Godzilla : Final Wars (2004)

Title: Godzilla: Final Wars (1994)

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Review:

The reason why Godzilla film #28 is called ‘Godzilla: Final Wars’ is because Toho decided that this was going to be the last Godzilla movie they were going to make in a while. Reportedly, when Toho released Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004 their plan was to stop making Godzilla movies for 10 whole years; so this was going to be the last Godzilla movie at least until 2014-15 or something. Godzilla was going to go into hibernation so to speak. So of course Godzilla: Final Wars had to be extra special. After all, it was with this film that they were commemorating Godzilla’s 50th anniversary since his first appearance in Gojira (1954)! So this film was a “see you later” to Godzilla, at least until he is resurrected again for a new era of films, because lets face it, nothing is going to stop Godzilla from reemerging.

Godzilla is resurrected from an icy grave

On Final Wars giant monsters are attacking cities from all over the world. They are popping up in places like New York , Australia and Shanghai , but have no fear! By now, humans are so accustomed to being attacked by giant monsters (hey, it’s been 28 movies after all!!) that they’ve created their own anti-monster unit called The Earth Defense Force or ‘EDF’ for short. This unit is made up of genetically enhanced humans that have special abilities like augmented strength and agility. These ‘mutants’ have been born and raised to protect the earth against monsters, which keep popping up all over the place. Why are so many of these creatures suddenly appearing in different countries? Could it have something to do with the alien spaceship that’s hovering around Japan ?

So this was to be a special Godzilla movie because it was the 50th anniversary of Godzilla and it was going to be last Godzilla film in a while, so Toho wanted to go out with a bang. The result is this huge monster bash, where practically every monster that Godzilla has ever fought shows up! This sort of thing where a bunch of monsters show up in a single Godzilla film had been done before in a Godzilla film called Destroy all Monsters! (1968). By the way, the story for Godzilla: Final Wars is extremely similar to Destroy All Monsters, right down to having mind controlling aliens as part of the plot. On Final Wars, the aliens are called Xillians, and like most aliens in Godzilla films, at first they seem benign then they end up being evil. As I continue watching Godzilla movies I’ve come to the realization that somehow an alien race always ends up appearing on these films. This angle of alien spaceships controlling the giant monsters is something that Hollywoodhas always tried to avoid in their attempts at making Godzilla films. Director Jan De Bont (Speed, Twister) was going to include Aliens on his proposed Godzilla film, but that film never came to be. I guess Hollywood considers this angle too cheesy.

Monster X

The director of this film is Ryuhei Kitamura, the director behind Versus (2000), Alive (2002) and one of my favorite horror films from 2008, the hugely underrated Midnight Meat Train (2008). I’ve seen enough of his films to know that he loves manga style action, in other words, nothing that adheres to reality. His films are always filled with comic book style action and fights, lots of characters striking poses and trying to look cool; Godzilla: Final Wars was no exception. The Earth Defense Force is composed of these mutants that love to have Matrix-style fights that take up way to much time in the film. Actually, this would be a good time to mention that this film focuses a hell of a lot more on the humans and their matrix style fights then on the monster fights. A really good Godzilla film will try and have both a good storyline for the humans, while at the same time including good monster fights, playing a nice balancing act between the two; but never forgetting that the main reason why people have put their butts in the movie theater is to see big monsters fighting! Did Final Wars achieve this?

Well, yes and no. On the monster side of things, we do get tons of monsters on this film. A lot of them had been absent from Godzilla films for years and years, so I’m guessing Godzilla fans must have been truly excited to see all these old monsters reappearing on the big screen. Unfortunately, their appearances are really short as are the fights between the creatures. Again, the film seemed more focused on ripping off The Matrix. Just when you think you’re going to get a good monster fight sequence, bam, the film cuts back to the aliens and the mutants doing their best Neo impersonation. And speaking of impersonating characters from The Matrix, one of this films major faults is that they spend too much time with Matrix style fights! This is something I’ve noticed about Godzilla movies, they always seem to rip off some Hollywood film. For example Godzilla vs King Gihdora (1991) has a Terminator style cyborg infused into its storyline, Godzilla vs. Mothra: the Battle for Earth (1992) has an Indiana Jones type of character. Actually that one has a whole sequence that was lifted form Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , almost shot for shot! On Final Wars, the director was sucking both of the Wachowski brothers dicks. You know how in The Matrix neo stops bullets mid-air with the power of his mind? Well on Final Wars one of the characters stops laser beams in mid-air with the power of his mind! Filmmakers behind Godzilla films need to remember, we came to watch big monsters brawl, everything else is secondary! But not on this one, on this one the director wanted to show how well he could direct action and fight sequences. And to be honest, the film does have some nifty action sequences in it For example, we get an extended motorcycle chase sequence that stands out. While watching it, I couldn’t help but notice how many shots the director stole directly from John Woo films. That motorcycle sequence reminded me of scenes from John Woo’s Hard Target (1993) and Hard Boiled (1992). 

