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Godzilla Goodness: GODZILLA, MOTHRA, AND KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK (2001)

Despite that awesome title, and the reappearance of some old familiar monster friends, this stand-alone feature is easily the worst in the Millennium era. #28: GMK.

Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (usually shortened to GMK) sounds like it would be a worthy successor to something like Destroy All Monsters. It features the Millennium versions of Mothra and King Ghidorah, and also the appearance of Baragon, not seen since Destroy All Monsters. Oddly, Godzilla was also redesigned in this film, and he looks a lot like the Heisei Godzilla, but with bigger fangs and creepy silver eyes. For a while, I was struggling to reconcile the continuity of this film with the rest of the Millennium films, but I ultimately came to the conclusion that GMK is its own animal. This is a stand-alone Godzilla film that does not link up with any story, and is only included in the Millennium films because of its date of release. The only film it refers to is – much to my chagrin – the 1998 American film.

What’s more, the tone of GMK is different than any of the Godzilla films so far. This film is clearly trying to skew more kid-friendly, so it feels trifling, safe, and ready for Saturday morning. Not that the Godzilla films aren’t for kids (I have been commenting constantly on how the stronger films in the series feel like they were written by a 9-year-old), and they’re typically appropriate for all ages, they are typically more mayhem-centric than humor centric. When these films skew too young, they tend to suffer. This is why All Monsters Attack is the worst in the series. Also it had Minilla, but that’s an argument for another time.

 

The ultimate conclusion: The best genre action films should be acceptable and readable to people between the ages of 8 and 14 (this criterion can include R-rated films, by the way). Too old, and you’re taking yourself too seriously. Too young, and you’re only going to appeal to that age group. It’s a golden window, and your favorite genre films were probably consumed during those ages. Defy me on this point. I dare you.

GMK, meanwhile, is not only kid-friendly, but a little too sealed off from the Godzilla universe. It feels like a tribute reel more than anything. It’s an honorific more than a proper actioner. Indeed, those who are well-versed in the kaiju universe will be thrilled as the dozen-or-so cameos peppered throughout the film. Not only are there actors from previous Godzilla movies, but actors from Gamera films, Ultraman films, and monster performers out of costume. I don’t know kaiju films well enough to get a thrill from the cameos, but I saw the vibe happening. Whenever a bike shop owner or ancillary pilot walked by, you could sense the air of tribute around them.

The three monsters who fight Godzilla in this film are – in this film and this film only – considered Protector Monsters who spring into action when Godzilla gets out of hand. Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon, then, are the good guys and Godzilla is the bad guy. Most of the action involves monsters fighting in wooded areas.

 

There is something else absent from GMK which may reveal why it was made the way it was: there are few shots of giant buildings toppling over. GMK, it needs to be remembered, came out in December of 2001, only a few months after the infamous World Trade Center incident. As such, many films around the world had to change their tune. Terrorism could not, at least for a while, be used as a simple plot point or comic villain, and the destruction of cities was no longer fun. Indeed, even when Man of Steel hit theaters, audiences were still shocked by the 9/11 parallels, so we may never be over that particular imagery. I’m guessing GMK, rather than making a tragic, heavy-handed political parallel to 9/11, opted to skew silly. I guess I prefer this approach to a preachy one, but this approach just isn’t very good. We needed it, though, to grow through a tough time.

By the next film, we’ll be back on our feet, the tone will shift back to the realm of the 9-year-old, and we’ll welcome back our old mechanical friend Mechagodzilla in his coolest iteration yet.

Up next: Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)

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Comments

  1. eric says:

    i actually thought this was one of the least kid friendly godzilla movies. not saying its the best but i don’t see how you came to that conclusion.

  2. Ian Greene says:

    All the fights took place in wooded areas? WHAT? The final battle was set in Yokohoma. Last I checked, Yokohoma was full of buildings, streets and a fucking bridge. HOW COULD YOU MISS THE FRICKING BRIDGE!?

  3. spankzilla85 says:

    Normally I try to give divergeant opinions the benefit of the doubt, but the basic reasoning in this review is so inherently flawed that it kind of makes my brain hurt.

    Seriously? “Trying to skew more kid-friendly”? This is like reading the EGM review of Colonial Marines – someone didn’t even watch the movie or just barely skimmed it.

    Jeez, I hope the other critics actually watched the films.

  4. Adam says:

    I’d actually have to say this is one of the best of the Millenium series, my opinion I course. The human plot is fun and quirky (and a little heavy-handed when it comes to Godzilla himself), the monster battles are EPIC, and in a rare turn for a Godzilla movie the CGI is actually pretty good. And c’mon, it was more than a little chilling when right before Godzilla uses his breath the first time, they cut away to a school and the explosion created looks like a mushroom cloud. Most of the plot was silly, but Godzilla representing retribution against the Japanese for the atrocities they committed during WWII was incredibly dark

    • Joe Reil says:

      Agreed on all counts. I think this one gets short shrift from some quarters because it’s such a tonal and stylistic difference than the other Millennium movies.

      What’s odd (to me) is that that’s also true of Final Wars, but a lot of people like that one (I don’t really care for it).

      More on that when we get there, I guess. 🙂

  5. Joe Reil says:

    I think you’re giving this one too little credit. It’s not my favorite of the Millennium series, (that would be Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla), but I think it is pretty good. 
    It takes a while to get going, but once it does the battles are big and epic with a lot of great sequences.

    I don’t mind that it’s clearly its own thing and separate from the other movies. G2K and Megaguiras are probably in continuity with each other and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Tokyo: SOS clearly are, but other than that Millennium wasn’t really about continuity and it’s never clear whether those two “pairs” of movies are connected to each other or not. I’d also say that Final Wars is just as much an outsider as GMK is – it just goes for the heroic Godzilla instead of the villainous Godzilla.

    Lastly, I think “tribute” is a perfect word for it, because as far as I know, that’s essentially what it was.

  6. Mark Bran says:

    I love it when TOHO use’s the old suits it’s like we kept this crap from 1960’s just use it now !