6/10
Rubber monsters -- attack!
15 February 2001
50 Are you an out-of-work cartoonist looking for a way to keep the repo man from your door? Is your martial arts instructor girlfriend hassling you to find work? Just be careful where you get a job; you may end up working for alien cockroaches bent on destroying earth!

Said cockroaches inhabit human bodies and are building a children's theme park "to promote peace". (Please let these bozos be connected with Marian Wright Edelman!) They have reel-to-reel tapes that attract and control Gigan and King Ghidra from space, and manage to annoy Godzilla at the same time. (Rather than construct such an elaborate tape, they could've just used a Jennifer Lopez tape...much cheaper, I'd imagine.)

Godzilla has a little monster friend who can't walk upright (bad job there, Toho) but does manage to hold his own nonetheless. Gigan is *very* cool. He has a head like a Cylon from "Battlestar Galactica" and hooks instead of paws. Plus, he has a circular saw in his chest. This is a useful appendage, let me tell you!

Admittedly, Godzilla vs. Gigan does repeat an anti-pollution message. However, it takes the story in a different direction in that rather than having a Smog Monster being born from our own foibles, alien cockroaches leave a planet where pollution had caused dire consequences to one that is on the verge of doing so in order to use it to their advantage. Sadly, Godzilla was taking a whale of a beating before the climax. Conversely, the Japanese army did manage to beat back Godzilla's little friend. That's gotta be the first time that the army beat a monster.

Sterno says run, don't walk to Godzilla vs. Gigan.
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