Director: Shigeo Tanaka
Year: 1966
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: Daikaijû kettô: Gamera tai Barugon; War of the Monsters; Gamera Strikes Again
Genre: Tokusatsu
Plot:
After being shot into space, Gamera's rocket ship collides with a meteorite and is returned to Japan where he starts another rampage against the country. While this is ongoing, a deranged explorer leads a team to an island in the South Pacific where a relative left a treasure decades ago and finds that the natives believe in a sacred part of the island guarded by a giant monster but they press on anyway, eventually coming across a giant ruby on the island. When he becomes overwhelmed with greed, he takes off with the ruby and leaves the rest of the group for dead only to have one survive the encounter and be reduced by the native tribe who warn of great danger in the form of a giant monster named Barugon who hatchets from the ruby and heads for Japan. When Gamera arrives to battle the creature, he gets into a deadly battle to defeat the creature.
Story:
This is a pretty enjoyable genre effort that has a lot to like. The storyline here is a big part of that, featuring some far more intriguing than expected and has some highly intricate aspects to its main setup. There's a lot to like with the human drama involving the crew of unscrupulous characters heading off to the island and trying to swindle the jewel for themselves leading to a rather intriguing commentary on greed. Seeing the way he double-crosses the two once he has the first chance, letting the scorpion sting and resulting death distract them long enough to take the opal and head back out of the cave after setting a trap and placing a bomb behind to trap the other guy and the dead friend behind in a rock slide creates a big part of this. The fact that he even manages to betray the two after they saved him from drowning in quicksand earlier creates an even stronger impression on his greedy sake.
The secondary plotline here, involving the race to return to Japan and find a way of stopping the revived Barugon from rampaging through the country, is a fun if less intensive setpiece here. Given that it's a common trope usually associated with these kinds of films where the authorities are willing to listen to the native who knows what's going on and decide to press forward with their offensive battle strategies, this is a reused trope that doesn't do anything different with the formula but merely offers a chance to initiate the series of military strategies to stop Barugon with the constant appearances at the base trying to coordinate their plans together. This creates a generally likable and enjoyable storyline that gets a lot to like about it.
However, while the film manages to get a lot to like with the greed storyline in the first half, there’s a lot to dislike in the second half with this plotline. The fact that he’s as greedy as he is creates a rather unusual and illogical series of events where Onodera is shown to be so over-the-top it's comical. The fact that he is confronted and brawls with Kawajiri in the cave to get the jewel out feels necessary but is overplayed beyond its overall point, while the finale at the boat is the biggest drawback. While the suicidal charge showcases the greed effectively, no one is stupid enough to charge a military operation to deal with a rampaging monster to steal a giant diamond they're using to deal with the monster while they don't do anything to stop him before is immensely unrealistic which makes the whole thing problematic.
Special Effects:
In terms of special effects, this is easily the films' strongest aspect and has a lot of the films' positives. Regarding Barugon, there's a great design in place here with the simple four-legged lizard design being pretty effective here. The row of spikes along his back that the Rainbow beam emanates from, the extra-long extendable tongue it projects from its mouth and a large horn on its nose make an incredible impression. Even the realistic complexion with its dark grey look and color tone is realistic and helps to make for an enjoyable time here which helps to overcome the few flaws with its creation. The roar is a total joke and doesn't really make much of an impact while the unnatural way it blinks its eyes while following various objects in its way makes it obvious to its suit-based creation.
The Gamera costume is just as effective, essentially looking the same as the previous film, and keeps many of the same powers and energies here. The glowing eyes and forked tusks are still there, as is the highly-detailed work on the carapace of his shell which makes him quite enjoyable and distinctive throughout here. The costumes' flexibility is also on display with the ability to spend the fights realistically on all fours like a real turtle which keeps him oddly at the same level as Barugon so their first meeting in Osaka is a pretty fun one with the two fighting in a frozen Osaka castle set. Seeing this take place at the use of frost and blood from the monsters throughout the battle gives it a nice touch that's quite enjoyable overall.
As expected, the miniatures here are a highlight with numerous impressive sequences, from Gamera's initial attack on Kurobe Dam following his return to Earth, the brief rampage through Osaka once Barugon gets revived leveling several blocks of buildings, and finally knocking over a radio tower with his tongue. The interaction with the military vehicles is quite fun as well, bringing about several nice confrontations between the military and Barugon with the plan to use the monsters' beam back on itself which is a highly unique and creative strategy that scores a nice amount of damage on the creature. The few instances of hand-drawn animation aren't that impressive, with the reflective light attack on Barugon looking rather cheesy and the rainbow light attacks being rather silly, but the effects here are quite enjoyable.
Other Factors:
That said, there's only one feature here that should be mentioned here which is the seemingly racist treatment afforded to the natives on the island. While there's little about the scenes at the time that stuck out as being so, the look nowadays is one of extreme discomfort watching it now with the utterly ludicrous notion of painting Japanese actors up in black-face and attempting to pass them off as savage aboriginals in a primitive island. Told they're highly superstitious and living in a backward island guarded by their belief in supernatural spirits and ancient curses that have no merit to a civilized individual, the treatment of the natives comes off rather offensive in just about most regards resulting in a rather uncomfortable look and feel to the scenes.
Overview: ***.5/5
A far better than expected kaiju effort that works nicely with its more adult tone that's quite enjoyable compared to the previous entry, the few flaws here aren't too bad resulting in a generally fun time. Those who appreciate the style and approach taken here or are a fan of the genre, in general, will enjoy this one while only those that enjoy the goofier feel of the other entries should heed caution
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