# Gojira ni-sen mireniamu (1999)

### reviewed by
Berge Garabedian

    GODZILLA 2000
    RATING: 7/10 --> Good movie

For more reviews and movie screensavers, visit http://www.joblo.com/

Looking back, it seems as though I was a little kind to Roland Emmerich's version of GODZILLA (6/10) a few years back. I apparently really liked the special effects, despite them being wrapped in a garbage stench of a plot and characters, and stamped it with a "barely recommendable" nametag. I don't know, I might've been drunk when I wrote that review :). But if you look at this film, many of the same issues apply, with the major difference being that this film is so over-the-top cheesy that it actually provides for a sizeable amount of entertainment. So if you don't expect HAMLET and campy flicks are your bag, this one should fill it up real nice.

PLOT: Big giant green monster named Godzilla comes out of the Tokyo waters at sundown to pummel down all that is in his path. Scientists and government officials attempt to stop it. But what's this? An alien flying saucer is discovered underwater and it seems to want Godzilla for something too. Slap them all together, and get ready for a big showdown featuring bumbling scientists, Godzilla and nasty aliens.

CRITIQUE: Can a movie packed with cheesy acting, cheesy dialogue, cheesy effects and a cheesy plot actually = a good movie? Yup! In this case, this is just that kind of movie! Cheese with plenty of mustard, relish and a deep appreciation for films that are really bad. But don't get me wrong, the film isn't all that horrible. In fact, many of the special effects in this film are actually quite good, especially during the film's first 10 minutes. The plot is also goofy but definitely more original than the lame "let's lay some eggs" plot from Emmerich's GODZILLA, and the action scenes deliver plenty of cool sequences. So will you enjoy this movie if you go in thinking that it will be good? I doubt it. The whole point of a film like this is that you know that it is "bad", but you end up laughing and enjoying it anyway. Well, at least I did.

The only reason that I didn't score it higher is because even as a good "bad" movie, it lacked somewhat. There were way too many scenes of Godzilla slowly making his way through the city...and I mean reaaaaal slow! Step it up, slowpoke, you're a fiery beast!! The film also lost me about halfway through when they decided to leave Godzilla in the background for a while and concentrate more on this whole side-plot involving a dude getting trapped in a building which is just about to blow up. You don't really need that kind of thing here. Slowed the film down somewhat. But it was all good when the big green rubber-looking monster came growling out of the water and kickin' that major Tokyo ass. Who wouldn't enjoy two giant rubber dolls trading swings and fire rays?! I know I did. Overall, this is NOT the kind of film that "regular" movie-goers will likely enjoy. It's a film for people who like making fun of the bad dubbing, watching over-the-top actors deliver bad lines and obvious sets. Overall, I would say that it's a fun ride...but only if you've chosen to be on that ride. Know what I mean?

PS: The best/worst, and I mean BEST line in this whole movie comes from a scientist near the end of the film, who gives us his reasoning behind Godzilla's humanistic qualities. You will ROLL in the aisles!! "it's because there's a little Godzilla in..."

    Review Date: August 17, 2000
    Director: Takao Okawara
    Writers: Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura
    Producer: Shogo Tomiyama
    Actors: Takehiro Murata
    Naomi Nishida
    Mayu Suzuki
    Hiroshi Abe
    Genre: Thriller
    Year of Release: 2000
    ------------------------------------
    JoBlo's Movie Emporium
    http://www.joblo.com/
    ------------------------------------
    (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews