Arkham Knight Rider
The Start of the Greatest Movie Trilogy of All Time
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is what happens when you take the traditional structure of a kaiju movie and add nuance, depth and passion to it. Shuske Kaneko is a master at making Kaiju movies a shown with this whole trilogy.
The story paints a dark picture of humanity. Like the Atlantians, we have created disasters and poisoned the earth for the worst. However, Gamera comes in as he represents hope. He (as well as the people of Atlantis) may not have been able to prevent the Gyaos from destroying Atlantis, but that doesn't mean he can't prevent the Gyaos from destroying Earth centuries later. It manages to tackle all of this in an incredibly sophisticated and thought provoking way without being preachy as fuck.
We also learn and experience how much these monster fights and rampages effect people. The economy is fucked and similar to modern times, items of value are being fought over and people are buying them in bulk. It's hauntingly realistic and something we don't see much in Kaiju movies.
The characters are also very fleshed out. Asagi is a selfless person that understands how Gamera is important through the bond they share thanks to an amulet she received. She shares Gamera pain psychically and mentally and is willing to go through it so Gamera can stop the sinister Gyaos. The rest of the cast is just as great, being extremely likable and incredibly interesting.
I really dig how the government here is handled here. They have such a warped view of everything that isn't too far off from how mot governments work. They are so willing to disregard facts as fairy tales, shoot at Gamera who is helping, fake sympathy for the people they govern and despite Gyaos being against them, view him as ally against Gamera, who is the actual savior. The only reason they are even protecting the Gyaos is because they believe it is some rare and endangered species that needs saving.
The Gyaos are a great update of their admittingly silly original versions. They are now a terrifying living weapon that constantly consume and feed off of the destruction of earth. It is also an extremly clever an deceptive kaiju to boot.
Gamera, as stated previously, is a symbol of hope. He is the atlantian's last effort to stop the Gyaos from destroying the earth. he is also extremely protective of people and willing to get hurt to protect those who are about to be killed by the Gyaos. Unlike the Gyaos who are souless killing machines, Gamera is incredibly compassionate and caring.
The thing that really makes this work are the effects, Cinematography and music.
The effects are top notch, especially for the time this came out. Gamera has a realistic look to him, yet has big expressive eyes that gives him some extra humanity. the execution of Gamera is simply marvelous as it is incredibly life like and detailed. The animatromics are also top notch and work perfectly.
Gyaos is more unnerving not only how it looks, but how it moves. It is shaky an erratic, giving him an other worldly nature to him. I also must give heaps of praise to how they handled the laser beam of gyaos and the fire effects for Gamera. Especially in a time where not even the Godzilla movies got that perfectly down yet, The execution here is seamless. The miniatures and explosions are also intricately crafted and flawlessly handled.
What really makes it work is the cinematography and music. The trilogy has the best I have ever seen in movie history. every shot, movement, framing and angle is done to complete perfection. there were many times were I stared in awe of how it was filmed. I felt the impact and scale of Gamera and Gyaos as they smashed thorough buildings flied in the sky and most importantly, I felt as small and tiny as the humans in the movie against these massive titans. The Music is gorgeous and elevates every scene it is. compared to the low rent drivel the mcu farts out, This music is incredibly impact and very memorable. It adds to the experience and is not random background noise to be simply brushed off.
To conclude, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is a spectacle and I use this and the rest of the trilogy as the gold standard which I judge Kaiju movies by.
The story paints a dark picture of humanity. Like the Atlantians, we have created disasters and poisoned the earth for the worst. However, Gamera comes in as he represents hope. He (as well as the people of Atlantis) may not have been able to prevent the Gyaos from destroying Atlantis, but that doesn't mean he can't prevent the Gyaos from destroying Earth centuries later. It manages to tackle all of this in an incredibly sophisticated and thought provoking way without being preachy as fuck.
We also learn and experience how much these monster fights and rampages effect people. The economy is fucked and similar to modern times, items of value are being fought over and people are buying them in bulk. It's hauntingly realistic and something we don't see much in Kaiju movies.
The characters are also very fleshed out. Asagi is a selfless person that understands how Gamera is important through the bond they share thanks to an amulet she received. She shares Gamera pain psychically and mentally and is willing to go through it so Gamera can stop the sinister Gyaos. The rest of the cast is just as great, being extremely likable and incredibly interesting.
I really dig how the government here is handled here. They have such a warped view of everything that isn't too far off from how mot governments work. They are so willing to disregard facts as fairy tales, shoot at Gamera who is helping, fake sympathy for the people they govern and despite Gyaos being against them, view him as ally against Gamera, who is the actual savior. The only reason they are even protecting the Gyaos is because they believe it is some rare and endangered species that needs saving.
The Gyaos are a great update of their admittingly silly original versions. They are now a terrifying living weapon that constantly consume and feed off of the destruction of earth. It is also an extremly clever an deceptive kaiju to boot.
Gamera, as stated previously, is a symbol of hope. He is the atlantian's last effort to stop the Gyaos from destroying the earth. he is also extremely protective of people and willing to get hurt to protect those who are about to be killed by the Gyaos. Unlike the Gyaos who are souless killing machines, Gamera is incredibly compassionate and caring.
The thing that really makes this work are the effects, Cinematography and music.
The effects are top notch, especially for the time this came out. Gamera has a realistic look to him, yet has big expressive eyes that gives him some extra humanity. the execution of Gamera is simply marvelous as it is incredibly life like and detailed. The animatromics are also top notch and work perfectly.
Gyaos is more unnerving not only how it looks, but how it moves. It is shaky an erratic, giving him an other worldly nature to him. I also must give heaps of praise to how they handled the laser beam of gyaos and the fire effects for Gamera. Especially in a time where not even the Godzilla movies got that perfectly down yet, The execution here is seamless. The miniatures and explosions are also intricately crafted and flawlessly handled.
What really makes it work is the cinematography and music. The trilogy has the best I have ever seen in movie history. every shot, movement, framing and angle is done to complete perfection. there were many times were I stared in awe of how it was filmed. I felt the impact and scale of Gamera and Gyaos as they smashed thorough buildings flied in the sky and most importantly, I felt as small and tiny as the humans in the movie against these massive titans. The Music is gorgeous and elevates every scene it is. compared to the low rent drivel the mcu farts out, This music is incredibly impact and very memorable. It adds to the experience and is not random background noise to be simply brushed off.
To conclude, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is a spectacle and I use this and the rest of the trilogy as the gold standard which I judge Kaiju movies by.
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