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Masaki
Tezuka's last Godzilla film, and a direct
sequel to the previous entry in the series: Godzilla
Against Mechagodzilla (2002). In terms
of set up, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is very
similar to its predecessor, except this time Mothra
and her two larva have been thrown into the mix.
The movie, like other films from Tezuka, is an
uneven effort. To sum up the film: the story is
rather meager, the pacing is break neck, the character
development is pretty poor, and the acting from
the cast is only decent; however, the kaiju are
handled very well, while the special effects are
the best seen in a Godzilla film to date, and
the movie features another amazing score from
Michiru
Oshima.
The story is set a year after Godzilla
Against Mechagodzilla (2002), with repairs
on Kiryu's severed arm and damaged chest area
already underway. However, the two Shobijin, descendents
of the ones from Mothra
(1961), confront an old acquaintance, Doctor Shinichi
Chujo, who warns that the dead should not be disturbed
and that the bones of the 1954 Godzilla inside
Kiryu should be returned to their watery tomb.
The request is scoffed at by the Doctor's son,
Yoshito Chujo a mechanic on Kiryu, who protests
that Kiryu is Japan's only defense against the
King of the Monsters. The Shobijin assure him
that Mothra will come to Japan's aid against Godzilla
in Kiryu's stead; however, if the request is not
fulfilled Mothra will once again be forced to
become an enemy of humanity. The Shobijin take
their leave, and Shinichi attempts to warn authorities
about the consequences of Kiryu's origin. Japan's
Prime Minister agrees that there is a moral issue
behind Kiryu's creation; nevertheless, the Prime
Minister feels that the mechanical monster is
Japan's last line of defense against the nuclear
menace and Kiryu will remain in service as long
as Godzilla lives.
Meanwhile, Godzilla sinks a US
submarine as he makes his way toward Japan, as
it's discovered that the creature is attracted
by the bones inside Kiryu. As Godzilla arrives
on Japan's shore, Shinichi's grandson recreates
Mothra's insignia, using desks outside a school,
to summon the giant insect. Mothra responds to
the call for help and does battle with Godzilla,
as the Prime Minister decides that Japan's savior,
Mothra, needs their help and deploys Kiryu to
aid in the battle. Godzilla appears to be holding
his own against the two adversaries though, until
an egg hatches on a nearby island and two Mothra
larvae emerge. Ready to do battle with the nuclear
menace, the two larvae arrive to help their mother.
Unfortunately, Godzilla prepares to attack the
two distracted larva forcing the mother to fly
into the monster's radioactive ray in order to
shield her young, killing the imago Mothra in
the process. Enraged by the death of their mother,
the two larvae join Kiryu in battle. Together,
Kiryu manages to punch a hole in Godzilla using
his new drill hand as the two larvae bind the
King of the Monsters in webbing. Uttering a cry
for help, Kiryu goes berserk once more, grabbing
Godzilla and carrying him off to the Japan Trench,
sinking both of the monsters into a watery grave.
In conclusion, the story is merely
an excuse to set up the epic final battle. Although
it sounds rather complex on paper, the plot is
actually given very little screen time to develop.
The idea of Kiryu being to blame for the attacks
by Godzilla in 2003 and 2004 is a nice angle though.
Also, the ending sequence, where the DNA of the
1954 Godzilla is shown to be being researched
on, is a great cliff hanger to end Tezuka's "Kiryu
saga" on.
Tokyo S.O.S.' pacing feels,
to put it bluntly, rather rushed. The film moves
quickly to develop the beginning story in order
to get to the meat of the film: the final confrontation
with the three title monsters. The movie employs
a couple of tricks in order to speed up the process,
using the continuity behind Kiryu from the film
before and using the Doctor from the 1961 Mothra
film in order to quickly explain Mothra in the
new film, and reaches the final battle rather
early in the film. There is no rematch in this
film, as the lengthy battle stretches on to almost
the end of the film once it starts. Although,
at least the pacing makes it so the film is never
boring, even if the film does move a little too
fast.
Character development, like in
Godzilla
Against Mechagodzilla
(2002), is rather weak here. Come the film's closure,
the audience really doesn't end up caring for
any of the human leads, even when the protagonist
is faced with being buried at the bottom of the
sea. However, at least we see the film's lead
character, Yoshito Chujo, evolve over the course
of the movie, as he comes to terms with Kiryu's
immoral creation and that the creature is best
left at the bottom of the sea undistributed. The
only other character really worth mentioning in
the film is Akane Yashiro, portrayed once more
by Yumiko
Shaku. Not so much for the character in this
film, who is leaving for America, but because
Tezuka doesn't cop out here as Akane is actually
given a surprisingly decent amount of screen time
in this sequel.
In terms of the acting, it's adequate
considering the roles that the actors are given.
