Godzilla vs. Biollante

Really digging the Heisei movies so far. But for some reason I'm missing the ridiculousness from the Showa era. Never thought I'd say that. But Godzilla looks incredible. And so did Biollante final form. The spy stuff could've been toned down a bit as it was unnecessary. But overall, good movie.

I just realized that not only have I seen every Godzilla movie ever made, I also own all but one of them. If this does anything at all, it qualifies me to state that overall, Godzilla movies aren't very good. I mean, as solid stories go, these G-flicks are not exactly "Wuthering Heights". But what they are is entertaining and sometimes with good reason. Take "Godzilla vs. Biollante", for example. It's a story about Japan, the U.S., and some fictional Middle-Eastern oil rich country trying to out spy each other for control of some Godzilla cells. These cells have been left scattered around the destruction from Big G's last stomp through Tokyo.

Wow. It is silly. But it's so over the top and so illogical it kept me engaged. This movie contains some absolutely stupid spy-vs-spy action. There's also a countless number of mistakes in the English dub. It's all pretty funny.

The special effects are pretty good and Biollante is the ugliest, but one of the most different kaiju ever committed to film. The big dust up between the two beasts is never really resolved. Godzilla falls face first on the beach only to pop up again and head back out to sea and Biollante just turns into some magic environmental pixie dust and floats into the sky.

If you're watching this for the monsters (and that's why you watch Godzilla), this one is worth your time.

Biollante's design the one the least kaiju-like ones I've seen. I like it.

It didn't take long for the Godzilla franchise to get back into versus territory after the 1984 reboot. "Godzilla vs. Biollante" still has a slightly more serious tone than most films of the Shōwa era. But all the spy stuff, the pseudoscience, and even the appearance of a psychic are also clearly camp. I didn't necessarily like Biollante as Godzilla's antagonist, either. The idea of an oversized flower isn't exactly the most appealing, and the design of the monster is also a bit lame. Furthermore, the final fight isn't exactly adrenaline-pumping, so I was rather disappointed yet again.

While the plot is very odd. Even for Godzilla movies, the film actually does a good job for the first half.

Building the human characters actually really good. Having an interesting spy element and action scenes between people. Not to mention the spectacle factor is still there following the 1984 reboot.

But, everything falls apart half way through. It somehow managed to juggle the tones of Monster flick and spy film for most of the runtime. Then it had to, for some reason, throw in whimsical Disney vibes that stayed for the rest of the film after Biolante started to get fruition.

I don't understand the choice here, it hurts even more so as this tone is played out over the final battle and end credits. It's too happy and friendly for a movie that up until that point, was actually making good arguments for the dangers of scientific manipulation of creatures.

Godzilla barley gets screen time as well, and the Biolante fights are awful. Big lizard boy does get time to play in the city for a bit. But that's about as good as it gets from this film.

**4/10**

Wtf did I just sit thru..?