Godzilla: Final Wars

release year: 1998
genre: giant monster action
viewing setting: home DVD, 11/27/06

synopsis: Aliens arrive under the guise of friendship, then take over all of the giant monsters - except one.

impressions: It was pretty good, and a (mostly) sensible mix of giant monster action and human-vs-alien fighting. List of ingredients: a dozen monsters, check. Massive amounts of property/landmark destruction, check. Weird-looking aliens in human guise, check. Laser pistols and gunfights, check. Mutants with great hidden powers, check. Giant flying ship captained by American with samurai sword, check. Alien Death-Star looking ship that has the same weakness as the one in Star Wars, check. Baby Godzilla that runs around without purpose for most of the movie, check.

things to watch for: The second monster that the evil alien leader throws up against Godzilla - it's a parody of the 1998 American Godzilla movie.

something this movie has that no other movie has: Godzilla "hulking up" after an energy boost.

acting: Godzilla did a great job this time - he really got his lines down, especially the one where he mows through several alien-controlled monsters in quick succession. Don Frye (of UFC fighting fame) is the gruff American captain of the last big flying warship. The main fighter-mutant guy and the main female-scientist-lady also did good jobs. The other main fighter-guy (the one who antagonizes the first guy throughout the movie) was played by Kane Kosugi, who I last saw as a 7-year-old martial-artist kid in 1983's Revenge of the Ninja - what a small world this is!

final word: Good Godzilla action, worth seeing.

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