Plot Summary
Mr. Tako, the advertising head of a pharmaceutical company sponsoring a low rated television show called "Mysteries of the World", decides the show needs some spicing up. So he sends two of his staff, Osamu Sakurai and Kinsaburo Furue, to Pharoh Island to bring back some berries, called soma, noted for their non-addictive narcotic effect. He also wants the two to bring back proof of a giant ape named King Kong. As this is going on, a submarine collides with an iceberg releasing Godzilla, who was trapped there seven years earlier. When Osamu and Kinsaburo arrive at Pharoh, they not only find the berries but the giant ape. After a battle with a giant octopus, Kong drinks the juice that is made from the berries and falls asleep. While he is sleeping, the pair tie him to a raft and take him back to Japan. In the meantime, Godzilla is rampaging throughout the Japanese countryside. While in route to Japan, Kong breaks free and swims toward Japan and inevitably on a collision course with Godzilla.
Wow does this movie have some issues! First of all, the movie is helmed by the guy who directed the first Godzilla movie but he went in a completely different direction this time around and one that pretty much undermines the movie from a straightforward "enjoy it on its merits" viewing. The other thing is the pacing. The movie employs a ton of fadeouts and swipe cuts which make it a bit disjointed. It also doesn't help that the King Kong subplot moves a LOT faster than the slow, plodding Godzilla subplot so the movie is pretty herky jerky from that standpoint.
So how did the change in direction send this movie spiraling? Well instead of going for a dark and depressing atmosphere the director Ishirô Honda decided to go for a more lighthearted comedic style. This means that the allegory/social commentary was relegated to satire. This tact led to many of the human characters being complete buffoons! Basically the satire was based on commercialism and how it effects the media, business and people in general. Tako, from the very moment you first lay eyes on him is fuming and overacting while watching the TV show. He facially reminds me of Grouch Marx and a lot of physical mannerisms echoes that of a younger Jerry Lewis. So you already have one character who's completely out there.
Even the more serious character in Sakurai is saddled with a cartoon character of a sidekick in Furue who is basically your typical scaredy cat sidekick while they're out at Pharaoh island. Speaking of Pharaoh island, that section of the movie is the height of the silliness as they get captured by the natives who are played by Japanese in blackface! Their guide is a silly little man who tries to insure the safety of his compatriots but since that doesn't work Sakurai jumps in offering a transistor radio then they start giving out cigarettes to the natives, including a kid!
So yeah, there's a ton of absurdity in this flick which undermines a lot of the good stuff including the great Octopus attack/King Kong fight scene. That scene was pretty cool as they used 4 live octopi and with camera trickery made them look much bigger than they are which gave the scene a reality that would've been lessened with a prop monster.
So now to the stuff that REALLY matters Godzilla and King Kong getting it on! First of all, the prop/sfx people decided to make Godzilla look less threatening and even a little more reptilian. It's not the greatest look in the world but one thing it did was give Godzilla a bit more personality. He's not just a force of nature in this flick and he actually shows more than one emotion in this movie which is the beginning of the humanizing of Godzilla for lack of a better term. King Kong on the other hand looks like utter crap! It looks like they got the suit from some third rate costume store and the goofy look on his face makes him look a bit dumb.
They also took some liberties with these guys in that King Kong was enlarged so he could stand toe to toe with Godzilla which I can understand but then they make Godzilla, a monster who came out of the depths from radiation vulnerable to electricity while King Kong gets stronger from it. It's a cheap way to even the odds a bit. That being said, the final fight between the two is EPIC! It's definitely the best piece of action involving Godzilla so far in his history so if that's a harbinger of good things to come then i'll be very pleased however we're heading into an era where Godzilla starts to progressively get goofier so I dunno.....
One last bit of business here, despite all the flaws I really enjoyed the movie. the silliness does undercut a lot of things and the pacing is pretty effed up but it gives the movie a cheesy, drive-in movie quality that's fun. The movie also pretty much establishes the formula for future movies in the structure as we get the build up for each monster than they duke it out in the end.
I give this 4 out of 5.
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