Evil Aliens

The thing about some of these Godzilla films is that the human side of the story isn’t very well developed, humans have at times been reduced to mere by standers who stand in awe at the big monsters fighting, others will involve humans into the plot line a bit more. Often times the human side of the story is badly acted or written and you cant wait for it to be over so you can get to the monsters fighting. On this one, we get The Earth Defenders going up against the beasties, which I have to admit was a pretty original idea. Sadly, we only get to see the Earth Defense Force fight against a monster once in the whole movie. You’d think that the director would take the opportunity to have them go up against Godzilla himself or something. Personally, I would have loved that! To unite the human side of the story with the monsters instead of having them act as separate entities, the way it happens in most of these Godzilla movies. Even though the Earth Defense Force doesn’t directly go up against Godzilla, at least the filmmakers had a cool concept to play with this time around. I haven’t seen all of the Godzilla movies, but I’d say that this was a pretty novel approach. I just wish they’d taken it further!

Since this is the last Godzilla movie in a while, I thought it would be only natural to compare how Godzilla started out like in way back in Gojira (1954) and how he is in his latest and most modern incarnation in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), a pitting of the old vs. the new. I guess the biggest change between the two is the tone of the films. With it’s dark shadowy look and the ominous quality with which the creature was handled, the original Godzilla was closer to a horror film. The monster was kept in the shadows and had an evil aura to it. These new movies seem so bright and colorful in comparison. Not to mention that Gojira played its storyline pretty straight, a trait I enjoy from the older Godzilla movies. Even though with Gojira director Ishiro Honda was making a movie with a potentially silly premise, he treated Godzilla with a modicum of seriousness. He knew the premise was cheesy, but he directed a film that took itself seriously. When compared to the old films, these newer films feel more like a Manga or a comic book come to life. A lot of these newer films don’t take themselves too seriously; Final Wars is a good example of that and that aint a bad thing in my book. I enjoy both styles of Godzilla, the more serious one seen in Gojira and the more comic book style films we see today. It’s interesting to see the changes in tone and structure that these films have gone through across the years. But by far, for me anyways, this is one of the coolest looking Godzilla's. Very agile, he looks lean and strong when compared to the suits used in the older films. 

Finally, there was only one thing that I absolutely despised about Final Wars. I’m talking about the inclusion of ‘Manilla’, a.k.a. ‘Godzuki’, a.k.a. Godzilla’s son. Jeezus, this to me is the one and only Godzilla character I genuinely loath. Final Wars is the first time I’ve ever seen Manilla in action, but I gotta tell ya, the first impression is that it looks too freaking silly. It’s so obvious that it only exists to sell toys to kids. In Final Wars, the character doesn’t even figure into the story properly! In fact all of the scenes involving Manilla seem to have been squeezed into the film at the last moment. All he does is drive around with an old man and his grandson until the end, when he finally does something. Manilla’s scenes with the old man and the kid completely take you out of the movie! Some cool monster fight is happening, and suddenly we cut back to Manilla, the little kid and the old man driving around their pick up truck. I didn’t enjoy this character or his scenes at all; he could have easily been exorcised from the film. But I guess, since they wanted to bring in as many Godzilla characters as possible into this 50th Anniversary film, then that’s why we are forced to see the little monstrosity. But aside from that, this movie is a fun watch. It is every bit as over the top and fast paced as you’d expect a Godzilla movie to be. It borrows heavily from everywhere, Hollywood , Chinese Cinema, and even older Godzilla movies like Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965), in which the earth is also threatened by evil aliens and their dirty tricks. By the way, that’s the next Godzilla film I will be reviewing, be on the look out for that review! 

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5

The Four American Godzilla Films

One of the few times that Hollywood has taken a stab at producing a Godzilla film; the result was the universally panned Godzilla (1998) directed by big budget event film specialist Roland Emmerich. The anticipation for that film was pretty high; I remember everyone wanted to know what the King of All Monsters was going to look like on this new film because Sony was keeping the look of the creature under wraps. Their plan was that the only way you would get a chance to see the beast is by going to see the film. Concept art leaked onto the internet, but no one was really sure if it was the creatures’ true look. When audiences finally paid their movie ticket and got a look at this new Godzilla, most where disappointed because it wasn’t really Godzilla, at least not the way they remembered him from all of his Japanese adventures. 

Even though Godzilla’s new design displeased many a Godzilla fan, this didn’t stop American audiences from seeing this new Godzilla, which went on to make 379 million at the box office. And though a lot of people hated it, I personally had a lot of fun with it. I mean, yeah, technically this wasn’t really Godzilla; it was more of a lame attempt to make Godzilla “cooler” or un-cheesy. But as a monster movie? I think it has its moments. And it has some awesome special effects sequences. Those scenes with Godzilla tangled on the San Francisco Bridge? Classic monster movie mayhem! I think this film would have garnered less hatred if it had completely disassociated itself from the Godzilla franchise. People were expecting Godzilla, and they didn’t get it, so they hated the film. Problem is that this particular Godzilla movie was missing a lot of what makes a Godzilla movie a Godzilla movie. For example, Godzilla doesn’t fight other giant monsters! Godzilla doesn’t fire laser beams out of his mouth! His back doesn’t light up! Roland Emerich’s prime concern with making this film was to get away from the cheese factor as much as possible. Unfortunately, anyone who’s watched Godzilla films knows that cheesiness and Godzilla go hand in hand. It just goes with the territory. You can’t fight it, you have to accept it, engulf it. Only then will you enjoy a film where Godzilla fights giant Moths that shoot laser beams from their eyes. But no, from day one Emmerich was always thinking about getting away from the cheesiness. Was this a good move? Well, it certainly made no dent in the films box office intake, but Godzilla fans were not pleased. 

