzilla 2000 in American
cinemas, some may have left the theater confident
in some sort of redemption, but it is clear that
those people were likely the diehard GODZILLA
(1998)-haters: the highly vocal we'll-never-let-it-go
members of the fandom. It is probable that for
others, the general consensus for this particular
piece of cinema was based on the movie's merits,
and was thus a bit dimmer and more realistic.
Godzilla 2000 was a "meh" movie.
There were really only three special and unique
aspects about the film: it was in US theaters,
it was a new timeline, and there was a new Godzilla
design. Other than that... meh. But today, I won't
be reviewing the version that was released in
American theaters, which despite the atrocious
dubbing, was still a fun pastime at the movies.
Instead, I'm going to be reviewing the source
material: Godzilla 2000: Millennium,
the poorly constructed Japanese version of the
film complete with tediously long sequences and
an uninspired soundtrack (with perhaps only one
good, albeit unmemorable, theme). Godzilla
2000: Millennium is easily among the most
lackluster Godzilla movies of the Millennium timeline
and is perhaps only just more entertaining
than Godzilla
vs. Megaguirus (2000)
in this regard. There are still some aspects to
enjoy about the movie: the characters are
likeable even if underdeveloped and there are
a few interesting sequences. Nevertheless, as
a whole, it is far from a solid product.
At a lighthouse near Nemuro, contact
was suddenly lost with a fishing vessel out to
sea. The operator was highly concerned, but the
sight upon which he was about to lay his eyes
would strike fear into anyone's heart. A toothed
grin, grasping tightly onto the missing yacht,
was staring straight into the man's very being.
He fled and escaped certain death twice before
the towering mountain of flesh moved on, devastating
sparse rural civilization in his wake as he moved
further inland.
Meanwhile, the Godzilla Prediction
Network, comprised of Yuji Shinoda and his daughter
Io, readied their equipment as they prepared to
take off in their continuing quest to study the
mysterious monster. Along with photographer Yuki
Ichinose, the small group of Godzilla trackers
soon came face to face with the creature near
a dark tunnel on a coastal highway and only barely
escaped disaster. Godzilla continued to stampede
through Nemuro, setting the city sky ablaze with
a ghastly vermilion hue, and angrily laying waste
to the facilities that produced human-made energy.
As Godzilla disappeared from land,
the Crisis Control Intelligence Agency discovered
a huge source of energy encased in a solid, stone-like
object on the ocean floor. Using special underwater
balloons, the exotic anomaly was pulled toward
the surface. Suddenly, the enormous slab began
to gain buoyancy by its own means. It floated
to the surface, where onlookers gazed in awe at
this unprecedented discovery. As the object began
to float onto its edge in the sea, Tetsuo Katagiri,
the head of the CCI, learned that Godzilla was
heading south toward the Takaimura Nuclear Plant.
Katagiri planned to lure his old foe to the Fuji
River with artillery, where the monster would
then experience the full force of a special type
of penetrating missile. As the Godzilla Prediction
Network and their photographer arrived at the
scene, the plan was put into effect. As the penetrating
missiles sliced through Godzilla's flesh, it appeared
as though Katagiri's dream to destroy the creature
would come to fruition.
The situation became far more complex
however, when the slab in the ocean, a living
UFO, suddenly began to take flight. It located
Godzilla and scanned his genetic makeup. A single
blast from the UFO's energy cannon sent the reptile
flying backwards. As the craft charged another
beam, Godzilla prepared to fire his thermonuclear
ray. Each entity hit their respective targets,
and while Godzilla was repelled into the sea,
the UFO, now with a partially-exposed metallic
glimmer, landed upright in the Fuji River.
In the ensuing eerie calmness,
Yuji and his old friend Shiro Miyasaka studied
Godzilla's cells, which Yuji had earlier collected
from the monster's footprint on the beach. What
they found was astonishing: Godzilla's cells underwent
an almost instantaneous regeneration; it was an
unprecedented biological process which they dubbed
Organizer G-1. Amidst the discovery, special cables
that Katagiri had ordered to restrain the UFO
broke when the living machine drew solar energy
from a crack in the overcast sky. It began to
soar quietly over Makuhari accompanied by helicopters,
which were promptly eliminated by a synthetic
shockwave emanating from the craft. The UFO lighted
atop City Tower, and in order to annihilate the
nuisance once and for all, Katagiri suggested
a blast bomb detonation on the top level of the
skyscraper. As spectators continued to watch the
UFO with curiosity from below, it was discovered
that the alien life form was absorbing computer
information from City Tower and the surrounding
area. Curious, Yuki attempted to discover why
this galactic stranger was so interested specifically
in information about Godzilla. Shiro allowed Yuji
and Io to enter the doomed building in order to
catch up with her, and Yuji took Yuki's place
in the attempt to gather answers to pressing questions
about the UFO's motivation. Yuji told Yuki and
Io to plead with Katagiri's forces to delay the
blast, as he stayed behind.
