Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II


"What we've got is no pteronodon. This baby is something else." - Kazuma


release year: 1993
genre: Godzilla
viewing setting: home Bluray, 7/28/19

synopsis: Weary of Godzilla's rampages, the humans send their newly-built Mechagodzilla to stop him once and for all.

impressions:  This was the fifth Godzilla movie of the Heisei, or second, era (1984-1995) and the 20th overall. It came in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio and the DVD options for language and subtitle were again plentiful. For giant monsters, in addition to Godzilla, we have Rodan (who hadn't yet appeared in this era, and starts his life here as a giant pterodactyl) and Mechagodzilla (who looks cooler than he did in the last era) and also a baby Godzilla (technically a Godzillasaurus, according to the scientists featured in this film.) All of this reaffirms that the Heisei era was a reboot, ignoring all previous movies aside from the 1954 original. Anyway, some other things of note in this one include: recycling of Mecha-King Ghidorah's severed head from the ocean floor...the "Counter G Bureau"...they built a Mechagodzilla...G-Force (who has their own building, and some pretty intensive training)...a short initial skirmish between Godzilla and Rodan...the main guy just wandering into the lab and examining the giant egg...Miki still having connections to the ESP school, and using the ESP children to analyze the egg's plant material...it turns out that the egg didn't contain a pteranodon after all...Mechagodzilla is launched and flies away.

At this point we get the second battle, between Godzilla and Mechagodzilla. It really isn't much of a battle, because Mechagodzilla is loaded for bear; it has "mega buster" breath, laser cannon eyes, really good armor, a plasma grenade weapon in its belly (this apparently absorbs and redirects Godzilla's breath), paralyzer missiles, and a shock anchor that fires from its wrists. As might be expected, all of this overwhelms Godzilla and messes him up pretty badly; in fact, he's pretty much had it until some unexplained backlash zaps Mechagodzilla and knocks him down for the count, resulting in a sly look of triumph from Godzilla before he just wanders away. But he's not done by a long shot - perhaps pissed off that Mechagodzilla hurt him, he heads for Kyoto with destruction on his mind. Some planes and laser-armed tanks try and fail to stop him, and then he goes on a major rampage; for example, he spots Kyoto Tower and it's not tough to guess what will happen next. Reactions to Godzilla's arrival are varied; for some people, it's apparently just another day at the office, while others might have stuck around a little too long. Elsewhere, we learn that the baby Godzilla likes to eat fast food. And in G-force headquarters, they have come up with a new plan: to destroy Godzilla's second brain (located in his torso) which will theoretically stop him from walking. The weapon that will be used to do this is called...the "G Crusher." Back at the main characters' lab, the guy's developed a personal flying vehicle which they test (and crash) before ESP woman Miki and her ESP school girls show up to talk to baby Godzilla. Unfortunately, this somehow has the side effect of scaring him, which somehow attracts Rodan (who was presumably a far distance away, and was also presumably dead.) Now let's talk about Rodan, because some really weird stuff is happening to him now: he's covered in energy, then turns red and gains energy breath and stardust. It must be magic stardust. So he takes off to go find baby Godzilla, although it's unclear whether that's to save him or kill him. Speaking of that infant, he's airborne now, call sign "Lizard One". But Rodan's on the way, and things are exploding in his wake as he flies by; it turns out that all he ever wanted was that shipping container containing baby Godzilla (and the unfortunate Azusa.) Back at G-Force, they've not only repaired Mechagodzilla and added the G Crusher, but they've also added a docking mechanism for the Garuda ship, which Kazuma steals so he can fly it like he used to. It isn't long before Rodan (who's dropped the shipping container and is trying to get into it), Mechagodzilla, and the Garuda ship all converge, and Rodan's looking mighty surprised when confronted by Mechagodzilla...and then he starts the fight. That Rodan!

This is our third and final big battle, and it's long (about 23 minutes!) I'll revert to my older style for this final lap; noteworthy happenings from this great fight include but are not limited to: Garuda not lasting very long at all...Rodan playing dead...Rodan poking one of Mechagodzilla's eyes out...Rodan getting messed up pretty bad, maybe even being dead...Godzilla shows up late to the party...Mechagodzilla's breakdowns dring battles continue...a battle of the breaths...Godzilla casually walking through/over a baseball stadium...the realization that Godzilla is actually a little smaller than Mechagodzilla...Godzilla inflicting a severe beating, putting Mechagodzilla at "damage level 8"...Garuda operational again and used as a decoy...Godzilla getting really pissed off...Garuda attaching to Mechagodzilla to form Super Mechagodzilla!...tranquilizer missiles...another heavy bombardment of Godzilla, including proof that the G Crusher works...the baby Godzilla's roar waking Rodan up...Rodan using the last of his life energy to regenerate Godzilla's second brain before turning into magic gold star dust...now Godzilla is turbocharged...Mechagodzilla's armor melting...Godzilla just keeps on blasting, because with Mechagodzilla, too much is never enough..."damage level 10" reached, and that's it for Mechagodzilla...Miki uses telepathy on Godzilla, who takes baby Godzilla and wanders away into the ocean.

number in Godzilla series: 20

previous Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs Mothra

next Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs Space Godzilla

other giant monsters appearing in this one: Rodan, Mechagodzilla, Baby Godzilla

total giant monster battle time: a glorious 34 minutes total, with little cutting back and forth to humans and no recycled footage! this sets the new record!

acting: Main characters: Kazuma, the main guy, who's a pilot and mechanic/tinkerer...Azusa, his girlfriend who's some kind of scientist, and bonds with the baby Godzilla...Takuya and Yuri and Somezaki, all part of the small team that pilots Mechagodzilla...and of course Miki, ESP girl, back again for more ESP action as part of G-Force.

final word: Superior special effects and perhaps the greatest quantity of battle in any of these movies to date.

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