THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS: PART 28 GODZILLA ~ FINAL WARS

Preface: I love Godzilla. I have been a life long Godzilla fan since age 4. So, just for fun, we're going to go through all of the Godzilla films and review them in a multi-part article I shall refer to as THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS. We will explore every film in the franchise, the good, the bad, and the ugly. So without further adieu... starting at the end and working our way to the beginning. Here we go!

Part 28, GODZILLA: FINAL WARS was a disappointment. Due to declining ticket sales for the last two Godzilla movies Toho Studios decided to pull the plug on the 3rd part of the 50th anniversary trilogy. No more Godzilla Vs Godzilla. The premise of the 3rd part film was to have the Japanese government clone their own Godzilla and from there we were going to have a Godzilla Vs Godzilla Clone rumble! But that was cancelled. Instead we were handed a Destroy All Monsters remake for the Matrix generation.

Godzilla Final Wars feels like a mix between Power Rangers and the Matrix. It boasts the largest cast of Kaiju ever assembled in one movie but their costumes are the worst looking out of all the franchise. The kaiju cast isn't all that impressive either (Ebirah, Kamacaras, Kumonga, Minya... who really wants to see those kaiju again looking worse than ever?) The fight scenes are like wrestling matches and the monsters have never been more anthropomorphized. The result is something akin to the 1970's Godzilla films (the lowest point in the franchise in my opinion). Kids love this movie because it's fast and full of action. But let's not kid ourselves. This movie kinda sucks.

The franchise was moving further away from rehashed plots but this one dives right back in, a blatant Monster Zero/Destroy All Monsters repeat. The only cool thing about it is the opening title sequence and the returning actors from the original series. And some cool stock footage of Varan, Baragon, Gezora, Gaira, Titanosaurus, and other kaiju that didn't actually make it into the film (kaiju I would have really wanted to see). Gigan is pretty cool though.

All in all a poor send off for the King of the Monsters. This one ranks pretty low on my scales and in my opinion is one of the most disappointing films in the franchise.

We will divide these films into two categories: Adolescence and Transcendence. Adolescence will be the category reserved for Godzilla films and kaiju films that fail to make the jump from childhood to adulthood. Many films exist that one enjoys in both aspects of life. The Goonies for example is a film that retains its quality from when you first saw it as child to when you watched it again as an adult. Given sometimes if you never watched the film as a child and you watch it as an adult you just don't get it. But at the same time there are those films you loved as a kid but when you watched it as an adult you couldn't believe you ever like the movie.

Overall Ranking: 4 out of 10
Category: Adolescence