THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS PART 24: GODZILLA VS MEGAGUIRUS

Part 24, GODZILLA VS MEGAGUIRUS, the second film in the Millennium series (third series) of Godzilla films showcased a monster barely remembered from a classic kaiju film and took the monster further down its evolutionary path into something Godzilla fans and the kaiju universe had never seen before.

In the 1956 scifi classic RODAN, the movie begins with a couple of miners disappearing. We then discover these men have been eaten by 12 foot long giant insects called Meganulons. Giant prehistoric dragonfly larvae the size of a car. They terrorize a small mining village in Japan, killing many and causing havoc abound. Halfway through the film they are forgotten as an even larger threat emerges, a threat that eats the Meganulons for breakfast, RODAN.

44 years later the Meganulons return to the screen taking on their largest role ever in the greatest battle they will ever face, a battle against Godzilla! In this film they aren't from Earth. In an effort to destroy Godzilla, Japan's leading scientists develop a Black Hole weapon, that when fired will open a wormhole in time space connecting directly to a black hole in deep space. The hope is that when fired it will swallow Godzilla whole, ending his threat forever. When testing the weapon an unforeseen event occurs... something comes out of the wormhole. It gestates within an egg, hatches, then multiplies. The Meganulon slaughters humans and lays its eggs inside them. They multiply and sprout wings, transforming into Meganula. Thousands of them swarm Godzilla, stealing his energy, and transferring it to a kaiju size beast, the final form, MEGAGUIRUS.

The film isn't one of my favorites due solely to the fight scenes between Godzilla and Megaguirus. They harken back to the 1970's Godzilla films, a very low point in the series in my opinion. When I was a kid I loved the late 60's and 70's Godzilla films for how fun and kid friendly they were. This film is strange in that it has a scene of extreme violence and then goofy fight scenes between the monsters. But seeing a long forgotten kaiju return and revamped (much like Moguera in Godzilla Vs Spacegodzilla) makes this a worthy entry in the franchise.

Megaguirus is a very cool design similar to the kaiju Battra in many ways. I wish there would have been a few more scenes showcasing the Meganulons though, some sort of homage to their appearance in Rodan. The first time they kill humans in the film is shockingly graphic, especially for a Godzilla movie. As it stands that scene is an anomaly as no other part in the film goes quite that far. More scenes like that and better constructed fight sequences would have pushed the film to a whole new level. Check it out and see whether you agree or not.

 

Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10

Category: This one is hard to peg whether or not its a kid movie or transcends. I'm leaning more towards an Adolescence category.