Monster Movie of the Week: Godzilla 2000

Godzilla 2000 (1999)
Directed by:
Genre: Kaiju eiga

Welcome back to the increasingly misnamed Monster Movie of the Week (maybe I should change it to Monster Movie of the Year).  With the return of Godzilla to popular consciousness, several Godzilla movies on the way and the resurgence of kaiju movies I thought I would take a look at the Shin or Millennium series of Goji movies, especially now that they are all finally on Bluray.  In a way, when I started writing this column ten years ago, I was working my way up to these movies so it's great to finally get to them, even if it means temporarily skipping over the next two Rebirth of Mothra movies.


THE MOVIE

Back in the 1990's, with an impending American Godzilla movie, Toho Studios decided to kill off Godzilla and end their popular Heisei series of movies with Godzilla vs Destoroyah as a way to make room for the sure-to-be beloved American series.  What we actually got, however, was Godzilla movie that, while a hit, was met with a resounding "meh" by American audiences and with derision and genuine offense in Japan.  As one Toho studio executive put it, the new creature and movie "took the God out of Godzilla."  Meanwhile, Gamera was enjoying a resurgence in popularity in Japan due to a trilogy of excellent movies which were often compared favorably to the contemporary Goji movies.  Prior to this, Gamera had been a joke and certainly never considered on the same level Godzilla but by the late 1990's, he was a serious contender to the throne of the King of the Monsters. If Godzilla and Gamera were rappers, they would have been putting out a series of competing mixtapes.

Toho Studios is nothing if not competitive and in response to these insults to Godzilla, they decided to take their signature character out of his short-lived retirement and they built a new movie around him, Godzilla 2000, a stand alone movie which sought to bring Goji back to his awesome roots with high production values and a modern sensibility.  It is a movie that is meant to be a defiant celebration of Godzilla as a Japanese pop cultural icon and a rebuke to the "pretenders" who would challenge the "real" Godzilla's supremacy.

Like most of the Millennium series, the movie abandons all continuity with the prior film series, except perhaps with the original film.  Godzilla is known as a force that is "out there" and periodically comes ashore to attack.  He's treated like a natural disaster and there are private and governmental apparati that are in place to study and deter him.  Our first introduction to the character is pretty phenomenal and dramatic as we witness Godzilla attack's attack on a rainy island.  We see right away with this movie that the filmmakers learned some tricks from the Hollywood movie and Godzilla 2000 and the subsequent movies have really improved the scope and scale of these films and they are more ambitious about integrating Godzilla and his human costars and environment and pursuing relative realism.

That's not to say that the movie features Hollywood-level effects.  While they are certainly impressive for a Japanese movie from its time, there are some pretty bad shots in the movie.  There is a particular series of shots of Godzilla on a beach that are embarrassingly bad. That being said, the movie does up the quality of its effects from the Heisei movies and even uses some sparing CGI to create effects that would otherwise be impossible such as animating Godzilla's eyes in close-ups and creating a photorealistic swimming Godzilla (which was done first in the 1998 American movie.) For the very traditional Toho Studios, this is a major step.

Even the story itself seems to have a bone to pick with the American Godzilla movie as the movie's main villain is a mysterious UFO which seems to be a jab and the creators of the 1998 movie who were best known for the alien invasion blockbuster, Independence Day.  There are even some shots in the movie which seem like a callback to that movie such as the ship hovering over and destroying a landmark.  Which the alien morphs into Orga at the end of the movie, it even briefly resembles one of the ID4 aliens.  It seems like the creators of Godzilla 2000 were definitely working out some frustrations and this gives the movie an interesting subtext.

