GODZILLA: FINAL WARS

By: BRIAN THOMAS
Review Date: Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The folks at Japan's Toho Studios decided to celebrate the 50th birthday of their biggest star in a really big way. News releases carried on wire services worldwide detailed the rerelease of the original GODZILLA to theaters, the installation of a new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, special career retrospectives, and other events. But by far the most publicized event was the production of a new film about the gigantic mutant dinosaur that studio publicity promised would be more expensive and spectacular than the past two Godzilla movies. They also promised that this would be the monster's last feature at least for a while.

GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, now showing up in various festival screenings in the USA, is far from a traditional Godzilla adventure at least not like the series entries made in the past two decades. And the studio, no doubt looking to modernize the monster's image for a generation that has largely ignored the last few films, made the odd choice of hiring Ryuhei Kitamura, hot-shot young auteur behind the hyperactive hits VERSUS and SKY HIGH, to make the film an action-packed extravaganza.

But FINAL WARS fittingly reminds us that, though this is supposed to be a grand finale, this isn't the first time Toho decided to end the series. In 1968, DESTROY ALL MONSTERS was also meant to end the series with a bang, and FINAL WARS is basically a remake of that monster rally, with everything but the kitchen sink thrown into the mix.

In the not too distant future, mankind's nuclear and toxic indiscretions toward nature results in an age of monsters. While dozens of gigantic menaces appear to plague the human race, the human race itself doesn't escape genetic alteration, and many people are born unnaturally fast and strong. Many of these powerful mutants are recruited by special military forces to help fight the monsters, with the help of high tech weapons and battleships. Godzilla has been imprisoned in Antarctic ice for years, but other giants are still running loose. The Earth Defense Force is overwhelmed when Rodan attacks New York, Kumonga invades New Guinea, Ebirah appears in Shanghai and a mutated iguana known as "Zilla" tramples Sydney. This sequence alone should signal the filmmakers' intensions this isn't going to be a funeral like the last series "finale" in GODZILLA VS. DESTROYAH, but a colossal birthday party. Everybody is invited, including Godzilla's old friends and enemies, and especially the fans who will cheer the reappearance of every monster familiar faces all. This movie is a great big birthday present to all the Godzilla fans around the world. If the wrapping paper is a bit garish, well, that should be taken as part of the enthusiasm invested in the occasion.


The day is apparently saved by some visitors that appear in our skies. They are representatives of the Planet X, whose huge, beautiful spaceships are armed with teleportation beams that simply make the monsters disappear. But of course, the aliens aren't here to help at all. At first they take possession of key Earthlings to attempt a peaceful takeover, but when their scheme is discovered they launch an all-out war on Earth using not only their alien weaponry but the creatures they now control. However, a small band of heroes, whose exploits we've been following throughout the film, figure out how the Xians are controlling the monsters and some of their former friends. In doing so, they learn that there's one superbeast the aliens can't control. Time to wake up Godzilla!

Some may think that Godzilla's absence from much of the film's first half is a major flaw, but then how much time does Godzilla appear onscreen in DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, or GODZILLA for that matter? This option only builds anticipation for the star's return, and when he does reappear he's a dynamo, an incredible force of nature demanding the spotlight. He is indeed a god walking the Earth, taking on all comers and perpetually dishing out more than he's served. With a trimmed down look (not my favorite, but no doubt to be expected after years in hibernation), this is a Godzilla that's ready for action.

A certain generation, Kitamura included, was introduced to Godzilla through his 1970s films, when the older audience was for the most part abandoned in favor of a thrill-hungry horde of undiscriminating youngsters. It's these more action-oriented flicks that FINAL WARS emulates most, with mutant heroes battling aliens just like heroes of that era engaged in car chases and karate battles with invading apes from another galaxy. But Kitamura doesn't stop there. Like a sci-fi version of KILL BILL, FINAL WARS includes tributes to the entire run of Godzilla pictures, plus references to THE MATRIX trilogy, INDEPENDENCE DAY, TERMINATOR, STAR WARS, ALIENS and a much-appreciated trashing of the American GODZILLA. This movie is best described as an over-the-top extravaganza, a post-post modern popcorn picture, and an unapologetic psychotronic orgy. It's a tribute to Kitamura's skills that the single goofiest element in the entire picture turns out to inspire the film's most heartwarming and touching moment.

I don't want the next Godzilla movie (which will no doubt appear sooner than announced) to be anything like this one, and many hardcore fans are upset at the movie's crude excesses. But one has to realize that a party doesn't come along every day, and should be appreciated as an opportunity to kick up your heels and act a little silly. Or a lot silly. GODZILLA: FINAL WARS isn't a polite picture, but it treats its main character with respect, roasts the series' weak points with good humor and celebrates its strengths with fireworks. Godzilla will return, FINAL WARS will take its place in the pantheon, and we'd do well to revisit it every year or so. The party will do us all good.

Copyright © 2005 Brian Thomas, author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS.
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