#22- "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S" (2003)

The 27th installment of the original Godzilla series comes in at 25th best overall in my Godzilla countdown. The sequel to the previous film "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla", Tokyo S.O.S brings back the same Godzilla suit and Mecha G suit, and introduces Mothra once again into the mix. While the special effects in this movie are fantastic, you can't help but notice how bad the CGI scenes are, especially for a millennial series film. The pacing of the film is generally lackluster, and it's very hard to get into a grove with the main character, a brunette nerd who has a special connection to Mechagodzilla, which is called Kiryu in the movie. That being said, Godzilla looks great. His chest is scabbed over with a large scar from his previous run in with Kiryu in the last movie; a touch that hasn't gone unnoticed, and Kiryu has my vote for the best looking Mechagodzilla rendering thus far. Mothra's wings actually appear to hold the creature airborne; in films past, flying creatures tend to just glide endlessly or flap clearly prostrate wings once and a while. This Mothra can buffet Godzilla with wind blasts that actually look really good. So with all these positive points in mind, how does Tokyo S.O.S fall so far on the countdown? It's an issue of plot for me here. As legendary a matchup as Mothra vs Godzilla is, it just doesn't seem believable that the flying insect would last more than a minute against this beefed up badass version of Godzilla, especially once the two larvae Mothra's appear and harmlessly bite Godzilla's tail or cover him in Moth splooge. On top of this, Kiryu is a machine, and machine's can never beat Godzilla. They malfunction. They go haywire. Kiryu is still badass, but only for small periods of time before it runs out of energy or goes into it's berserk Godzilla stage (since it is made out of the skeleton of the original Godzilla, when Godzilla roars, this organic aspect of Kiryu awakens and takes control over the Robot instead of the pilot). Once Godzilla makes it to land, he doesn't leave for the rest of the movie, and once Mothra is knocked out, we wait for Kiryu, who gets knocked out, while we wait for the Larvae, who get knocked out, before Mothra returns to get knocked out, before Kiryu flies Godzilla out to sea in a less than spectacular ending. It's kind of boring. A great premise, but one that was not executed as effectively as it could have been. An interesting scene to note here, early in the film, a massive turtle washes up on the beach with bite marks on its neck, signaling to Japan that Godzilla is still alive out in the ocean. This could possibly be a Gamera knock by the Big G himself, adding some debate to the age old question, who would win in a fight: Godzilla or Gamera? Godzilla takes the victory here.

Kiryu attacks Godzilla
 

Mothra looks great, but can't hold a finger to Godzilla in Tokyo S.O.S