Dogora

Gojira, Mothra, and Rodan are rightfully considered some of Toho's best films. All of them, even though they wildly differ in terms of tone and subject matter, are exceptionally well made, hugely entertaining, and introduced to the world some of the most iconic giant monsters ever created. Then came Dogora, and its an absolute shame that this guy isn't mentioned in the same breath as the other three. Why is that? The title kaiju, a monstrously huge, beautifully animated entity that descends from the heavens to satisfy its desire for carbon based products (coal, diamonds, etc) ranks up as one of the most daring and innovative monsters that special effects master Eiji Tsuburaya ever dreamed up. The story itself, with equally hapless crooks and cops caught up in a "who-can-be-more-of-a-knucklehead" competition, while at the same time trying to understand and defeat Dogora, moves briskly and is entertaining. So, whats the problem? Well, its really quite simple. Despite having its name be first in the opening credits, Dogora never really feels like the star of the movie. In fact, greater emphasis is placed on the human story, while the tentacled beast shows up at intermittently to wreak havoc.

We learn at the very beginning that just outside Earth's atmosphere, an enormous, mutated cell resides. One that destroys pesky satellites when they get too close. Meanwhile, a group of diamond thieves are foiled at their latest planned heist when a tiny, blob-like creature melts through the safe and devours the contents within. Inspector Komai trails the thieves and ends up on the receiving end of a major ass-kicking by a Mr. Mark Jackson: a smooth talking, judo-flipping, charismatic American who speaks fluent Japanese. Mark Jackson, the most American sounding name the screenwriter, Shinichi Sekizawa (writer of many of the early Godzilla entries) could think of, I'm sure... Soon, a startling number of diamond thefts pop up all over the world: the police think the diamond thieves, known as the International Diamond Robbery Ring, are behind the crimes. However, the gangsters are equally dumbfounded.

Mark Jackson reveals himself to be a wily insurance investigator ("Diamond G-Man"), and admits that he's been following the individual(s) behind the latest series of world-wide thefts. Then, things get stranger. Vast amounts of coal is sucked upwards by an unseen force in the clouds. Trucks carrying diamonds are attacked at night. Komai begins to consider the possibility of the agent responsible for the attacks being something inhuman (only in Japanese monster movies will you have police calmly discussing the possibilities of monsters being prime suspects). The diamond thief is identified as a gigantic cellular organism that was mutated by pockets of radiation in Earth's atmosphere. Dubbed "Dogora", the creature requires carbon to live, and the possibility of it moving on to carbon-based lifeforms (i.e. people), the people of Earth desperately plan a counter-offensive. Soon, the monster descends upon the city of Kyushu, and the battle for survival begins...

This is not a movie that one should use to initiate people into the kaiju sub-genre. Indeed, anyone going in expecting large-scale destruction of model buildings and constant monster action will quickly become fidgety and bored. A movie that announces itself as being a combination of crime thriller and giant monster drama is most intriguing, and this movie could have been, wait, should have been one of Toho's classics.

Unfortunately, and this is the film's largest weakness, is there is never a truly successful merging of the two sub-genres. The monster set-pieces are extremely well-handled and nice to look at. The cops-and-robbers storyline, though entertaining in its own right, takes up far too much of the film's running time. Furthermore, as the end of the movie approaches, Dogora's story and the crime story are tied together with the thinnest of plot points (without giving too much away, the gangster plot is resolved by a simple "wrong place, wrong time" bit of happenstance), and it becomes increasingly clear that this movie simply doesn't need to have such wildly differing story lines. The filmmakers could have easily made a feature-length movie that was centered solely on Dogora, and fleshed out the creature's characteristics and personality a bit more.

Because the title monster has lack of screen time, it isn't as well-defined as it should have been. As I see it, there is only the one monster, even though posters and publicity are depict multiple giant creatures terrorizing the populace. If that's the case, whats the deal with the baseball sized blobs that carry out some of the thefts? Are they separate creatures, or are they part of the main monster, and simply detach to carry out various tasks. The very ending of the film throws in further confusion as to the nature of the beast with a single, throw away line, and one gets the impression that Sekizawa was more interested in the various human shenanigans than creating a well-fleshed out monster. However, the means with which they dispatch Dogora is certainly original, and depending on your point of view, is either extremely half-assed or very well thought out.

I don't mean to give off the impression that I don't like this film: in fact, I quite enjoy it. The leads are engaging, and Robert Dunham (last seen as the epically hairy chested Seatopian leader in Godzilla vs. Megalon) is clearly having fun with the character of Mark Jackson, and constantly forces the viewer to question the true extent of his motives, as he spends a good deal seemingly flip-flopping between the sides of law enforcement and criminals. Also, the struggle between the diamond thieves and the police is interesting in and of itself, and does generate a few laughs. Apparently, the movie is actually considered a spoof of yakuza movies, and has even been labeled a satire. Huh? Maybe I'm missing something by not being Japanese; there are some amusing moments, but its more of a broad humor and nothing I would really peg as sharp satire.

On to what you're most interested in: the monster action. The scenes of the creature levitating and absorbing heaps of coal are fairly well done, even though the scenes of people and objects like buildings and trucks being levitated and thrown are very obviously done via wires, they accomplish what they set out to do: entertain. More impressive are the wonderful use of colors during the attack scenes, with the clouds taking on all sorts of unearthly hues. There is an awkward transition where Dogora, and part of the city, becomes a very obvious piece of straight animation, but this is forgivable as its immediately followed by the spectacular destruction of a major landmark. The set-piece attack on Kyushu, as Dogora is seen in its entirety for the first time, and the entire sky turns different shades of green and red, is easily one of the most beautiful moments I've ever seen in a kaiju film. If Dario Argento were ever to do a monster movie, this is what it would have looked like. As fun to watch as these sequences are, they are made frustrating simply because they don't happen too often, and one immediately wants more as soon as they end.

Dogora itself is fairly simplistic in design, resembling a gigantic jellyfish. However, this simplicity doesn't hurt it in the least. It is simple and sleek, yet at the same time completely unknowable. Even though Toho introduced more elaborate alien creatures, such as King Ghidorah, Dogora more successfully comes across as something truly alien. It is intimidating through sheer size alone, as it easily dwarfs every other Toho creation. Even though I earlier said that it suffers from lack of definition, this vagueness, in a sense, also helps it. We never truly know if it is just a mindless behemoth, wanting to feed and nothing else, or if there is perhaps a cruel intelligence: it systematically dismantles a suspension bridge, almost in mockery of the feeble artillery assault against it.

This is not a movie for the kaiju initiate, as the eclectic blending of gangsters and monsters is definitely not for everyone. Also, not for those who watch these movies solely for the monsters, and fast-forward through the talkie bits. But, for those seeking something a little different, definitely check this out. Even if you don't care for the human portion, the monster segments are undeniably gripping. Just give it a chance; who knows, you may end up loving it.