Godzilla thrashes the streets of New York City

Emmerich’s approach for making this film was to totally redesign Godzilla; to get as far away as he could from the original Japanese design. Truth be told, at first Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin wanted nothing to do with this new Godzilla movie. Another bad omen if you ask me. Why try and get two guys to make a film that they don’t have any passion for? But Sony had their hearts set on getting Devlin and Emmerich to make their new Godzilla because these were the guys who made the multi million dollar box office success known as Independence Day (1994). Surely they knew a thing or two about making a successful summer blockbuster, let alone a new Godzilla movie! Emmerich thought Godzilla was simply too silly a concept for him to develop. His outlook on the project changed when Patrick Tatopoulos redesigned the creature from the ground up. Understandably so, Emmerich didn’t want a man in a suit for his film. So he got Patrick Tatopoulos to give Godzilla a new look. Tatopoulos had previously worked for Devlin and Emmerich designing the creatures of Stargate (1994) and the aliens for Independence Day (1996). Once Emmerich saw Tatopoulos’s new design, he liked it so much that he knew that this was they way he wanted to go with his new take on Godzilla! 

Concept art for Godzilla (1998)

When the time came to start production, Patrick Tatopoulos actually traveled to Japan to meet with 30 Toho Studios officials to reveal his new Godzilla designs. When he unraveled his creation to them in drawing and sculpture form, they were met with a resounding silence. Tatopoulos went back home thinking the meeting had gone wrong, but to his surprise, the next day he was informed that Toho had approved the new creature design. That even though it was different, it still captured what Godzilla was all about. All they saw was a big budget summer blockbuster being produced by Hollywood which would eventually reap monetary results if the film became a hit. In the end Japanese audiences loathed the new film calling it “Godzilla in name only”. Kenpachiro Satsuma, an actor who’s portrayed Godzilla in various Japanese films walked out of a Tokyo screening saying that “It’s not Godzilla, it does not have the spirit” Essentially, what Emmerich’s film did was turn Godzilla into a big animal searching for food and looking for a place to procreate, while in the Japanese movies Godzilla was something closer to a God walking the earth. In the original Japanese films Godzilla would emerge to punish humanity for their abuse of the earth, other times he’d be the protector of the earth. Sometimes he’s a mix of both! But on Emmerich’s film he is neither of those. Emmerich stripped Godzilla of its godliness. Japanese have referenced Godzilla (1998) in some of their subsequent Godzilla films. For example in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) the Japanese Godzilla actually goes up against the American Godzilla which they call ‘Zilla’. The battle transpires rather quickly, and Japanese Godzilla kicks Zilla’s ass in a matter of seconds. Then one of the characters in the movie calls Zilla a “Good for nothing Tuna eating monster” Which I guess pretty much surmises how the Japanese felt about Emmerich’s film. It was an insult to their beloved icon. 

Godzilla gets up close and personal with his American co-stars

But Emmerich’s Godzilla film wasn’t the first time Hollywood tried to take a stab at making a Godzilla film. Actually, they tried twice before! And both times, the projects came close to getting made, then caput; nothing. Whatever came of those projects? Why didn’t they ever come into fruition? Well, as some of you might already know, I am a huge fan of conceptual artwork, if you havent done so already, check out my article on Conceptual Artwork for Films That Never Got Made. For me its always fun to go through these projects that never got to exist. Well, in my thirst for knowledge on all things Godzilla I came upon not one but two American Godzilla films that never happened. And they actually looked like they were going to be cool films! They both had great creative teams behind them! Sadly, at the time studios had no faith in putting so many millions on a what they considered to be ‘children’s films’. And in order to do these films right, these filmmakers were going to need mucho dinero, which the studios were reluctant to give. So both projects were shelved. But there are pictures and storyboards of these projects, which I’ve posted for your viewing enjoyment. So without further ado, I give you the Two Godzilla’s that Never Where! 

GODZILLA KING OF ALL MONSTERS 3-D (1983-1984) 

Director: Steve Miner

Writer: Fred Dekker

The first of the two shelved Godzilla projects was going to be directed by Steve Miner, the main driving force behind this project. Right now Steve Miner isnt regarded as much of a director. Recently he was responsible for the abortion that was Day of the Dead (2008). Boy was that a bad movie and not in a fun way. It wasn’t even a proper remake of George Romero’s original Day of the Dead film. But, once upon a time, he was a director making profitable horror movies like Friday the 13th Part 2 and 3. He’d also directed the fun haunted house flick House (1986) and the first Warlock (1989) film. He knew his way around a film, and this Godzilla was shaping up to be his biggest endeavor yet.

