Day 26: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)

Another review a day late, but its been Christmas so I’m going to let myself off. I also need to watch another film and write another review before the end of the day so I will be keeping this one fairly short. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002) continues the redemption of the Millennium era, even if it is not quite as good as the previous film. The film again does not follow on from the last so tells a completely new story. Forty fiver years after the original Godzilla attack, a new Godzilla appears. While trying to defeat it lieutenant Akane Yashiro panics and accidentally gets her comrades killed. She is subsequently demoted, while at the same time scientists are hired to come up with an anti-Godzilla weapon. After four years, Mechagodzilla is created using the bones of the original Godzilla, and Akane is hired to be the pilot. However, her colleagues remember her mistake, so she has to battle Godzilla while proving herself.

The CGI in these films continues to improve and at this stage, while still a little dated, are a complete improvement from the first film of this era. The practical effects in this film are as solid as ever, and the Godzilla design is a good one, taking some elements from the Godzilla in the first two films of the era (which I wasn’t a huge fan of) but making him look a bit more like the original. But the real star here is Mechagodzilla who looks brilliant. The last time he was in one of these films I wasn’t a hug fan, but the design of him here is great. The fight scenes are decently fun but have resorted a little bit to wrestling again. While still entertaining, it does get a little stale after a while. What this film does really well is character development. You care about the majority of characters you are meant to and want to see how they develop throughout the course of the film as well. Which is good, because I am pretty sure the next film is the first direct sequel of this era and so we will ne welcoming some of these guys back.