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Let me remark up front that the story of this film is a bit of a mess,
so my synopsis might not make too much sense ... but I'll try anyhow:
To fight Godzilla, the G-Force has built a giant robot, Mechagodzilla,
that is to be piloted by Kazuma (Masahiro Takashima), the inventor/pilot
of Garuda I, an earlier flying superweapon used to fight Godzilla.
However, when a flying dino-buddy of Godzilla, Rodan, and a giant egg are
discovered on some island, Kazuma is distracted, and when Godzilla finally
attacks and Mechagodzilla is badly needed, Kazuma is AWOL to watch the Son
of Godzilla hatch from the egg.
Mechagodzilla is defeated, and half of another of these Japanese cities
is half destroyed by Godzilla looking for his son, but somehow, Kazuma, a
bunch of scientists, and Azusa (Ryoko Sano), the young woman who acts as
Baby Godzilla's substitute mother, can keep the little one out of daddy's
reach.
Because he was AWOL during the Godzilla attack, Kazuma is demoted to
parkdeck guard, but soon enough, he can convince one of the professors of
G-Force to link Mechagodzilla with his Garuda I to more efficiently fight
Godzilla ...
When examining Baby Godzilla, G-Force learns that the little one has
two brains, so Godzilla must have two as well, so Miki the psychic girl
(known from previous movies of the series) is hired to help destroy the
second brain and therefore paralyze Godzilla.
Ultimately, everything leads to a tag team fight in whatever Japanese
city it is, with Godzilla and Rodan on one side, Mechagodzilla and Garuda
on the other, and Baby Godzilla caught somewhere in the middle. In the
beginning it looks as if Mechagodzilla and Garuda I would win, with Rodan
shot down from the skies, and Godzilla's brain number two blown up thanks
to Miki, but with his dieing breath, Rodan ... well, there the film has
lost me, but it seems as if Rodan disassembles to transfer his lifeforce
to Godzilla, and suddenly Godzilla grows back his second brain and
destroys Mechagodzilla but good - but interestingly, nobody seems to
really worry about this, and Godzilla suddenly decides to leave, and only
Miki the psychic girl can persuade him to take his boy with him ...
By the way, in a fun bit of casting, Keiko Imamura & Sayaka Osawa,
Mothra's little fairies, the Cosmos from previous year's Godzilla
vs Mothra, play two psychic teachers who always speak unisono -
just like the Cosmos.
I have to admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for Godzilla
films, and this one features some undeniably excellent monster mayhem
including a great extended finale. That said however, Godzilla vs
Mechagodzilla is anything but great, it repeatedly loses itself in
unnecessary human subplots, features way too many scenes featuring
the too-cute-to-be-true but totally unconvincing Baby Godzilla and way too
often does not manage to stay clear of utter kitsch (and not the good kind
of kitsch) - which is rather a pity, because with a better story to link
the excellent monster fights this one could have been great (great in a
trashy monster film kind of way but great still).
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