Godzilla vs. Biollante
Year:
1989
Directed by:
Kazuki Omori
Rated:
PG
Country:
Japan
Runtime:
1 hr. 44 min.
Production Company:
Toho
Written by:
Kazuki Omori
Shinichiré Kobayashi
Starring:
Kunihiko Mitamura
Yoshiko Tanaka
Masanobu Takashima
Koji Takahashi
Similar Films:
Lots of filler plot and an original monster. Blah.
A monstrous rose towers before Dr. Shiragami. As large as most any Godzilla foe and standing in the middle of a still lake, the rose seems to stare us down with its single bloom. It's Shiragami's chance; the line he utters next could immortalize him in the annals of the Godzilla franchise. Speak, Shiragami. Assess the situation with a triumphant spirit or a doomsday complacence.
"That isn't an ordinary plant."
...
That's it? A Jurassic rose -- that you created! -- has risen before the city, has already been implicated in murder, and all you can do is make the most absolutely blatant observation possible?
Unfortunately "That's it?" is the question most viewers probably ask themselves at the end of the film, too. Godzilla vs. Biollante falls into the same trap that too many of the Godzilla films have succumbed to: it thinks that if it has one cool co-star monster in a battle or two, it doesn't need anything else other than a plot to bring said monster into existence.
In this movie, scientists are clamoring for cell samples of Godzilla. One scientist wishes to use them in order to create a "super plant" that can grow in the desert. "[T]he Americans will certainly be mortified," his boss says, "Their position as the largest cereal exporter in the world would be shaken." Okay ... Anyway, others are trying to use the cells to develop a weapon to be used against Godzilla. The former of these succeeds only in creating a monster rose, the titular Biollante. The latter succeed only in creating a dull plot device, antinuclear energy bacteria, which is loaded into missiles in the hopes that the stuff can be an effective weapon against Godzilla.
This movie is boring. There are a few scenes where the writers apparently tried to create some non-monster action and ended up with bland gun-shooting scenes. In one of these, a truck is hit with a single shot from an assault rifle and rolls completely over. There are a couple of other "action scenes," such as the one in which the Super X2 aircraft circles Godzilla, reflecting his radiation breath right back at him, but each and every one of these scenes are dull. Amidst antinuclear energy bacteria heists and terroristic demands, all we want to see is a giant monster or two. Instead we have to wait.
The worst part of all is the way this material is handled. With one character talking about how scientists are creating monsters and another wondering how long humankind has been in "an age like this," apparently referring to scientific irresponsibility, the movie essentially makes the statement that science is bad. Of course, sometimes science can be bad; Godzilla is the quintessential example of that. But by having a scientist with good intentions create yet another monster and never try to explain his side of the story afterward, the criticism becomes one against all scientific endeavors. But then, to top it all off, the theme finally becomes null when the two problems (Godzilla and Biollante) fight each other off, each saving Japan from the other's doom. So, the theme starts off as stupid and then becomes pointless.
At least Biollante does turn out to be an awesome monster. He's part Godzilla, part plant, and he's infused with the spirit of Shiragami's daughter (which makes for a laugh-out-loud image near the end of the film). He begins as a rose, and, upon first encountering Godzilla, uses tentacle-like roots (I guess they're roots) with giant Venus fly traps on the ends to wrap Godzilla up, bite him, and spit goo in his face. When this thing evolves into his final form, though, watch out; it becomes one of the meanest, ugliest Godzilla monsters there is, hunched over a bloated, sinewy belly, snarling through gator jaws and boar tusks, and attacking from a distance (at first) with those damn root things. Never do we see his legs -- or if he even has any. He may in fact move by using his tentacle roots. It doesn't matter either way. Biollante is one hell of a monster, ignoring the standard of monsters that try simply to look cool, instead turning out as hideous as ever.
It's too bad the rest of the film is so bland that I cannot bring myself even to suggest that Biollante makes up for it. Godzilla vs. Biollante is currently unavailable on DVD in the United States. I think that is good. I know there are plenty of Godzilla fans who buy every Godzilla DVD there is, regardless of the movie's quality, just to have them all, and if they're unable to waste their money on this movie, there's something else out there better that they can put it toward. If this is ever released on Region 1, rent it if you must, fast-forward to the final battle, and send it back. You will have saved yourself an hour and a half of boredom.
