Mini Tokyo

Let's just put it right out on the table: I love Godzilla movies.

I'm not a devotee of Japanese cinema, nor am I fond of movie monsters in general, but I just can't get enough of Gojira and his Monster Island pals. I've seen piles of them, from the 1954 original on late night cable, to Godzilla 2000 in theatrical release, although I never saw that American version with Matthew Broderick. Oh, Ferris Bueller, what have you wrought?

This past weekend brought me a chance to view Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, which is at least the third matchup of these two characters. It came out in 2002, and while it had some brilliant special effects and a bit of well done CGI, the monsters were still two dudes in suits lumbering over a miniature version of Tokyo and swatting toy planes from the sky. This is one of the reasons I particularly enjoy the Godzilla flicks made in the past 10-15 years -- the anachronism of plastic, rubber, and scale models mixed in with cutting edge film technology makes me smile.

The cast of characters was typical (Do-gooder Scientist, Sympathetic Hero/Love Interest, Sensitive Kid), and the plot was standard Godzilla flick. I was slightly disappointed in the relative lack of monster on monster fighting, but in general quite enjoyed it. Thumbs up!

I've been hitting up Netflix for some more Rubber Monster Movies, but I'm having trouble finding any that I haven't already seen plenty of times... That Toho Productions needs to get on this immediately!