Though Yuki, Io, and Shiro attempted
to delay the blast of City Tower, Katagiri went
ahead and detonated the bombs, even with Yuji
still inside. When the billowing smoke atop the
tower subsided, there was no sigh of relief...
for the UFO still remained. Mysterious words began
to appear on computer monitors in the area. The
words: "Dominate, Prosperity, Opulence, Revolution,
Kingdom, and Millennium" were transmitted,
and it soon became obvious that this craft wished
to establish a one thousand year kingdom on Earth.
Without warning, the extra terrestrial anomaly
began to destroy City Tower from top to bottom,
and Yuji only barely managed to escape. Reuniting
with Yuki and Io, the trio caught up to an unrepentant
Katagiri at the rooftop of a nearby building...
Godzilla suddenly appeared in Tokyo
Bay and moved inward through the city, with vengeance
on his mind. The UFO shot metallic cables through
the ground, grasping onto Godzilla's muzzle and
arm... but the nuclear energy of his body singed
and snapped the snares. In response, the UFO charged
and launched an energy beam, but Godzilla was
not affected as badly as the last time he endured
this energy assault. Strangely, the UFO suddenly
formed a squid-like creature in order to procure
its enemy monster's genetic material, for it wanted
to give form to a shapeless object. Godzilla rose
once more and set the UFO ablaze with his powerful
energy ray, as the squid-like creature absorbed
enough of Godzilla's essence to mutate into the
mountainous juggernaut Orga. Slightly resembling
Godzilla, this new abomination began to crash
blows onto his foe as what remained of the UFO
rose to charge another blast. After recovering
from the combined force of Orga and the UFO, Godzilla
finally destroyed the original spaceship and directed
his attention toward his newly mutated nemesis.
Marching forward, Godzilla clashed with Orga once
more, and the alien monster began to mutate as
he absorbed more of the terrestrial creature's
genetic material. Orga was, in essence, trying
to become Godzilla! A thermonuclear ray put a
temporary stop to his plans, and a conflagrant
Orga gazed as he prepared his final assault. The
flames dissipated and Orga's jaws unhinged as
he wrapped his maw around Godzilla's head and
torso, attempting with all his determination to
become his enemy. Unfortunately for Orga, Godzilla's
spines began to glow and hum... and a pillar of
plasma tore the space monster apart.
Katagiri watched with reserved
emotion as Godzilla approached his position, and
marveled at seeing his long time foe so close.
Alas, he had only a moment, for Godzilla destroyed
the section of the building on which he stood.
As Yuji, Io, and Yuki stood in awe of the bane
of mad science, the creature set a great deal
of the city ablaze, for his vengeance against
the space monster was finally complete.
All right, let's get down to brass
tacks. How does everyone fit into the equation;
what is the motivation of the respective characters?
To put it simply, the development here is like
thin ice... try and test its strength, and you'll
be in for a terrible surprise. Yuji Shinoda is
our protagonist, and Mitsuo Katagiri is our antagonist.
They shared a relationship in college, and even
that really isn't studied too thoroughly. Basically,
Yuji wants to study Godzilla and Katagiri wants
to destroy him... for reasons unknown. Perhaps
Godzilla destroyed his home, perhaps his favorite
restaurant, perhaps Katagiri just has a phobia
of reptiles... take your choice; it really doesn't
matter. Bottom line: Katagiri doesn't like fire-breathing
dinosaurs for some personal reason, and it is
of little concern (perhaps with mild hesitation)
who is killed in his quest for extermination.
Shiro Miyasaka, his assistant, is a little less
severe in his approach. Conflicted, he sides with
the quest for discovery and basic human empathy
that his old friend Yuji possesses, however he
still retains the loyalty and seems to have the
devotion to Godzilla's annihilation which his
boss Katagiri possesses. Io Shinoda, like her
father, has a similar view of Godzilla's right
to live. Other than that, there is really nothing
that separates her personality from her father's,
except for her charming sass. Yuki Ichinose, on
the other hand, is apathetic about the whole ordeal.
Mostly, her view on the matter is that the Godzilla
story could be a big scoop to jumpstart her career,
if it wasn't such a trying situation. In fact,
she would rather be reassigned. Although, in the
end, she does develop and become stronger and
more sympathetic, as shown through her heroic
U-turn to the doomed City Tower in one last effort
to save Yuji. Bringing Io along into the path
of danger may not have been the best decision,
however. The big question is: how well did each
actor portray their respective roll? It appears
as though there really aren't any major flaws.
Despite what little the actors are given, they
still manage to make their characters likeable
(Hiroshi
Abe’s deliberate, conniving subtleties
even add a villain-you-love-to-hate persona).
All around, acting is pretty satisfactory. However,
there is a problem with emotion, where a very
stressful event should call for either sadness
or fear, and the actors don't make it believable.
If I could take a guess, I wouldn't say that this
is really their fault, as much as it
appears to be a problem with direction, instead.
