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Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
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| Year: |
1994
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Director: |
Kensho Yamashita
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| Stars: |
Megumi Odaka, Jun Hashizume, Zenkichi Yoneyama, Akira Emoto, Towako Yoshikawa, Yosuke Saito, Kenji Sahara, Akira Nakao, Koichi Ueda
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| Genre: |
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure |
| Rating: |
  6 (from 1 vote) |
| Review: |
A giant crystal from outer space crash-lands on Birth Island, home of everyone’s favourite radioactive dinosaur, Godzilla, starring in his 21st Toho epic. Living a peaceful life alongside his wide-eyed, manga Muppet offspring Little Godzilla, the Big G has no idea the UNGCC (United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Centre) have not one, but two ingenious plans to settle his hash. The first involves their latest super-weapon, Moguera, a giant samurai robot-chicken with drills for arms that, unfortunately, comes off second best in a space battle with a mysterious monster spawned from Godzilla’s own mutant DNA.
Meanwhile, scientists Dr. Gondo (Towako Yoshikawa) and Dr. Okubo (Yosuke Saito) plan to attach a special device that will allow them to telepathically control Godzilla, and rope in ace psychic girl Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka), a reoccurring character in the 1990s Godzilla series. Intent on protecting Godzilla from mankind, Miki is spurred on by a visit from Mothra’s emissaries, the Cosmos Fairies (Keiko Imanura and Sayaka Osawa), who warn her, “If Godzilla is destroyed, the Earth is destroyed.”
So Miki joins the science team on Birth Island, where handsome Lt. Shinjo (Jun Hashizume) takes a shine to the psychic girl, while hardened jungle trooper Major Yuki (Akira Emoto) secretly plans to kill Godzilla with a special “blood-coagulating bullet”, in revenge for the death of his best friend. Nothing goes according to plan, once Space Godzilla bests his progenitor, entraps Little Godzilla in a crystal prison, and sets about transforming southern Japan into its own personal fortress. Just to make matters worse, renegade Dr. Okubo kidnaps Miki, hoping to use her powers to control Godzilla and sell him to international terrorists.
The previous entry, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) was a no-nonsense action movie, very popular with American fans. By contrast, this movie gets little love, largely for being a pop sci-fi adventure aimed at youngsters. In his only Godzilla assignment, youth oriented director Kensho Yamashita delivers an insipid romance, cameos from sitcom stars and a cuddly baby dinosaur that blows cartoon bubbles. While the end result remains an acquired taste, when compared to the dour, rubber monster wrestling matches so beloved by fans, this is bright and breezy fun. Godzilla is in heroic mode here, for the first time in nineteen years, and the plot hinges on Miki getting soldiers, scientists and monsters to pull together to save the Earth. “This beautiful Earth belongs to everyone”, declare the twin fairies and screenwriter Hiroshi Kawashibara weaves in a trendy, pro-ecological message with the enemy being yet another creature spawned by pollution.
Space Godzilla is a lumbering, unwieldy creation, tinted blue and purple with huge crystalline shoulder pads jutting skywards. His impressive arsenal - including telekinesis, lightning-breath, space flight, crystal missiles, and a force field - puts poor Moguera to shame. The almost lovably useless robot-chicken first graced Toho’s 1957 sci-fi epic The Mysterians. Re-imagined as an anti-Godzilla weapon, it impressively splits into two separate vehicles - a high-tech tank and the airborne Star Falcon - but joins the ranks of useless Japanese Defence Force gadgets alongside Super-X from Godzilla 1985 (1985, duh) and the ever-present Maser cannons. Yamashita offers a sloppy action sequence when Shinjo and Yuki mount a rescue mission to free Miki, but the monster battles remain striking as always. If you carry anything away from this it’ll be the sight of Space Godzilla levitating Godzilla like David Copperfield performing a Las Vegas stage act, or the moment Miki telekinetically removes the control device from Big G’s next and he nods thank you. It remains the most gentle and benevolent Godzilla movie of the nineties, ending with a love song as he wades out to see. Godzilla would return in Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995).
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| Reviewer: |
Andrew Pragasam
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