Story Boards for Steve Miner's proposed Godzilla film by William Stout

Miner had a respectable filmography at the time, a bunch of profitable horror films under his belt. He looked like the right guy for the job! His experience in working with 3-D on Friday the 13th 3D was going to be put to good use because his proposed Godzilla film was going to be 3-D! In fact, it was going to be called Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D, nifty title right? The writer behind this proposed Godzilla flick was non other than Fred Dekker, the director behind Night of the Creeps (1986) and Monster Squad (1987), not a bad couple of films if you ask me. Plus, he’d written a bunch of Tales from the Crypt episodes, and he’d worked with Miner before writing the script for House (1986). Fred Dekker is a connoisseur of sci-fi and monster films from all eras, so he knew a thing or two about what a good Godzilla movie was all about. Dekker’s story was going to have a meteorite hitting one of the U.S. militaries satellites and accidentally setting off a nuclear attack that would ultimately end up resurrecting Godzilla. The film was going to end with an all out battle between the U.S. army and Godzilla on Alcatraz island!

Godzilla animatronic made for Godzilla: King of the Monsters 3-D, sadly, it was never used

And finally, conceptual artwork and storyboards were handled by artist extraordinaire, William Stout. Even special make up effects legend Rick Baker was called in to make an animatronic head for Godzilla’s close ups! They even built an animatronic of Godzilla that was never used! ILM and Dreamquest would have worked in conjunction to deal with the films extensive fx work! The proposed budget for the project was a measly 30 million. Tame by today’s standards, but back then the studios considered it a big price tag for what they considered a children’s film, so the project was scrapped. Considering how many talented inviduals were going to be involved in making this film, I’d say the studio was getting a bargain price for this awesome movie! 

But Godzilla was not ready to die just yet…. the next attempt to resurrect Godzilla in Hollywood would be:

Concept art  by Stan Winston Studios for what would have been Godzilla '94  

GODZILLA ’94 a.k.a. GODZILLA VS. THE GRYPHON 

Director: Jan De Bont

Writers: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Donald McPherson

This project was the precursor to Devlin and Emmerich’s eventual film. Tristar had been aching to do a Godzilla movie and they’d hired Terry Rossi and Ted Elliott to write a script for the proposed film. Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott are two guys who have lots of experience writing big budget money makers for studios like Disney and Dreamworks. These are the guys responsible for writing the whole Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. So Tristar hired them for the script. Next, they brought in Jan De Bont who wanted to make a Godzilla that would be faithful to the spirit of the Japanese Godzilla films but at the same time offer up some cutting edge special effects. He employed the talents of Stan Winston Studios for the creature designs. The designs speak for themselves. The Gryphon creature was going to be an awesome villain!

The 'Probe-Bat' creatures for Godzilla '94 by Stan Winston Studios, sadly they were never used! 

I have to say, I think this was going to be an awesome Godzilla movie. Of these two projects that never came to be, I think this one was going to be the most faithful to the old Godzilla films. It was going to have Godzilla go up against another giant monster called The Gryphon! It was going to have aliens, ancient civilizations and the two creatures destroying all of Manhattan during their cataclysmic fight!  Godzilla was going to have that classic Godzilla look, yet at the same time look pretty freaking cool! The final fight was going to take place on Ellis Island with Godzilla taking the Gryphon’s head and placing it on the Statue of Liberties torch!

The awesomeness that could have been Godzilla '94

This project went as far as building sets, but once again, it was the budget that scared the studio away. De Bont wanted 130 million and the studio wanted to make the film with much less, so De Bont stepped down. Ironic thing is that even though Emmerich agreed to make the film for 65 million, Emmerich’s film ended up costing more then 150 million plus promotional costs. So in the end, it would have cost them less to more or less the same to make it with Jan De Bont, by the looks of it, it would have  been an even better film than Godzilla (1998) was, but I guess we'll never really know will we?

Conceptual artwork for The Grypon 

Well, that’s it folks. I guess what these two defunct projects show us is that a lot of planning and work can go into planning a film, but if in the end you don’t convince the studios (read: the guys with the money) then chances are your project will go nowhere.  Even if you are a big shot director like De Bont was at the time. Also, it shows us that Hollywood doesnt know a good deal when they see it. The creative teams behind these flicks were beyond cool, and I would've loved to see both of these movies get made. But alas, Hollywood likes to play it too safe some times.  Gareth Edward's the director behind Monsters (2010) is the next director to attempt making a Godzilla film for Hollywood. He seems to have a genuine love for monster movies, so lets see what happens. The project is happening under Legendary Pictures, here's some conceptual artwork for how Godzilla might end up looking in that picture, what say you guys?

Well, thats it for now boys and girls. Look forward to more Godzilla movie reviews; I will be posting a couple more in the coming days! As always thanks for reading. And if you want to read more reviews on Godzilla films, go here!

Paprika (2006)

Title: Paprika (2006)

Director: Satoshi Kon

Review:

Dream movies are some of my favorite films, because they explore that strange, surreal, alluring world of the subconscious, and as we all know, every time we slip into dream world, anything goes. In Paprika, a dream machine called “The DC Mini” has been created as a way to perform psychotherapy. With the DC Mini, you can enter someone’s dreams, record them, so that you can re-watch them and analyze them when you wake up.