Case in point is Mayu Suzuki's reaction to the
possibility of the demise of her character’s
father, which is fairly downplayed until he actually
reappears. If the direction had called for her
to show anguish in this circumstance (instead
of mild sadness), then these scenes would have
been much more powerful. Still, I hold to the
fact that as far as the overall scope of acting
is concerned, it really isn't all that bad. This
is also probably the only aspect of the film that
does prove to be more solid than GODZILLA
(1998).
Pacing turns out to be one of the
most apparent problems of this movie. The American
version, if I remember correctly (though it has
been a while), was at least edited well. The Japanese
version seems tediously long... and appears to
dwell on both action and drama scenes far too
long. Coupled with rather uninteresting music,
it kind of drags the film down a few notches.
It's actually somewhat difficult to even muster
the motivation to watch Godzilla 2000: Millennium
due to this fact, and the film just doesn't reach
that level of rewatchability that many other G-films
have attained, even some of the bad ones. Successful
editing really is key, and this is one major aspect
where Godzilla 2000: Millennium fails
to deliver.
What about the music? I'm writing
this review a little slower than my other ones,
which means I actually watched the movie several
days ago. Unlike the following entries in the
Millennium timeline (excluding Godzilla:
Final Wars [2004], which I've yet to
see), each of which had at least one earworm theme,
I'm a little sad to admit that I've completely
lost the tune for Godzilla 2000: Millennium.
I just can't remember it! I do recall that I did
mildly enjoy the main theme for this movie. It
wasn't very intense, even though it was dramatic.
The remaining music was less memorable, some of
which (like the music that played during the submarine
scene) was even kind of unpleasant. For every
Godzilla movie I have seen, I can at least remember
a little of the soundtrack. Godzilla
Raids Again (1955) and Godzilla 2000:
Millennium are probably the only two exceptions
in this regard, and though the former is worse,
I can't really give the latter any high marks.
Akira
Ifukube's famous Godzilla themes do show up
momentarily, but that doesn't really save the
musical aspect of this film. Though I haven't
seen the American version of Godzilla 2000:
Millennium in years, I do remember that the
music in that version was at least better.
Special effects are "meh".
Ok, they're not all that bad. Let's start
out with the effective batch of illusions. Godzilla's
beam is orange this time around, similar to his
hyper spiral ray in the latter entries of the
Heisei Timeline, only with more of a plasma torch
appearance as opposed to a laser effect. At times,
Orga's beam looks like the photon torpedo from
the Star Trek movies, but it still excels
visually. The pyrotechnic effects, like most modern
Godzilla movies, are pretty rich and vivid. The
suit has a nice greenish reptilian look, and the
gnarly, purple spines add to a very sleek and
feral appearance. Orga's suit looks pretty bulky
and imposing (although those giant hands aren't
utilized very much, and the limitations of that
design for the suit actor are apparent). Even
the all-CG Millennian looks somewhat sharp and
smooth. There really are some nice effects.
The failure does lie, for the most part, in the
CG. The alien spaceship just looks so
cartoonish, and the scenes in which it makes an
appearance look as though they could be reproduced
perfectly on Macromedia Flash. Even worse, sometimes
the UFO looks like an inflatable pool toy. The
CG missiles also have that cartoony feel, as do
a few shots with the human aircraft. This movie
does seem to go for a minimalist effect, though,
so it isn't too jarring. There really aren't any
super-impressive effect shots, save perhaps the
final explosions. Other than that, there's nothing
much to write home about.
So, how does Godzilla 2000:
Millennium shape up? It isn't bad, but it
doesn't lean all that well towards a good movie,
either. It's below average, probably the Godzilla
Raids Again (1955) of its time. Still,
some fans see it as redemption or a "step
in the right direction". As for me, I see
it as another Godzilla film, just another chance
to see one of my favorite movie characters of
all time smash his way through a movie. It may
not be a major hindrance to the franchise, but
it certainly doesn't help that this is the last
Godzilla movie that Americans had the chance to
see in theaters. If only Godzilla,
Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out
Attack (2001) were instead the next film
to grace US theaters, then perhaps Toho's famous
franchise would have had a shot at big-screen
survival over here. At least it would have cleverly
covered the continuity issue between the GODZILLA
(1998) timeline and the Millennium timeline. Alas,
Godzilla 2000 is the one that followed,
and it just didn't do that well in the box office
over here at all. Even in Japan, adjusting for
inflation, it ranks about nineteenth
as far as net profit for a Godzilla movie is concerned.
Luckily, it didn't bury the franchise, at least
in Japan, and Godzilla lived on. Even still, the
movie isn't unbearable, and can be fun if you
don't go into it with high expectations. I'll
hold to this fact: I've yet to find a Godzilla
movie in which I can't find even a little enjoyment,
and Godzilla 2000: Millennium is no exception.
It may not be anywhere close to the best, but
it's certainly not the very worst. |
(2/5)