GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH is the final in the 1990s series of GODZILLA films that started with GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE back in 1989. This is rather a sombre effort with a heartbreaking climax that will upset many Godzilla fans; it's an effective piece but not really one of the best in the series. It's a watchable and entertaining film all right, but just one of those films that seems to be going through the motions rather than offering much new.
Godzilla himself is in trouble this time around: he's suffering a nuclear meltdown from the inside, which is causing him to go completely crazy. Godzilla Junior is still hanging around, and boy has he grown up; this means that Megumi Odaka is back in the film as the woman with a psychic connection to the not-so-little-anymore critter. And the villain of the piece is Destoroyah, a kind of prehistoric sea bug which grows to super-scale to fight our scaly heroes.
For much of the running time, DESTOROYAH seems to have been inspired by other movies, not least the preceding Godzilla outings. There are plenty of moments which reference JURASSIC PARK, which must have been a big hit in Japan; the car attack is the most obvious. Other moments are reminiscent of ALIENS with motion detectors and the like. The special effects look cheap and cheerful here, and the climax is appropriately large scale and dramatic with plenty of destructive mayhem. It's just a shame that this is a rather maudlin movie as I would have preferred an all-out party atmosphere to celebrate the big guy's (temporary) demise.
Godzilla himself is in trouble this time around: he's suffering a nuclear meltdown from the inside, which is causing him to go completely crazy. Godzilla Junior is still hanging around, and boy has he grown up; this means that Megumi Odaka is back in the film as the woman with a psychic connection to the not-so-little-anymore critter. And the villain of the piece is Destoroyah, a kind of prehistoric sea bug which grows to super-scale to fight our scaly heroes.
For much of the running time, DESTOROYAH seems to have been inspired by other movies, not least the preceding Godzilla outings. There are plenty of moments which reference JURASSIC PARK, which must have been a big hit in Japan; the car attack is the most obvious. Other moments are reminiscent of ALIENS with motion detectors and the like. The special effects look cheap and cheerful here, and the climax is appropriately large scale and dramatic with plenty of destructive mayhem. It's just a shame that this is a rather maudlin movie as I would have preferred an all-out party atmosphere to celebrate the big guy's (temporary) demise.