Kaiju Eiga news #2

[Abe' Mark Nornes]

A cross post from Japanese Monster Movie News list:

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GAMERA 3 OVERVIEW

NOTE: Mr. England has been following the exploits of the Gamera 3 films 
since last year for GFAN, Starlog, etc.

"Dear Aaron,

I just got back from the Osaka screening of Gamera 3 and wanted to add a
bit to Gertrud S.$Bc
(Breport.  Gamera 3 will surely be, I believe, a controversial 
kaiju movie. For one, it is rather talky and so to non-Japanese speakers may 
come across at times as tedious. But for those adults who do speak 
Japanese (and speak it well; Warning: this film packs a lot of dialogue) the 
film talks to them with confidence, and not, like the recent Mothra series, to 
the kiddies.

 The kaiju scenes themselves, while amazing, are somewhat brief with most
of the film taken up by the cast and their interaction. Still, the kaiju
scenes that are present feature total mayhem and real death and is surly a
first for the genre. Director Shusuke Kaneko even pokes fun at some of the
trashier kinds of Japanese--certain types of people that have cropped up
over the past few years--and does away with them in the Shibuya battle.
(This I found myself cheering, rather than feeling horrified.)

 Irys, except for a few minor quibbles, is a great kaiju. There has been
nothing like it to date. It is menacing, evil and motivated. Gyaos$Bc?(B
presence is sparse, which is unfortunate because the new design is wild
and graphic. Especially in one scene where a wounded Gyaos awaits 
Gamera's deathblow. It sits screaming with an eyeball swinging from a bare 
socket.

 As you can imagine, this is not a kid's film. The CGI scenes are all well
done, with nary a throwaway shot to be found. The new Gamera is great,
especially the "nightmare" Gamera seen during actress Ai Maeda's
flashbacks to when her character's parents died during G1. Kaneko, true to
his word, has created a new type of kaiju film. Really, there has been
nothing like this before and trying to compare it to past ones is
impossible. 

 The controversy I mentioned will doubtlessly erupt between fans that
simple want to see monsters hitting each other over and over and those
desiring plot, pacing, and story. For the first, G3 will be long, with the
payoffs great, but far and few between. For the latter, especially long
time kaiju fans who are looking for the next step (and were not satisfied
with what Toho or Tri-Star has given as of late), the movie will be the
realization of the potential always visualized within the kaiju film. 
 Of course there are a few things I found odd about the film and didn't
enjoy, but given the budget and attempted scope of the film I can do no
more than pray the film finds an audience so that more quality kaiju films
of this type are created. This is not a camp film in anyway, and the
others in the press that saw it with me at the screening room in Toho's
Umeda office were equally shocked to see that a kaiju film could aspire
and achieve so much. 
 Best,
 Norman England"
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