In this militaristic revision of Japan's troubled history with kaiju, Godzilla attacked once before, in 1954, and was defeated by Serizawa's oxygen destroyer. Other monsters have since attacked (Mothra and Gaira ("War of the Gargantuas", 1966)) and Japan's response to each attack is to develop newer, more powerful weapons. Now Godzilla has returned and a new weapon is needed, so tissue from the original Godzilla's skeleton is incorporated into a giant mecha to create a cybernetic "Mechagodzilla" (that this is the third incarnation of a "Mechagodzilla" is not part of this film's alternative history). Similar to the previous films in the millennium-series, Godzilla is a simply rampaging monster that needs to be destroyed (the concept that he's just a misunderstood dad, or that he is our guardian, or that he is our friend was (fortunately) put aside for this series). "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla" (number 27 in the canon) is a pretty typical Godzilla outing. There is some backstory about the cyborg expert Tokumitsu Yuhara (Shin Takuma ) who is brought in to help design Mechagodzilla and his daughter Sara (Kana Onodera, she's OK - kids in Godzilla movies just keep getting less annoying) as well as Akane Yashiro (Yumiko Shaku), a Mechagodzilla operator with a personal vendetta against the big guy, all of which exists simply as a scaffold to support the kaiju scenes. Both Godzilla and his cyborg doppelganger look pretty good, especially when trashing cities, as do the "White Heron" transport/command and control aircraft. I always thought the mechagodzillas looked silly when flying, so was pleased to see this one being towed into battle (later it turns out that it can fly, and, once again, looks silly doing so). The battle scenes are a mixed bag - despite having the ultimate Godzilla weapon installed in the mecha's chest, the crew seem obligated to fire numerous useless cannon, missiles, ray guns, etc. before activating the 'absolute zero' canon. The battling colossi look OK when grappling or blasting each other with death-rays, but the scenes where Mechagodzilla jumps over Godzilla or spins him around by his tail look 'fake' in comparison and detract from the overall quality of the brawls. The film's score is also a mixed bag, with some good (and familiar) themes mixed in with the grating 'fanfare' music that accompanies shots of Mechagodzilla. Acting (including English subtitling in my version) is on par with other film's in the series (although I got tired of Yumiko Shaku 's po-faced Akane and her heroic pose at the film's close was pretty trite). While neither as imaginative or well-executed as 2000's "G. vs Megaguirus") or as off-beat as 2001's "Giant Monsters All-Out Attack", this latest version of Godzilla fighting his robotic-self is an entertaining enough entry into the long running daikaiju franchise.

I was prepared to suspend my self imposed two drinks limit per picture for this Godzilla entry, but when all was said and done, this didn't strike me as being too bad. Or maybe I've been beaten down enough by prior flicks in the franchise to consider this one as a bit of an upgrade. The story line made effective use of the original 1954 Godzilla, and even threw in an enhanced scene in which the restored skeleton of the original offered an insight on how to defeat the latest version. They called this anti-Godzilla super weapon a 'Kiryu', with the inclusion of an absolute zero weapon as an added bonus. So I was thinking about that when it struck me - what if the name the Japanese scientists came up with was meant to be a goof on the way American films fracture the way they speak? Think about it - was 'Kiryu' a mispronunciation of 'kill you'?

