Review of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) by Nate A — 26 May 2013

The Gamera 90's reboot is...surprisingly good. Oh, sure, it's cheesy and silly. But you weren't coming to watch a Japanese giant monster movie to be challenged, were you? It's lots of fun with practical effects that aren't really fooling anyone but are pretty endearing nonetheless.

The humans are largely inconsequential but that is par for the course in a kaiju film. It is fun to see any early lead role from Tsuyoshi Ihara (he is also in 'Letters from Iwo Jima' and incredibly awesome in '13 Assassins').

While this is taken (somewhat) more seriously than previous Gamera entries, much of the original mythos is still there. Gamera is still the friend of all children and is powered by friendship. The only downside? No Gamera fight song.