Noboru Kaneko, playing Yoshito Chujo, churns out
the best performance here, but then his character
was also given the most to do in the film. Akira
Nakao's performance is, as always, imposing
as Nakao appears pretty comfortable in his role
as Prime Minister. Hiroshi Koizumi turns in a
nice performance as the elderly Shinichi Chujo,
although it's a shame he wasn't given more to
do. Miho Yoshioka, playing Azusa Kisaragi one
of Kiryu's pilots, appears to be most in need
of refining her acting skills from the cast, although
her role in the actual film is very small; in
fact, it's amazing that she is even one of the
top billed actors here.
Despite a rather weak human cast,
Tezuka more than makes up for this fact with a
very strong showing of all three of the title
monsters in the film. Some have scrutinized Mothra's
role in Tokyo S.O.S., mainly because she
is a common character in Toho films and seems
a little out of place alongside Kiryu; however,
she fits in very well in this story about honoring
tradition. The imago's battle with Godzilla is
also impressive, better than anything seen in
Godzilla
vs. Mothra (1992) in fact. It's nice to
see the wind blasts put to good effect here, and
Mothra's scale attack has never looked better;
furthermore, it's nice that Tezuka even provided
some background information on this attack to
explain how it works. The larva are more interesting
here than usual, and are surprisingly durable
in Tokyo S.O.S. as they are able to take
Godzilla's ray with no visible damage, although
they are flung through the air. Kiryu, equipped
with the Hyper Maser Cannon in its chest as the
resources weren't available to repair the Zero
Cannon, returns in this film looking better than
ever, as his redesign is very impressive on film.
His new wrist mounted laser rail guns are improved
this time around, and steal the show in terms
of the mechanical monster's arsenal. Kiryu once
again goes toe-to-toe with the King of the Monsters
though, and lands in a very memorable shoulder
toss, taking a page from the famous shoulder toss
King Kong gave Godzilla in 1962. The film is,
however, really about Godzilla. The King of the
Monsters is a force to be reckoned with here,
as he fights back both Mothra and Kiryu. Godzilla
inhibits shadows of the ruthless persona he had
in Godzilla,
Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out
Attack (2001), although his defeat is
more satisfyingly left at the hands of Mothra
and Kiryu here. Rounding out the monster cast
is a dead Kamoebas. The kaiju is merely a carcass
in this movie, washed ashore after a fatal neck
wound from Godzilla, but still gives the film
a nice feeling of nostalgia. Some will be disappointed
that the kaiju doesn't have a substantial role
in Tokyo S.O.S., although I suppose some
would be just grateful to know that Anguirus was
not given this role as the director had originally
envisioned before Shogo
Tomiyama stepped in (citing the fan outrage
Anguirus' undignified role in the film would cause).
The special effects in Tokyo
S.O.S. are what really steal the show though.
In fact, it would be safe to say that, overall,
this film has the best special effects of any
Godzilla film to date. It's no wonder that newcomer
Eiichi Asada, who first worked as an assistant
special effects director on Magnitude
7.9 (1980), was signed on as the special
effects director for the next film in the series
as well: Godzilla:
Final Wars (2004). The opening sequence,
where Mothra is chased by two jets through the
clouds, is a real testament to how far the series
has come since the Millennium series started four
years ago. The sequence even surpasses a similar
scene with Iris in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) in terms
of making the scene look credible. The SDF attacks
are also done very well, as the audience is given
shots of battleships actually deploying their
entire arsenal against the King of the Monsters
with no effect. The aerial SSM-1 bombardment,
where a fleet of SSM-1 vehicles launch missiles
at Godzilla from a distance as their bayload shower
down on Godzilla, is simply stunning. However,
the film's special effects are not without fault,
although the only real noticeable blemish in the
film is Mothra's wings, a problem reminiscent
from the Koichi
Kawakita days of special effects. The wings
look great while Mothra is creating her hurricane
winds, or using her scale attack, but in terms
of general flight there is a problem with how
frequently the wings flap. Aproblem which was
nearly non-existant from the Imago Mothra in Godzilla,
Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out
Attack (2001), but rears its ugly head
here once again. Still, the scene where Mothra
flies with a sunset background and the incredibly
realistic, and articulate, legs more than make
up for frequency in the wing flaps.
The music found in Tokyo S.O.S.
is one of the better scores for a Godzilla film,
composed once again by Oshima. Like Oshima's previous
work, there is some repetition here in the music;
however, like Akira
Ifukube, Oshima can get away with this as
her music works so well even as a stand alone
experience. Her opening main title, as Mothra
is pursued by jets in the clouds, is particularly
good; arguably one of her best cues from her work
on the Godzilla series, as it transitions in from
her excellent Godzilla theme.
Overall, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
is one of the more entertaining Millennium Godzilla
films, if nothing else. As to be expected, the
film will unavoidably be compared to Godzilla
Against Mechagodzilla (2002), a comparasion
that will have to be given to the 2002 offering.
Tokyo S.O.S., at heart, is simply one lengthy
kaiju brawl between the three title monsters,
who are entangled in a battle that lasts most
of the film, something which hasn't been seen
since 1972's Godzilla
vs. Gigan.
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(3/5)
