Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002)

Director: Masaaki Tezuka

Written By: Wataru Mimura

Following in the Millennium Era’s tradition of stand-alone films, this entry once again disregards all but the original movie.

It is the year 1999 and Godzilla has returned after more than 50 years to wreak havoc upon Japan. However, in this period, Japan was attacked by several other Kaiju, Mothra among them, and developed an elite monster fighting force that is quickly dispatched to combat the rampaging Kaiju.

After Maser Weapon operator Akane makes a critical error, most of her unit is wiped out and as a result, she is demoted to a desk job. With Godzilla’s inevitable return looming over Japan, a decision is made to build the ultimate, Godzilla killing weapon.

Four years later, the new MechaGodzilla, codenamed ‘Kiryu’ stands ready. Built from a combination of cutting-edge technology and DNA harvested from the skeleton of the original Godzilla. It is not long before the cybernetic titan is called into battle as Godzilla rises from the ocean but upon hearing his enemy's iconic roar, something awakens in MechaGodzilla’s DNA and it rampages through the city until its energy reserves dwindle.

Scientists rush against the clock to replace Kiryu’s programming and set the stage for a final showdown between Kiryu, Akane, and Godzilla.

Another excellent entry in the series, this time firmly planting us in the chair of the unfortunate Japanese Military who are more often than not, lambs to the slaughter in the battle to defend their country.

MechaGodzilla has never looked better and advances in suit construction and CGI mean that he can move around the battlefield with surprising speed and agility. His vast armaments make him an equal match for Godzilla and the final fight between the two maintains the high bar set by Godzilla vs Megaguirus..

The new Godzilla suits nickname, KiryuGoji is derived from combining Kiryu, the name of another kaiju, and Goji, which comes from Godzilla's Japanese name, Gojira.

For this film, Toho decided to move away from the GMKGoji design featured in the previous film and revert to the MireGoji look. This new design, known as KiryuGoji, underwent significant modifications. The head was completely redesigned and made smaller, resembling the head of the Heisei series Godzilla. 

The suit was given large, yellow, almost bird-like eyes. The dorsal fins were slightly reduced in size and lost their purplish hue, reverting to the classic bone-white color, while still retaining the jagged appearance of the MireGoji's fins. Additionally, Godzilla's skin color changed back from the green hue of MireGoji to the traditional charcoal black.

The KiryuGoji suit is one of the most expressive Godzilla suits, featuring animatronics in the head that allows for various facial expressions. Notably, it can widen or narrow its eyes, enabling Godzilla to display genuine expressions of surprise, shock, or anger.

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