I've been a fan of the TOHO Godzilla franchise since childhood, and that is now more than 30 years ago. Having seen all of the films made in the big G's first two decades (1954-1974), and most of the Godzilla films made since then, I had somewhat a mixed reaction to "Final Wars".
Many people have criticized this film for being too much of a departure from the traditional format. I'm not sure if that is really valid. There have been many G films that represent departures from format in the past.
The first one that comes to mind is "Godzilla vs The Sea Monster". Made in the mid 60s, when James Bond films were raking in the money, it was heavy on human action (featuring many 'spy story intrigue' type elements) and featured little footage of Godzilla.
Then there was the children's fantasy "Godzilla's Revenge" which was a huge departure from TOHO's usual format for this series. And then the early 1970s pollution-protest film "Godzilla vs the Smog Monster" was way out there stylistically. Portions of that film almost seem like a stylized drug trip!
So to say "Godzilla: Final Wars" is a departure from the usual format is really not saying it was any better or worse than previous departures. Here is a quick recap of what worked for me in "Final Wars", versus what did not work as well for this viewer:
What I liked: loved the B&W clips from prior Toho monster movies at the beginning. Once the 'new' film got rolling, I loved seeing so many monsters that had not appeared on film for many years. Some of the kaijus really never looked better. The Anguilas and King Seesar suits were cooler-looking than the originals. I liked how they brought Rodan back to his original look, rather than the Pteranodan-on-steroids he had become in the 1990s movies. I liked the mutant earth defenders (kinda like X-men) and the idea that they were the offspring of aliens who had mated with humans. I liked the parallel that was drawn between the indoor human/alien fist fight, and the outside earth monster/space monster battle that was raging simultaneously.
I liked the fact that there was an American character who was both a bad-ass and a main hero. Most of the Toho Godzilla movies I have seen from the 1990s feature Americans only as either villains, or as bozos who make idiotic, trigger-happy decisions. It was nice to see an American get some respect in a modern TOHO film -- even if he was drawn as a caricature.
What I didn't like: Minya (or "Manilla") is always a bad idea in any film, but was particularly out of place in this one. I didn't care for the rock instrumental score instead of a normal orchestral score. The rock score worked OK for the human fight scenes, but it took away from a feeling of awe during the monster battles.
Big monsters look impressively real when their movements are slow and ponderous. I thought a lot of the "high-speed" fight sequences didn't look right for creatures so large. Also, the way the fights with Gigan were done, using quasi-martial arts moves, made me feel like I was watching a big-budget episode of Ultraman or Zone Fighter...rather than a thaetrical TOHO movie. Varan was almost entirely CGI which doesn't do much for me personally. Ghidrah did not look or sound as alive as he did back in...say...1964!
So a mixed bag for me, but still well-worth watching!
Many people have criticized this film for being too much of a departure from the traditional format. I'm not sure if that is really valid. There have been many G films that represent departures from format in the past.
The first one that comes to mind is "Godzilla vs The Sea Monster". Made in the mid 60s, when James Bond films were raking in the money, it was heavy on human action (featuring many 'spy story intrigue' type elements) and featured little footage of Godzilla.
Then there was the children's fantasy "Godzilla's Revenge" which was a huge departure from TOHO's usual format for this series. And then the early 1970s pollution-protest film "Godzilla vs the Smog Monster" was way out there stylistically. Portions of that film almost seem like a stylized drug trip!
So to say "Godzilla: Final Wars" is a departure from the usual format is really not saying it was any better or worse than previous departures. Here is a quick recap of what worked for me in "Final Wars", versus what did not work as well for this viewer:
What I liked: loved the B&W clips from prior Toho monster movies at the beginning. Once the 'new' film got rolling, I loved seeing so many monsters that had not appeared on film for many years. Some of the kaijus really never looked better. The Anguilas and King Seesar suits were cooler-looking than the originals. I liked how they brought Rodan back to his original look, rather than the Pteranodan-on-steroids he had become in the 1990s movies. I liked the mutant earth defenders (kinda like X-men) and the idea that they were the offspring of aliens who had mated with humans. I liked the parallel that was drawn between the indoor human/alien fist fight, and the outside earth monster/space monster battle that was raging simultaneously.
I liked the fact that there was an American character who was both a bad-ass and a main hero. Most of the Toho Godzilla movies I have seen from the 1990s feature Americans only as either villains, or as bozos who make idiotic, trigger-happy decisions. It was nice to see an American get some respect in a modern TOHO film -- even if he was drawn as a caricature.
What I didn't like: Minya (or "Manilla") is always a bad idea in any film, but was particularly out of place in this one. I didn't care for the rock instrumental score instead of a normal orchestral score. The rock score worked OK for the human fight scenes, but it took away from a feeling of awe during the monster battles.
Big monsters look impressively real when their movements are slow and ponderous. I thought a lot of the "high-speed" fight sequences didn't look right for creatures so large. Also, the way the fights with Gigan were done, using quasi-martial arts moves, made me feel like I was watching a big-budget episode of Ultraman or Zone Fighter...rather than a thaetrical TOHO movie. Varan was almost entirely CGI which doesn't do much for me personally. Ghidrah did not look or sound as alive as he did back in...say...1964!
So a mixed bag for me, but still well-worth watching!