Review of Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002) by Rick Z — 14 Jun 2007

The Millennium series of Godzilla films is a very uneven ride between good and bad, with the results averaging closer to the bad side. This film is a surprising exception. Once again the timeline of the series is rebooted, but this time not only did the original Godzilla happen but so did Mothra; War of the Gargantuas; and presumably any other non-Godzilla Toho monster films from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

So, in 1999, when a new Godzilla appears the government decides that they need to come up with something that can defeat him. To do so they essentially build a cyborg on the skeleton of the original Godzilla and use the monster's DNA to program its computer (yeah, I don't get how that works, either).

The result is dubbed Kiryu. Unfortunately, in the first battle Godzilla's roar causes Kiryu to go haywire and rampage through the city. The programmers think they can fix it, but will it be ready for Godzilla's next attack? Kiryu is the best MechaGodzilla design yet and Godzilla, while a bit reminiscient of the Heisei design, looks excellent and has a very wolf-like expression.

The effects are some of the best yet and while the ending clearly exists to set up the sequel, it's stil much more satisfying than the end of Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.