In the first appearance of the popular 'MechaGodzilla' character, sneaky ape-aliens from "Black Hole Planet 3" disguised as humans build a giant robotic MechaGodzilla and send it out on a rampage disguised as Godzilla (the reason for which is never explained). Godzilla's off-again, on-again buddy "Anguirus" senses that something is wrong and in the course of the resulting battle, a chunk of the disguise is knocked off revealing shiny 'space titanium'. At this point, the real thing arrives on the scene only to have his kaiju-butt kicked by MechaGodzilla, who sheds his disguise. A sub-plot involving an Interpol agent and an ancient statue ultimately leads to the release of the film's fourth monster, King Caesar, who teams up with Godzilla in the final showdown against the mechanical menace while the intrepid Interpol agent deals with the space-simians. Generally, while "Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla" is better than the preceding "Godzilla vs. Megalon" (faint praise indeed), number 14 in the series is a pretty lackluster outing. The story does not bear close scrutiny (especially the pseudo-spiritual prophecy and the statue theft sub-plot) and relies on convenient gimmicks like the professor's trick pipe or Godzilla's sudden ability to become magnetic. The MechaGodzilla outfit is not bad (although the metal clearly bends when the robot is moving) but looks ridiculous when flying. As a new addition to Toho's kaiju farm, King Caesar is unimpressive: a vaguely leonid lizard with immense ears and patches of ratty-looking fur. The Godzilla suit has the standard 1970's look with a reduced snout, bigger eyes and a pronounced brow, giving him a much more benign appearance than his original saurian profile. The trend to anthropomorphise his behaviour continues to the extent that at one point the monster seems to be doing a Bruce Lee impression. I watched an adequately dubbed version that was typical of the era - voices that didn't really match the characters, odd pauses and expressions, and the usual mismatch between what you see and what you hear when a character speaks. Although some of Akira Ikufube's original themes are heard, the film's 'jazzy' soundtrack did nothing for me, and dates the film even more so then the 1970's styles. This was the penultimate film in the Showa-era series, and while an improvement over the preceding two films, likely did little to help keep the franchise viable. Definitely one for fans or students of the genre (and maybe undiscerning kids not too spoiled by CGI mega-pics).
Review of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
