December 21st: Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)

I have just realised we are getting very close to the end of the Heisei era, with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) being the penultimate film. With the Showa era lasting so long it feels like we were just getting going with these one, but alas all ears come to an end. And with the trajectory of the films from this era, maybe that isn’t the worst thing. With the failure of Mechagodzilla in the previous film, the authorities decide to develop two new projects to fight against Godzilla. The first is MOGUERA, a giant mech made from the remnants of Mechagodzilla, and the other a telepathic machine that they can attach to Godzilla to control him. However, what they did not plan for was a new monster to appear, the titular SpaceGodzilla.

A good chunk of this film’s narrative does feel similar to that of the last film, in that a big robot is built to fight off Godzilla and that takes up a decent amount of the story. However, all the stuff with the telepathy project is an addition that is fairly welcome in terms of pacing and interest, even though it becomes very silly and had me rolling my eyes a little bit. The telepath in question is Miki (Megumi Odaka), the psychic girl from Godzilla vs Biollante (1989). She has been in all of the films since that first appearance, but here she is more involved than in previous ones and I’m not sure that is necessarily a good thing. Not because of her performance or anything, but the whole psychic aspect of her character is just ridiculous and is even more so in this film when she is able to telepathically move objects. It is used for specific narrative points, but I think you could easily remove it and only have to slightly tweak these scenes and it would just feel more grounded. I know it’s just a personal preference, but it doesn’t work for me at all really.

But again, what saves this film from being ridiculous to a point of being bad is the monster action. It does not necessarily mean that it is all good. The final fight scene for example is mostly fun with everything you want from that kind of scene. But then there are some really weird shots and editing choices where the monsters aren’t properly in frame or out of focus and it’s really odd visually. Also, I’m not sure on the SpaceGodzilla design. When he is in his flying form I know I don’t like the design. He is basically a giant flying crystal, and it just looks a bit naff, or like something a child might have come up with. While he is in his general form, I am not sure how I feel about him. I think his general look is quite cool. He is basically just a Godzilla variant with a few extra blemishes, and I like that aspect of him. But then that being drawn by a child feeling comes back with these giant crystals he has on his shoulders which again look really silly. Fortunately, the majority of the action scenes with him remain a lot of fun so there is that.

I feel like this review is seeming very negative, and I actually like the film a decent amount. It has its problems, but it is still a fun time. I think I am having an issue with clicking with this era as much as I would like because those first two films were so good. Since then, it has been diminishing returns in a way, and I think the silly narrative aspects don’t help with that. I’m not sure I would recommend it as a go to initially, but if you’re enjoying the era or the silly aspects these films bring it might be one to seek out.