Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)

## Godzilla vs Megaguirus

***Godzilla vs. Megaguirus*** (ゴジラ×メガギラス G消滅作戦 *Gojira ekkusu Megagirasu: Jī Shōmetsu Sakusen*?, lit. *Godzilla X Megaguirus: G Extermination Strategy*) is a 2000 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho Company Ltd., and the twenty-fifth installment in the *Godzilla* series, as well as the second in the Millennium series. The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 16, 2000.

*Godzilla vs. Megaguirus* was directed by Masaaki Tezuka, produced by Shogo Tomiyama, and written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara, Wataru Mimura. This film, much like *Godzilla 2000: Millennium*, reboots the continuity of the series, being unrelated to any films preceding or following it, excluding the original 1954 film. This film details Godzilla's conflict with humanity, while feeding on nuclear and plasma energy, alongside his conflict with an entirely new monster to the franchise, Megaguirus.

Much like *2000*, a canonical sequel for the film was never produced. However, a new *Godzilla* film contained within the Millennium series was produced and released on December 15, 2001, *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack*.

## Plot

An experimental satellite-based weapon that fires miniature black holes, called the Dimension Tide, opens a wormhole through which a prehistoric dragonfly enters the present and deposits a single egg before exiting through the wormhole. A boy finds the egg and takes it with him when he moves to Tokyo. The egg starts oozing a strange liquid, so the boy throws the egg in the sewer. The egg, actually a mass of hundreds of eggs, splits up and starts growing when exposed to water, hatching into large dragonfly larva called Meganulon that come out of the sewer to feed. They flood a portion of the city and mount on the sides of buildings, becoming adult Meganula.

Meanwhile, the atomic dinosaur Godzilla appears, in search of a source of nuclear energy, despite the edict shutting down all such attractants after his three previous appearances. While Godzilla is fighting the G-Graspers (the anti-Godzilla section of the Japan Self Defense Forces) who are assisted by rebellious scientist Hajime Kudo, the swarm of Meganula are attracted in turn to Godzilla's energy, and attack him. Most Meganula are killed, but a few drain some of Godzilla's energy and return to the sewer, with Godzilla seemingly following them. With the last of their strength, the Meganula inject Godzilla's energy into a huge, sleeping larva that is in a giant, pulsating cocoon. It molts and appears from the water as Megaguirus, the queen of the Meganula.

After destroying part of the city with shock waves generated by her beating wings, Megaguirus heads to the waterfront and faces Godzilla. Being territorial, Megaguirus considers the city to be her hunting ground. As they engage in a lengthy battle, she uses her speed to avoid Godzilla's attacks, but Godzilla eventually uses her speed against her. As she flies toward Godzilla, he lunges forward with his dorsal fins in her path. She flies into the fins, and one of her arms is severed.

During the battle, a special ability of Megaguirus is revealed: Having been mutated by Godzilla's energy, she can generate a blast similar to his atomic breath. She fires a huge ball of radiation, knocking Godzilla down. He gets back up, and Megaguirus goes in for the kill. She speeds forward with the stinger on her long tail lowered, trying to stab Godzilla between the eyes. In a climactic moment, Godzilla catches the stinger in his mouth. He bites down, crushing the stinger. Megaguirus rears up in pain, and Godzilla takes the chance to finally blast her with his atomic breath. She bursts into flames and Godzilla blasts her a second time and destroys her.

It is revealed that Godzilla was attracted to the energy of a secret nuclear project housed at the Science Institute, in violation of the ban, by Professor Yoshino Yoshizawa. The G-Graspers are now wanting to kill Godzilla, but with the Dimension Tide falling out of orbit they are unable to get a lock on Godzilla, until the beautiful and psychotic Major Kiriko Tsujimori pilots a ship called Gryphon towards Godzilla, ejecting only at the last second. The Dimension Tide is able to lock on to the craft and fires just before burning up on reentry; Godzilla vanishes and everyone celebrates. In a postlude, however, Major Tsujimori again enlists Kudo to investigate suspicious seismic activity; then in an after-credits scene, Godzilla's roar is heard again as an earthquake strikes Tokyo.

## Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

* Directed by Masaaki Tezuka
* Written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara, Wataru Mimura
* Produced by Shogo Tomiyama
* Music by Michiru Oshima, Akira Ifukube
* Cinematography by Masahiro Kishimoto
* Edited by Yoshiyuki Okuhara
* Production design by Takeshi Shimizu
* Special effects by Kenji Suzuki

## Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

* Misato Tanaka as Kiriko Tsujimori
* Shosuke Tanihara as Hajime Kudo
* Masatoh Eve as Motohiko Sugiura
* Yuriko Hoshi as Yoshino Yoshizawa
* Toshiyuki Nagashima as Takuji Miyagawa
* Kazuko Katou as Kaoru Hayasaka
* Suzuki Hiroyuki as Jun Hayasaka
* Koichi Ueda as Government Official
* Koichi Yamadera as Kid's TV Host
* Yusaku Yara as Narrator
* Masaaki Tezuka as Teacher

## Appearances

### Monsters

* Godzilla
* Meganulon
* Megaguirus

## Alternate titles

* ***Godzilla X Megaguirus: G Extermination Strategy*** (Literal Japanese title)
* ***GXM*** (Abbreviated title)

## Triviareleases

* Japan - December 16, 2000; November 3, 2000 (Tokyo International Film Festival)
* South Korea - January 5, 2001
* Poland - December 21, 2001

## Box Office

The budget of *Godzilla vs. Megaguirus* is estimated at $8,300,000. It opened in Japan on December 16, 2000, and during its box office run, it grossed approximately $10,000,000, making it the second lowest-grossing entry in the Millennium Godzilla series. Total admissions in Japan were approximately $1,350,000.

## Reception

The reaction to *Godzilla vs. Megaguirus* has been mixed. Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said, "While not the best example of filmmaking, *Godzilla vs. Megaguirus* nonetheless succeeds as an entertaining film."

Stomp Tokyo said "the music is pretty good" but "this movie isn't a step forward in the ways that it really should be." Mike Bogue of *American Kaiju* said, "Though not the best of the post-Showa *Godzilla* movies, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is one of the most entertaining." Ian Jane of DVD Talk said, "While not the best entry in the *Godzilla* series, *Godzilla vs. Megaguirus* ... [is] still a really solid entry with some great special effects and a very memorable monster mash finale."

Matt Paprocki of Blog Critics called the film "a true classic in the series," adding: "It's impossible not to be entertained somewhat, whether you're looking for camp value or serious giant monster action. This one has everything that is required of the kaiju genre." Andrew Pragasam of *The Spinning Image* called the film a "flawed, but entertaining comic book extravaganza" that "only partially delivers as a slam-bang monster epic" and suffers from "a lack of likeable characters."

## Trivia

* Although this film uses the same Godzilla suit used in *Godzilla 2000: Millennium*, the films do not take place in the same continuity.
* Megaguirus and the Meganula are both adapted from Meganulon, which first appeared in *Rodan*.
* The opening footage of the film which flashes back to Godzilla's first attack on Tokyo is actually footage from the original *Godzilla* film with the new Godzilla suit, MireGoji, digitally edited in and replacing the ShodaiGoji suit.
* In this continuity, Godzilla was not destroyed by the Oxygen Destroyer, but instead, attacked Tokyo in 1954 and retreated into the ocean, never to be seen again until 1966.
* This is the only film in the Millennium series to have "vs." in its English title. However, this film's Japanese title uses "X," (*Gojira X Megagirasu*), which is also used for *Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla*'s Japanese title (*Gojira X Mekagojira*) and *Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.*'s Japanese title (*Gojira X Mosura X Mekagojira*).