Following the general disappointment of Megalon, the world was gifted with something akin to a half-step up in the form of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (also known as Godzilla vs the Bionic Monster and, the title I remember renting the VHS under, Godzilla vs the Cosmic Monster).
In our first whiff of kaiju action, Godzilla kinda explodes out of Mount Fuji, or explodes out of a large boulder flying thereat (it’s hard to tell for sure) and takes on Anguirus. The poor ankylosaur gets his jaw jacked and his skull subsequently thrown to the ground. I’ve never seen Godzilla so dismissive of a threat, even when he’s faced off against the ineffective Japanese army for the ninetieth time. What’s revealed in the course of battle, though, is that something metallic lies beneath Godzilla’s scales. All sorts of suspicions are potentially confirmed when another Godzilla springs forth from a nearby building (what he was doing in there is anybody’s guess, especially considering no one seemed to notice his presence) and takes on his apparent doppelganger. It is then revealed that the first Godzilla is actually a robotic version of the King of the Monsters (a “mecha”-Godzilla, if you will), and he’s being controlled by a group of space aliens (haven’t seen them in a while *cough cough*) out for global conquest. Insert clip of Raul Julia’s M. Bison here. You know the one. Anyway, the two fight to a mutual retreat; Godzilla heads back to his island home, where some lightning seems to rejuvenate him, for some reason. Meanwhile, on the ground, a group of humans is working against the ape-like alien invaders (yeah, they’re Planet of the Apes rip-offs in human guises) and seeking to summon Okinawa’s guardian monster, King Caesar. They do so, and the lion-dog (that’s how he looks to me) takes on Mechagodzilla, only to be confounded by the massive array of weaponry the robotic monster brings to bear. Luckily, the real Godzilla joins the fight, charging himself up like a breathing electromagnet. The tag team is successful as the apes’ plan is thwarted. At least, for now…
I didn’t talk much about the humans this time out, but that’s because I find their story to be kinda lame, as though they got caught up in a Time of the Apes episode that tried to be a take on ‘70s spy capers. It’s needlessly convoluted, full of time-wasting (did the Okinawan priestess really need to sing for several whole minutes in order to wake King Caesar up, especially after an explosion occurred right in front of his face?), and our heroes constantly get captured and re-captured. Why should I care about this nonsense when some halfway interesting monster battles are going on?
Speaking of, I mostly dig King Caesar (I really wanna find out if there’s a maquette version of his little statue from the film), but he’s mostly wasted in his debut, effectively showing how Okinawa was conquered by Japan: if he’s this bad of a guardian, no wonder! Mechagodzilla is a damned beast, sporting missiles and/or lasers from just about anywhere. It’s obvious why he became a fan favorite and made a number of returns to the series, including the next entry, the series’ first true direct sequel (no, I don’t count Raids Again as a true sequel, fight me). The overall here, though, just doesn’t quite measure up, and the fantastic final battle isn’t quite enough to salvage the rest of the preceding. It’s probably the best of the ‘70s offerings thus far, but that is faint praise, indeed.
Allusions of Grandeur 