Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
Release Date: 13th December 2003
New Monster: Kamoebas
Description: Big dead turtle
Origin: Washed up on shore.
Destruction: Um, he’s dead.
Ancillary Monsters: Mothra, Mechagodzilla/Kiryu
Actor(s): Tsutomu Kitagawa (Godzilla), Motokuni Nakagawa (Mechagodzilla)
The dynamic is pretty clear, now that we’re on the penultimate Godzilla film. With one exception, King Ghidorah is always bad, Godzilla is of dubious moral alliance, Mechagodzilla is only as good as the person controlling him, and, without exception, Mothra is always benevolent. Indeed, Mothra only fights monsters who mess with her first, and has, as in the case of the film with Battra in it, even change the moral allegiance of a monster from evil to good. Mothra also adds the additional bonkers element of the miniature twin fairies who speak in unison, and inform full-sized humans of Mothra’s plans. The fairies have, in the past been played by pop duos – often twin sisters, but not always. Tokyo S.O.S. is the first Godzilla film wherein the Mothra twins are not played by sisters or a pop duo. Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka, however, were both winners in a Japanese beauty pageant called Miss Cinderella, though, so I guess they at least have that in common. Call me a purist, but I think the Mothra twins should always be played by twin sisters or pop duos. Who would play the twins in an American version of Mothra? t.A.T.u.? Garfunkle and Oats?
Tokyo S.O.S. is a direct sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, and follows the continued fate of Kiryu when Godzilla reappears, ready to do more fight. The relationship between these two mirrors – tonally and in terms of story – the two Mechagodzilla films from the Showa Era of the 1970s; The first is awesome, the second is still coasting on the awesome echoes. Bad things are afoot when a giant monster called Kamoebas washes up on the shores of Japan, clawed to death by Godzilla. Kamoebas is an ancillary monster from Toho’s 1970 film Space Amoeba, and his presence here is little more than a cheap cameo. Kamoebas can serve, however, as connective tissue.
Meanwhile, another team of ambitious engineers and pilots are dealing with the same drama from the last film. Is Mechagodzilla too powerful? Will it gain consciousness? Akane (Yumiko Shaku) reappears to give Kiryu good wishes. The main character is Dr. Chujo (Hiroshi Koizumi) who is reprising his role from Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964). He was also in Godzilla Raids Again (1955). His son is a precocious scamp who figures out how to summon Mothra in a time of crisis. Godzilla attacks. It is a time of crisis. Mothra and Godzilla have a fight, and Kiryu joins the fray, armed with extra missiles, and something called a HyperMaser, which is essentially an enormous lightning gun on Kiryu’s chest.
There is a lot of talk in the Godzilla movies about the sadness of using brute force and weaponry to subdue a monster, and – in dialogue anyway – there is a lot of lamentation of the destruction. This is par for the course, but it’s also ironic, seeing as these films (especially in the Millennium Era) all bank on futuristic weapons and endless destructive mayhem. The destruction may be lamentable, but watching buildings topple over is one of the main reasons we watch Godzilla movies.
Kiryu does develop a consciousness in this film, and in the finale, Kiryu saves his human pilot (Miho Yoskioka) by flying Godzilla out to sea. Tokyo S.O.S. is pretty darned cool, although it does seem like a slightly paler version of the film that preceded it. There’s more CGI this time (Mothra’s long shots are all in CGI), but there is still that sense of grace to the monster fights that allows them to be big and imposing, yet still fluid in their movement.
I kind of wish Masaaki Tezuka had continued to direct, as he made my favorite films of the Millennium Era, ensuring that Godzilla was badass and destructive, but still fun. I think Toho knew that it was time to retire their monster. It had been 50 years, and they wanted to go out on something special. Unfortunately, the final Godzilla film was a bit of a mess…
