Year: 1955
Director: Motoyoshi Oda
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
With the enormous commercial and critical success of Godzilla (1954) Toho Studios created a sequel created in a hurry and with less money than the original film. It reached theaters only six months after the first (and you thought Hollywood was bad for churning out sequels!). The speed with which the film was made damages it: even though there is some superb VFX work from Eiji Tsubaraya, it feels less of a passion project and more mechanical in nature.
In this film, Godzilla battles an irradiated Ankylosaur and destroys Osaka in the process.
Do fans of Godzilla (or critics of film in general) really care about Godzilla Raids Again? I feel like its largely forgotten about, even though the worst of Godzilla still sticks with fans. In this the nuclear metaphor of Godzilla gets toned down, and the human fringe of the tale is trite and uninvolved in the monster-happenings. In short, it isn't quite the smackdown Godzilla vs. King Kong would be, but isn't quite the broody war melodrama that the original was.
The rushed production schedule also meant that a key figure in the success of the original Godzilla would not be available, director Ishiro Honda. He brought a great personal vision and earnestness to the first film.Instead we get director Motoyoshi Oda who seems disinterested in the picture and lacked any personal touch. composer Akira Ifukube. His replacement is one of the great composers in Japanese cinema, Masaru Sato, but his score here is unmemorable as Sato was just starting his career.
The main draw of Godzilla Raids Again is the battle between Godzilla and Anguirus, the first fight between two monsters in the history of Japanese kaiju films. It's fine, but isn't the spectacle that later films would be. Unfortunately it's a weak film that doesn't deserve to be revisited. Watch it once if you're just interested in the history of the series.
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