Just as a note, I watched this film in widescreen format with the original Japanese dialogue.
I honestly didn’t even know a sequel to Frankenstein Conquers the Earth existed until I watched Godzilla against Mechagodzilla and they showed a clip of the movie during a montage. As a follow-up to Frankenstein Conquers the Earth (which I liked) it was pretty good.
Sanda and Gaira, the two Gargantuas, weren’t the most exciting Kaiju in the world, though. The thing that made Frankenstein interesting in the original was his human-like ability to perform strategy and his incredible healing factor that had him instantly recover from the most brutal attacks (think “Deadpool”, the Marvel Comics character). Sanda and Gaira lacked the strategy and brain-power and were given a watered-down version of Frankenstein’s healing factor. So they were just like Frankenstein…only not as good.
Still, the movie has its moments. Gaira ranks as one of the most evil kaiju I’ve ever seen in a Showa movie. Unlike most bad guys who just topple over buildings and step on people, Gaira actually EATS humans. He goes into cities and villages, plucks them out of their homes and chows down. Brutal. Particularly the scene where he reaches into a skyscraper, pulls out a woman, gobbles her up and then spits out her clothing. Damn.
There’s also a really well-done scene involving Gaira, where two sailors are taking their fishing boat out to sea when one of them looks over the side and sees Gaira beneath the waves looking back at them. It was done REALLY well and might be the closest the Showa series ever got to “scary”.
As a follow-up to Frankenstein Conquers the Earth it answers a few questions but raises many others. Sanda was grown from Frankenstein’s severed hand (seen cut off at the research lab in the last movie), but for some reason after he grew himself back completely he looked more like a chimpanzee than Frankenstein. Gaira was grown from cells of Sanda’s that got carried out to sea and mixed with plankton to create a sea-monster Frankenstein. And we still never learn the where-abouts of Frankenstein-himself, who disappeared at the end of the last movie.
As far as the “War” goes, Sanda is basically the good guy and Gaira is his evil twin. They start out like brothers but once Sanda discovers Gaira eating humans for lunch they throw down. The War-itself is pretty weak. Neither of the Gargantuas has any special powers so it looked more like two guys in furry costumes wrestling for 10 minutes. The ending is pretty spontaneous and forced. They carry their fight out to sea and then get caught in an undersea volcanic eruption (convenient!) and get buried in magma.
Aside from the ending, the movie is pretty good. Not as good as Frankenstein Conquers the Earth, but not a bad film either.
Grade: C
Lupin III: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy
Though it may very well be stating the obvious, I think it’s best to preface this review by telling you all that the only people who are going to take ANY interest in this film are fans of the Lupin III animated series and it’s subsequent string of animated movies. Your Average Joe with no concept of the Lupin III universe or characters isn’t going to find any entertainment value from this movie, and honestly, even the biggest Lupin III fan isn’t going to enjoy this movie, either.
The plot is no different than any of Lupin’s animated outings, and even features a “First Encounter”-style approach where all the cast meets for the first time. Essentially, Lupin III is the world’s greatest thief, descended from the infamous French thief, Arsene Lupin. To a man who can steal anything he wants, the world is Lupin’s oyster. However, all that changes one day when he meets the gorgeous cat-burglar, Mine Fujiko. Being the sex-offender that he is, Lupin immediately takes to her, despite her manipulative personality, and they become partners in crime.
Now enter Daisuke Jigen, world-renowned marksman and lone survivor of Lupin II’s vast criminal empire. He seeks to join forces with Lupin III so that he might rebuild the “Lupin Empire” but finds this Lupin to be arrogant and uncooperative. But despite that, they quickly become friends, and along with Fujiko, plot the world’s greatest jewel-heist.
And next we meet the short-fused Inspector Zenigata, whom joined by two bumbling assistants, has dedicated his life to tracking down and apprehending Lupin III. But Zenigata isn’t the only one after the main character; the Mafia’s Maccerrone Family (pronounced “Macaroni”) wants to bump Lupin off to ensure that he never has the opportunity to rebuild the Lupin Empire. And if all this wasn’t complicated enough, there are bounty hunters on the trio’s tail and a race to see which party can get a priceless, ancient statue with strange psychokinetic powers first.
This film was made way back in the early 1970’s at the height of Lupin’s popularity in Japan. So like much of the Lupin animation produced in the same time-period, this whole thing is going to seem very dated. But, unlike Lupin’s animated adventures from the 70’s, lacks that nostalgic charm and instead presents us with everything from the 70’s we’d wish to forget.
The plot also does some unwelcome tinkering with the origins of each character; something just about any Lupin fan is sure to take offense to. Despite that, the actors cast to play each character fit the bill well-enough. Lupin is of French descent, so hiring a Japanese actor to portray him irked me at first, but they quickly address the fact and reveal that his mother was Japanese. Jigen is supposed to be of American origin (having been on the run from the Chicago mob in the original cartoons and comics), but since he has a completely different origin in this movie, I’d say his appearance works just fine save for having a goatee instead of a beard. Fujiko transitioned from cartoon to reality quite accurately, save for her most recognizable feature (her mountainous chest) being left behind. Zenigata suffers the most, however. He’s been stripped of his trench-coat and hat and given a business suit, instead. The oafish assistants he’s been saddled with are neither funny nor a part of the source material and will inspire nothing but frustration from the audience.
