40) Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

(3.5 out of 5)

"The long-lasting peace has dimmed the terror of Godzilla."

Director

Shusuke Kaneko

Cast
Chiharu Niiyama - Yuri Tachibana
Ryudo Uzaki - Taizō Tachibana
Masahiro Kobayashi - Mitsuaki Takeda
Shiro Sano - Haruki Kadokura
Hideyo Amamoto - Hirotoshi Isayama
Mizuho Yoshida - Godzilla
Akira Ohashi - King Ghidorah
Rie Ota - Baragon

I've been anxious to review another Godzilla movie lately. And this one has been at the top of my list for a long time. This is the Godzilla movie with the best title! In fact, it might be the best title of any movie in the history of movies. 

We have Godzilla, Mothra, AND King Ghidorah in one epic showdown film. And not being satisfied with name-dropping these three monumental icons on Japanese monster movies, the title continues with more description. Giant monsters! Hell yeah, giant monsters! Bring me some of that! And what are these giants doing? They're attacking! But they're not just "attacking." They're all-out attacking. Only monsters of a smaller stature "attack." These are giant monsters. No mercy. No pulling any punches. It's all-out destruction and giant monster-attacking madness - sort of! 

This is the 26th Godzilla movie, and the 3rd movie of the Millennium era of Godzilla movies. I go into depth on the various Godzilla "eras" over on my other platform, 1000daysofhorror.blogspot.com where I reviewed the first 15 Godzilla movies in a thread I titled, "Halloween 2022's Godzilla-Maniapalloza Extravaganza #13...For the Love of Godzilla. All Hail, the Monster King!" Just look for my review of the first Godzilla movie, "Gojira" from 1954. 

Before I launch into this review like a guy whose idea of culture is a monster movie marathon suddenly asked to critique high art, I'll mention that I threw those older Godzilla reviews onto my horror blog. I've reconsidered that life decision. Godzilla seems to fit just as well in the Sci-Fi realm. So. I'm including this review on this platform. Plus, I haven't reviewed a Sci-Fi movie in a while. I'm overdue. This movie will do just fine!

"Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack," takes place fifty years after Godzilla first terrorized Japan, caused all sorts of destruction, and roared his way into all our hearts back in 1954. While I love this title rolling off my tongue, I'll shorten it from here on out to "All-Out Attack." Or maybe I'll refer to it as "GMKGGMAOA." Or maybe not. I'll stick with "All-Out Attack."  

This time, Japan is staring into the scary eyes of a reborn monster. And not only is Godzilla on a warpath, but he's also possessed by the restless and angry ghosts of those who were killed during the Pacific War. 

Godzilla rises from the depths of the ocean to decimate Japan. One old Japanese mystic named Hirotoshi Isayama (Hideyo Amamoto) awakens the three guardian monsters of Japan to protect the nation - Baragon (God of the Earth), Mothra (God of the Sea), and King Ghidorah (God of the Sky). These monsters certainly have Japan's back on this. 

Godzilla takes on King Ghidorah as Mothra flies in from behind in
"Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack."

Meanwhile, an overzealous TV reporter, Yuri Tachibana (Chiharu Niiyama), digs deep into the facts of Godzilla, trying to find out why he's coming back now. While she's journalism-ing, Japan's military forces break out all the big guns as they fight alongside their nation's monster guardians to take down Godzilla. 

Battles are waged. Things explode. Buildings are ripped apart. Civilians are lost. Monster battles monster. Can they take down the "King of the Monsters?" And if they do, will he truly die once and for all? It's an "all-out attack" indeed as monster, monster, and monster take on possessed monster! 

Based on the title, I initially expected a cavalcade of attacking monsters. But stupid me, I was paying more attention to the "giant monsters all-out attack" part of the title. I failed to consider the fact that only three monsters are named at the beginning of the title. Those are the three monsters who appear in the movie. So, I can't fault the movie for not meeting my poorly deduced expectations of seeing a lot more monsters duking it out. That's on me. So, the movie delivered exactly what it said it was going to deliver. 

Plus, the movie has Godzilla take on Baragon who's not even in the title. 

Baragon is a horned, dinosaur-like, burrowing monster who first appeared in Toho's 1965 kaiju movie, "Frankenstein vs. Baragon," also known by the American title, "Frankenstein Conquers the World." It's a real movie!

He would later show up in the 1968 film "Destroy All Monsters" which is a much more monstrous monster brawl in the Godzilla-verse than this movie is. It's also Baragon's first appearance on-screen with the King of the Monsters himself. And now, Baragon returns again for this new round! 

