Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) [Tokusatsu Review]

Godzilla: Final Wars; or, Last Hurrah for Monster Rumble
     The world is ruined, and the war is already lost. Now it's a matter of pride. We either die hiding... or die fighting.
Even though this review is already quite belated, I am glad that I finally found the time to talk about my final Godzilla movie for the year 2023; that is, Godzilla: Final Wars, the last instalment of the Millennium series directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and released in 2004 for the 50th anniversary of the franchise.

Release Info

Directed by: Ryuhei Kitamura Starring: Masahiro Matsuoka, Rei Kikukawa, Maki Mizuno

Language: Japanese Original Title ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ Runtime: 125 min

Synopsis
Godzilla has been defeated and buried in ice imprisonment beneath the South Pole. However, the world was plagued by many disasters and wars that caused the awakening of many monsters. All of a sudden, an alien race calling themselves Xiliens arrives and neutralises the monsters. The aliens want to negotiate a treaty with humans. However, the real motive of the aliens is to conquer Earth. When the monsters get unleashed, Godzilla breaks free from the South Pole as well. Operation Final War is set in motion.

Out with a Bang
After the release of Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, the Toho Studios arrived at a conclusion that Godzilla movies are no longer that profitable as they used to be in the past, so the executives considered axing the franchise. However, producer Shogo Tomiyama decided it would be a good idea to end the series on a high note with a commemorative movie that would retire the King of Monsters for a decade or longer.

To fill in the director’s chair, Tomiyama hired a young director Ryuhei Kitamura who was already known for such films as Versus (2000), Aragami (2003), and Azumi (2003). However, Kitamura had no experience with the Tokusatsu genre, even though he was a Godzilla fanboy since childhood.

Kitamura’s personal auteur style and enthusiasm for the series allowed him to create a unique take on the Big G. Together with writers Wataru Mimura and Isao Kiriyama, he developed an action-packed story that functions as a stand-alone movie in the franchise. At best, you can regard Final Wars as a multiverse finale, but I like to think of it as the missing 16th movie of the Showa era because it follows the wacky science-fiction style of these movies from the 1970s.

It goes without saying that Final Wars is very divisive among the fanbase. Many viewers embrace the batshit craziness that oozes from the screen, whereas others just can’t stand the shifts in tone that alter between the Matrix vibes and traditional monster rumble. I admit that even for me watching this film for the first time ten years ago was just too much. It felt like a sensory overload with too many characters and too many bombastic subplots, but as I matured, I learned to appreciate it for what it is. By no means it is a standard Godzilla flick, but an event film, the purpose of which was to celebrate the 50 year-long legacy of the King.

I have to say that I appreciate top-notch action and special effects helmed by Eiichi Asada that preserved the traditional suitmation technique while utilising CGI in demanding shots. The same kind of praise, however, cannot be said about the music score composed by the late Keith Emerson, Nobuhiko Morino, and Daisuke Yano. The music is more all-over-the-place than the film itself, which really affects the viewing experience. There are some nice action cues, but on the whole, the score is bland and uneventful. Final Wars would have benefited more from Akira Ifukube’s classic themes.

With regard to performances, the leading stars of the film do a great job indeed and they are quite memorable in this whole shabang of insanity. Masahiro Matsuoka does okay as the standard hero who strives to save the day. Rei Kikukawa and Maki Mizuno rock as the Otonashi sisters. Interesting fun fact is that Maki Mizuno is the granddaughter of the legendary Kumi Mizuno who has a small supporting part in the film. We can also spot other Tokusatsu veterans: Kenji Sahara, Masato Ibu, Jun Kunimura, Koichi Ueda, Akira Emoto, and Akira Takarada. Kazuki Kitamura is simply too outlandish as the main villain, but I love him anyway. Last but not least, Don Frye plays Captain Douglas Gordon, and this character is simply too-cool-for-school with his over-the-top gigachad demeanour.

Even though Toho made money from the buzz surrounding the movie (merch, video games, re-release of the 1954 original, etc.), Final Wars itself was a box office failure, recouping approximately half of its original budget. Still, it appears that director Ryuhei Kitamura was satisfied from the movie he delivered.

Personally, I was dying to see the film back in 2004, but there was no theatrical release in the land of forgotten ghosts where I live. However, a distribution label Monolith did issue the film on DVD in a special edition, but the price for it was insane. It was not until 2023 that I was able to get this DVD edition which includes a making-of documentary as well as featurettes from the LA premiere of the film. Unfortunately, the audio on the release is either English or Polish. So, I still have to rely on a bootleg DVD from Hong Kong just to be able to hear the unaltered Japanese audio track. 

Recommendations
All things considered, the aim of the Millennium series was to keep the flame of Big G’s popularity going and to attract new fanbase, but the results were mixed. Godzilla: Final Wars marks the end of an era whether you like it or not. This is the last film that used the suitmation technique. This is the last film that features so many cameos from Tokusatsu veterans. This is the last film that was shot on Toho’s famous pool and backlot before these got restructured. This is the last film that was dedicated to the memory of Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Tomoyuki Tanaka, the creators of Godzilla. It was not until the year 2014 when Godzilla was reintroduced into the public spotlight with the American remake that ushered in the MonsterVerse series. However, this is a story for another time.Overall score: 6/10

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