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| ..and verses a bird, and Mothra, and some guns. |
Dear Internet,
I seem
to be a fan of Godzilla movies, or in the very least my Backlog seems to
be. I liked the original, and the cartoon
television series (the late '90s one, not Godzukie, I cannot even get past the
intro for that show). I like watching
giant monster movies because of the vast number of social commentary that they
can provide. I like their inherent corniness
which stems from their underfunded budget and certain level of quirkiness. Through difficult conditions, improvised
solutions showcase the true skill of individuals. "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster" has
some of these aspects while slyly hiding the fact that it does not have others.
The
plot follows around a group of guys that go sailing to find the brother of one
and end up marooned on an island after their boat is destroyed by Ebirah, a 50
meter high lobster. There they stumble
upon a military base utilizing nuclear power and enslaving an indigenous
population to make special anti-giant-shrimp juice. One of the female natives escapes and meets
up with our group of adventurers. Together
they attempt to infiltrate the compound, fail, and run away to a cave where,
low and behold, Godzilla is sleeping. Somewhere
in all of this is Mothra, a huge moth with its own film franchise, who does not
really do much of anything until the last seven minutes of the film.
 |
| Her alarm clock was set to PM instead of AM. |
The
film has many little moments that bring humor to the situation, one being a
very comical leap off a cliff. However,
there are also bits that would make modern audiences wonder if the film was
being serious, which include one scene where a few characters accidentally go a
few steps into a nuclear reactor and just run out saying that it is just
hot. Their apparent radiation sickness
must have occurred after the story ended.
The villain of the film has to be one of the most silly characters I
have seen recently, with his eye patch designed with a tiger and leather riding
crop. If it was not for the fact that he
made his soldiers shoot escaping natives at the beginning of the film, I would
not have taken him seriously. Then
again, his soldiers do not hit anything for the rest of the film after that
first scene.
Concerning
the special effects, they are alright.
The miniatures are easily identified, especially the scenes where bots
get destroyed, but what do you expect?
When the scaled ocean churns in the middle of storms, there is a moment
of illusion, but when there is plenty of daylight, the film asks the audience
to use a bit more of their imagination.
Godzilla's appearance is in the middle of the spectrum. He is neither the lord of terror that he was
in the original nor the brown eyed gecko in others. He is given a suit that allowed the actor
inside a wide range of movement, but that was very counteracting in its execution. When Godzilla faces off against Ebirah, he is
able to move his arms in such a quick and wide action that he comes across as a
martial arts fighter not the feral radioactive dinosaur in other installments. Also, he receives a snarky personality. After beating a random humongous bird, which
I am not sure where it came form or why it was even in the film, Godzilla
raised one finger to his nose, almost scratching it. Other times times he bumps his
"fists" together and makes a gesture that I cannot describe other
than "Come at me, bro."
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| Hold your girl back and come at me, bro! |
The
music is a mixture of the typical monster movie, but there is an annoying 60's
surf music that occurs every now and again when the beast battle. With the movie being made in 1966, it is
understandable that they included the popular music of the time. In fact, there is a dance marathon scene
early in the film that is the ideal place to keep that kind of music. Every time Godzilla was fighting and that
surf music played, I expected him to jump on top of Ebirah and ride him like a
surfboard.
The
biggest elephant in the room that "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster" is
unable to move is the fact that Godzilla is in it. Apparently, King Kong was supposed to be the
titular character and it shows. Here
Godzilla is not the terror to civilization that he usually is. At one point, the protagonists decide to wake
up Godzilla. If it was not for the fact
that they themselves question the sanity of such an idea, it might just take
the idiot idea of the week. Godzilla wrecks
the evil military base but only because they shoot at him and that only makes
him an anti-hero. Near the end of the
film, the characters actually do not want Godzilla to be caught up in a giant
explosion and try to warn him away into the ocean. Are
they just going to forget that Godzilla had destroyed Tokyo a number of
times? Just because Frankenstein's
monster punched out the bank robber does not excuse him from killing the small
child from before. Godzilla used to be a
metaphor for the dangers of negligent use of nuclear power and how it can
affect the innocents caught in the middle.
Here, he is the anti-hero that fights against a wicked military group
and is more a savior than a terror.
 |
"Godzilla
vs. the Sea Monster" is average and pretty meh as far as movies go. There are a lot of little things that keep it
from being more coherent. Why Mothra
even needed to be in this film is questionable since all she acts as is a deus
ex machina at most. On the other hand,
there are a lot of genuinely interesting moments that make the film unique like
when they use a pigeon to sneak into the military facility. If you enjoy giant monster films it might
fare better, but if you like Godzilla films, it might rate lower. The film enters that nebulous middle zone
that can go either way.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
P.S. Monday is "Founding of a Republic."
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