AKA: Gojira: Fainaru uôzu
Country and Year: Japan (2004)
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Starring: Masahiro Matsuoka, Rei Kikukawa, Don Frye, Godzilla

Review By: David Austin
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars (average)/3 stars (good) for a Godzilla flick

I will confess up front that I am a Godzilla fan, and tend to be biased in favor of the Big G. Sure, his movies are often ridiculous, with low budgets and long stretches of cheesy human plotline. Still, once the monster action gets into full swing, they are almost always fun. That being said, Final Wars, while certainly not a good movie by normal standards, delivers where it counts, insane rubber suit mayhem. So I’m splitting my rating – Final Wars is a 2 star movie, but a 3 star Godzilla movie.

For those not overly familiar with Godzilla, the big lug has gone through several incarnations. After his 1954 debut, which, despite the efforts of American studios and Perry Mason to ruin it, is actually a very serious and well made movie movie, Godzilla starred in a long-running series of films that continued well into the 1970’s. During these Showa-era films (so-called for the imperial reign method of dating), the tenor of the series gradually changed from serious, to fun, to camp, in large part due to the replacement of Ishiro Honda as director and the introduction of goofier 60’s and 70’s plotlines. Godzilla himself went from scourge of humanity, to the lesser of two evils when pitted against vicious space aliens, to beloved defender of the earth. Over the course of the series, he faced off against a number of nastier kaiju including perennial nemesis King Ghidorah (the three-headed golden dragon), and Mechagodzilla, as well as gaining a complement of allies like Mothra, Rodan and Anguilas. The movies also became cheaper and more childish (though not always in a bad way). By the end, Godzilla was doing happy dances, and, in one infamously silly scene, flying. A second series ran from 1984-1995 (the Heisei era films), which featured a more serious and ferocious Godzilla, but also focused more on beam and breath weapon duels than old-fashioned rubber suit monster-wrasslin’. After the death of Godzilla in that series, and the appallingly bad American remake, Toho geared up again to create the so-called Millennium series. The new movies, with the exception of a two-parter, each have their own continuity, only acknowledging the original 1954 Godzilla and occasional other films from the Toho kaiju canon.

Final Wars is one of these stand-alone episodes, intended as a big blow-out 50th anniversary celebration of Godzilla as Toho retires the character for the third time. It’s never made clear which former movies are integrated into this one, but tons of old monsters make appearances, and, given that the characters already seem to know all the monsters by name and sight, they must have seen them before (naming monsters is often the focus of a lot of attention in kaiju movies: “We’ll call him… Hedorah”). Kaiju roll call - King (now Kaiser) Ghidorah, Ebira, Manda, Hedorah, Spiga, Kamacuras, Gigan and the American Godzilla (aka Zilla, or GINO “Godzilla In Name Only”) all appear, as do former allies Mothra, Rodan, King Caesar, Minilla and Anguilas. The human-operated super-ship Gotengo (aka Atragon) also plays a key role, as do the evil Xiliens from Monster Zero. Really the only major figure that doesn’t show up is Mechagodzilla, perhaps because he is simply played-out, having been the focus of the last two movies, and many others.

Director Ryuhei Kitamura (of Versus fame) has chosen to blend elements from all Godzilla movies, but particularly from Destroy All Monsters, and to throw in homage/parodies of Independence Day, V, and The Matrix for good measure. The result, naturally, is one huge lunatic mess. In the future, mankind has banded together and trapped Godzilla beneath the South Pole. The Gotengo and its companion fleet protect humanity from monsters, as illustrated in a rousing fight between the ship and a fun, animated Manda. The ships are piloted by an elite, distinguished from less-prominent soldiers by their frightening hair. The fleet and an army of mutant super-soldiers are part of M-Organization, humanity’s last line of defense (not to be confused with humanity’s prior last lines of defense, G-Force or the G-Graspers: “The G-Graspers! That bunch of bungling incompetents!”).

Mutant soldier Ozaki (pretty-boy Masahiro Matsuoka and his special anime hair) and biologist Miyuki Otonashi (hot model Rei Kikukawa who doesn’t even try to look like a scientist, ‘cause hey, what’s the difference) are investigating the genetic relation between an ancient cyborg monster (a souped-up but still chicken-headed Gigan) and the super-soldiers. Suddenly, all hell breaks lose when monsters appear and rampage through cities all over the globe including Shanghai, Sydney, Paris and in one jaw-droppingly stereotyped scene, New York. As the M-Organization tries to stop them, an alien craft arrives and restrains the kaiju. Inside are Xiliens, a bunch of black leather-wearing DKNY models, who bear a message of friendship and good looks for the world. Of course, our heroes discover that they are really super-duper evil and want to take over the Earth. Also, the Xiliens can control all the monsters, and even the mutant soldiers because of their common genes. When the Xiliens release all the monsters and do a pretty good job of wiping out civilization as we know it, Ozaki and Otonashi team-up with the gruff and unorthodox Captain Gordon (Don Frye) of the Gotengo to save the Earth. Their plan: Release Godzilla!

