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this is a decent movie. it doesn't sport the obvious & somewhat pathetic shortcomings of previous monster movies ( EG the Guargantuas & the smog monster ones ). As i say, these are not the movies for you if you seek tremendous FX resources and-or terrific acting: go watch star wars VI or a Shakespeare play. However this movie is definitely 90-ish. The plot is quite straight: on Godzilla island there is some warped soldier reminding of those Japanese soldiers left behind on some tropical island, who never learnt the war had ended; this freak wants to kill godzilla with some blood clotting medicine ( Blade the vampire vs deacon frost, anyone? ), land mines etc. Two military nerds meet the warped man on the island; stay behind with the psychic girl, then rescue her from the mafia...as soon as they enter the main door, they are requested to pilot Mogera...when did they actually learn it? On the island all they did was to dig sand!
Some scientists wants to control godzilla remotely via an head implant. The first experiment looks like a success, then three minutes later everybody says it's a failure & goodbye. There is little godzilla, whom i liked much more than the other one looking like Mickey Rooney. Then a silly John Woo subplot about the psychic girl being kidnapped by the mafia...bangbangbangbang! The score is a distinct plagiarism of major Hollywood hits, such as Robocop (Poledouris), Bond Movies (John Barry etc ;you only live twice etc), James Horner (Star Trek) OSTs etc.
There is Mogera [ exhumed from "the mysterians ], a robot able to convert into an airplane and a tank...it looks very static, like those $19,99 kid toys from the 80's...it got legs & arms but cannot walk & barely lifts the forearms 90 degrees to shoot drill missiles. A real loser even compared to the pretty active 1974 mechagodzilla. The fact 20 years later they couldn't come up with anything better makes you wonder.
Overall a decent monster movie with the usual clichés of the monster franchise: cartonbox cities being stepped upon by men in suit; monsters heading south, then suddenly eastwards, etc; lots of grave looking senior Japanese in uniform; lots of decently crafted sets with plenty of blinking colorful lights & buttons.
score 8/10
r-c-s 2 November 2005
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1207801/ |
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12-3-2021 00:07:03