I have been disappointed by previous Godzilla titles. A small part of me, the part that enjoys watching people dressed up in rubber suits push each other into beautifully detailed scale sets, died upon viewing Godzilla vs Megaguirus. Thus, it was with great trepidation that I began watching Godzilla 2000. I hoped that, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, my fondness for Godzilla would be resurrected. I was not disappointed. Apart from a couple of flaws, Godzilla 2000 reaffirms my confidence in the Godzilla franchise.
Generally, films from the Godzilla range are rarely critically acclaimed. Their key appeal comes from someone dressed in a rubber Godzilla suit laying waste to half of Japan and then beating the snot out of some other creature who threatens to take over his turf. Secondary appeal comes from the human actors and their wacky plans to do away with the titular hero. This is standard for the Godzilla films as the quality of acting is at most average. Thus a good Godzilla film will have plenty of Godzilla-style fighting, whilst a bad one will have actors trying to ‘act’. Thankfully, Godzilla is the star in Godzilla 2000, with the rest of the cast in minor roles. However, what raises this film above other Godzilla films is that there are no uncomfortable moments created by the ‘acting’. It flows well and for the most part the characters were believable.
It was also good to see both an interesting monster for Godzilla to battle, transforming from an alien spacecraft to a Godzilla stomping creature, as well as a believable, yet still ineffective, super weapon from the Japanese military. No brain-hurting miniature black holes anywhere.
However, I did note that there were some flaws with Godzilla that, whilst not reducing it to the standard of Godzilla vs Megaguirus, were still annoying. The first was the use of blue screens in order to superimpose footage of Godzilla’s approach. They looked poor, dating the film incredibly. It is quite a minor flaw but I felt that the original Godzilla did a better job.
The other problem is that half way through the film, the writers thought that it was high time that they entered the world of fantasy. It’s fine by me that they make things up, but if these things are based upon factual technologies then they mustn’t go too far. I found it a little difficult to credit an alien ship download the Internet through invisible tendrils.
Overall, the flaws are minor and the action of Godzilla 2000 has you soon forgetting them. I recommend this film to anyone who has been interested, but has yet not watched a Godzilla film. This should leave you wanting more.