Original title: Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S.
Now here’s a surprise. The previous Godzilla film had ended with a disappointing anti-climax as Godzilla and Kairyu (aka Mechagodzilla) had fought their final battle then simply wandered off, leaving the film inconclusive. Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S., aka Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, set that straight by doing something that no Millennium era Godzilla film had done so far – five films in and finally the series was having a go at continuity! Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. follows on directly from the previous film and was originally seen as the second part of a trilogy which never got completed. Director Masaaki Tezuka was back, co-writing with Masahiro Yokotani and his film picks up one year after the events of the previous film.
Kityu had been badly damaged in its battle with Godzilla and is undergoing repairs and a refit when the Shobijin, Mothra’s twin familiars, appear and warn that Godzilla will continue to attack Japan because they have used bones from original Godzilla in Kiryu. They suggest that the bones be returned the sea and that might be enough to appease Godzilla, Mothra offering its services as defender of Japan in Kiryu’s place. But if they refuse the offer, Mothra will declare war on humanity. Kamoebas, a giant turtle (a dig at rival giant monster superstar Gamera, perhaps?), is found dead on a Japanese beach, its wounds suggesting that it had been fighting Godzilla who soon turns up and fights Mothra. Kiryu joins in the battle but is too strong and bests both of its opponents. On Infant Island, twin Mothra larvae hatch from Mothra’s egg and rush to the aid of their mother, holding off Godzilla as the adult Mothra sacrifices herself to save her offspring. With Kiryu’s help, the larvae surround Godzilla in their silk but the monster’s roar stirs something in the DNA of the original Godzilla used to create the new Mechagodzilla and Kiryu dives into the sea with Godzilla.
It’s difficult to fully appraise Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. as it’s a film that can’t possibly stand on its own – none of it will make any sense unless you’ve watched the previous film, Gojira X Mekagojira (2002) and it can only be seen as the second chapter in a trilogy that was left frustratingly incomplete. It’s technically brilliant, with another fantastic score by Michiru Oshima who had been doing sterling work on the Millennium series since Gojira tai Megagirasu: Ji Shometsu Sakusen/Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000). But it’s not a film that you can put on and watch in isolation – you need to commit to watching it as part of a pair with Gojira X Mekagojira or you’ll be hopelessly lost.
The action scenes are great and once again Mothra looks absolutely stunning – of all of the classic monsters, she’s the one who seems to have benefited the most from her Millennium era outings, her stunning redesign being truly gorgeous – but the film suffers from a mundane and undeveloped script. When Toho decided to continue the story of Kiryu, Toho commissioned four different story outlines for Tezuka who disliked all of them and wrote his own outline overnight. Consequently the film feels rushed and incomplete, the narrative simplistic and the characters barely sketched out at all. The main cast from the previous film are written out fairly quickly and replaced by a new lot who are as bland as the worst of the kaiju film characters.
But the action scenes are plentiful, spectacular and wonderfully detailed which goes some way to making Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S. tolerable. It was released in Japan on a double bill with the anime Hamtaro: Ham Ham Grand Prix and did well enough to reach third place in the box office charts on its opening weekend. But it wasn’t enough to save the proposed trilogy and the story of Kairyu ends here, forever trapped at the bottom of the sea with Godzilla, never to see its story finished. Which is a shame as Gojira X Mekagojira had been fantastic and for all its many faults, Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S. is another enjoyable enough romp. Kairyu deserved better. Mechagodzilla, under its original name, would next be seen transforming into an artificially intelligent city in Hiroyuki Sashita and Kobun Shizuno’s animated Gojira: Kessen Kido Zoshoku Toshi/Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018).
Toho decided that instead of completing Kairyu’s story it would go off in a very different direction, pitting Godzilla against a host of monsters in Gojira: Fainaru Wozu/Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). It would prove to be a massive mis-step that would exile Godzilla from cinema screens for a decade.
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