Word In Stone-Review of Negadon-Monster From Mars

[tstone]

Not really a movie, this one, more of an anime short. But full of spirit and salutes to the roots of the Kaiju (giant monster battle) genre. This one is highly experimental in style, completely computer animated. It's deliberated altered at points to harken back to earlier film styles and summon up that pulp feel. And when it comes down to it, it's all setup for the monster brawl.

The not too distant future. Earth's population, having almost depleted the non renewable resources of the home world, has extended it's reach and development into the solar system, Mars being one of the major points of offworld focus. This has been going on for awhile now, with spacecraft now regularly making the run between Mars and Earth.

To help with development and teraform efforts, a brilliant scientist was working on a type of robotic platform. Durable, highly versatile, this machine would be used on planetary surfaces, in space and underwater, in all environments. However, there was an accident during it's final stages before testing was scheduled to occur, and the scientist's young daughter was killed. He lost his sight in the same accident.

Decades later, science has made it possible to retrieve his sight. However, his soul is still damaged, and he refuses to return to his project, despite the urgings from a friend in the Japanese Defense Forces.

But, as fate would have it, one day a returning freighter from Mars has brought the wrong cargo. It breaks out and proceeds to wreak havoc. The military forces on Earth find themselves hard pressed to cope. So, the scientist decides to lend his hand at defending the homeworld. He activates his robot platform and enters the fray himself.

This film is a fun experiment and visually quite interesting. Sure, it's a setup for the big brawl, but so are most of these films. It's short, so it moves along at quite a clip and gets to the action, shich is fun to watch.

It is what it is. As far as kaiju films go, a worthy one for your library.

Check it out.

[Johnzilla]

I bought that DVD when it first came out. I think they did a good job capturing the spirit & feel of the 1960's Showa films.
I am just waiting for this genre to explode. If Toho was smart and had some imagination, they would make a fully CGI animated Godzilla film.
Of course with a budget much bigger then Nagadon's.

[tstone]

That would kick so much ass...

[mckracken]

I was dissapointed in Negadon just because it is so short, when it gets moving, its over.

[Johnzilla]

I would also like to see what the creators of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children could do with an all CG Godzilla film. I really like the artistic style of that film.