Kitamura directs this one as if he isn’t right in the head. The movie is cut together in a bizarre fashion – sometimes the shots don’t match. Personally, I’m inclined to think they didn’t get the coverage they needed or that some special-effects shots didn’t work, rather than blaming the editor. I don’t think continuity or logic were really priorities for Kitamura anyway. There’s no doubt that Kitamura was shooting for intentional parody – there are too many goofy shots (especially ones including a French bulldog), and the villain is so incredibly campy. Ray guns look like they came straight out of a toy box. The problem is that he spends way more time on his Matrix parody than is necessary to get the point across. The music, by Keith Emerson no less, is sub-par and repetitive video game techno.

The cast, as usual, ranges from bad to pointless. Large chunks of the movie deal with Neo-wannabe Ozaki, who really doesn’t have much to do except fight and look confused. Really confused. Kane Kosugi (son of Sho, and the kid in Revenge of the Ninja) is all grown up now, and plays another mutant whose whole purpose is to create an excuse for two long stunt-scenes when he tangles with Ozaki. Of course, complaining about the human characters in a Godzilla movie is like complaining that the salad at a steakhouse isn’t fresh. The worst flaw in the film is a long stretch where there is no monster action for about 40 minutes (at least, it felt that long). However, Godzilla watchers should be used to that kind of filler, and while the human interaction in Final Wars is definitely dumb, it’s not completely tedious.

The entertaining exception is Don Frye as Captain Gordon. Don Frye, an ultimate fighting champion, is the very definition of “so bad it’s good” filmmaking. He swaggers through the film with a giant sword and a tremendous moustache, growling his lines in English when everyone else speaks Japanese, and channeling Hulk Hogan at the height of his career. His Captain Gordon goes so far into caricature that he comes out the other side and becomes fun again.

Where the movie really shines, and really the only reason to watch it, is the kaiju action. I must say, I’ve always preferred the ‘50s-‘70s incarnation of the series where all the monsters were puppets or rubber suits, CGI didn’t exist, and special effects beyond miniatures and wires were minimal. The wrestling always seemed much more fun than two suits standing at opposite ends of the screen and shooting colored lights at each other. Here, with some exceptions, most of the monsters are portrayed by stuntmen and animatronics, and they go at it with abandon. Godzilla has a great three-on-one sparring match with Rodan, King Caesar, and a personal favorite of mine, the spiny Anguilas, who’s given a new attack where he curls up into a spiky ball. There’s a great soccer parody that is incredibly stupid but a fun homage to the silly drop-kicks and full nelsons of yesteryear. There are also a giant-clawed Ebira wreaking havoc in Japan, a spry giant spider Spiga, and a showdown with Ghidorah that harks back to the fight to end all fights in Destroy All Monsters. The fights are a real throwback to the glory days, and the reason why I enjoyed this movie.

The Gotengo and its sister fleet also have a chance to shine. The ships have a great design and impressive weaponry. There are several visually spectacular confrontations, including with Manda, Anguilas, Kamacuras, and Godzilla. They are clearly CGI, but much better than the cheap video game look of vehicles in movies like the most recent Godzilla v. Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla v. Megaguirus.

For the Minilla haters out there, the ugly little thing does appear, and has a silly plotline where he and some humans drive around looking for Godzilla. Normally I wouldn’t be keen on this, but to be fair, it takes up no more than 5-7 minutes of screen time, and is not so out-of-place in a movie which is impossible to take seriously anyway.

Final Wars is far from the best kaiju, or even Godzilla, movie. The recent Gamera cycle, and many of the older Godzillas, like Monster Zero, are superior. I also highly recommend another recent Godzilla movie, Godzilla-Mothra-King Ghidorah: Giant Monster All-Out Attack, despite some unfortunate CGI. Final Wars suffers from a campy but overly long and drawn-out human plotline, long stretches without monsters, and the fact that Ryuhei Kitamura has only the faintest idea of how to make a comprehensible movie. However, the use of the full Godzilla rogue’s gallery, the old-school rubber suit fighting, and the presence of Don Frye to liven up the proceedings, tip this one over the edge and make it one of the better of the recent Godzilla films.

Recommended? Yes, if you like Godzilla and kaiju movies. Otherwise, only for those looking for what the Italians used to call a “super-spectacle”

If you like this, you might like: Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla v Monster Zero, GMK, Gamera: Revenge of Iris

© David Austin

Where to Find: This DVD is available from HKFlix.com.