Review:
OK, here's the plot in a rather large nutshell [don't worry, I won't give away the ending]...
First of all, keep in mind that this movie is set in an "alternate universe" from
all the other movies, with the exception of the very first one. In other words,
it is NOT a sequel to the previous Godzilla movie,
Godzilla 2000, even though Godzilla looks the same.
Anyway, after Godzilla first attacked Tokyo back in the 1950's, he continued to
reappear every so often and attack Japan. Eventually, scientists in Japan realized
that Godzilla, a creature born of nuclear energy, was attracted to Japan's
nuclear power plants, and the decision was made to seek out a new, cleaner
energy source that wouldn't attract Godzilla. In 1996, the Japanese government
tried out it's first new "plasma" power plant, believing they had finally come up with
the perfect power source that would provide enough energy to the country without
attracting Godzilla's attention. Well, they were half right. Turns out that Godzilla
likes plasma energy even more than nuclear energy, and the city of Osaka becomes
the buffet table for the big G. Oops....
Flash forward four years into the future [or the present, as the case may be].
Kiriko Tsujimori, who lost her commanding officer during Godzilla's raid on Osaka,
now leads the government's anti-Godzilla team, the "G-Graspers". She works with
the scientist who oversaw the doomed plasma energy project and a "genius" inventor
who together are building the "ultimate" anti-Godzilla weapon! Code-named "Dimension
Tide", the weapon fires a ray which is actually able to create a miniature black hole,
capable of devouring anything in its path, including [they hope] Godzilla. The Dimension
Tide will eventually be mounted on an orbiting satellite to attack Godzilla from above,
but first it is tested on an abandoned schoolhouse in the Japanese countryside.
Well, the good news is that the weapon works fine and the schoolhouse blows up real
food. The bad news [there's always a bad news when trying to defeat Godzilla!] is that
the black hole creates a space-time distortion that allows a gigantic prehistoric flying insect
to emerge into our time just long enough to lay a giant egg. An egg which is promptly
carried off by the aforementioned "plucky young kid" who ends up dumping it into a Tokyo
sewer where it hatches and spews forth a horde of "Meganura" -- man-sized dragonflies
with an appetite for flesh and a really bad attitude.
Still with me?
The Meganura breed like crazy and go forth in search of an appropriate food source
after the city is evacuated. Since they're giant insects, they've got giant appetites, and
they make a bee-line [sorry] straight to Godzilla, who had been lured by the G-Graspers
onto a remote island off Tokyo in order to attack him with the Dimenstion Tide. A
great battle ensues, with the pesky insects swarming all over Godzilla, and Godzilla making
it clear that he doesn't like being "bugged" [sorry again], while at the same time the G-Graspers
get a chance to fire their new weapon in an actual combat situation.
Well, Godzilla survives, thanks to a poorly aimed Dimension Tide, and those of the Meganura
who didn't get fried or sucked into the black hole make their way back to Tokyo where they all
somehow transfer their life energy to their "queen" -- a really big, really nasty, and VERY territorial
giant flying insect called a "Megaguiras". And because the Megaguiras is so mean, nasty and
territorial, she immediately goes after the only other creature that could possibly be considered a
rival -- Godzilla.
Yet another massive battle ensues [that includes the delightfully ludicrous moment of pure camp
that I mentioned up front], and Godzilla appears to actually be seriously overmatched
this time! Sure, he's still got his patented plasma breath, but that Megaguiras is one fast
critter and keeps evading Godzilla's breath. Plus, Megaguiras has some nasty surprises up
her sleeve, including the ability to generate devastating sonic waves from her wings and
to sap Godzilla's energy by piercing him with her spiked tail. And, if that weren't bad enough, those
folks at G-Graspers have worked out the kinks with their aiming system.
As promised, I won't tell you how it ends, but if you ever get a chance to see this movie you
have GOT to be sure to stay until the very end of the credits. Otherwise, you might end up
feeling a little depressed....
So, there's the plot. As for my review, I just really loved this movie! As I mentioned up front,
it has all the plot elements you could ever want from a great Godzilla film, and the special
effects were really top-notch. It also had a lot of new and original ideas, so it wasn't just a
rehash of previous movies. One thing that caught me by surprise, but that I really liked, was the
fact that they actually reshot scenes from the first Godzilla movie to use in flashback, instead
of simply showing clips from that film. Although the original film was a classic, the look of
Godzilla has changed significantly over the years and the makers of this film did a really good job
of capturing the essence of the original film while updating the look of the big G. My only gripe
with this movie would have to do with some of the jittery camera work that really didn't do anything
for me, but that's really just a matter of preference, I suppose. Godzilla 2000 was a great Godzilla
movie, in spite of its cheesy dialog and not quite perfect special effects, due in a large part because
it recaptured the true spirit of Godzilla after being humiliated by Hollywood. This movie, on the other
hand, is just a great Godzilla movie, period, with no need to justify any flaws.