I have to admit that I've been rather slow in getting to the Millennium-Era series of "Godzilla" films - meaning, the films that were made between 1999 and 2004 in Japan. I admit that I know very little about the Millennium Era, but the first movie I ever saw from this series was "Godzilla 2000" (1999) back in early 2000 at the now-closed Cineplex Odeon at my local shopping mall and was consequently the last movie I ever saw there before it closed.Over the years, I saw "Godzilla: Final Wars" (2004) and I've only seen bits & pieces of "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus" (2000), the latter film of which I was never really impressed with from the few clips I saw of it. Only today did I watch director Maasaki Tezuka's 2002 "kaiju-eiga" (Japanese giant monster movie) "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla," which marks the fourth on-screen pairing of Godzilla fighting his cyborg-monster doppelganger, Mechagodzilla (the first three films were 1974's "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla," 1975's "Terror of Mechagodzilla," and 1993's "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II").Since all the films in the Millennium series are stand-alone features with no previous connection to the previous entry, "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla" therefore has no connection to its predecessor, and instead - like "Godzilla 2000" - goes straight back to "Gojira" (1954) and pretends that any film that came after it never happened; however, Mothra and the Gargantuas are still referenced (through stock footage). So, in 1999, a new Godzilla appears out of the Pacific Ocean to threaten humanity. No explanation is given for Godzilla's sudden reappearance in Japan, except to say that he's a threat and he must be destroyed. (I must also say that this is one of the most menacing portrayals of the mighty King of the Monsters that I've seen in years.)So, a plan is put into action: in order to beat Godzilla, humanity must pool their resources to create ANOTHER Godzilla, a Mechagodzilla. Like the Mechagodzilla of the Heisei Era, this cyborg creature is a creation of humans (rather than malevolent aliens like in the Showa Era). However, there's a new twist here: this new Mechagodzilla (given the codename "Kiryu," for "machine dragon") is a construction built around the skeleton of the original Godzilla that was killed in 1954. Four years later in 2003, Mechagodzilla/"Kiryu" is ready to go, and disgraced Japan Self-Defense Force maser tank technician Akane Yashiro (Yumiko Shaku) is selected to be the cyborg monster's chief pilot.You see, Akane was one of the JSDF troops who was first dispatched to counter Godzilla when he mysteriously re-appeared in 1999, and several of her comrades were killed in the fray and she was made a scapegoat and demoted by her superiors as a result. And so now, she's been given a second chance to redeem herself and prove to her superiors and fellow Kiryu pilots that she has what it takes to save humanity from Godzilla. And also, somewhere in there, too, she becomes connected to Mechagodzilla/Kiryu's widowed biological engineer Dr. Tokumitsu Yuhara (Shin Takuma) and his young daughter Sara (Kana Onodera).I've been saying for years that Mechagodzilla remains Godzilla's greatest opponent - in any incarnation of the character. This was confirmed upon viewing "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla" finally. It's heavily armed with a bewildering array of weapons, heavily armored, and bad to the bone (quite literally, "bad to the bone") - just like its two predecessors were. But this version of Mechagodzilla also has a severe weakness. Because Kiryu was constructed around the skeletal remains of the original Godzilla killed in 1954, it has that monster's genetic memories imprinted onto it, so it has a "flashback" (if you will) moment in the middle of a battle with Godzilla and goes on a destructive rampage of its own. So for a while, the creature was out of the control of its human creators. Yet, this is something that is easily corrected by Dr. Yuhara."Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla" also has a great human story. Its chief dramatic appeal, of course, is the beautiful young JSDF pilot Akane Yashiro, played quite well by Yumiko Shaku as someone struggling to overcome past traumatic failures and find some sort of meaning/direction for her life and try to find some sort of redemption (which she ultimately does - through her association with the Mechagodzilla program and Dr. Yuhara and his daughter).This was a good, worthy entry into the "Godzilla" series. I hope to watch its direct sequel "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." (2003) tomorrow and see where it goes from there.6/10

I must admit, I had my worries. So many good and bad reviews. First off, I just want to say both Godzilla and MechaGodzilla, or Kiryu as he's called, looked incredible. This has to be one of the fiercest looking Godzilla suits since the Heisei era. My favorite of the Shinsei era. Plus his heat ray was remarkable, the way it charges up. Kiryu looks cool as hell and has some of the most impressive weapons yet seen in a robot monster.Anyways, Mazakki Tezuka returns to direct and he did an excellent job. Wataru Mimura provides a great screenplay, as usual. Akira Nakao returns, one of my favorite G-actors. Akane is played by Yumiko Shaku, a beautiful actor that gave a very emotional performance. The love story is awkward because there's a huge age difference between her and Dr. Yahara ( Shin Takuma), but it still works. Sara, his daughter, was a bit annoying at times but it helps the story along greatly. Godzilla, despite this being the shortest G-film since the Showa era, gets a lot of screen time. The many battles against JSDF are incredibly well done and I love the Maser Tanks!! The battle in the rain looked awesome and I would love to see a monster battle in the rain in the future. Prior to rumor, you don't have to wait that long for the title monsters to meet. Unfortunately, when they do Godzilla just sits there like a statue, not even flinching. Only the hit from the Maser rays in Kiryu's mouth make him wake up and react to what's going on. This was PATHETIC and I don't know what the staff was thinking but they must have been high to think it looked good.Moving on, then Kiryu goes on a fantastic rampage that looks bad-ass as hell. The drive of Michuru Oshima's music and sound of explosions combine to make a very cool scene. I love that part of the story, Kiryu being part Godzilla, part man's machine to destroy him. How he turns evil, it's just great. In the end, the two meet again, after some nicely done rampage scenes. The first battle makes you wonder, but Tezuka delivers and Yuichi Kikuchi's SFX really kick ass! The CGI is excellent and MechaG even engages in a physical battle with Godzilla. His best weapon is that electrocuting machete, nice. At the climax, we finally see a weapon that really wounds Godzilla. I love that scene, seeing that bloody crater in his chest.The movie is well done and could've been a ten star film, but a few things brought it down, all blasting a star off. First off, Godzilla being a statue when they first fought and secondly, Godzilla isn't exactly what I want him to be. Sure he gets screen time and all, but he's hardly ever mentioned in the dialogue. Plus he hardly interacts with the human characters, and he seems to be more of a afterthought if you ask me. The sequel, "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." , had the same problem. I don't know what went wrong here, because "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus" was a remarkable achievement, and yet I felt Tezuka lacked here. In actuality, Kiryu is the main monster, not Godzilla. This was kind of a bother to me. He's basically a villain without character. The film is still a very good one, but the story should've revolved more around Godzilla. The characters just don't talk about him enough.