Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)


The Heisei Godzilla series of the 1990s did something that the preceding Showa series did not.  It created a continuous timeline rather than a tenuous connection of stories.  That doesn't mean that anything was done with the characters.  In fact, one of the few continuing throughout is Miki Saegusa, played by former child star and pop artist Megumi Odaka.  She was introduced in Godzilla vs. Biollante as a psychic who was supposed to have some connection to the various kaiju. 

Despite her supposed importance to the study of the monsters and later to G-Force, the UN-sponsored group set up to fight Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, she never really did anything.  She would show up, give some exposition, close her eyes and act like she was doing some sort of mind-meld with Godzilla.  She later becomes a caretaker of LittleGodzilla and has a connection to Mothra's Fairies, but she usually pops up when necessary for the plot.  Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is the first of the movies begin taking advantage of the character and, unfortunately, it goes about as well as can be expected. 

Miki is contacted by G-Force scientists Chinatsu Gondo (Towako Yoshikawa) and Susumu Okobo (Yôsuke Saitô) to participate in Project T, an attempt to place a telepathic amplifier on Godzilla so he can be controlled psychically.  To help with that Lt. Koji Shinjo (Jun Hashizume) and Lt. Kiyoshi Sato (Zenkichi Yoneyama) are sent to Birth Island, where LittleGodzilla (Little Frankie) is currently residing.  On the island also is Maj. Akira Yuki (Akira Emoto), who has been tasked to help them despite his desire to kill Godzilla (Kenpachiro Satsuma). 

Although the implantation of the device is successful the plan is not and Yuki attempts to kill Godzilla. He is interrupted by the arrival of SpaceGodzilla (Ryo Haritani), a space monster that was accidentally created from Godzilla cells attached to Biollante and Mothra that went through a black hole, got spat out a white hole and came in contact with organic crystals.  It arrives on Earth to kill Godzilla, which would ultimately lead to Earth being vulnerable to alien attack.  Instead of killing Godzilla G-Force now finds themselves trying to aid him against SpaceGodzilla while trying to keep the destruction of Japan to a minimum.

There is really no question that Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is the lowest point in the Heisei series.  Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II returned again to Godzilla in a straight villain role as well as presenting a darker tone after the attempt to appeal to women and children with Godzilla vs. Mothra.  Even that movie, however, didn't feel as cheap or corny as this one often does.  Part of the reason is another Toho film flopped in 1994 taking most of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla's budget with it and, to make matters worse, some battles and sequences that made the plot flow smoother were cut despite already being filmed.  LittleGodzilla, for instance, is imprisoned in crystals by SpaceGodzilla after the first major battle.  All scenes of Godzilla attempting to free him were removed, treating the baby kaiju (who has been redesigned to look more like Minilla this time around) as an afterthought, making his imprisonment a worthless side plot. 

There is also a whole sequence of Miki being kidnaped by the Yakuza and Koji, Sato and Yuki having to rescue her and destroy their plan to use her to control Godzilla for nefarious means.  That is also not followed up before or after the final battles begin, making it an obvious attempt to kill time, although reportedly the original cut was about two and a half hours long.  It's a delay tactic on getting Yuki and the others to M.O.G.U.E.R.A., the latest battle bot designed to fight Godzilla, and a throwback reference to Ishirô Honda's 1957 sci-fi film The Mysterians.  Unfortunately, a big space battle in the movie fell victim to the budget cuts, with the ship fighting SpaceGodzilla among foam asteroids that look worse than the effects from 37 years previous.  

There is still plenty to enjoy in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.  Both fights between the two stars are worth seeing and the latter has an interesting design and enough powers to make it at least a match for Godzilla, who pretty much gets knocked down easily until he figures out how to fight back.  This was Godzilla's 40th anniversary and making a bit more like one of the Showa films wasn't a bad idea, but Toho is about as awful as any American studio when it comes to committing to anything other than churning out product.  Luckily, for the last movie of this particular period, they managed to make up for all the mistakes made in this one. 

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
Time: 106 minutes
Starring: Jun Hashizume, Megumi Odaka, Akira Emoto, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Ryo Haritami
Director: Kenshô Yamashita
 

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