A whole lotta fun

Leofwine_draca

Following on from the newly-revitalised '90s GODZILLA films made by Toho, Gamera, the waddling, cuddly but still pretty deadly giant turtle (from a rival series of '60s monster bashes made in Japan) found himself undergoing a face lift, a makeover and even given a budget for his new late '90s trilogy. The first of the films to be made, GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE, is a rip-roaring adventure yarn that somehow manages to be pleasingly old fashioned and clichéd while exploiting modern special effects and story lines along with it. The story moves along at a fair old crack, taking various cues from JURASSIC PARK as a team of scientists uncover a family of nasty, prehistoric reptilian birds, known as the Gyaos, living on a remote island. The Gyaos have a habit of eating the local islanders and, when the food supply runs low, they travel to downtown Tokyo to have a small snack.

At this point Gamera enters the fray, smacking one baby bird into an electricity pylon and generally kicking backside all round! The military, dumb as they are, want to study the Gyaos and see Gamera as the threat, so launch a military attack against our big green turtle saviour. After lots of action, stock footage of military vehicles and aeroplanes, and poorly-dubbed antics from the unnecessary human cast, Gamera and Gyaos return to Tokyo to wreak havoc in a climatic slug-fest that will have any kaiju fan jumping in their seats in appreciation. The various fight scenes in this film are really dynamic, with excellent miniature sets (that explode when knocked over!) and some cool costumes for the guys in rubber suits to don.

An interesting plot point is in the inclusion of the character Agasi, daughter of a policeman and played by Ayako Fujitani, apparently the daughter of Steven Seagal although you couldn't really tell. Fujitani has a psychic link to our hero Gamera which means that when he gets wounded, she gets wounded! A pretty gruesome idea which is exploited to the full and only adds to the excitement of the fight scenes between the two monsters. The computer animation used in the film is excellent, especially the deadly laser breath and fireballs that the monsters fire at each other during their battles. Many parts of the film are hilarious with Gamera plummeting out of space like a football and there is a sense of fun and wonder all the way through. My favourite scene is where Gamera first turns into a UFO to the astonishment of the crowd who can't believe their eyes. Neither could I.

My only complaint with the film is that Manga have seen fit to incorporate an unnecessary techno-soundtrack over the real music in the film. Thus scenes of dialogue and exposition are ruined with a loud, thumping beat which is totally out of place and only detracts from the experience. Why do people have to mess around with foreign films so much instead of letting us watch the original versions? Despite this niggle, GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE is a highly engaging and enjoyable monster fest, with ten times the effort of a similar American production from the period, which never lets up the fun factor from start to finish. A whole lotta fun.

score 8/10

Leofwine_draca 20 July 2016

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3508317/