Gojira vs Biorante |
  • Japan • 1989 • 104m •   • Directed by: Kazuki Ohmori. • Starring: Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka, Masanobu Takashima, Kôji Takahashi, Tôru Minegishi, Megumi Odaka, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Ryûnosuke Kaneda, Kazuma Matsubara, Yoshiko Kuga, Yasunori Yuge, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Haruko Sagara. • Music by: Kôichi Sugiyama.     Doctor Shiragami has been genetically engineering a form of indestructible plant life using a rare store of "Godzilla cells". This experiment has a brought a strange new form of plant life into existence: Biollante, a massive plant, peaceful in every way, until Godzilla returns to wreak havoc throughout the land. It is only then that something within Biollante stirs and the plant must fight to save her creator and the land she loves. It's the Super-Beasts-Battle-of-the-Century when Godilla and Biollante come face to face in an explosive fight to the finish. Maybe the army's "Supaa X-2" flying combat vehicle can help tip the balance in Biollante's favor. But there's only one thing you can be certain of when Godzilla's around - nobody is safe once the monster's awesome power is unleashed.
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Review:
What happened? All that wonder and mysticism this film used to give me is gone. Gone are the days where monster fights and nice music are sadly not going to cut it anymore. Now lets break down the reasons this film is a big mess....
The plot - So basically, the film picks up exactly where Return of Godzilla left off. Some factions want to posses Godzilla's cells. One is an American company called Bio-Major, another is some fictional Middle Eastern country called Saradia. Shiragami is a scientist mourning for the loss of his daughter while they were in said country. While the military builds Super X. And there is a psychic girl too. Yes, it sounds like nonsense, cause it is! It seems Toho couldn't decide what kind of plot to go with in this film. An internal drama? A spy film? A military film? A MONSTER film? "I know!!!"; Toho exclaims "Why don't we just forcefully squeeze all four into one without any kind of intelligence or coherency!! Who needs character development!? Lots of explosions and flashy effects will be all the suspense we need!!"
The writing - This film just teases you by presenting in something that COULD be of interest and a nice break from the dull blandness that this sad picture is, but oops!! Not this time, its back to drivel again!! Characters that could potentially be interesting and serve the story better, are shoved aside in favor for the generic and boring military personals, who only just seem to be there to spout techno and political babble. I could forgive this film more if they had some actual DEVELOPMENT and were treated like actual characters!! Not just plot forwarding machines. Because of a lack of sensible directing, whatever happens in this movie, is simply just an event that happened. For no other purpose then to just keep the movie going. This film does not allow you the time to take in or appreciate the atmosphere surrounding the "characters". No feelings of accomplishment, no reason to give hope, just nothing at all to care for. No consistency whatsover. Just poorly done subplot after poorly done subplot.
The acting - Perhaps the only difference the audience would tell between these "actors" and cardboard boxes with simply drawn facial expressions, would that emotions would be conveyed better with the latter. I know this is a Godzilla film, but they expect us to believe that a reaction to Godzilla approaching would to to simply say " Godzilla is coming", check your watch and calmly walk away? Even Megalon was more believable!! Where these human beings they casted into this movie, and not malfunctioning robots? Not even planks could make a performance this wooden!
The special effects - Maybe finally I can say something complementary this decaying draggy bore fest. Of course, this being a Godzilla flick, I don't expect top notch Hollywood style effects, but for 80's Japanese tokusatsu fare, its pretty neat. This might be the only thing improved form the previous "Return of Godzilla" (I haven't seen it for a while, I might reconsider). Godzilla looks great, and so does Biollante, especially her final form, with her vines, numerous sharp teeth, and the ooze that foams from her jaw that gives quite the impression of a savage beast. Model cities seem to be well crafted and designed. At least SOMETHING was given an effort in this movie.
The score - Another positive for this movie. The film uses a nice blend of classic Ifukube and a new selection of melodies from the famed composer of the Dragon Quest game series Koichi Sugiyama. I just love the style he brings to this film, more majestic compared to early soundtracks in the series, also conveying horror, mysticism, herosim, and romance. Its too bad such music had to wasted on this soggy mess of cinema. Its like writing a beautiful song or poem about a dried up turd.
Overall, Godzilla vs Biollante was a film I REEEEAAALLLLLY wanted to like. Like it as much as I did as naive, stupid, no-nothing child. But I just can't let nostalgia cloud my judgment. It had the potential to be one of the finest entries in the series, but in spite of how good the art direction, the effects (for Godzilla anyway), and the soundtrack might have been. it just can't completely save this film from bad directing, a muggy script, bland "characters" (who are less characters, but more like situation-explaining exposition machines), and just overall, greed, rushness, and, a complete lack of passion.
Review by LaLlama from the Internet Movie Database.
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