GAMERA THE BRAVE is the last, to date, of the Japanese Gamera series of kaiju movies. It's a cheap and cheerful affair that manages to entertain despite the cliches of the story and the fact that it doesn't really have much in the way of budget to play with. For the first half of the running time, this is a cutesy, child-focused adventure in which a kid grieving for his dead mother finds a hatching turtle egg. He soon takes Gamera home and watches him grow to an incredible size. The second half of the film is a low-rent kaiju flick through and through, with Gamera combating a bigger and more fearsome opponent; the usual destruction ensues. Although this is cheesy stuff, packed full of dodgy CGI effects you're likely to laugh at, it does the job and I found it quite endearing despite the overload of sentiment.

I've never been a fan of the older Gamera films, since they were real cheesy compared to the older Godzilla films. The Gamera films of the 90's were great and had a darker tone to it. This is a new Gamera, a mixture of old Gamera with the 90's Films. It starts out with a battle between an old villain of Gamera's, the Gyaos. Now, this Gamera, tough but weak as hell couldn't stand to the challenge and blows himself up. Then thirty years pass to present day in Japan. A man who witnessed Gamera's death is now a grown man with a deceased wife and and son. The son see's a red flashing light on the island where Gamera died, so the kid decides to check out and finds an egg. The egg quickly hatches it and raises and notices he get's unusually bigger and disappears. Then a monster, named Zedus, arrives and causes panic to the town. Then as the boy's father tries to save his son's friend from getting eaten, the once baby turtle is now Gamera and saves the boy's father and friend. Then a battle ensures between the monster and Gamera until the Baby Turtle kicks it's butt and the government step in and take the turtle away. Then Zedus returns to battle Gamera and tries to kill him for good.This film does drag and we don't see Gamera in his larger stage, it's a little sulcata tortoise running around for the first half-hour. Then when we have action it's pretty much short which is not fun for the older fans of the serious. You can pretty much tell it's aimed at children of like 8 and under. I myself enjoyed it and give it a 7/10.

I was never a fan of this flying turtle in the old days. However, they have completely repurposed him for the 21st century and the results are stunning.Silly effects are supported by a strong, but simple, story and a little depth of characterization. The visual style of the film is what really shines. The Director's skillful use of camera moves and angles and a strong sense of composition really raises this film.I would love to see what this Director could do with Godzilla (if he ever returns).For once, a film's title accurately describes the film's content.

I was able to catch one of the last showings of Gamera this week in Hachioji, Tokyo, and I can say that the experience was a good one.In 2004, as many already know, Toho announced that the king of kaiju, Godzilla, will be taking an indefinite vacation. This of course has happened before, but in Godzilla's absence someone needs to take the reigns. So, like before, the torch was passed to Godzilla's younger brother/rival Gamera.Gamera took the torch, and ran with it. Hard. Here are some of the good things about this movie: -Characters: The main human is a young boy (as always, after all, Gamera IS the friend of children). His mother is dead, and he lives with his father on an island fishing community. Gamera has a history on the island, so when the boy finds a fast-growing baby turtle which flies, some eyes are opened immediately... Other characters include a female neighbor with heart problems, the boys' friends, his father, and some evil government people. All are likable (or hateable), and the acting as far as I could tell was spot-on.-Story: Its there, so this is not just the full-on kaiju fightfest that characterizes many Godzilla and Gamera movies. But we do have full-on kaiju fighting...-Full-on Kaiju Fighting: This is probably the reason most people will see this movie, and it doesn't disappoint. The enemy monster this time around is a man-eating dinosaur named Jidas, and while he is not as charismatic as some of Gamera's other foes, he exudes evil and you will be rooting for the big-eyed turtle the whole time. The special effects are absolutely top-notch, in fact I think Jidas is one of the most convincing dinosaur suitmations I have ever seen.-Music: Powerful when it needs to be. Exactly what it should be in a kaiju movie: it aids the awe that someone should feel when watching 30-story monsters duke it out.Why I didn't give it a ten: The only thing that disappointed me about this movie was the fact that they replaced Gamera's signature roar with a stock roar, which I believe has been previously used for various incarnations of King Kong. But, this is a very minor complaint. Go see this movie when you can!