It all comes down to this, kids, the culmination of fifty years of Godzilla goodness. Set to be the absolute final film in the franchise, celebrating a half-century, Godzilla: Final Wars took bits and pieces from Godzilla’s past (as well as that of Toho’s vault in general) and smashed them together in some sort of cinematic particle collider. The result is indeed something to behold.
Not too long after the inciting assault on Tokyo back in ’54, Godzilla is imprisoned in ice in Antarctica by the crew of the Gotengo (a cool multi-terrain warship introduced in the film Atragon). In the ensuing decades, the world discovers the existence of mutants, otherwise human folks with superhuman abilities, and these mutants are drawn into the fold of the Earth Defense Force, which is tasked with dealing with any monster attack that may spring up from time to time. One day, as a UN biologist shows up to study a recently-discovered kaiju mummy (it’s mostly calcified, so it’s not as cool-looking as it sounds, but it’d still be pretty neat to see), Mothra’s twin fairies show up in something of a vision to tell the EDF that a massive battle is on the way. Just like that, a bunch of monsters strike across the globe: Rodan flies through a strangely stereotypical New York City (I imagine this is how other countries feel when Hollywood makes them into cardboard cutouts), a more tolypeutine than ankylosaurian Anguirus pops up in Shanghai, King Caesar goes after Okinawa (strange, I thought he was the island’s protector, but, sure, why not?), and that American version of Godzilla, the ’98 one, shows up in Sydney. Shit gets wild, babe. But just as the EDF is about to take these monsters on, they disappear at the behest of an alien spaceship, which has ostensibly come to Earth to warn humanity of an impending strike by a rogue planet (a nod to the Toho film Gorath), leading to an accord between the two civilizations. It isn’t long, though, before it’s discovered that these aliens, these Xiliens, have replaced some high-ranking EDF and UN members. Seems they’re not so benevolent after all. Once revealed, the new Xilien leader (he killed the former leader, whom he thought to be too soft and slow) tells of his plan to conquer Earth, using the humans for some kind of mitochondrial food source. Insert fighting here.
Notice I haven’t even mentioned Godzilla in quite some time? Yup, it’s not until over an hour in, more than halfway through the runtime, that the Big G is finally sprung from his icy prison and is allowed to go on a rampage against the Xiliens and the monsters they control. They all go down pretty quickly, especially the ’98 Tristar creature we’ve begun to call Zilla, who’s dispatched in a matter of seconds, all with Sum 41 playing in the background. (I neglected to mention back in Against Mechagodzilla that Zilla was mentioned there as well: It was said that Godzilla attacked NYC, but the Japanese doubted the American story that it was the genuine article. The shade against the American Godzilla is sometimes pretty harsh. And funny.) What follows is a flurry of kaiju battles and human/mutant-on-alien fistfights. And let’s not forget about the layer of cheese covering all.
Sound a bit much? It’s worse. Writer/director Kitamura Ryuhei thought that the franchise had lost the luster of the ‘70s entries, that messages were lost and Godzilla lacked the “power and speed” he once had. As such, he wanted to essentially make a throwback to the latter Showa days, complete with the alien subplots and the manic monster mayhem. I mean, I can’t say he necessarily failed in that endeavor, but there’s just so damn much going on here! It’s clear The Matrix was a strong influence, given the occasional yellow tint the film favors and the heavy inclusion of martial arts action – though I will say that it’s decidedly lesser than its influence in terms of choreography. The visual effects are mostly solid, with some interesting redesigns for the monsters – Anguirus is more mobile, Gigan is given more room for his actor to move, and Godzilla hisself looks to be a minor hybrid of his Heisei and Millennium forms, with the latter getting the lion’s share of the attention – but many of the digital effects look extremely loose and dated today. Indeed, the studio flaunted its use of practicals over Hollywood’s emphasis on digital effects (Zilla’s obviously-purposefully-garbage appearance next to the superior Godzilla suit speaks volumes), but they do indulge in the computer-made stuff quite a bit, and, yup, it certainly looks a lot worse than the practicals! Meanwhile, the acting is mostly over all of the tops, particularly with regard to the Xilien leader (the second one, technically), save for American fighter/actor Don Frye, who’s a bit out of his element with this whole “emoting” thing, sticking instead to a constantly tough demeanor. And the music is pretty wild itself, the bulk of the composing work being done by ELP’s own Keith Emerson.
Plenty of references to Toho’s past are scattered about, from enemies from previous Godzilla films to earlier design elements (for instance, when they first introduce themselves, the Xiliens wear similar thin specs as the aliens from Monster Zero) to actors who’ve appeared in the franchise’s films. It’s a feast for the eyes and the memory, a deliriously madcap gift to the fans that oscillates between ridiculous and ludicrous and satisfyingly exciting. It’s a trip, that’s for damn sure, and I can’t help but have a bunch of fun with it, regardless of its faults. It may not be the send-off I would have dreamt up for the series, but I can’t argue that it works, at least on some levels.
And, for once, ‘twould indeed be the last we would hear of the King of the Monsters for a decade, and then it would be Hollywood’s turn once again to tackle the Big G…
Allusions of Grandeur 