GODZILLA: FINAL WARS (2004)

So this is it. After 50 glorious years of gracing the screen with his monstrous, fire breathing, all-conquering presence, the Big G has pounded his last adversary into the dirt and demolished his last city. Or at least, that's what Toho Studios tell us, just as they did way back in 1968 when Destroy All Monsters was unleashed. But, if this time everyone's favourite radioactive beast has truly waged his last battle, is it a decent send off for the man in the rubber suit who stole so many hearts over the last half century, or just a waste of time?

The story initially revolves around the exploits of the Earth Defence Force (EDF) and their leader, Douglas Gordon, played by the hulking former Ultimate Fighting Champion, Don Frye, who are solely committed to combating the monster threat. They soon come into the firing line when a plethora of monsters suddenly appear and begin an all out assault upon the Earth's major cities. In some highly entertaining sequences, New York is reduced to rubble by pteranodon Rodan, Anguirus the armoured anklyosaur smashes Shanghai and the giant mantis Kamacuras pulverizes Paris, to name but a few of the old favourites who re-appear to raise hell.

Fighting back, EDF wins despite initial success in bringing down the monstrous lobster, Ebirah, during a superb battle set in Tokai, Japan, but the tide slowly turns against them. However, intergalactic salvation suddenly arrives in the form of the Xillians, extra terrestrial humans led by the Controller of Planet X (Kazuki Kitamura), who swiftly remove the monsters from Earth. Suspicious about the seemingly placid extra terrestrials, Gordon and EDF soldier Shin'ichi Ozaki (Masahiro Matsuoka) investigate their motives. Aided by Shin'ichi's love interest, UN molecular biologist Miyuki Otonashi (Rei Kikukawa), they eventually discover that the Xillians' apparent altruism is a front, which is soon discarded when they unleash the monsters once more.

With the Earth a smouldering ruin and pushed to the brink of utter annihilation by the combined forces of the monsters, the EDF fall back upon their last resort; Godzilla. Gordon takes his ship, the Gotengo, to Antarctica, the site of their last battle and where Big G lies dormant in an icy tomb. Unsurprisingly, upon release he takes up from where he left off, and storms after the Gotengo across the ravaged planet, confronting and smashing the bestial bad guys, as well as everything else in his path. Finally, as the EDF fight through a mass of alien fighter craft to storm the Xillian mothership, Godzilla comes face to face with Monster X, and engages his deadliest adversary.
When introduced to Toho's world of 'kaiju' (or 'kaiju eiga', meaning 'giant monster movie') as a youngster, I quickly became a huge fan of the original Shōwa period movies (all made before Emperor Hirohito's death in 1989, even though the second era of Godzilla films, the Heisei / Versus era, commenced in 1984) and was a steadfast viewer of many a late night double bill. I quickly came to love the utterly ridiculous yet compelling drama of the movies, from the incredible dubbing to the outlandish special effects. And of course, I was totally fascinated with the concept of giant monsters slugging it out, whether one on one, tag team style or in a no holds barred behemoth battle royale.

However the main thing I always loved was Godzilla's continuity of character. No matter what happened to him, whether during the lovable Shōwa period, the grittier yet still B-movieish Heisei era or the arguably post-modern, no nonsense Mireniamu (Millennium) series, he never, ever failed to deliver total and utter destruction wherever he went. This love for monstrous demolition was surely the offspring of a seed sown into the very depths of my being when, at the age of four, I sat agape during a double bill of Ray Harryhausen movies one Christmas, comprising It Came From Beneath The Sea (1955) and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), the latter of which was a direct inspiration to the superior Gojira (1954) original.

And for me, that continuity is what counts most in Godzilla - Final Wars; at its best, Big G almost casually saunters around the islands of Japan, wasting his monstrous adversaries whilst inflicting countless millions of pounds worth of collateral damage. Admittedly there's a long enough wait to see him get into the thick of the action, but when the time finally comes, it doesn't disappoint. The conflict is also aided by the photography, which simply concentrates on framing the blokes in the monster suit, with the upshot being that the main battles involving Godzilla, Monster X, Mothra and Gigan look superb.

'Final Wars' also heralds the return of monsters from earlier movies, although both Megalon and Jet Jaguar are conspicuous in their absence. It's great to witness the likes of King Seezer, Minya (aka son of Godzilla), Kumonga the giant spider and Manda the sea serpent back in action one last time, which will bring a smile to the face (and even a tear to the eye) of long standing fans. And the scene in which Godzilla gets his claws on the impostor who heretically tarnished his name in the woeful 1998 Roland Emmerich movie will raise a cheer as well. Clocking in at a mere 15 seconds (or less), Big-G contemptuously destroys Zilla, the CGI pretender to his throne, and in record time for any kaiju skirmish.

Indeed, the 'testimonial' feel of 'Final Wars' is further enhanced by the appearances of various actors from previous Godzilla titles, which is a nice touch by Ryuhei Kitamura, the director who rose to prominence with the zombie epic Versus. Kitamura also chooses latex predominantly over CGI for the film's effects, so the film certainly has the look of past titles rather than a flashy revamp.
However, it's not all great news; 'Final Wars' does suffer quite badly from simply being too long, dwelling far too much on the human characters than should be legal in a kaiju piece. Godzilla movies have always offered sub plots involving the human characters, whether fighting against bullies (Godzilla's Revenge, 1969) or avenging a fallen comrade (Godzilla Vs Megaguirus, 2000), but here it just doesn't work. There's also some blatant, unadulterated plagiarism of sequences from the Matrix series as well as Independence Day, which is just wrong. If I wanted to watch suspended actors trading slow motion kicks mid air, I certainly wouldn't watch a Godzilla film.

Another major criticism leveled at the piece was the soundtrack, which omits Akira Ifukube compositions except for a brief moment at the beginning, and on this point I have to concur. Composed in the main by Keith Emerson (formerly with Lake and Palmer, and scorer of Dario Argento's Inferno in 1980) along with Daisuke Yano and Nobuhiko Morino, the music throughout is not terrible but just doesn't suit a Godzilla movie. In its defence, 'Final Wars' simply follows the trend set by most of the Mireniamu movies, which sparsely employed Ifukube's stirring compositions, if at all. However the point still stands, and given the celebratory feel of the flick, it's criminal to miss out the man who gave us seminal compositions such as 'March of Godzilla'. And I won't even talk about Sum 41.

On a personal note, I also didn't appreciate the dig at the 'Gamera' series when a horrible little brat throws his 'Gamera' toy into the fire after a fight with a Big G figure. Godzilla he's certainly not, but the mid nineties 'Gamera' trilogy that capped the end of the Heisei epoch of kaiju are damn fine monster movies, and unworthy of such a cheap shot.

In closing then, is Godzilla: Final Wars worthy of bringing down the curtain on a truly remarkable and influential series spanning fifty years? Personally, I'd say yes, but only just. It has both minor flaws and major faults, but ultimately when the Big G is finally unleashed, the majority of the film's protracted, almost forgettable first hour or so, is effortlessly eclipsed by his monstrous presence. Plus, as a monster movie, it's superior to the more recent King Kong remake, especially when considering Kitamura's $20 million budget to the $208 million thrown at Peter Jackson by Hollywood executives. It's a final farewell to the greatest movie monster in the history of cinema, mainstream or otherwise; it's just such a pity that excessive emphasis was placed upon the supporting cast and their petty squabbles with the alien invaders. Godzilla should have trod on the lot of 'em before he set off into the sunset.