"All-Out Attack" came out soon after the release of the 1998 American movie "Godzilla" with Matthew Broderick. I call it, "The Simpsons Godzilla" as the film stars several of the voice actors from the sitcom "The Simpsons." It's a movie that's often despised and looked at with disdain among Godzilla fans, and for good reason.

"All-Out Attack" opens with an exchange between two Japanese soldiers sitting in on a military briefing as a General explains what happened to the U.S. just a few years prior. It sums up the sentiment a lot of people have towards the Simpsons Godzilla. 

"At the end of the last century, a similar monster to Godzilla attacked the United States. The existence of abnormal organisms have since been reported around the world," one solider says. 

"That was Godzilla after all, right," the other soldier says. 
"The Americans reported it as that. Our academics don't agree."

Burn! The 1998 movie was terrible!

"Godzilla 2000: Millenium" came out in 1999, sandwiched between the Simpsons Godzilla and "All-Out Attack" but I don't think it addresses the American version. "All-Out Attack" certainly did. 

This movie, like a lot of other Godzilla movies, builds up to the big climax at the end. 

The movie does drag on a bit, but it delivers action, carnage, and explosions. All the stuff audiences what in a Godzilla movie. 

The special effects that are at times dated and obvious while at other times impressive and satisfying. It's a mix when it comes to the special effects. Plus, the miniatures are well made and really impressive! 

And as I mentioned, the title doesn't deceive.   

Godzilla appears much more frightening, especially as he is all-out evil with his Linda Blair from "The Exorcist" looking milky white eyes. All that's missing is Godzilla speaking in languages he never studied and telling his enemy monsters where their deceased mothers are and what they're doing down there. 

Seriously, this evil detail matches his relentless anger and destructive tendencies. It's worth noting that there have been Godzilla movies before this where Godzilla turns out to be the good guy in the story. Not in this movie. "All-Out Attack" makes the audience want to see Godzilla taken down, especially as civilians suffer all the more. 

Godzilla versus Baragon because giant monsters all-out attack, 
as the title suggests.

The movie doesn't rely completely on the giant monsters fight nor on scientific explanations as to why this is happening. Instead, it embraces Japanese folklore as Godzilla is possessed by the restless spirits of those killed during World War II. Meanwhile King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Baragon are the guardian monsters that protect Japan.

The commentary on Japan's memory of World War II is another stand-out theme of the film. In one scene, Admiral Taizô Tachibana recalls the time Godzilla first attacked Japan back in 1954 as seen in the first movie. 

He says, "I vividly remember as if it were today. Fifty years ago. The sky was a bloody red... buildings and railroads trampled... and a huge, dark mass... slowly advancing through the flames. Its face looked like a devil, furious with hate. I ran and ran among the crowd helplessly seeking refuge. When I realized it, I was separated from my parents. I never saw them again. Not a single day goes by where I don't remember the wretched cries of the dying."

He warns that Japan has forgotten the sacrifices of those who died in the war and recognizes that Godzilla has become an angry vessel for those forgotten souls. "All-Out Attack" is a rare gem of a Godzilla flick since it embraces Japan's memory of the past rather than simply putting on another monster brawl.

But it is, in the end, a Godzilla movie. So, it needs that epic monster fight. 

This movie restores a strong and welcomed sense of danger and suspense. Being possessed, Godzilla is unstoppable. And the human casualties aren't mere casualties to be forgotten. The movie pays more attention to those victims so the audience can cheer all the more for Godzilla's final take-down. 

I admit I'm more familiar with the initial era of Godzilla movies than I am with the Millenium era, which starts with "Godzilla 2000: Millennium" (1999) and ends with "Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)." 

"All-Out Attack" is the third movie in the era. So, I don't know how this compares with the other movies in there. But it does entice in me a desire to check out those movies. Unlike the previous Showa era and the Heisei era, the Millenium era consists of standalone films. 

Speaking of Baragon up above, my complaint is that he disappears way too quickly. 

He shows up and doesn't survive Godzilla's warpath. It's a missed opportunity for a three-way brawl against Godzilla! 

As die-hard kaiju fans probably already know, director Shusuke Kaneko previously sat in the director's chair for a rival Japanese monster franchise, Gamera. Kaneko directed "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe" (1995), "Gamera 2: Attack of Legion" (1996), and "Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris" (1999). 

This is definitely one of the better Godzilla movies in the entire franchise, even as it adds a more, albeit darker, fantasy element as continues the story directly from the very first Godzilla movie. When Godzilla returns, Japan is depicted as a stronger nation 

And it certainly has the best title of any Japanese monster movie! I love a good Godzilla movie, especially on a Sunday afternoon with sunlight spilling through the blinds into the living room. This one delivered everything I want from a Godzilla film.