The atmosphere of the movie is EXTREMELY silly, so don’t be expecting some dark, violent Lupin epic. The director makes it obvious his intent is to create a live action cartoon; emphasis on “cartoon”. Characters get flattened into pancakes against walls, chase each other through corridors ala Scooby Doo, get coated in black soot after bombs explode in there faces, and more than once, Lupin directly addresses the audience.
These gags are very hit-or-miss. Some times they are ingeniously funny, like when Lupin shows how he kills a bounty hunter in slow-motion, or when Jigen opens up his jacket to reveal a psychotic arsenal of guns. However, most of them are much too childish and don’t fit in with the other very raunchy, and occasionally very violent, gags that appear through-out the film.
I recommend this movie to the hardcore Lupin III fans only, and even then I suggest you view it for its historical significance to the franchise and not as a particularly good live action adaptation of the comics or cartoons.
Grade: D+
Uzumaki
For anyone who has ever read a story by H.P. Lovecraft, or ever been interested in surreal, gothic, mind-bending horror, this movie is for you.
The plot is very reminiscent of “The Shadow over Innsmouth”, one of Lovecraft’s most famous tales (and poorly adapted into the Brian Yuzna film, Dagon). Essentially, a small fishing village deep in the rural outskirts of Japan has been experiencing some very bizarre phenomenon. One by one, the townspeople become obsessed with spiral patterns of any kind. A young girl and her boyfriend become particularly concerned, as the boyfriend’s father seems to be at the epicenter of this phenomenon and has become violently obsessed with it. Eventually, as the epidemic reaches its climax, townspeople begin to suffer spiral-related deaths (like being ground up in the tire of a moving car), or even change into grotesque, giant snail-monsters.
The movie is VERY strange, both in story and appearance. Being inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, the audience is treated to some of the most surreal and gruesome deaths you’ll ever see on film. I won’t spoil it for you, but one of them involves a washing machine, broken glass and a camcorder.
This movie isn’t for everyone, I suppose. Some fans prefer their horror movies to “make sense”, and Uzumaki is decidedly abstract. And yet others will never give the movie a try because it is in Japanese and they don’t like subtitles. And in addition to that, there are those out there who hate H.P. Lovecraft’s style of story-telling and will thus be turned off of the movie at the mere utterance of his name.
But overall, this is the kind of bizarre, surreal horror movie that is best watched at 3 in the morning, when you’re all alone in the a dark house, deprived of sleep and despite all common sense, you become paranoid and creeped-out by every little noise.
I give it an A-. The best H.P. Lovecraft-inspired horror movie since John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness.
Grade: A-
Dragonball Z movie 3: “Tree of Might”
My personal favorite of all the Dragonball Z movies, and certainly one of the best in the series, “Tree of Might” is bitter-sweet in a way. Sweet, in that the movie is so good, but bitter in that it marks the end of an era for Dragonball Z. But I’ll get to that in a minute.
In “Tree of Might”, the evil space-faring Saiyan trouble-maker, Turles, has brought his gang of thugs to Earth. Their intention is to use the Earth and all its life-force to grow the Tree of Might. The Tree of Might is a colossal shrub which, once full-grown, reaches high up into the stratosphere. The tree bears fruit which concentrates all the life-force and energy of the whole planet. By eating the fruit, one becomes nearly invincible. Well, Goku and his friends aren’t particularly happy about their planet being left a withered husk, and quickly have a showdown with Turles.
“Tree of Might” marks the end of a few eras in the Dragonball Z saga. Firstly, this is the last of the movies dubbed by the phenomenal Ocean Group. This also happens to be some of their best work. Second, this is the last movie before the introduction of the Super Saiyan concept, which much to my dismay, would go on to become 99% of Dragonball Z’s focus. Finally, and this is one of the reasons I like the movie so much, it’s a great “farewell” for the non-Saiyan heroes of the series that we’d come to know ever since the original Dragonball.
After “Tree of Might” (or, if you go by the TV series, the Garlic Jr. saga) all these original supporting characters would be gradually shoved into the background to the point of becoming completely obsolete, or being reduced to painful comic relief, all for the sake of introducing more Super Saiyans.
This movie gives Yamcha, Chao-Tzu, Tien, Piccolo and Krillen one last chance to shine as effective, powerful warriors. Sure, Goku saves the day in the end, but that’s to be expected. Never-the-less, each character gets at least one or two scenes to really show off their clever special moves. Yamcha’s “Power Shot” was always one of my favorites, if only for its visual flare, and we get to see it one last time. True, Piccolo and Krillen do manage to hang on as cast members for most of the Dragonball Z series, but in Krillen’s case, he becomes so weak in comparison to the Saiyans that he is reduced to being nothing more than a joke (“Brolly’s Second Coming” is particularly terrible). Piccolo manages to stick around as a fighter, but nothing particularly effective when compared to the other Saiyans.
