Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Written By: Ryuhei Kitamura, Isao Kiriyama

50 Years of Godzilla.

Once more ignoring all but the original film, Godzilla spends the first half of the movie trapped in an icy prison known as Site-G where he has remained for the last 50 years. During that time a new species of mutated human has evolved, with superior strength, speed, and agility, these individuals have been recruited to form M-Force, the world's elite monster-fighting army.

When shapeshifting aliens come to Earth under the guise of friendship, they are soon revealed to be predatory in nature, intent on feeding off our midochlorians and keeping humanity as cattle. The mutants are descended from an ancient mummified alien known as Gigan and quickly fall under the alien's control. The aliens then unleash dozens of monsters to destroy the earth and bring humanity to heel.

In a last-ditch effort to fight back, the few remaining members of M-Force seek to free Godzilla in the hope he will defeat the alien army but they are not alone, the Shobujin and Mothra have also entered the fight.

Wow.

This movie is like a fever dream of loud noises and fast cuts. The action rarely lets up and never lets anything like a decent plot or deep character work get in the way. Do you want superpowered humans fighting Kaiju? You got it. A kung-fu motorcycle fight? Check. Some of the most over-the-top, scenery-chewing acting ever? It’s all here.

Nothing makes sense. Things just happen, with no explanation or build-up. Minilla turns up and hitches a ride in the back of a pickup truck. One of the mutants gains super-super powers and almost every monster from Godzilla’s history pops up in one form or another.

Even Zilla, from the dire 1998 movie pops up to be hilariously one-shotted by the real Godzilla. It’s good to see Anguirus again, Mothra is always welcome and I’ve always had a soft spot for Gigan. In his new ‘Kaiser’ form, even Ghidorah looks better than ever.

This is a really tough one to rank, as a movie it’s pretty awful. The script is threadbare, and the acting is awful but like a car wreck I couldn’t look away. When Godzilla turns up we do get arguably the greatest Kaiju fights in the history of the franchise and make no mistake Godzilla is the King here, he casually solos his way through most of his back catalogue of enemies with little effort, only Gigan and Ghidorah offer him any resistance.

FinalGoji's name is derived from the title of Godzilla Final Wars, with "Final" referencing the movie and "Goji" coming from Godzilla's Japanese name, Gojira. For Godzilla's 50th anniversary film, director Ryuhei Kitamura aimed to emphasize monster battles, wishing to portray "a more powerful Godzilla." Camera tests using a SOSGoji suit from the previous Godzilla film, Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, revealed that its movements were unsuitable. Kitamura and monster modeler Shinichi Wakasa agreed that the suit did not meet their needs. Wakasa then recalled a Godzilla fighting game his child had played and showed it to Kitamura, who agreed it was closer to what he envisioned.

Although Yasushi Nirasawa and Yoji Shinkawa submitted concept art for the new Godzilla, neither design was selected. Instead, Wakasa designed the new Godzilla himself, with input from Kitamura and special effects director Eiichi Asada. Wakasa aimed to combine characteristics of several prior suits for the character's 50th anniversary, drawing from the ShodaiGoji, MosuGoji, and Heisei Godzilla designs. The design emphasized Godzilla's muscles and facial expression to align with Kitamura's vision. His dorsal fins were made smaller to avoid interfering with the choreography, and the whites of his eyes were removed to avoid making him appear willful.

The FinalGoji suits were created by Wakasa and his company MONSTERS, Inc. Three suits were produced: one for close-ups, one for "action," and one for "super action." Wakasa sculpted the head, the upper body was patterned by Naoto Nishikawa and sculpted by Akira Yamada, and the dorsal fins were made from polyethylene foam. Molds were created from these parts, with the head and torso cast in latex and the fins in urethane. The suits' body parts from the waist down were fabricated by gluing together pieces of urethane, and the eyeballs were created by Shigeaki Yoshida.

The modeling team ensured the suits were lightweight and easy to act in; unlike previous suits, the space inside was not filled with latex, allowing actor Tsutomu Kitagawa to move freely. The suits' arms were the only snug parts and featured a dual joint at the armpit to increase their range of motion. Unlike earlier suits, the dorsal fins lacked internal lighting to reduce weight and accommodate their smaller size. The only lighting was in the mouth for Godzilla's atomic breath. Each suit's head was attached to a helmet-like "skullcap" worn by Kitagawa, translating his neck movements to Godzilla's, and at least one suit's mouth could be controlled remotely. These mechanisms were created by Nobuhiro Ekubo.

***