The main human story of G2K deals with a Godzilla researcher who along with his young daughter and a plucky reporter are tracking the monster's recent landfall and evading a competing government agency which seeks to destroy Godzilla.  The agency has also discovered a mysterious object on the ocean floor which reveals itself to be some sort of millions-of-years-old alien ship which looks like a fancy bicycle seat or possibly a futuristic MP3 player.  Once the ship frees itself it seems to show a particular interest in Godzilla and it seeks to use the monster's particular biology (Regenerator G-1!) to replicate a powerful body for itself in the form of Orga, a giant brute which attempts to become Godzilla, and the latest in a long line of Godzilla imposters and wannabes.  Of course, Orga is defeated an the king lives to fight another day.

Prior to the release of the 2014 American Godzilla movies, Godzilla 2000 had the distinction of being the final Godzilla movie released in American theaters and even got a slightly different alternate cut of the movie for global audiences (and the below ugly poster.)  While the Japanese version is not much different, the international cut has a notoriously goofy English dub ('Like crap through a goose!") Clearly, Toho had high hopes for the movie's American release and I'm sure they would have liked the "real" Godzilla to have had a successful run in the usurper's home country. Despite the fanfare, G2K was not well-received in the U.S. and its failure at the box-office precluded any of the other Shinsei movies from being released in the U.S.

Ugh.

THE MONSTERS/EFFECTS

In keeping with this movie's seeming mission to give us a new, badass Godzilla, the big guy gets a pretty remarkable makeover for his first Shinsei movie.  While it has some of the muscularity of the beloved 1990's Godzilla suits, the head design is a departure from the rather feline look  of the Heisei suit for a more evil and reptilian look. This Goji has angrier eyes and a frowning mouth full of jagged teeth.  The head seems to be a descendant of the great King Kong vs Godzilla  design which was also more dinosaur-like.

The "cornrows" of the 1990's suit are replaced with pointy scales which inform the texture of the whole suit.  Perhaps the most controversial part of the redesign are the oversize purple-tinged spines which are sharp and jagged are which replace the traditional smaller leaf-shaped dorsal plates.  The largest of these spines is so big that it almost forms a triangle with his head and his tail.  It is a big departure from the more subtle designs of the past.

Despite an admitted air of Millennial "X-treme-ness," the G2K suit is my favorite incarnation of the character.  I love the mean looking face and the mouth full of reptilian teeth as opposed to the neat mammalian maw of the 1990's Goji.   I love the perpetual frown, which I think really captures something important about the character, a sort of epic crankiness.  This Godzilla has a constant look on his face like "The f### you lookin at?"

I actually really like the spikes as well, which are part of an overall jaggedness in the design.  I like that they actually look sharp and bony as opposed how they have looked dull and puffy in other suits. From an evolutionary perspective they would actually effective protection.  Nobody will be jumping on this Godzilla's back. and they look truly impressive when Goji is powering up his atomic breath.

Unfortunately, this suit was only ever used in one other movie, Godzila vs. Megaguirus but it has become one of the character's iconic looks, having appeared in numerous video games and comics over the years.  Despite Godzila's having had a few different looks in these Shinsei movies, this is considered his "Millenium" look.  The latter movies in the series use a somewhat toned-down version of the suit with smaller white spines and some other visual cues from the 1990's movies.

This is the only movie to feature Orga, who seems to be more of a straw man embodying everything the filmmakers were annoyed about than a successful kaiju in his own right. As they say in the movie, Orga is a formless thing that manifests itself in order to try and "become" Godzilla.  As noted above, Orga seems like the lovechild of the 1998 Godzilla and Gamera.  He's got the face of Zilla and the turtle-like silhouette of Gamera.  In any case, he was an entertaining enough foe for Godzilla to beat up on until he finally gets to beat the crap out of Zilla in Final Wars.

Of course, Orga's most memorable moment happens toward the end of his fight with Godzilla when he attempts to swallow Goji in a scene that is surprisingly creepy and gross.  Orga basically flips open his jaws and reveals a wet, pulsating gullet which unfolds like an organic umbrella.  Its a very cool sequence and the most imaginative kaiju work since Godzilla vs Biollante. Like Biollante, Orga makes the mistake of trying to consume Godzilla from the business end first.  When will they learn to start with the tail?

