KAIJUOLOGY: BIOLLANTE

Subject: Biollante

Documentation: Godzilla Vs Biollante (1989)

History: After the 1984 devastation wrought on Japan by Godzilla, special forces units from America's Bio-Major, Saradian assassins, and Japan's own Self Defense Forces collected Godzilla flesh that had scraped off during the attack. A man by the name of Genshiro Shiragami, working for the Saradian Government, researched the possibility of genetically crossing plant biology with Godzilla cells. Bio-Major bombed the research facility destroying the lab and killing his daughter Erika.

In the wake of his daughter's death Dr. Shiragami believed her soul to be trapped in the form of a rose. He moved back to his native country of Japan and vowed never to work with Godzilla cells again. The Japanese government, fearful of Godzilla's return, approaches him to design an Anti-Nuclear-Energy-Bacteria ~ a weapon derived from Godzilla's own cells to kill him. To save and resurrect his daughter he splices the Godzilla cells with that of a Rose's cells. The cells multiply growing into a kaiju size rose with vines and tentacles with Venus fly-trap mouths.

Dr. Shiragami names the hybrid kaiju/plant Biollante after a mythological beast. Sensing their shared DNA Biollante calls out to Godzilla. Their first encounter ends with Biollante's incineration. In a blaze of flame Biollante's form disintegrates into golden dust floating through the air, a sort of kaiju pollen. Biollante later reforms into a massive toothy fly-trap larger than Godzilla himself.

Round Two. Biollante spears Godzilla's chest and hand clean through with her vines. She then spews forth an acid spray. She even tries to swallow him whole. But even with her new menacing form she is no match for Godzilla's radioactive breath. Godzilla retreats to the ocean and Biollante burns up in another fiery inferno.

Review: I love this monster! Godzilla vs Biollante is one of my favorite films in the entire franchise due in no small part to the incredible creature design. Biollante is the crowning achievement of special effects monsters and suitimation. Done entirely with practical special effects (which sadly limits what the creature can do) but is all the more stunning and convincing because of it.

Threat Level: 3 out of 10 (She is primarily a positive force thus a low threat)

HERO WORSHIP: MS. MARVEL

Hero: Ms. Marvel
Real Name: Carol Danvers
Alias: Binary, Warbird, Captain Marvel

Breakdown: Carol Danvers came from an average household with not a whole lot of money. To go to college she joined the Air-Force and paid her way through. Her training did not stop at piloting. The government trained her in espionage and hand to hand combat as well. This led to her eventually acquiring a job for NASA as the security chief at Cape Canaveral. It was there that she met a man named Mar-Vell who would later change her life forever. An alien from a distant planet, Captain Mar-Vell was assigned to scout Earth and ready it for invasion by his alien race, the Kree. He worked in disguise at Cape Canaveral and upon meeting Carol his life changed too. He was the first real super hero she had ever seen and she was a beautiful, strong, convicted woman similar to a loved one waiting for him with his fellow Kree.

Mar-Vell rebelled against his own people, fighting to save Carol and the Earth from destruction. She became enamored with him, a love in bloom. In a battle with Kree madman Yon-Rogg and Captain Marvel, Carol was blasted with cosmic rays from a machine called the Psyche-Magnitron. This machine, the pinnacle of Kree science, grafted Mar-Vell's powers and Kree heritage onto Carol's. She awoke with the powers of flight, super-strength, a seventh sense, and photonic energy blasts.

Review: So, I used to not care at all about the Marvel Comic Books character Carol Danvers. I was aware of Ms. Marvel. I knew the X-Men character Rogue stole Ms. Marvel's powers to gain the ability to fly and her super strength. That was it. I could've cared less.

Then I started reading Marvel's CAPTAIN MARVEL and he quickly became one of my favorite characters. Through him I learned more about Carol. She first appeared in Marvel Super Heroes #13, Captain Marvel's second appearance. She was a regular character in his book and an eventual love interest of his. Then I learned she received her powers directly from him. Today she has taken up his moniker as Captain Marvel. She's a part of his legacy. The more I read the more I liked her.