Is That Chiba Atsuko or Paprika?

I’ve always wanted a machine that could record dreams, because to be honest I've had some really bizarre ones! I mean, I read so much science fiction and horror, that my brains has tons of cool things to feed of on when it decides to dream!  If I could record them, they would make awesome movies. I wouldnt mind having that ability, to re-watch and analyze my dreams. Problem with some of my dreams is that they tend to disappear from my memory mere minutes after I wake up. For example just this morning I had this crazy dream that was a mix between Mad Max, Dirty marry Crazy Larry and Drive Angry! I remember it being awesome, and I do remember a couple of fragments from it, but do I remember every single little exciting moment from it? No. That’s where a DC Mini would come in handy! I remember thinking damn, I should make a film out of this freaking dream, but alas, after the day got going, that cool dream simply disappeared into my subconscious. This is the reason why Dream Journals are suggested. The  way to do it is, you take a little notebook and a pen and keep them next to your bed. Instantly the moment you wake up from your dream, you write down everything you dreamed, as much as you can remember and as fast as you can. Try to leave no details out.  You'll be surprised at the crazy things you'll find when you re-read it a couple of days later. 

I don’t necessarily think “dreams are just dreams” as many seem to think. Yeah they are whacked out and crazy, and no they don’t subscribe to reality, but they do represent whatever it is that worries us the most, whatever occupies most of the time in our minds will somehow end up in dreams. I don’t believe in dreams as a premonition, or dreams as visions, but I do think dreams are our brains way of processing our life experiences, sometimes it’s the smallest little detail we see during the day that pops up in our dream, sometimes its some age old situation we’ve been carrying around somewhere in the back of our minds through out our whole life. For example, in Paprika one of the main characters had a traumatic experience happen to him when he was a young boy, and he keeps having a recurrent dream about it over and over again. So much so that he’s secretly visiting an entity known as Paprika to help him deal with it.

The main problem in Paprika comes when the DC Mini’s are stolen from the lab where they are being manufactured. Since these stolen DC Mini’s are prototypes, they allow anyone using it to enter anyone’s dreams at any time and the person who stole it is using it for just that purpose. So suddenly random people are having waking dreams, where they walk with their eyes wide open, but they are experiencing their respective dreams at the same time. It’s up to the main characters in the film to find out just who stole these dream machines, and stop them before all of Japan goes dream crazy.

This is the kind of film that feels a bit overwhelming when you watch it the first time, there’s so many details, so much to see. The dreams are literally filled with thousands upon thousands of characters on all of which appear on screen at the same time. What a feat it must have been to animate all those characters! This is definetly the kind of film you have to see more than once to grasp completely, I don’t think one viewing will be enough to appreciate it all. One reviewer mentioned that this was a film not to be merely watched, but to be experienced. I totally agree. But again, Paprika says it best when she enters the dream world and says “Time for the greatest show on earth!” And its true, things do get pretty wild once we enter those dream sequences. A word of warning though, this just like the rest of Satashi Kon’s films are adult oriented, so expect some sexually charged dialog and a small amount of nudity. This isn’t a film for children.

An interesting aspect of the film is that one of the main characters in the film is a film buff/filmmaker so he is constantly analyzing the way films are made. I liked this angle of the film because the filmmakers took the opportunity to explore the similarities between the film world and the dream world, which I’ve always thought are pretty similar. In films, much like in dreams, anything can and does happen. A couple of scenes in Paprika actually take place inside of a movie theater where characters start talking about these similarities and the nature of films. After all, what are films if not a filmmakers dreams come to cinematic life? Even the internet is compared to dreams on this film. In one scene Paprika says to Detetive Kogawa: “Don’t you think dreams and the internet are similar? They are both areas where the repressed conscious mind vents”  

Paprika is based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Yasutaka Tsutsui who also wrote the novel The Girl Who Leapt Through Time which recently got the animation treatment as well. Paprika was directed by Satashi Kon, an animator/director who’s films often times blend the borders between reality and fantasy, so I guess a film like Paprika was a natural step for him. There are moments in Paprika where the real world and the dream world collide! Often times you wont know if your watching a dream, or real life, which is part of the fun with this kind of film. While writing this review I discovered that Satashi Kon died last 08/24/2010 from pancreatic cancer, this came as a shock to manga and anime fans around the world. After all, this was the director behind such great films as Perfect Blue (1997), Millenium Actress (2001), and the very well received Tokyo Godfathers (2003) all of which come highly recommend. If you ever want to see an animated film that’s heavily influenced by David Lynch, check out Perfect Blue, yet another one of his films that blends the borders between the real and the fantastical; though that one is a bit darker in tone then Paprika which in contrast is bright and colorful. Before Satashi Kon passed away, he was working on what would have been his fifth film entitled The Dream Machine. He never got to finish it, but he did manage to leave storyboards for the project and recorded tapes of how he wanted the film to be made. Good news is that production for The Dream Machine is currently underway by the guys at Madhouse, one of the best animation studios in Japan . They are the guys behind such awesome animation films as Ninja Scroll, X, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, all of Kon’s films and many others. So at least the project is in good hands. Looking forward to seeing that one soon.

