For those who love to see Godzilla as the true, unstoppable King of Monsters, GFW is a true return to form. Godzilla has never seemed stronger, or been portrayed as more of a force to be reckoned with. However, it is this, and only this that seems to find familiar ground with the rest of the series.
Godzilla:Final Wars is a drastic and puzzling step in a different direction for the Godzilla franchise. While TOHO should be given credit for being willing to take their creation and franchise in a different direction, they should also be more careful in the manner to which they do so.
Godzilla: Final Wars feels like many different movies in one, and by this I do not mean any of the films to which it owes it's inspiration. At times, the film feels like it is a pure action take on the King of Monsters. At other times, it feels like it is an exercise in camp excess. But it is these two varying points that makes Godzilla: Final Wars both hard to classify, and hard to comprehend. The film suffers from not having a set mood, or set atmosphere for the viewer to really settle into. The plot and atmosphere simply take too many turns too many times for the viewer to get comfortable with the film.
I won't go into too many plot details, as I don't want to ruin the film or any of it's points for those who have yet to see it. But briefly, this film takes a cue from the Godzilla films of the Showa era and brings back the Xilians, once again bent on world domination.
GFW features a huge all star cast of kaiju. However, the shear number of kaiju may be impressive, their appearances are not always of the same result. Kaiju such as Hedorah, King Seesar, and yes Minilla are sorely out of place in this film, or if nothing else, sorely misused. While I applaud Ryuhei Kitamura for casting a kaiju all star cast, I feel that fewer monsters would have sufficed had they been given more screen time, and stayed a little truer to form.
However some of the films kaiju make truly great returns, most notably Rodan, Angillas, and most importantly..Gigan. These three monsters are my personal favorites in Godzilla Final Wars. Rodan looks better than ever, and while the monsters screen time and fight time are limited, it makes a fantastic impact during a scene in NYC. Angillas, a long time favorite of so many GFAN's, is given his respect in GFW. The monsters new design is fantastic, and the kaiju maintains its beloved fighting spirit and comes complete with some new tricks to boot. However, it is Gigan that steals the show. Gigan returns to the Godzilla franchise, and in many respects does so in the wrong forum. This Gigan deserved a chance to face Godzilla in it's own movie. The new design is amazing, sleek and deadly, with new weapons, and old weapons never before seen.
Overall, Godzilla Final Wars is an entertaining film, but it is certainly not the best of the Millennium Series, nor the best movie it could have been given the talent and resources at it's disposal. The film is an interesting take on the Godzilla franchise, but note the farewell that the Big G deserves. If TOHO were smart, they would allow Godzilla his time away from the screen, and take some of their newly revamped kaiju and give them their chances at real screen time in some new adventures.
