GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRUS (Review)

Title: Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus
Director: Masaaki Tezuka
Writer: Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura
Cast: Misato Tanaka, Shosuke Tanihara, Yuriko Hoshi, Masatoh Eve, Toshiyuki Nagashima
Year: 2000
Min: 105

Godzilla first attacked Japan in 1954 (though in this movie, it's the then current monster that did, not the classic look), and then returned in 1996. Both times he was drawn to energy. During the attack many die including the leader of a squad. A female who survives vows to destroy Godzilla.

Due to the Big G's hunger for energy, energy is banned from being used. This prevents the King of Monsters fromattacking again. But, our plucky heroine is determined to kill him anyways, with some genuis' help. They work to modify a black hole making satellite to blast him away. But, their experiments mutate an ancient dragonfly creature. Many are unleashed and kill innocents.  They feed off of Godzilla, who has found a secret entry plant and is headed back to Tokyo. Anyway, the giant, car sized bugs help to bring life to their much, much larger queen, Megaguirus to full life. As the monsters battle in Japan, our heroes attempt to send them into black hole forever.

The 24h entry in the franchise and second in the millennium series (the first being Godzilla 2000), Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus is decent enough. It's mostly just serviceable, with some of its faults really hurting it.

The plot is a little reminiscent of Godzilla Vs. Destroyah, but it is no where near as good. It's interesting to note that they come together on the Sony Blu-ray double feature. While, both feature the acts of those trying to do good by stopping Godzilla and how those actions create bloodthirsty monsters, it's mostly overlooked here. Thus making a much less morally interesting narative.

Instead we are made to care for boring characters. The acting is good; I just don't a flying fuck what happens to anyone or feel like cheering them on. And, that's a problem cause they're in a big chunk of the movie.

The CGI is also terrible. The giant dragonflies look fucking awful. It definitely makes them less scary and threatening when they look like crappy Playstation 2 graphics. This sucks cause when they first appear and kill a couple it's a messy horror movie moment dammed by shitty graphics.  

Thankfully the pratical effects are solid. Godzilla looks great and so does Megaguirus. I also like the minature work. The climatic battle is fun and rousing. Sadly, though, the ending is some real corny crap. But, stick around post credits for one cool, final post credit scene, and no it does not involve the Avengers popping up.

Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus is a flawed but decent entry. Boring humans and shitty CGI combine with missed potential to hurt the movie. Still, there's some cool monster stuff at the climax to make it worth a look. It's entertaining enough but just could've been much better.

2.5 out of 4