Godzilla 2000: Millennium
Katagiri: "What's wrong with killing Godzilla?"
Yuji: "Godzilla needs to be studied for biological science. He's a rare creature. He's a gold mine of mystery."
release year: 1999
genre: Godzilla
viewing setting: home Bluray, 8/18/19
synopsis: The government must deal with a returning Godzilla, and they both must deal with a weird giant space rock.
impressions:
This was the first entry in the Millennium era of Godzilla movies, and also the first one after the American 1998 version. It ignored all previous continuity and was a direct sequel to the 1954 original, making it the second Japanese reboot of the franchise. Notable elements include: the luckiest lighthouse guard in the world...a pretty ferocious-looking Godzilla...the "Godzilla Prediction Network" worldwide...a view from your car that you never want to have...Godzilla just stops chasing the car for no reason...ridiculously large dorsal spines...lots of rampaging destruction...some deep-sea exploration...a super-powerful government department...the quote "As we know from experience, when Godzilla is attacked, he advances instead of retreating." from a general...the raising of the undersea meteorite (which pops the flotation ballons and then keeps rising)...a weird floating rock..."full metal missiles"...an awful lot of tanks...and helicopters...a snaggletoothed Godzilla...at long last, helicopters that don't get too close to Godzilla and get swatted out of the air...tanks and wreckage that look more realistic...the full metal missiles, ready to launch...these things are really taking chunks out of Godzilla...meanwhile, the giant rock FLIES AWAY (which shouldn't be surprising, after it floated previously)...it flies to Godzilla, in fact, and starts a fight...Godzilla displays his most fiery breath ever...and then quietly disappears from the fight...scientists discover that Godzilla has a super healing factor, and they name it "Regeneration G-1"...the military continues its overconfidence when facing the flying rock..."electromagnetic cables"...the rock turns out to be a spaceship...it zaps helicopters and then lands on a skyscraper...Godzilla's swimming underwater...the UFO is hacking all the computers...but the humans are hacking it at the same time!...the building is blown up as scheduled...the UFO sends weird messages to all the computers...Godzilla shows up for a rematch...the UFO grows tendrils and pulls Godzilla around...maybe this UFO is turning into a monster...nope, that wasn't it...Godzilla trashes the UFO...then the UFO turns into this thing...Godzilla uses his jaws in actual combat...and now the trashed UFO is back somehow...so Godzilla destroys it again...and uses his tail sweep attack (it's been a while)...the UFO is trying to clone Godzilla...and it has a Venus flytrap mouth...but Godzilla has a major breath outburst and destroys the monster...Katagiri just flips out and yells at Godzilla...while walking away, Godzilla begins torching the city.
All in all, much of the battle didn't make sense. The UFO's behavior wasn't always consistent, and it would seemingly get destroyed and then just return.
number in Godzilla series: 24
previous Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla (1998)
next Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla vs Megaguirus
other giant monsters appearing in this one: the space rock (UFO) and then later its monster form
total giant monster battle time: about 17 minutes (counting the time fighting the UFO)
acting: Main characters: Yuji, the Godzilla prediction guy and kind of a quirky protagonist...Io, his super smart daughter, kind of a 10-year-old Japanese Mr. Spock who operates the equipment, cooks, is in charge of the financials, can get places on her own, and thinks of ways to trick bad guys...Yuki, the lady reporter who helps out despite some questionable fashion choices...Katagiri, the "deputy secretary of the interior" and also head of the CCI, who shows little to no emotion during all situations...Professor Miyasaka, the other CCI guy.
final word: It had its moments but wasn't one of the best.
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