This movie was okay, but is nowhere near as good as the others in the Heisei series. Directed by Kensho Yamashita, a newbie to the job who did well on terms of the SFX but the plot, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara, well…. let’s get to the reasons why this film was a bummer for me. To go over each one in detail would at least be a junior novel:
Project T, even in terms of a G-flick, was a very unbelievable concept. It just seemed stupid…mind controlling Godzilla? I just couldn’t embrace it. SpaceGodzilla’s origin is too far-fetched and complicated, especially to be explained in one scene so quickly. It should’ve been more slowly elaborated. It’s pure Toho ridiculousness as its finest. Little Godzilla goes from the serious Baby Godzilla in “Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla” to the Heisei Minilla we see in this movie. Even with a kiddy theme to accompany the goofy look, absolutely hated him.
Dr. Obuko is a top scientist but also associates with the Japanese Mob. Okay, once more some more explaining is needed here. The film needed much more time to build its zany plot, which had hope but doesn’t deliver unfortunately. Instead, it’s all shoved into a 108 minute film. I personally, however, enjoyed watching Space Godzilla blast and stomp on Little Godzilla. I guess killing the little thing would’ve been overdoing it though…
The SFX are at their near peak here and with this aspect of the film I’m impressed. Kawakita really took it to the next level. Godzilla looks great in this film, as usual. MOGERA was a pathetic new robot, who looked ridiculous. In my opinion it would’ve been much better to simply bring back MechaGodzilla, but this isn’t so. Space Godzilla actually looks fearsome and I love the roar. He looks amazing and the personality was awesome. I hope he returns someday in a better film.
The action, minus the scene on Birth Island, gets tiring because it’s mostly just blasting and no physical contact, but the film does have its moments. My favorite part: Space-G getting his shoulder spikes blown clean off, only to return the favor by spearing MOGERA in the chest with his tail. It was a nice effect and I love the shot. Takayuki Hattori actually delivers a decent score, but I’m curious how Akira Ifukube’s Space-G theme would’ve sounded. In the end, a decent film, with several flaws that could’ve been fixed.
