Overall verdict: 6/10
The Good: great special effects, detailed monster designs, touches on deeper themes, retroactively creates a shared universe
The Bad: unlikable characters, bland plot, repetitive music, cartoonish fight scenes, mediocre acting from main cast
***********Review***********
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS has the honor of being the only “sequel” to exist in the Millennium era of the long running Godzilla franchise. Taking place a year after the events of GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA, Tokyo SOS sees the return of not only fan favorite Mothra but of late actor Hiroshi Koizumi reprising the role of Dr Shinichi Chujo from the 1961 movie MOTHRA.
With the Mechagodzilla named Kiryu undergoing hasty repairs in preparation for Godzilla’s return, Mothra’s fairies, the Shobijin, appear to Dr Chujo, his grandson, and his nephew Yoshito, with a warning that using the bones of the previous Godzilla in the construction of Kiryu was an affront to the natural order of the universe and if the bones are returned to the sea, Mothra would take Kiryu’s place as Japan’s defender.
Of course the Japanese government is reluctant to give up the one weapon capable of defeating Godzilla, and have much less faith in Mothra’s capabilities. As Godzilla returns to wreak havoc, those capabilities will be put to the test alongside an increasingly unstable Kiryu that is still haunted by its memories of its death back in 1954.
In its overall premise, TOKYO SOS shows a lot of potential. It goes back to the “humanity’s sins returning to punish them” theme that was prevalent in the first Godzilla movie. It also promises an exploration of two common contrasting reactions to disasters: faith in the divine (embodied by the fairies asking for japan to trust in Mothra) and a pride driven reliance on human capability and self determinism (embodied by the government’s refusal to scrap Mechagodzilla).
Where the film could have delved deep into these themes, deconstructing both or showing how they can coexist hand in hand, it instead drops the ball in favour of cliched storytelling and characters.
Rather than continuing the previous movie’s character development, those already shallow characters are ditched in favour of new though much less likable characters. Our main protagonist is Yoshito Chujo, a hot headed mechanic in the Kiryu maintenance team. He had a quirk for understanding machines more than people and.....that’s about it.
The movie sets up a relationship triangle between Yoshito, former mechanic turned pilot Azusa, and another arrogant male pilot Akiba which.....goes no where. You get a couple of scenes involving fiery male tension and that’s it. Not much in the way of resolution other than an arc about how our lowly mechanic wins the respect of the glorious pilots (an arc that was already done in GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA).
In terms of acting, the older actors do a much better job. Almost as if the younger actors portraying the young adult characters, especially Azusa, were hired more for their looks than ability. The characters they portray come across as generally unlikable with only Yoshito having some redeeming qualities.
Visually, this movie upholds the standards set by its predecessor: beautiful imagery, detailed miniatures and monster suits, near flawless visual compositing. It also upholds the flaws, retaining the overly choreographed cartoony battles and the stiff movements of the monsters.
What I appreciated the most of GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS, was how it and it’s predecessor GODZILLA AGAINST MEGHAGODZILLA is the first Godzilla movie to retroactively establish a proper “shared cinematic universe” by bringing in old Toho movies like MOTHRA and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS as part of its continuity. This stands in contrast to the Showa era and heisei era Godzilla movies which were just sequels to each other and not actual “shared” cinematic universes in the way we know them now.
Other than that this movie is a mixed bag for me. For every positive such as the special effects, the shared universe lore building, and a return to the darker themes of the original GODZILLA movie, there are equal number of negatives in the cliched storyline, unlikable characters, and cartoonish fights.
GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS has the honor of being the only “sequel” to exist in the Millennium era of the long running Godzilla franchise. Taking place a year after the events of GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA, Tokyo SOS sees the return of not only fan favorite Mothra but of late actor Hiroshi Koizumi reprising the role of Dr Shinichi Chujo from the 1961 movie MOTHRA.
With the Mechagodzilla named Kiryu undergoing hasty repairs in preparation for Godzilla’s return, Mothra’s fairies, the Shobijin, appear to Dr Chujo, his grandson, and his nephew Yoshito, with a warning that using the bones of the previous Godzilla in the construction of Kiryu was an affront to the natural order of the universe and if the bones are returned to the sea, Mothra would take Kiryu’s place as Japan’s defender.
Of course the Japanese government is reluctant to give up the one weapon capable of defeating Godzilla, and have much less faith in Mothra’s capabilities. As Godzilla returns to wreak havoc, those capabilities will be put to the test alongside an increasingly unstable Kiryu that is still haunted by its memories of its death back in 1954.
In its overall premise, TOKYO SOS shows a lot of potential. It goes back to the “humanity’s sins returning to punish them” theme that was prevalent in the first Godzilla movie. It also promises an exploration of two common contrasting reactions to disasters: faith in the divine (embodied by the fairies asking for japan to trust in Mothra) and a pride driven reliance on human capability and self determinism (embodied by the government’s refusal to scrap Mechagodzilla).
Where the film could have delved deep into these themes, deconstructing both or showing how they can coexist hand in hand, it instead drops the ball in favour of cliched storytelling and characters.
Rather than continuing the previous movie’s character development, those already shallow characters are ditched in favour of new though much less likable characters. Our main protagonist is Yoshito Chujo, a hot headed mechanic in the Kiryu maintenance team. He had a quirk for understanding machines more than people and.....that’s about it.
The movie sets up a relationship triangle between Yoshito, former mechanic turned pilot Azusa, and another arrogant male pilot Akiba which.....goes no where. You get a couple of scenes involving fiery male tension and that’s it. Not much in the way of resolution other than an arc about how our lowly mechanic wins the respect of the glorious pilots (an arc that was already done in GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA).
Visually, this movie upholds the standards set by its predecessor: beautiful imagery, detailed miniatures and monster suits, near flawless visual compositing. It also upholds the flaws, retaining the overly choreographed cartoony battles and the stiff movements of the monsters.
What I appreciated the most of GODZILLA: TOKYO SOS, was how it and it’s predecessor GODZILLA AGAINST MEGHAGODZILLA is the first Godzilla movie to retroactively establish a proper “shared cinematic universe” by bringing in old Toho movies like MOTHRA and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS as part of its continuity. This stands in contrast to the Showa era and heisei era Godzilla movies which were just sequels to each other and not actual “shared” cinematic universes in the way we know them now.
Other than that this movie is a mixed bag for me. For every positive such as the special effects, the shared universe lore building, and a return to the darker themes of the original GODZILLA movie, there are equal number of negatives in the cliched storyline, unlikable characters, and cartoonish fights.
***********Review***********
Entertainment: B+
Story: C-
Acting: C+
Acting: C+
Characters: C-
Music: C+
Replay value: B+
"Brains": C+
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