Marvel has so few leading ladies out there. Storm, Rogue, She-Hulk, Invisible Woman, Spider-Woman, Elektra, Black Widow, and more lesser known characters. All of them are great characters in their own right but none of them really stand tall on their own. Storm and Elektra maybe are the closest. But they're nothing like DC's Wonder Woman. Her and Catwoman are probably the biggest female names in comic books.

Carol is Marvel's great leading lady. She has the potential for greatness and has had some success. Her being a derivative of a male super-hero hurts her some but since then she has come into her own. It took her quite some time to get there and a lot of changes too. Her original adventures started off strong but ended rather poorly. From there she transformed into a space-fairing super hero called BINARY and joined the fun loving space pirates called the STARJAMMERS. She spent more time as Binary than Ms. Marvel for time. Then she came back with a drinking problem and anger issues and changed her super hero name once again to WARBIRD.

Carol had become so convoluted that very few people knew her history and even less cared about her as a character. It wasn't until the mid 2000's when she finally came back and reestablished herself as the leading lady of the Marvel Universe. The 2006 volume of Ms. Marvel represents a benchmark in her character's evolution. For essential reading of Carol Danvers here's what I'd recommend:

Captain Marvel Vol. 1
Captain Marvel Vol. 2
Essential Ms. Marvel
Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol 7
Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol 8
X-Men Spotlight On... The Starjammers #1 & 2
Avengers: Operation Galactic Storm
Ms. Marvel Vol. 1
Ms Marvel Vol. 2
Ms Marvel vols 3-9 by Brian Reed
Captain Marvel: In Pursuit of Flight
Captain Marvel Vol. 2 Down
Avengers: The Enemy Within
Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster, More

I actually really enjoyed her stint as Binary with the Starjammers. The Ms Marvel stories written by Chris Claremont are all solid. Ms. Marvel's first run, issues 1-23, Marvel Team-Up #62, 76, & 77 are essential too. Currently she is going by Captain Marvel and is in a new awesome costume. Here and now as Captain Marvel I feel she has the potential to really come into her own and become the best super hero for the Marvel Universe.

Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10

THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS PART 26: GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA

Part 26, GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA, sets into motion a trilogy building up to Godzilla's 50th anniversary in 2004. A mechanized armor is built around the bones of the original Godzilla creating the first true Godzilla Cyborg, KIRYU ~ the 3rd Mechagodzilla and a unique kaiju in his own right.

This film focuses on the Earth's Self-Defense Forces more intently than any other. It manages to separate itself from the previous incarnations of Mechagodzilla and establish a military unit and hero that you actually care for and want to see win. In a wicked cool turn of events, the old Godzilla bones within Kiryu possess the armor and turns MechaG evil! Ultimately they regain control of Kiryu and the final epic showdown is worth every penny. 

I liked the original Mechagodzilla from 1974. I didn't care very much for his 1993 reincarnation. But I think Kiryu is a nice blend of both. He's not as cool as a souless alien kaiju killing machine but he has WAY more going for him than the United Nations Mecha from 1993. And just like the original MechaG, he gets a sequel!

Overall Ranking: 5 out 10
Category: Transcendence

THE METAL WILL LIVE ON: BABYMETAL

What the heck? Yeah, that's what I said when I was first introduced to a band called BABYMETAL. My buddies introduced me to this group, the latest and greatest sensation in Japanese pop rock (J-Pop). Leave it to the Japanese to combine little girls and death metal.

Youtube this stuff. Right now! You'll look at it strangely at first. You'll smile but you won't know what you're smiling about. Then by the end you're faced with the troubling decision of whether to like it or not. I like it.

It reminds me of music from the fighting video game series GUILTY GEAR and also of many anime theme songs too. If you can get into that kinda thing along with the heavy metal instrumentation I'll think you'll at least find it enjoyable.

Anyway, I just had to spread the love of BABYMETAL. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

GIMMIE CHOCOLATE

MEGITSUNE

Oh you crazy little Japanese girls ;)

SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: AS ABOVE SO BELOW

"Abandon all hope, who enter here" These are the words inscribed above the gates of Hell.

I know I'm a little late with this one so I must apologize. The summer movie season officially ended with the horror film AS ABOVE SO BELOW. My buddies and I saw it opening day, almost a month ago, (sorry for the delay again). I had been looking forward to this one for a while, ever since my buddy Clint and I saw the first trailer. Clint and I along with Ross and Red all went to it together and each of us came out rather quiet with lukewarm feelings.

