Last Saturday night, Nick and I went to the Godzilla film festival at Liberty Hall. We were in for a treat. A giant inflated Godzilla sat atop the building, menacing the patrons who dared to enter that hallowed hall. "Rawrr!" you could almost hear it shrieking. "Rawrr!!" There was a t-shirt give-away beforehand, and a discussion panel after—everything a Godzilla geek could require. And as if that weren't enough, we were in a theater that served beer!

The film we watched was a recent one (2001), entitled Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaiju Sokogeki (Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack). Directed by Shusuke Kaneko, this movie capitalizes on all the zany campiness of its cinematic predecessors, while drawing from scene staples of more recent action movies. (This is epitomized by the scene in which a hero emerges from the wreckage—stepping through curtains of smoke—to the strains of triumphant gunslinger music.) Indeed, the special effects are just good enough to demonstrate that the filmmakers could have done better, which is why it's so funny that the monsters themselves still look as goofy and lumbering as always.

The plot is this. Yuri, a young reporter for a tabloid TV show specializing in UFOs, goes in search of a bona fide story when bizarre seismic activity is noted in various sectors of Japan. We know this because a whole lot of people run around sterile-looking offices shouting "The epicenter is moving! The epicenter is moving!" Once several more epicenters occur, it becomes obvious that there is more than one creature rearing its ugly head. There is Godzilla, sure. But there is also a deadly trio of Protector Beasts: armadillo-looking Baragon, three-headed dragon Ghidorah and, of course, Mothra. We are told that Godzilla is back because the Japanese have forgotten the fallen of WWII, a phenomenon that is only partly explained by the movie's metaphysical mumbo-jumbo. But no matter. The important thing is that they fight! The monsters get together and have magnificent, heroic, and wildly destructive battles. Their grunts and screeches may have been foreign to me (and to the Japanese, as well), but I've no doubt that in his peculiar brand of monster-speak, Mothra recited his own version of the famous St. Crispin's Day speech, to encourage his trusty band of brothers before facing the ultimate enemy. ("And monsters in Tokyo now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their monsterhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.")

It's important to note that the movie is intentionally tongue and cheek. My favorite moment occurred when a bunch of tourists were gathered on an embankment in the countryside. After spotting the massive Baragon in the valley below, one of the tourists says, "It's so frightening, but also cute. Take my picture before we run." Naturally, this delay costs them dearly, as Godzilla emerges from behind the ridge and smashes them all to smithereens. "Rawrr!!" This is comedy gold, folks. Another moment of gratuitous destruction comes when a girl lying immobile in a hospital bed watches Godzilla's massive form move by her window. He passes, her breathing begins to slow, and then the massive tail comes thumping through the window. "Smash!!"

Yes, like always, Godzilla pretty much pulverizes Tokyo. There are the compulsory scenes of people running, and of buildings getting stepped on. After all, Godzilla is still a city boy at heart.

Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaiju Sokogeki is one movie that does not flinch while exploiting the conventions of its genre. It's hilarious and fun, especially with beer in hand. I heartily recommend it to Godzilla fans everywhere.

P.S. There is no significance to the 5-minute Photoshopped Kurtzilla above, except that it amused me. I just know that if Snake Plissken came back as a monster, this is what he'd be. "Rawrr!!"