Love it! I kicked butt!
A dull alien invasion, recycled monster action, and boring human characters make "Invasion of Astro-Monster" a really weak Godzilla movie. In the end, it's all just too silly for me to really get drawn into the plot. And the monsters are pretty much the same as in the direct predecessor. Obviously, Toho couldn't keep up here anymore to ensure a certain base quality. At this point, though, I just have to assume that most films from the Shōwa era are simply not my thing.
Please note: This review is for the original Japanese subbed version
And it gets weirder. An obvious inspiration for the film Mars Attacks! as it almost follows the plot points beat for beat.
Godzilla is a good guy. Until he's no longer a good guy. This film is wacky and has very strange moments like the last film. Following the trend of giving the monsters human traits, Godzilla's little dance number was so damn jarring that it took me back as I chuckled at the absurdity of what was on my screen.
This film has an interesting plot, but the monsters are hardly on screen. But, when they are. It's a mad mix of an epic showdown and stupid moments. Like Godzilla's giant leap onto Ghidrah that he can suddenly do. The "X-People" are odd and campy, and their goals are so stupid. The technology is advanced, yet so primitive. Funny to see the 60s try to realize future tech, while also trying to build in an easy weakness. This leads to the ending and it is left open-ended like its predecessor and it still is as painful. Especially since it introduces something as massive as humanoid extraterrestrial life into the series. But then surprise is forgotten about in the next movie, and I assume the rest as well.
As I praised the last film for its leap in set design, miniature scope, and how the destruction felt more real. Here, they take it back to bland open spaces with very little variety in destructible setpieces. But I feel like the greenscreen has been vastly improved.
Overall, campy sci-fi elements meet kid-friendly Godzilla. Weird, wacky, and stupid. It's bad, but not that bad.
4/10
See my Godzilla ranked movie list: https://trakt.tv/users/corruptednoobie/lists/godzilla-films-ranked?sort=rank,asc
Shout by whitsbrainVIP 5BlockedParent2022-01-15T16:09:53Z
Godzilla goes to outer space. Actually, so does Rodan and Monster Zero (King Ghidorah). Aliens from Planet X ask for help from Earth to rid their planet of Monster Zero, who terrorizes the surface of their planet, forcing them to live below ground.
There is really nothing of note here in terms of story or acting. But there is some fantastic set design and very impressive matte paintings and miniature work on display. Usually Godzilla movies have plenty of that already but this time the design of the film really stands out. It has that "retro" look that many of the James Bond films of the '60s had.
The most important thing to note is that this is the movie that contains the inexplicable, notorious Godzilla victory dance. It's the strongest indication yet of how childish the movies have become since the original "Gojira" horror film of 1954.