The year is 2025. Mankind has begun to turn its gaze towards the stars due to Earth's gradually depleting resources. The answer? Terra-forming. Mars is chosen for future colonization, likely because its the closest planet that wouldn't immediately kill any prospective colonists extreme shifts of temperature or greenhouse gas retaining atmospheres. Or maybe people just like Mars...On a mineral gathering expedition, the spaceship "Izanami" unearths a strange, cocoon like object under the red sands. Being ignorant Earthlings who clearly have never, ever seen at least ONE science-fiction/horror film in their life, they bring the object back to Tokyo for further study. Slap your forehead and groan in exasperation whenever you feel like.
Meanwhile, a government representative, Seiji Yoshizawa is having a meeting in the smoke filled den of Professor Ryuichi Narasaki. Yoshizawa is imploring Narasaki to allow the army to use his experimental machine, the Miroku, to be used as a weapon of war; the good doctor abandoned the project after Miroku malfunctioned 10 years ago and killed his young daughter, leaving him with a bionic eye as a keepsake. Narasaki all but kicks the young man out, and returns to be alone with his cigarettes and bitter memories.
At the same time, in the space-faring Ship of Fools, the mysterious object causes the vessel to overheat and explode, sending the object hurtling towards Tokyo. It quickly reveals itself to be a gigantic, many-limbed space monster called Negadon (note, the creature is never named by any of the human characters. Besides, why would they?) and immediately goes on a rampage, as all good kaiju do. Making short work of the military, Narasaki realizes that only he can stop the carnage. He activates Miroku, and the battle is on...
Before approaching this movie, there is one thing that you should know: it isn't a feature film. It is a short, and runs approximately 25 minutes. Given the film's brevity, there isn't much time for extended character development or plot-lines. The monster is established, the scientist is given back story, the robot and the monster battle, and its over. That being said, director Jun Awazu works wonders with the short running time, exquisitely crafting a love-letter to the kaiju films of the 1960's, with homages that never come off as heavy-handed, as well as a great protagonist and title monster. Oh, and its entirely computer-generated.
First off, the film looks absolutely beautiful. Though taking place in the not too distant future, Tokyo looks as if never left the 1960's, with the general look of the city as well as the military weaponry called out to combat Negadon. True to classic Toho space operas such as Battle in Space, outer-space is presented as being a dark, rich blue as opposed to the more realistic black. Interestingly, some of the vehicles, such as the Izanami, are shot as if they actually were miniatures (at least, that's how it looked to me), and only adds to the charm Negadon has to offer. Finally, the character models, especially Dr. Narasaki, look, in a word, fantastic. Come the battle with Negadon, and sweat creeps down his brow as the cockpit is shaken by Negadon's energy attacks, it is all too easy to forget that its a computer image, and not a real person. The film also sports a faint layer of grain and scratches on the frame, adding to the illusion that it is a film that comes from the time period that it homages.
If the film were to have more than one central character, the film would be an absolute mess. Luckily, Awazu avoids a problem that has tanked 2 hour films, and its all too easy imagine what the result could have been for a 25 minute short feature. If Dr. Serizawa from Gojira had avoided committing suicide after activating the Oxygen Destroyer, only to enter old age and lapse into a crippling depression, it would likely have looked something like Narasaki. Both are men who created a weapon capable of changing the course of human history, and both are tormented by the potential effects such a weapon could have if deployed. Narasaki has the added baggage of having had his creation accidentally kill his daughter, the person dearest to him. His having to rely on the same robot for the final showdown more interesting than the standard kaiju-wrasslin' fest we're used to. The relation to Serizawa is the most direct tie-in to kaiju movies of old, and though it definitely doesn't reach the nightmarish darkness seen in Gojira, its still a downbeat film in its own right. This isn't a film that celebrates the human spirit in the face of adversity; it is morose until the very end, even though Narasaki's ultimate fate brings a genuinely touching denouement to the proceedings.
On to what you're really interested about, the monsters; and rest assured, both Negadon and Miroku are very welcome additions to the kaiju family. With Negadon, Awazu perfectly captures the essence of something that is co completely alien, and unknowable, without becoming too outlandish and excessive (looks long and hard at Gigan). Best described as the bastard child of King Ghidorah and Dogora (the monster that robbed banks and made people cry in the 1964 film of the same name), with the lightning-spewing abilities of the former and a vaguely similar body shape of the latter, Negadon stands as one of the most original kaiju to come down the pike in a long, long time. While Miroku retains a more standard, quasi-humanoid shape, its sleek, silvery look and simple, yet effective weaponry (loving that giant drill) is often awe-inspiring. The battle between the two giants is fairly short, but genuinely exciting, and puts most of the similarly short clashes in Godzilla: Final Wars to shame.
This is a movie that would probably hold little to no interest in initiates or dismissers of the kaiju sub-genre, but to those who grew up watching Godzilla and friends rampage across the silver screen, there is absolutely no reason not to experience this minor classic.
