Director: Tomo'o Haraguchi
Year: 2010
Country: Japan/USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Tokusatsu
Plot:
Moving to the countryside, a failed singer learns that she comes from a long line of Kappa guardians who have to protect the creatures from the outside world. After spending time with the creature and growing used to her duties, the creature is kidnapped and taken to an underground bunker by a group of radical military scientists hoping to use the creature to help breed a new race of creatures to restore Japan's prosperity. During the struggle, they end up blowing up the compound and stopping them, but once irradiated the now-monstrous creature is forced to save the day when another giant monster appears to destroy the city.
Story:
This two-pronged storyline manages to offer some interesting elements here. The first half of the film plays as a comedic homage of fantasy-based horror films, detailing the girls' journey back to her home and meeting up with her grandparents which spurts the appearance of the creature through the reckless youths that intersect with their lives. This comedic retelling offers some fun moments detailing the sweetness of her feeding the creatures and hiding them with her friends as they all manage to discover it's existence with her songs being used to calm it down. This offers a whimsical setup which gets the film going on a fine note, establishing Kanako and her relationship with the Kappa easily, efficiently and gets the film going nicely.
The introduction of the secret military society in the second half of the segment offers up more questions than anything. Despite the ranting and raving about the research being used on the fish and the idea of utilizing the creatures as a means of restoring the greatness of the country's past that was completely devoured in the war. There's a rather nice if completely misguided sense of imperialism throughout this part here to where the idea the group is moving towards are completely unrealistic but still logical enough, although the fact that they never mention any real desire as to what the point of their experiments are done for, how they're accomplished or what goes into them, much less what everything means once they actually accomplish such a feat. Since it's all wiped out rather easily and never really given a chance to explore itself, this is rather curious.
Leading into the third section of the film, the monster-movie sequence that starts this part of the film along gets this on a fun note, although even this has a few issues. There's a lot to like with the idea of the creature appearing and attacking the city destroying the military there to stop it as this aspect shows off the classic monster formula leading into the appearance of the full-size Kappa and their ensuing brawl. However, the Hangyolas suddenly showing up is never explained, nor is there anything about how the Kappa grew so large or why it's attacking the city at the end, again offering more questions than it answers.
Special Effects:
The special effects for the most part here manage to provide a consistent framework for this type of film. The main Kappa costume looks rather nice when it's static but less so in-motion as the folklore-inspired design brings about a generally enjoyable look. The large head, expressive eyes, stringy hair and knobby, reptilian skin endowed to the creature truly look ancient Oriental in terms of origin, while the cumbersome turtle-shell and spindly legs often-times denote the use of a suit with the way they appear to bend and flex as it's moving around, most notably during the dancing montages. As well, the fact that it doesn't really change it's expression or even move its face gives away the stiff rubber in its design, which
The effects in the lab are a lot of fun. Taking up the mantle of the mad scientist effort, there's a lot to like here with the garish lab and Nazi insignia's that add a demented touch to the material, especially once the fish-men appear and the masks we see for them are brought up. They look quite convincing in this section and really look imposing in design if still reminiscent of the rubber masks they are. Getting the Kappa costume into motion with the confrontations with the various beings and henchmen around the lab and then dealing with the resulting payoff, there are some solid action effects here as well as the great costumes, really working rather nicely.
During the monster film section of the film, we get a lot to like here as well. The Hangyolas costume is the best part of the film, the upright reptilian appearance adorned with oriental-styled horns and fin ornamentation on its head, back, and underarms. This creates a rather impressive design here not only with the bright blue, orange and red coloring of the creature but also the flexibility of the scales on its body which is put to good use in the battle scene with Kappa. These scenes are plenty of fun and bring about a lot to really enjoy in this section of the film.
Likewise, there's a lot of other fun elements here in the rampage and battle segments. Despite the low-budget quality, the miniatures Hangyolas encounters at the start of its rampage are impressive and exceptionally high-quality, crumbling realistically and offering a rather realistic tone to the segment. Even as a gag, the idea of the human getting trampled underfoot and stuck in the aftermath of its footprint is nicely realized. Knowing that the military vehicles, from the trucks and tanks to the laser weapon and planes are miniatures are just part of the joke, realized by the obvious firecrackers for their explosions, the dolls being set on fire for real people or the wires driving the planes through the air reinforce what kind of movie this really is.
Actors:
The cast here is wholly appropriate for the type of film here. Misato Hirata as the lead Kanako for the first half of the film is exactly what would be expected in this kind of effort, portraying sweet and innocent small-town girl who got crushed by the big city and returning to her hometown with optimism and spirit intact which allows for the determination and spunk she shows when she realizes the Kappa is alive. The maniacal ravings of Mika, playing the head of the military team that targets Kanako and the Kappa, makes her quite memorable as well with the conviction she has saying such utterly bizarre and bonkers speech detailing her plans as the crazy and spastic nature manages to make her quite bizarre and memorable.
The rest of the cast knows what they're doing and play up that part rather nicely. Whether playing the part of inept military commanders who sit stone-faced at conference rooms shouting orders and not reacting to their soldiers' demise to the way the soldiers themselves are treated as cowardly and completely overwhelmed by the situation, the spoof-like nature of this one manages to make them perfect for the part if not entirely with any kind of human merit in their actions. Playing the cliches to the hilt and even throwing in some rather corny character traits that enhance this virtue moreso, whether that's a positive or detriment to the film falls on individual viewers' tastes. Beyond that, there isn't much else to the acting in the movie here.
Other Features:
Frankly, you're right on board with this one from the start or you're not. In the first few seconds, hearing the roars of King Kong alongside the ape skull, Titanosaurus over the fish skeleton, King Seesar over the wolf-head and Ebirah in the background, setting the stage for the type of film to come immediately. Getting the dubbed-over voice narrating the sequence seals the deal that this will be a goofy, silly throwback to the monster movies of the past which ironically is the major downfall of the film. As much as those films tried to go against being silly and cheesy, this one reveals in it far beyond a point that the older films generating and instead almost mocking them in the process. The fact that this one shines a light on the wires guiding the miniature planes as they come in to attack the monster flies in direct defiance of what occurred where it was a factor they vehemently tried to hide, the plastic dolls being set on fire while they're set on fire by the monster attacks are just plain embarrassing to sit through and the actual use of physical wrestling maneuvers or martial arts stances during the final fight look quite stupid in the context of the fight.
Moreover, the fact that this one is so challenging to get through comes about due to the utterly chaotic nature of the film. Since this journey around to it's varying storylines, starting out as a whimsical fantasy about the creature being alive, then becoming a wild mad scientist effort and ending up a fun, wild old-school kaiju film really highlights a distracting factor within here. The wildly varying tones, shifting storylines in a matter of minutes or even a cut-scene, manages to make this feel like the film was originally shot as two or three separate features that were slammed together with no real thought as to how to bring them together, leaving the plot-holes and chaotic tone that results here. There's too much jarring action within here that never feels anchored to anything and makes it feel like the chaotic mess it really is, rendering a lot of the intentions with the final half quite moot with the randomness of the film. However, that's all subject to individuals' taste as the cheesy approach may make for an endearing and worthwhile watch.
Overview: ** 1/2/5
While the heart is certainly in the right place and there's plenty to like if you're willing to go along with the jokes, overall it's way too tonally chaotic to really offer the throwback feel it's trying for. It's really only recommended to hardcore kaiju fanatics or lovers of cheesy cinema, while those that aren't into either aspect should heed absolute caution with this one.
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