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

In any series of Godzilla movies the Atomic Breath reveal is always a big moment.  The first America movie didn't even do it, and the 2014 movie saved it until almost the very end..  In this movie, we get it fairly early on when Godzilla first confronts the UFO.  The effect is very well done with the spines lighting up orange and building up and then the mouth lighting up.  Goji gives the slightest head jerk and unleashes the beam at the UFO.  It's a small subtle character moment but I love that little head jerk her gives.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

It's been on DVD and digital download for years but just recently came out on Bluray.  Sadly, it is not a particularly great transfer and there are what I think are the same extras on the DVD but the bluray does include both the Japanese and international versions of the movie.

SEQUELS

Most of the Shinsei movies have no clear continuity with one another but you can see the great Millennium suit in the movie after this, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus.

TRAILER 




Patrick Garone
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The Real Mystery of This Season of the Flash

Not only is the CW's The Flash on a month-long hiatus(!), it leaves us with one mystery resolved (ish) and another outstanding.  On last week's episodes, we finally saw the true face of Zoom, this season's big bad speedster, and it's Jay Garrick...maybe.  But ever since we met the supposed Earth 1 Zolomon Hunter (who in the comics is Zoom's alter ego), it was not necessarily a shock to find Jay Garrick's face under that mask.  The more intriguing mystery is the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask in Zoom's lair.  Kudos to the writers of the The Flash for creating an ancillary mystery that somehow supersedes the season's main mystery.  The show continues to be really smart about doling out enough information to keep audiences hooked.

At this point because we don't have all the information the Zoom reveal is frustrating and confusing for a couple of reasons.  First, since we are dealing with alternate universes, most of our characters have at least one doppleganger running around.  All season, we had a supposedly heroic Jay Garrick visiting from Earth 2 working with our Star Labs crew and helping to mentor the Flash.  This Jay was apparently killed by Zoom when the last breach was closed and last week we saw his body dumped unceremoniously in Zoom's lair.  We know that Zoom's killing of this Jay Garrick is consequential to Zoom's plan for some reason.  So, unless there is a third Jay Garrick running around due to being a twin, being from yet another universe or time travel, it is likely that Earth 1 Zolomon Hunter is Zoom, who is somehow based out of Earth 2 in his efforts to steal the speed force from the multiverse's speedsters. Perhaps he was drawn to Earth 2 because its resident speedster is his doppleganger.

So, was Jay Garrick actually Zoom or Team Zoom the whole time?  I hope not as this would essentially be a replay of last season's awesome Reverse Flash reveal.  I doubt that they would do this exact story again.  Despite the fact that they have seeded the story with some doubts as to Jay Garrick's honesty and integrity, I think Jay was who he said he was: the heroic Flash of Earth 2.  I do think that sometimes when we were seeing Jay Garrick on Earth 1, it was actually Zoom pretending to be him, probably to manipulate Caitlin into creating Velocity 9.  It would probably be worthwhile to rewatch some of Jay's episodes to see if there are some hints of Jay not actually being Jay.  This would explain Zoom's line about how Jay's death "complicates" his plan.  If he can no longer pretend to be Jay on Earth 1, he will have a harder time getting the Velocity 9.

Then, who is the Man in the Iron Mask?  There is evidence that it is a blond Caucasian man.  I'm wagering that since his face is covered it is someone we would recognize, so the suspects are likely yet another Jay Garrick, a version of Eddie Thawne, or Henry Allen.  The only reason it would be Eddie Thawne would be that we have not yet seen his doppleganger but other than that there is no reason to suspect it might be him.

The iron mask might be a hint to Jay Garrick as the literary story of The Man in the Iron Mask features a wicked brother who keeps his good twin in an iron mask and this character does  spell out the name "Jay" in a military code.  The MitIM also seems really frustrated about something relating to Jay Garrick.  This seems to be where it is going but, man, another Jay Garrick?