On my review for Ghost in the Shell (1996) I mentioned how that film had influenced the Wachowski Bros. while making The Matrix (1999). They watched Ghost in the Shell, loved it and were inspired by it to make The Matrix. In fact, they went as far as to immitate entire sequences from Ghost in the Shell, showing once again that these Japanimation films are extremely influential on American filmmakers. The same can be said of Paprika, a film that influenced Christopher Nolan when the time came to make Inception. Watch both films back to back and watch similar images and situations pop up. One of the benefits of making an animated flick is that you dont have to worry about budget limitations, and you can go as wild and as crazy as your animators are willing to draw it. These animated films from Japan really take advantage of that. If you've never experienced a Japanese animated film, search out the good ones and take a leap towards discovering how amazing some of these films are, I dont think you'll be dissapointed.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Is that Ellen Page or is that Paprika?

Ghost In Shell (1995)

Title: Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Review:

Ghost in the Shell was supposed to be the film that would make Americans turn their heads and realize just what they had been missing about Japanese animation all these years. Well, at least that was what the films producers and distributors had in mind, to make American audiences (and the rest of the world) discover ‘Japanimation’. Back then, in the mid 90’s Japanimation wasn’t as huge as it is now, it was something left for fans of Manga and comic books, not for mainstream audiences. As I remember it, Ghost in the Shell didn’t exactly set American movie goers ablaze. It did garner some attention, but this was mostly amongst genre and anime fans. Ghost in the Shell came and went from movie theaters pretty quickly. It did manage to impress critics, film buffs and filmmakers, but failed to capture the attention of the masses. It found its audience later, when it was released on VHS, which is where I discovered it as well. I think what Ghost in the Shell did was begin something, it was one of the first Japanese animation films to garner world wide attention, it was the beginning of something that would grow to become what it is today. I remember not falling in love with Ghost in the Shell immediately either. I mean, I loved the animation. There was no doubt that this was a beautifully made film and as an artist I loved the design that went into the film. The animation was flawless in my book. And of course, I loved the cyberpunk/sci-fi angle. I loved the look of the film and its technical achievements, but what turned me off was that it was low in action and big on scenes upon scenes of characters having long philosophical conversations, most of which simply bounced off my teenage brain. At the time, the film felt overtly complex to me. How did it fare now all these years later?

Well, it fared rather well. I still think this is a decidedly and purposely slow film, but I think that was obviously the vibe the filmmakers were going for. This isnt a dumb action film. This is a philosophical and introspective film every step of the way. Even though it does have some action, the films primary purpose is to explore themes of existentialism and corruption in the government. In Ghost in the Shell, Major Motoko Kusanagi is assigned with locating a hacker known as The Puppet Master. The governments computers are being hacked by this mysterious hacker! In fact, any computer anywhere is being hacked by this entity. The computers at Megatech (a company that builds cyborgs) get hacked as well, so much so that a cyborg gets assembled without authorization and walks right out of the complex and onto the streets! Apparently The Puppet Master has a purpose with all this hacking, and it’s up to Major Motoko and her crew to find out just what that purpose is.

Ghost in the Shell impressed the hell out of American filmmakers like James Cameron who was gushing about it calling it one of the most stylish and intelligent animation films ever made. The Wachowski Brothers were so impressed by it that in order to convince Joel Silver to produce The Matrix for them, they screened it for him and told him “we want to do that, but for real”, the rest is history. After watching Ghost in the Shell, suddenly The Matrix doesn’t feel so original anymore. The Wachowski’s took so much from Ghost in the Shell it’s not even funny! For example, those scenes of Trinity falling down from a building with shards of glass all over her and the city as her backdrop? Completely stolen from Ghost in the Shell! The idea of computer programs becoming sentient beings? The Cyberpunk vibe? Lot ’s of green visuals, with letters and numbers flashing on the screen? Characters with plugs on their necks that connect them to a computer system? Chase sequences that take place in streets full of people? Exploding watermelons? Action scenes with pillars getting shut to hell by machine guns? All these elements were swiped by the Wachowski's from Ghost in the Shell. What the Wachowski’s did was pepper their film with lots more action, which is essentially what’s missing from Ghost in the Shell. But whatever, when Mamoru Oshii set out to make Ghost in the Shell, he obviously didn’t have an action film in mind and when we look into who Mamoru Oshii is as a filmmaker, that makes perfect sense. 

The film is based on Masamune Shirow's comic books

Mamoru Oshii is a filmmaker who constantly strives to go against the Hollywood formula, meaning he doesn’t really like to focus so much on action, or on pleasing the masses by making a cute film that will sell. His cinematic concerns deal more with visuals, mood, and the philosophical angles he can explore. In other words, he prefers to create thought provoking films instead of brainless action spectacles or family fare. One look at Ghost in the Shell and its clear he wanted to create a world made up of stylish visuals, with characters who focus on exploring who they are and why they are here. This is probably why his films aren’t huge box office monsters like for example Hayao Miyazaki films, a director who’s a house hold name in Japan but is diametrically opposed to Oshii as a filmmaker. Mamoru Oshii’s films aren’t directed towards children or deal with overtly simplistic plot lines, rather, Oshii makes films that are very adult oriented, complex, and made so that audiences can work out an interpretation of the film by using their brains instead of having things spelled out for them. In Oshii’s own words “In terms of the persuasiveness of their films, it is true that they have such a power, and it is also true that they have what I don’t have. They have their own instinct for appealing to the general public” Still, even though Oshii’s films don’t have a mass appeal, Oshii is regarded as a very important and influential director in Japan. His influence has even transcended to filmmakers from other parts of the world as well.

