Doing it right by doing it wrong
Sequels are a funny business. Viewers want something new while still enjoying the familiarity of the previous movie. Most sequels don't work, often being either seen as overly derivative or too much of a deviation from the original work. There are some movies, however, that somehow become so entrenched in the mind of the viewing public that they can have endless sequels made of them. The elements of the film have become so ingrained that half of the sequel's enjoyment comes from seeing how the familiar plot elements are re-mixed for a new film. The Cold War male power fantasy of James Bond has become a cottage industry to such an extent that new films are still being made today. Another character that has become so iconic that he's survived his initial metaphorical meaning to take on a life of his own is Godzilla. From several hopelessly camp sequels to the multi-million dollars hacks Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, Godzilla has somehow survived it all. So how does Godzilla 2000, the latest in the never ending string of Godzilla sequels, hold up to it predecessors? The best way to judge this is to see how well it uses the familiar plot elements:
Godzilla as Godzilla:
Instead of a puppy-like friend to children or an overly slick creation of a computer, Godzilla is back to looking rubbery and being mad as hell. The newest Godzilla suit isn't quite as expressive as some of the previous suits -even if the only thing Godzilla expresses is various levels of rage- but it looks like a guy in a suit so it passes muster. Also of note was the new way Godzilla blasted out his atomic breath. While in some movies it looks as if he's spraying a fire extinguisher at his opponents, he now gurgles up a mouth full of plasma powered phlegm before he cuts loose with his death-breath.
Human sub-plot:
With the introduction of two Godzilla-centric groups who, respectively, either want to study or destroy Godzilla, one would think that the movie's plot would be focused on Godzilla. Instead the two groups spend most of their time bickering with each other or discussing the UFO that was currently puttering about Tokyo. While the leader of the civilian scientists -the group that wants to study Godzilla- is unremarkable, Mitsuo Katagiri, the head government official -who wants to stop Godzilla at all costs- is hysterically overdone. Katagiri [played by Hiroshi Abe] swaggers around in snappy black suits, glowers his way through every scene, has a dubbed voice that makes him sound like a cartoon super-villain, and has generals who work for him that quote Dr. Strangelove when they give him advice. Added to this mix are an annoying kid and a nosy female reporter type who hasn't been seen in popular culture since the early '60s meaning that this particular film has nearly two and tiny moth-centric twins being toted about in a suitcase to make a full house. Still, the primary function of human characters in a Godzilla movie are to keep the movie moving -regardless of whether it makes sense or not- up until the final battle when the entire cast gathers on a rooftop to watch Godzilla slug it out, a job these characters successfully manage to pull off.
Massive destruction of miniatures:
Depending on the film's budget, Godzilla has fought it out in some pretty barren landscapes. This time, however, he got to stomp around a very nicely done mock up of Tokyo and reduce it to great looking rubble. Everything blows up real good in the film, which is very satisfying to the viewer's inner id.
Giving a new meaning to Godzilla:
Godzilla has traditionally been a stand-in for nuclear angst, so in this film he is seen as a counterbalance to the rampant use of nuclear and other less than safe forms of energy, or something like that. This leads into...
Giving a new incomprehensible meaning to Godzilla:
Trouble is, there is only so much metaphor you can attach to a big monster. Seeing as how Godzilla films have rarely lacked enthusiasm, so nothing is ever underplayed, even a shaky message. At the end of Godzilla 2000 a character waxes philosophic about Godzilla and goes so far as to state "there's a bit of Godzilla inside each of us" right before Godzilla blasts the Tokyo skyline to smithereens. Is he saying that we all share in the sins of the world that created Godzilla? Is he saying that there's a part of us that wants to blow up everyone and everything that gets in our way? I haven't a clue what he was talking about, and the incomprehensibility of the line coupled with the bizarre scene it was in -Godzilla rampaging through the city in total silence- makes the film for me.
As you can see, Godzilla 2000 manages to do a lot of things right, or at least right in a Godzilla sort of way. In the end Godzilla 2000 proves that Toho is still dedicated to making low budget, off-kilter, and entertaining giant monster movies.
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