The more interesting option is Earth 1 Henry Allen, who has been awol after mysteriously and uncharacteristically taking off after being released from prison at the beginning of the season.  I would like to think that this plot point is leading to something and not just the bad writing that it seems to be.  Also, when Barry and company were traveling to Earth 2 through the multiverse portal, one of the images was of John Wesley Shipp in his 1990 Flash costume which cements something hinted at for a while: the continuity of the 1990 show actually exists in the CW Flash multiverse (as I assume would all of the various DC movies and TV shows from over the years).  This is why Mark Hamil and Amanda Pays are playing essentially alternate versions of the same characters they did in the old show.   So, if Zoom is collecting speedsters from the multiverse, it is possible that the Man in the Mask is actually the 1990 show version of Barry Allen played by Shipp and that Henry Allen's disappearance is somehow linked to the fact that he is the doppleganger of this version of Barry Allen (for all we know, Henry Allen's first name could actually Barry).

But it's probably another Jay Garrick.

Patrick Garone
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Deadpool - Mini Review

I think it has become clear to most people that we are currently approaching superhero movie critical mass and that this ride can't last forever. The market is pretty much saturated with these movies and sooner or later, audiences are going to have their fill.  However, the good thing about the abundance of these movies and TV shows is that studios are digging pretty deep to give us weirder and more interesting characters and stories like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Jessica Jones and the upcoming Suicide Squad.  Marvel has always been pretty savvy about using wildly different genres and tones to diversify their movies and combat superhero fatigue. 

Now Fox gives us Deadpool a movie that, while set in the X-Men Cinematic Universe(s), is about as wildly different from typical superhero fare as you can get.  The first thing about the movie that stands out is that it is very much an "adult" R-rated action movie with tons of violence and nudity and almost non-stop use of the word "fuck."  This certainly sets it apart from pretty much all other superhero movies which are made with an eye to being at least vaguely family-friendly.  While this is not a selling point in itself, it does make the movie feel like a unique experience in the genre.

Deadpool himself is a unique and beloved character who has taken a tortuous path to having his own movie, which included a misguided stop in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Deadpool has the reputation of being sort of a hyper-violent Bugs Bunny in the Marvel universe.  He's known for his wisecracks and for constantly breaking the fourth wall.  In that sense the movie serves the character very well.  Ryan Reynolds is really fun and terrific and you could even say it is the part he was born to play. I can't even say he's good in it because it seems so effortless for him as though Deadpool is an outgrowth of his public persona.

Also refreshing is Wade Wilson/Deadpool's relationship with his girlfriend Vanessa, which actually feels like a real human relationship instead of the generic love-interest relationships you see in genre movies.  These feel like two very messed-up people who really share a genuine connection.  It also helps that Reynolds and Morena Baccarin have wonderful chemistry together. Despite all of the foul language and graphic violence, this relationship is the most adult thing about the movie and one of the things that best differentiates itself from other superhero movies, in which female characters are little more than cardboard cutouts.

I'm also a fan of the sort of weird and indirect way in which the story unfolds.  The movie uses flashbacks to tell a lot of the story somewhat like Iron Man 3 but in a more satisfying way which folds upon itself with lots of zipping around the plot.  There comes a point where you almost feel like the movie is over but then it takes off in another direction.  Overall, it is a well-paced movie.

Obviously, if you are a Deadpool fan you will be checking this movie out but if you are a more casual fan of superhero movies, Deadpool is definitely one to check out.  I think it is a milestone in superhero movies and one who's apparent success will lead not only to it's own sequels but to studios seriously looking at more mature and R-rated content.  While, one can make the argument that it is not wild or weird or queer enough, it is certainly a promising re-start to Deadpool's movie career and hopefully its success will lead to even more daring content in its sequel.

Patrick Garone
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