There’s a strange thing about this movie, The Puppet Master who is supposed to be the films villain, isn’t really a villain in my book. In the film, The Puppet Master is a program created by the government called Project 2501, the program was designed to do the governments “dirty work”. Problem is that this program got so smart that it's turned into a sentient being, meaning that it knows it exists, just like we do. It knows what it is and it wants out. In this way, Ghost in the Shell reminded me of a movie from the 70’s called Demon Seed (1977) about a program called 'Proteus', in Demon Seed Proteus goes through the same exact process. It wants to escape from the virtual world into the real world and it is willing to do whatever it can to do it. In Demon Seed, the programs main preoccupation is giving birth to a child, to reproduce. This is The Puppet Master’s exact preoccupation as well. But what I found interesting about Ghost in the Shell is that I was agreeing with many of the things that the program is constantly suggesting to Major Motoko, the films cyborg protagonist. He is constantly telling her to be more then she currently is, to evolve, to change. One of my favorite lines in the film is “All things change in a dynamic environment, your effort to remain what you are, is what limits you”

So what we got here ladies and gentlemen is the thinking mans science fiction film. It is deliberately slow paced, so if you cant take a film where characters talk a lot, don’t bother with this one. If on the other hand you’re like philosophy, and enjoy conversations that revolve around existentialism, then this is your film. And to be honest, the film does have its cool action moments! The first 15 minutes are a show stopper of action and will bring to mind many scenes from The Matrix. Plus, the film has that heavy sci-fi angle that instantly makes it a little bit cooler in my book. We get cyborgs hacking into other cyborgs brains, a sentient computer system that has a subversive vibe, cyborgs with abilities to turn invisible, machine guns galore, add all that up and what do you get? A killer sci-fi flick with a heavy dose of intelligence that’s what! It could have used a bit more action, but it wasn’t a big problem for me. A word of warning though: Oshii released a newer version of Ghost in the Shell called “Ghost in the Shell 2.0” which is essentially the same movie, but with “upgraded” computer effects, Im sad to say that this version isnt all that great. It is the same movie, but with new computer graphics in certain scenes. The new computer graphics simply do not gel with the old school traditional animation and the added effects simply serve to take us out of the movie. So my suggestion is to just watch the original version of this film and not version 2.0. Out of Oshii's filmography, I’ll be reviewing Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence next, so be on the look out for that review soon. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992)

Title: Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992)

Director: Takao Okawara

Review:

One question that always pops in my head whenever I watch a Godzilla film is: why the hell does Godzilla have to destroy the city all the time!!?? What’s his purpose? His reason? I mean every single time he wakes up, first thing on his mind is to destroy Tokyo! Believe it or not, Godzilla has be known to have flash backs…maybe he remembers all those other times they’ve tried to kill him and he wakes up grumpy. Who knows. Whatever the case maybe, I don’t think it’s ever been fully explained, this obsession of Godzilla's to always destroy Japan. And I know that’s what makes a Godzilla movie a Godzilla movie, you gotta have monsters destroying building after building, but sometimes, after so much destruction and devastation, you just gotta wonder what does it all mean? Wait a minute; I know exactly what it means: tons of fun for those of us watching that’s what it means!

Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992) is Godzilla film #19. Like Bond, or Dracula, or Frankenstein, or Sherlock Holmes, I don’t think Godzilla movies will ever die; my grandsons and their kids will probably end up watching Godzilla movies long after I’ve turned to dust. As I write this, 28 Godzilla films have been made! And though Toho (the company that produces them) is taking a break from making more Godzilla movies - last one was Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) - theres still that new American reboot that's in the works slated for the near future! So far, the director behind that one is Gareth Edwards, the guy who made the recent monster flick Monsters (2010) which wasn’t a bad monster movie in my book. It looks like Edwards is the right guy for that project, he seems to have a genuine love for monster movies. Here’s hoping that this new American version of Godzilla isnt a total embarassment.

Godzilla Vs. Battra in its Larva stage

I'm becoming well versed in all things Godzilla. Since I started watching Godzilla movies I have learned a couple of things about them, for example I learned that they are all categorized into different eras, so there’s a different versions of Godzilla for every one of them. The look of the monster varies from era to era, Godzilla has gone through various evolutions, he's been upgraded, he's been turned into a robot, he's gone up into space, he's gotten bigger, stronger, leaner, sometimes he’s a villain and sometimes he’s the protector of Japan. It’s been fun seeing Godzilla’s different stages. On Godzilla Vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth, Godzilla is a villain, mindlessly destroying Japan; though if you ask the characters on the film, they’ll tell you that Godzilla is actually earth’s way of punishing us for abusing it. Which reminds me that the film actually has an environmental message attached to it; characters go into conversations about deforestation, the condition of the ozone layer, and how global warming is on the rise. They even mention oceans rising! And Tsunamis! And on top of things, a meteor is on its way to destroy the earth! It’s no wonder on this film characters say lines like “The Earth is definitely heading towards its end!” Good thing Mothra, a creature supposedly created by the earth itself is here to protect us!

