Minya | The Gigantic Project

Sometimes studios have to retire a property for a while. When they do they sometimes try to have a celebration to show just how incredible the franchise was and all the joy it brought to others. Destroy All Monsters was this type of movie and was supposed to be the final Kaiju film from Toho. Then something glorious happened. It reignited the love and kept the series alive.

In the far future, mankind has quarantined the monsters of the world on an island called Monsterland and people no longer have to worry about their rampage. Until an alien race known as the Kilaak take control of the island and release the monsters onto the human race. Now a group of humans must work you to find a way to bring the monster under control and fight back against these alien invaders.

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This movie suffers from a bit too much human interaction. Captain Yamabe and his crew essentially save the planet but they aren’t exactly the most interesting bunch. Also there is the whole “earring” scene where Yamabe removes the device controlling her is a bit disturbing. I mean how many other scenes in movies involve ripping a woman’s earring off her? Not many or at least not in Kaiju scenes. Also, it probably wasn’t the best idea of the Kilaaks to decide not to leave any of the monsters at Monsterland, especially when they decide to make it their base of operations on Earth. For an advanced race they really seem to make a lot of stupid mistakes.

The monsters attacking the world is cool enough. Seeing them rampage at the different locations across the globe is definitely the highlight of the entire movie. The final fight scene at the base of Mount. Fuji is a pretty good beat down against King Ghidora. It would have been better if there had been more evil monsters for the Kilaaks to send against the monsters of Earth. Ghidora had previously defeated by a pair of monsters the last time he came into the picture in Godzilla vs. Monster Zero and in this movie he is terrible outnumbered to the point he doesn’t really stand a chance against the monsters of earth. Also, the whole, firebird monster turning out to be the Kilaak’s ship is totally lame.

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This was supposed to be Tohos last giant monster movie but it did so well they made more. It is good but it could have been better if their was more actual focus on the monsters instead of the humans. Still it resulted in more movies getting made so it’s influence can’t be overlooked.

RATING: C+

Every franchise has its failure. The one movie or piece of canon that the fans wish didn’t exist. Godzilla is not immune to this type of blemish on his career. Many American fans are quick to point to the Sony movis as the worst that Godzilla has ever endured but older fans who have any knowledge of the other films know better. Godzilla’s worst film is Godzilla’s Revenge.

Ichiro is a young boy who gets bullied by the bigger kids in his class and doesn’t see his parents often. To escape this harsh reality he dreams of being on monster island will all the Kaiju of legend. He also befriends Minya, the young son of the king of the monsters who is constantly being plagued by a monster named Gabara. Together the two of them will learn to be stronger by confronting their bullies.

This really isn’t that good of a film on many levels. First its all a dream. Literally all of the scenes with the monster are taking place in Ichiro’s imagination. None of it is real. Even the new Kaiju that’s introduced, Gabara, is Ichiro’s creation. Which means all of the combat that occurs in the film has no bearing on the rest of the world.

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Second, let’s take a moment to look at Gabera shall we? He really isn’t that menacing. His electricity through touch ability was used better by King Kong and it seems that his entire purpose is just to stalk Minya. He is never even used again in any other Godzilla film or (I’m pretty sure) Video Game. Not like its a real waste. I’ve yet to meet the person who admits that Gabara is their favorite monster. People have more appreciation for Baragon then they do for Gabara.

Third, the majority of the material is from other Kaiju movies. Specifically, Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster. Its not just some reused explosions or effect but full scenes of the Kaiju combat are cut into the film. This is a clip show the creators are trying to pass off as a full movie. Personally, I hate clips shows.

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Finally lets look at Minya. I know he was introduced in Son of Godzilla but they do something special with him in this film: They let him talk. Has there ever been a time that having the monsters talk has been a good thing? The English dub for Minya is terrible and makes him sound like a complete moron. A good-natured moron but still he sounds like a moron. He’s the son of the king! Couldn’t they have offered to give him a little more dignity? He already needs someone to step on his tail to shoot his radioactive blast.

There really isn’t much positive I can say about this film. Its the worst of Godzilla films and its a glorified clip show. This is the one I’ll recommend people skip as they go back through the history of Kaiju Films. There are much better films out there. Think I’ll go watch one now to wash the taste of this film out of my mouth.

RATING: F