Director: Kensho Yamashita
Year: 1994
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: Gojira tai Supesugojira
Genre: Kaiju
Plot:
Landing on a deserted island, G-Force operatives meet up with another member to start preparations for a new experiment, which is constantly interrupted by Little Godzilla. When told about a threat coming from deep space, a psychic approaches the head of G-Force to be on T-Project, which will allow them to telepathically control Godzilla. Putting the plan into motion, Godzilla is lured to the island, but the creature from space, an alien version of Godzilla called Space Godzilla, arrives and does battle, forcing Godzilla to give chase. As Space Godzilla rampages across Southern Japan with Godzilla still chasing after it, G-Force decides to use their newest creation, Mogera, to help Godzilla defeat the alien menace.
Review:
This was a massively disappointing part of the series. Among the biggest detriments here is the storyline to this one is immensely weak and is what really hampers the film significantly. There's nothing given about anything that goes on in here, about what Space Godzilla's purpose for heading directly to Earth is supposed to accomplish, how it got created in the first place, or what it was doing out in space. The creature was spotted only by Mothra who telepathically informed humanity which just reeks of simplistic planning that has no real written purpose to have nothing being given. Not having anything about the titular creature's identity within the film, why he's choosing to attack this planet of all the forces in the universe, or what it's trying to accomplish once it gets here, are just utterly suspect and seem outright lazy. Diving further into the monsters reveals even more problems. With the lack of purpose for Space Godzilla's visit to Earth, nearly all of the creatures' actions here are a complete mystery. How did the crystals appear on Birth Island in the first place? Do they appear anywhere else on the globe and we're just not there to witness it because we're focused on the actions in Japan? What's so special about Fukuoka that couldn't be achieved at Tokyo Tower which is a taller and therefore more worthwhile conduit for cosmic energy? Wouldn't floating around in space accomplish the same thing? What's it doing with all this cosmic energy that it's hoarding? Is that what happened to Godzilla for him to power up to finally defeat Space Godzilla? These are just basic questions that are the result of what transpires in the film.
Moreover, none of the other real storylines within here make any more sense. The human pieces within here are just abysmal, with the central two plots here being incredibly uninvolving or interesting. The idea of his obsession works in principle with the connection to the past, yet the flip-flopping he does between being ruthless in his quest to poison him yet wanting to leave it alone after realizing that its son has been trapped by the space monster offers up a rather prominent foreshadowing of his turn in the final half. Here, he knocks out the Mogera pilot to allow him to pilot the robot against Godzilla only to then get knocked out and return to fighting alongside the rest of the team against Space Godzilla. This back-and-forth nature is quite disorienting and distracting to the overall tone of the film, especially when it's all just dropped out of nowhere at the end of the film. That also applies directly to the haphazard and utterly banal romance injected into the film. Giving the psychic the starring role for once is a pleasant nod to her standing in the series, yet to suddenly give her the main romance subplot that no one's asked for in as clumsy a manner as this is just plain lame. The two spend the entire time together arguing over her perceived devotion to Godzilla rather than towards humanity and that's supposed to provide the launching pad for them to be together soon becomes laughable and confusing. The multitude of subplots causes the film to feel absolutely lethargic at times, barely able to maintain interest in what's going on here as it switches wildly to its various sidestories from trying to control Godzilla, then turns into the Industrial Mafia kidnapping the project for no purpose and then shifting to Space Godzilla is chaotic, slipshod and really detrimental to the film as a whole.
That said, the film should be lauded for at least trying a few things within here. As mentioned, the idea of promoting Miki Saegusa to a starring role based on her connection to the series so far is a fantastic service to her, and it's not her fault she's saddled with a lame romance storyline. Nor is it Godzilla's fault what happens to him here as he has the only really significant storyline of anybody in the film. Initially shown trying to protect his son from Space Godzilla when they first meet up on the island, the fact that he does the best he can but still fails as Little Godzilla is still trapped inside the crystals means that he has fantastic reasoning at that point in the film for tracking down and fighting Space Godzilla. This adds some striking context to his character rather than just a simple mindless creature out causing destruction and mayhem on the way to stop the rampaging Space Godzilla in the middle of the country which is a bit different from the typical motivations associated with him. Even if the scene isn’t good, it should also be noted that there’s a full-on battle scene in outer space which includes a big confrontation between Mogera and Space Godzilla in an asteroid field although you can see the dodgy cardboard backgrounds a mile off and the foam and plastic asteroids won't convince anyone.it’s more the principle though as the idea of doing this in the first place serves this one rather nicely in injecting some different ideas into the series.
This one has some other good qualities where the monsters are its best aspect. Godzilla looks quite impressive as the suit is proportioned better than most, giving it an enhanced sense of power in stature as well. Space Godzilla is one of the coolest monster designs in the series, a more evil-looking Godzilla with dark blue skin, a reddish belly, two large crystal spikes protruding out of his shoulders, and unlike Godzilla who has reptilian plates along his spine large crystal spike protrusions all along his back and a yellow horn on his head. The special effects are great once again and really look the part, especially when Space Godzilla finally gets to fire off some of his unique weapons and special tricks. One of the absolute best involves Space Godzilla hurling Godzilla through a string of buildings with his telekinesis. His energy beam is powerful and never fails to leave a mark, and the crystal missile attack is one of the most creatively imagined and effectively rendered attacks in any film and is one of the highlights of the film. The battles are also quite good, having the usual trade-off between energy-beam throwing and grappling, the ending boosted by a rather nice collection of building-demolishing in the course of the action. Godzilla's entrance here is chilling and spectacular, back-lit by burning buildings and glowing with anger and revenge, wading into the crystal-spike forest with a mighty roar. The setting is quite nice, as the crystals jutting up into the sky and swirling mist create an eerie mood. One of the best scenes, though, is a moment in the Birth Island battle. In an outstanding sequence, Space Godzilla makes a strafing pass, and in a Medal-of-Honor move, Godzilla throws his body over his son to protect him. This is a great character moment for Godzilla, helping to define his relationship with him and letting the audience sympathize with him as a parent protecting his offspring. This really has a lot more going for it than some might say.
Overview: *.5/5
Far better than expected but only because of the stand-out monster action present, this one has a lot of issues elsewhere in the film that overwhelm the majority of the positives to the point of being a letdown. Give it a shot if it appeals to you or if this era appeals to you while most others out there should heed caution with this one until other entries in the series first.
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