It’s also great that all these classic Dragonball characters got to show up in the Ocean Group’s last movie, as it gives us one last chance to hear all the characters’ voices. Yamcha always had a voice that was ten times more badass than the actual character, while Tien wound-up with a humorously stereotypical kung fu movie-voice. I’ve said it before, but I’ll repeat it here, I really wish Ocean Group had managed to hang in there through at least movie 6. Brian Drummond’s completely psychotic voice for Vegita was one of the most impressive parts of the Ocean Group’s dub of the TV series, and it’s a crying shame they didn’t make it to any of the movies featuring that character. I’d really liked to have heard loco-Vegita without the embarrassing restraints of television censorship.
As far as the plot goes, it isn’t as inspired as “The World’s Strongest”, but its creative-enough for one to look past the tired “Alien shows up to fight Goku for some reason” story. Regardless, it gave us a chance to see Gohan transform into his freaky giant ape form and wreck Goku’s s***. Toei’s animation for this movie is particularly dark, and Ape-Gohan looks magnificently evil.
Although “The World’s Strongest” is the best movie in the series, “Tree of Might” is my personal favorite as it’s a nice finale to the “classic” days of Dragonball. It gets a B+, as far as Dragonball Z movies are concerned.
Grade: B+
Dragonball Z movie 1: Dead Zone
Dragonball Z movie 1: “Dead Zone”
The early Dragonball Z movies will always be my favorite. These were from the days before Super Saiyan level 72, deus ex fusions and villains that were nothing but the same product in different packaging. Back when a kamehameha actually meant something and characters cared about the Dragonballs (those things the show is titled after).
In Dead Zone, the evil alien known as Garlic Jr. seeks to gather together all 7 fabled Dragonballs in order to be granted the gift of immortality. His goons carelessly drag young Gohan along with them as they steal his Dragonball. Little do they know, Gohan is the son of the World’s Strongest Man, Goku! Goku quickly tracks the villains down but arrives too late; Garlic Jr. has already been granted immortality and can never be killed. Goku’s pal, Krillen, and his then-arch-nemesis, Piccolo, join in the fray but find that Garlic Jr. is no easy challenge.
I prefer the Dragonball Z movies to the television series. It’s basically everything that makes the TV series fun (insane fights, spectacular choreography, colorful characters, zany plots) but without everything that makes the TV series annoying (filler, consistently stiff animation, filler, constantly unnecessary comedy relief, filler). At least, most of the movies don’t succumb to those set-backs.
The animation in Dead Zone isn’t anything overwhelmingly spectacular, but it is several notches above the best episodes of the TV series and, unlike many of the later films, stays consistent through-out the entire movie. Often times in the future movies, the bulk of the budget is reserved for the fight scenes, making the “boring” scenes in the movie very awkwardly, and poorly, animated. Dead Zone doesn’t have that problem and the characters look great even when they aren’t doing anything exciting.
However, this movie is only 45 minutes-long, so the pace stays at break-neck speed for the most part. The fight scenes are great, the best one being when Ginger and Nicky break-out their swords and duel Goku and his power-poll. The choreography between the three characters is exciting and hilarious at the same time and is at the very least the best fight in any of the Dragonball movies that involves swords.
The showdown with Garlic Jr. also manages to build some of the best tension in any of the movies, with all the heroes fighting a seemingly hopeless battle with the immortal bad guy, all while the Dead Zone dimension is sucking everything into its gaping portal. I wouldn’t say it qualifies as a “nail-biter” but it does make things a lot more hectic.
This is also one of the only three Dragonball Z movies to have been dubbed by Canada’s Ocean Group; you might remember them as the first cast of people for Dragonball Z’s English dub, and who many consider to be the superior voices. Indeed, the Ocean Group delivers one of their best performances for the dub. Scott McNeil’s Piccolo is badass incarnate, while Don Brown’s rendition of Goku (although I preferred Ian Corlett’s) is very humorous and fits the character perfectly; he’s a riot during that sword fight. It’s a shame the Ocean Group didn’t stick around long enough to dub a few of the later movies, particularly 5 and 6. I always wanted to hear Brian Drummond’s infamous Vegita-voice without the restrictions of TV censorship.
Dead Zone does have its drawbacks, though. Gohan’s musical number in the middle of the film is out of place amongst all the violence and is really more annoying than entertaining. The older audience will most-likely just fast-forward through that part. Then there’s the length. Anybody paying more than $15 bucks for a 45 minute movie is going to feel ripped-off. It’s a good movie, but I can’t rationalize paying very much for such little content.
Dead Zone is Dragonball Z at its core, well before all the bells and whistles got bells and whistles. I give it a B. Definitely one of the better movies in the series.
Grade: B