This film marked the sixth time that Mothra has appeared in a Godzilla film. Previous films included: Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964), Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster (1964), Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966), Destroy all Monsters (1968) and Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). After Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth, the giant flying moth that shoots laser beams from its antennas went on to appear in many more Godzilla films. Truth be told, were talking about one of the most popular monsters of the whole franchise. The character of Mothra comes from a Japanese novel called 'The Luminous Fairies and Mothra'. Toho acquired the rights to the character and made a film about it. So essentially, before appearing on any Godzilla film, Mothra started out as a monster in its very own film! That film was Mothra (1961), and it was a very successful film upon its first release. Mothra has become such a popular character that it even got its own series of films the first of which ws called Rebirth of Mothra (1996). It was followed by Rebirth of Mothra II (1997) and Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)! So before you go on saying “but Mothra’s just a big giant Moth, what a lame monster!” just keep in mind that this is a creature with some history to it, and that it’s actually got a very noble origin story behind it. You see, Mothra is actually “the spirit of the earth” created by the earth itself in order to protect it from harm. And since Godzilla is Mothras enemy in the film, I guess that makes Godzilla the “destroyer of the earth”.  People are genuinly frightened of Godzilla, at one point a character says that they have to stop Godzilla or else he will “destroy the whole world!” followed by a “God Help us All!”  Actually, Mothra is Godzilla's deadliest enemy! She has kicked Godzilla’s ass more then any other creature he has ever faced.

On Godzilla vs. Mothra: The Battle for Earth (1992), a meteorite falls to earth and starts causing all sorts of havoc on the weather. A giant typhoon erupts across the land thanks to the meteorite; this typhoon is the one responsible for unearthing Mothra’s egg and Godzilla at the same time. But wait that’s not all! The typhoon has also awakened another creature called Battra. Battra is basically an evil version of Mothra, with black skin and red eyes, it is also known as ‘Black Mothra’. When we first see Mothra and Battra, they are in their Larva stage, so basically we see two worms making their way through the surface of the ocean, headed towards Japan ! This all leads up to a climactic battle between the three monsters in the middle of the city. Who will win in this gargantuan battle for Earth? You might think that two giant insects dont pose much of a threat for Godzilla, but you’d be wrong in that assumption. Both Mothra and Battra shoot laser beams from their heads! Not only that, Mothra shoots lightning out of her wings! And she can move her wings around and spread deadly pixie dust that can paralyze an enemy! So this aren’t just any old moths, these are deadly creatures and worthy opponents for Godzilla. But my favorite so far is still King Gihdorah!

As I mentioned before in my review for Godzilla vs. King Gihdorah (1991) one of the things I love about these Godzilla films is how totally bizarre they get. I mean, it seems to me like these filmmakers sit around trying to come up with the craziest ideas they can, they craziest one is the one that gets filmed! I mean, in no other film will you see a giant Larva destroying the city and the cocooning itself only to transform into a giant moth that shoots laser beams from its antennas! But wait, this film gets crazier! There is a character called Fujito who is an Indiana Jones rip off! He actually starts the film trying to steal an ancient idol from a temple! Fujito is hired to explore ‘ Infant Island ’ which is the island on which they first spot Mothra’s egg. Once there, they enter a cave and meet these little women called ‘The Cosmos’ who were at one point worshipped Mothra as the guardian of their society. Basically they go on to explain how Mothra is here because the earth is angry and things need to be corrected or else the earth will retaliate. Take in consideration that these two women are miniature sized, like little Barbie dolls! They have to sing so that Mothra comes! So every once in a while, these two micro-women break into a song so that Mothra will appear! Like I said, these films get totally bizarre, so if you like that sort of things, you’ll have yourself a great time!

This was a very entertaining Godzilla flick. The battles between Battra, Mothra and Godzilla are awesome and very destructive! At one point Godzilla tries to kill Mothra with a Ferris Wheel! The creatures even have an underwater battle! It’s a fun film, and a bit more light hearted then some other Godzilla films I have seen. Actually, it seemed to me like this Godzilla film was directed more towards girls and that one of the reasons for making this movie was to sell Mothra toys. I wouldn’t be surprised if they made dolls out of 'The Cosmos' when this film first appeared. Even one of the main human characters in the film is a little girl, so I guess yeah, there is such a thing as a Godzilla film with little girls as their target audience! These movies functioned a lot like Saturday morning cartoons in that sense, the helped sell toys! But to me, it doesnt matter if these films sometimes served as expensive toy commercials, who cares right? These films are still fun as hell! My journey towards watching every Godzilla movie ever made continues! Keep you eyes peeled for more Godzilla reviews very soon.

Rating: 4 out of 5