The idea behind the film is fantastic and the setup is quite good. Our main character is a woman named Scarlet whose profession is that of an archeologist and anthropologist with a special interest in alchemy. Following her father's quest to find the real Philosopher's Stone she finds herself in a cave system in Iran in front of a long forgotten bull Idol. A passage is carved into the surface of the statue, key translations to the location of the stone. From there her quest takes her to Paris to the original resting place of Nicholas Flamel. The story proceeds along a "National Treasure" like story following little clues leading to big discoveries which eventually leads our group of characters to the catacombs beneath Paris.

Deeper and deeper they travel until a subtle tremor causes a cave-in behind them. Cut off, they are now forced to proceed deeper. Each of the characters begins seeing things in the darkness, haunting images from their lives, personal guilt reflected before them. The deeper they go the more volatile they things around them become. Personal Hells manifest, people are swallowed by them. They can only keep going down. The further down they go the further their souls are put to the test.

A literal descent into Hell. If that's not frightening and enthralling to you than nothing will be. Legendary Pictures released the film and given their past contributions to the world of film I had every reason to believe that this movie was going to be the horror epic I'd always hoped for. I imagined horrific fiery images, sharp jagged boiling landscapes, grotesque creatures, and writhing tortured souls. And the scariest of monsters, Lucifer.

I got none of that. Most of the suspense in the film was derived from low lighting, claustrophobic surroundings, and tension between frightened characters. It was a hell of the mind, a hell of our own making. Whatever guilt you carried with you, it became physically deadly. Beyond that there were a few black robed figures and ash ghouls. The movie is another found footage film never venturing into the visually horrifying or fantastique. So much potential wasted. It's a fun film but a small film. Nowhere near as epic as it could have been. The strength of the film and the most surprising aspect was the setup. The payoff lacked immensely.

Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 3 out of 10

SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: THE QUIET ONES

Last April a horror movie came out in theaters that sadly I missed. THE QUIET ONES is hard to describe. The first thing that attracted me to it was the obvious, it's a horror movie. Next I noticed it was from the same people who brought us THE WOMAN IN BLACK. That right there was enough to get me on board. But the film was only in theaters around my area for two weeks and then it was gone. I missed it as a result.

The Quiet Ones is a supernatural poltergeist possession film. It takes place in 1974 England at a Oxford University. Based on a true story as well. So far everything points to this being a solid horror film. The movie shifts between two perspectives, your typical omnipresent camera and through the camera of one of the characters making the movie essentially half found footage (Blair Witch style).

Professor Coupland is in the process of conducting a rather strange and potentially revolutionary experiment. A young woman name Jane Harper is exhibiting rather strange symptoms that appear to be signs of demonic possession. Coupland doesn't believe in the supernatural. He is convinced the phenomena is a product of Jane's mind, perhaps a latent telekinetic ability. Three students accompany him with the experiment, two to run the machines and record the data, and one to film the entire process.

Jane carries a doll with her, an idol representing the "evil spirit" inside her, a girl named Evey Dwyer. As the experiment proceeds the terrifying manifestations increase in intensity. Visual documentation of ectoplasm and violent telekinetic activity. Coupland is still convinced there's a scientific explanation but the students are beginning to doubt. One of the students researches the name Evey Dwyer and discovers that a young girl by the same name burned to death along with several others in an occult ritual intended to invoke a demonic Sumerian entity. They believe it is Evey who is possessing Jane until Jane reveals that she is Evey Dwyer. The room erupts in flames killing everyone except the camera man.

I'm torn with this one. I want to like it but there are several aspects of the film that fall short. The acting is good and the plot is quite unique considering it's such an overused genre. The film does a good job creating tension but then it quickly diffuses the scares with a lame payoff. It also suffers from a common problem with many of Rob Zombie's films, there are very few likable characters in it. To sum it up the film only halfway delivers. If only it hadn't held back on the scares and shock value it probably would have been a great movie. This is the problem with playing it safe and low budgets. Oh well. It wasn't time wasted.

Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 2 out of 10