Director: Masaaki Tezuka
Year: 2003
Length: 91 minutes
Two years following the events of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, there's been no sign of the wounded king of monsters, and Mecha G has been out of commission, with repairs proving difficult. The absolute zero freeze gun cannot be replaced without a very expensive massive diamond.
Meanwhile, Mothra is spied in the skies off the shores of Japan. She hasn't been seen since she attacked and destroyed Tokyo in the 60's. Dr. Shinichi Chujo (from the original Mothra) is paid a visit from the faerie of Infant Island, Mothra's heralds, the Shobijin. They warn that humans have once again disrupted the souls of the dead, by taking Godzilla's bones from their resting place and turning them into Mecha G. They say the bones must be returned to the sea, at which point Mothra will defend humanity from Godzilla...but if they don't Mothra will declare war on humanity. Harsh, bug, harsh.
Dr. Chujo's son, Yoshito, has been a technician working on Mecha G for over 4 years. He has a connection to it he doesn't really understand, but the last thing he wants is to lose his labour of love, and for his whole organization to be shut down. So when his dad, armed with his Mothra history and knowledge, tries to raise a stink and have the Mecha G project shut down, Yoshito doesn't back him up. As such, Dr. Chujo tells Yoshito how things play out rests on his shoulders.
Godzilla re-emerges, taking down a US nuclear sub. It comes towards land, apparently sensing Mecha G's reemergence. Yoshito's nephew, with Dr. Chujo's help, summons Mothra who battles Godzilla and loses. Mecha G, armed with the ultra-maser, is sent out to help Mothra in battle. Mothra is gravely wounded, but in her anguish her eggs hatch and twin larvae come to join the melee. She ultimately sacrifices herself to protect them, but it's really Mecha G's battle to lose.
The fight is fraught, with many reversals. Eventually Mecha G is knocked out of commission and Yoshito, with the help of the Shobijin, races to it to get it back up an running again. He gets trapped inside the beast as it puts its enemy on his heels. One jarring blow knocks Yoshito unconscious, and when he comes to, the beast has taken control of Mecha G once more...but Yoshito gets a vision of all this original Godzilla's been through and he warns his people away. Mecha G will take care of things, with the larvae cocooning a wounded Godzilla, and Mecha G carries himself and Godzilla to the bottom of a trench 4000+ feet deep.
Godzilla, Friend or Foe:
Neo-Godzilla: enemy. Original Godzilla, in the guise of Mecha G: friend
The Samesies:
The Showa era ran with a loose continuity. The Heisei era ran with a much tighter continuity. The Millennium Era is basically a series of sequels to Gojira, except this one, which is a sequel to it's immediate predecessor. As well, it's a sequel to the original Mothra and ties in other hints at other non-Godzilla-based Toho kaiju films. It's sort of the best of each Era before it.
The Mothra mythology that was used in previous appearances holds pretty fast here. Mothra is a protector of Earth but will not tolerate man's transgressions against it. But it takes a lot to get Mothra into action. The Shobijin are one of my favourite aspects of the Mothra mythos and one of my favourite parts of all Toho kaiju-verse. Always happy to see them, even though their actual impact on plot is usually pretty thin. I like the reworking of the Mothra chant here. There's really no new beats here with regards to Mothra, and yet that familiarity also means a likeable, dependable consistency. They're not fucking around with the moth lady here.
The Differences:
Compared to last film it's all little differences that make this far superior and far more entertaining, especially in the fight sequences. They look incredible and the effects, pyrotechnics and suit/puppetry movements are all on point.
Flying adversaries usually make for terrible fights with Godzilla, and there's not a lot here to counter that argument. But the team nails down Mothra's wing flap, they do not overuse CGI to move her around (not like Kiryu last film), and unlike the Heisei era Mothra, her legs move. In fact, during the fight, Godzilla bites off one of her legs. One of the many great little moments of this film is Mothra's sacrifice, flapping in front of Godzilla's atomic breath to save her larvae, setting on fire (looking kind of phoenix-like) then exploding. Incredible.
Mecha G's fighting in Tokyo S.O.S. is so much better than in the previous entry. There CGI was used to move Kiryu (and sometimes Godzilla) in a fashion as to make it appear that they can manoeuvre quickly. It's a shitty effect almost entirely missing here. The production team here took great pains to better show how Mecha G fights, using his various thrusters and boosters to help move him faster on the battlefield. I really really liked one moment where a side thruster fired to push Mecha G aside to dodge Godzilla's atomic attack. Likewise, there was a lot of little technical details to show just how everything worked on Mecha G, little moments that breathe a sort of life or reality into the metal beast.
The human story here is also so much better than in the last film. Yoshito, the Prime Minister, some of the other characters, all have the same doubts, both about proceeding with the Mechagodzilla project and ignoring the Shobijin's warnings, and with actually protecting their country with the only weapon they know has proven effective. It's a seemingly damned if you do/damned if you don't situation that doesn't rest comfortably for anyone on screen. It's pretty compelling.
The film also catches us up on where things are at since last film, in terms of the damage done and we have a scene or two with Akane and the crew from the last movie who are all off to America to receive some elite combat training. It's too bad that Akane isn't a focal character this film, but even two years later she's still glowering, and I don't think I could handle another 90 minutes of that sourpuss.
Anyone worth caring about?
Yes, Yoshito, his father, his nephew...they're all at different levels of importance to the overall story, but they are given a pretty solid family bond and they are all given moments to show how much they care about each other. Even the prime minister, who is so often such an expository character to show what the government's doing in any movie, here is given a very specific crisis of confidence in his decision making (I mean, he had a similar one last film, but there was no focus there, but here it's given weight in the framing and score). Yoshito, much like Akane in the prior film, has a rival on the team that they butt heads with but need to overcome their differences on the battlefield, and, of course, a love interest (though Mecha G is Yoshito's first love that he needs to learn to let go of). I really liked it, and it gave us someone to follow around during the battle, someone that can actually have an impact on the events.
The Message:
Let the dead rest.
Learn from your mistakes of the past, and do everything you can not to repeat them.
Rating (out of 5 Zs):
ZZZz
I would rank this higher, but because it sort of needs to be tied to the inferior ...Against Mechagodzilla, it knocks it down a half notch. I enjoyed it immensely. It's one of the best looking Godzilla films to this point plus I have a soft spot for Mothra, and they do well by her here.
Sleepytime Factor:
I was pretty fully into it throughout. This is paced very well, and the final 40 minutes is all-action and it's pretty incredible how it both escalates in intensity and emotion.
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