Originally published on Set The Tape
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., or Godzilla X Mothra X Mechadozilla: Tokyo S.O.S. to give it its full title, is the sequel to 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, which saw an antagonistic Godzilla fighting the human made cyborg Mechagodzilla. In that film Mechagodzilla, called Kiryu in this continuity, was successful at driving the monster back, and managed to secure peace for the people of Japan. But a year has passed, and the monster has returned to wreak vengeance.
After the success of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla director Masaaki Tezuka was given the go ahead to create a direct sequel; something that is never a guarantee in the Godzilla franchise. The previous four films released by Toho were all unconnected, and this marked the first time since 1999 that a new film would continue on the story of a previous one. Masaaki was given a number of possible plots to use, but instead decided to create a new story alongside screenwriter Wataru Mimura, who had been writing for the franchise for the last decade.
Thanks to the popularity of Kiryu in the previous movie it was decided that the cybernetic defender would make a return. However, so as not to completely rehash the plot of the other film another heroic monster would take part in the defence of Japan; Mothra. More than forty years after his involvement in the original Mothra, Shinichi Chujo (Hiroshi Koizumi reprising his role) is approached by the Shobijin fairies (Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka), who warn the scientist that the original Godzilla bones inside Kiryu are attracting the new Godzilla, and that as long as they use Mechagodzilla the nation will be under threat. The fairies tell them that Mothra will protect Japan in Kiryu’s place, but due to Mothra having once attacked Japan (in her original film) they refuse.
As Kiryu undergoes repairs Godzilla emerges from the ocean, sporting a scar across his chest from the last fight. Despite the refusal of their aid, Mothra arrives to fight the rampaging monster, but the ageing kaiju soon finds herself losing the fight, and Kiryu is dispatched. The two of them battle the monster, and even Mothra’s infant offspring arrive to assist in the fight. However, when Mothra sacrifices herself to save her children it looks like Godzilla will win, until brave pilot Kyosuke Akiba (Mitsuki Koga) and Kiryu decide to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop him.
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is, in some ways, a bit of a stripped down sequel, despite containing even more Kaiju than the last film. Whilst the movie does feature Mothra and her offspring it’s lost some of the human cast members. The film features a few returning actors from the last film, but others are very noticeably absent. One of the co-creators of Kiryu is gone from the film for no obvious reason, and considering that he was in love with the previous film’s protagonist, who returns in a more reduced role, his absence is somewhat jarring. Oddly enough, the inclusion of Mothra seems to have been something that Toho instructed Masaaki Tezuka to include Mothra in order to attract female viewers; something that feels odd on the surface, but considering how much I love moths I actually completely understand it.
Despite the human cast shuffling and changes, the thing that most viewers came back for was the action, and this film includes a great deal of it. The effects are good, and mix practical suit and model work with CGI well. The suits for both Godzilla and Mechagodzilla were not new this time round, with the costumes from the previous film still being in storage. Whilst not needing to create new suits saved them some money, they did make some changes such as with Godzilla’s scar and Kiryu’s new drill hand attachment, though this was more of a move to be able to sell slight variations of toys and models more than an artistic choice. Godzilla suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa returned to reprise the role, whilst Kiryu sported a new performer this time round.
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. would prove to be the final entry in this two film continuity (more if you include the past films it draws from) as the next year’s 50th anniversary film Godzilla: Final War would take a different approach (and would be absolutely amazing!). It’s somewhat sad to see this particular continuity come to a close, especially as the post-credits tease clearly indicates that Tezuka had ideas for what to do next. As it is though, this is a pretty fun entry in the franchise, one with some surprisingly emotional moments, and some really cool visuals that we’ve not really had in any other Toho Godzilla films. Plus, Mothra. You can never go wrong with Mothra.
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