The first film was low-grade and low-budget, but still fairly enjoyable as it was. The second film of 1966 had its own faults, but clearly benefited from more resources and hard work, and it was genuinely good. From there onward, however, the Gamera franchise struggled heavily to be so much as middling: in a condescending effort to directly appeal to children most all earnestness, judiciousness, and careful consideration was stripped from the writing as child actors were centered, and the fundamental execution became all but sloppy and heedless. The seventh film of 1971, 'Gamera vs. Zigra,' was the worst nadir of all. Fast forward to 1980 after studio Daiei had gone bankrupt and was trying to salvage itself, and here comes filmmaker Yuasa Noriaki and screenwriter Takahashi Niisan with another entry in the series. One may well wonder if another installment ever had a real chance in the first place at finding success if it followed the same pattern, but just as much to the point, with the particular approach that was taken here, it definitely did not.
The first minutes aren't filmed footage, but still images with narration over top; the art looks fantastic, sure, but it's an inauspicious start. So is the design of the enemy spaceship, and one of the first glances we get of it, which are both obviously pulled from a certain Hollywood space opera of 1977. The first new post-production visuals we're treated to in this installment are jaw-dropping in their artificiality, being plainly outdated, and many instances to follow are no better. Before ten minutes have passed we're introduced to our young protagonist Keiichi who will invariably have an extra super special connection with Gamera, and like his predecessors in 'Zigra,' Maeda Koichi was clearly instructed to be as cutesy and boyish as possible - often giving off airs of mid-day television for kindergarten kids who only have half days at school. For good measure, add questionable treatment of animals. Though appearing out of the blue for this entry, and curiously exercised, the one interesting idea that this flick had was the "Spacewomen" superheroes who... are powerless to stop the villain.
I feel bad for everyone who got roped into participating in this, but especially Fumiake Mach, Kojima Yaeko, and Komatsu Yoko, who are forced into such small corners as the Spacewomen. From one scene to the next we're commonly subjected to writing and direction that are confounding for how weakly thought out they were. It is, in fact, possible for kids' movies - those centering kids, and those intended to appeal directly to them - to be good. But that doesn't happen by sacrificing meaningful craftsmanship, or by talking down to your target audience, and as with its antecedents, that's what happened in 'Gamera: Super monster' more than not. There are decent notions here for a story, perhaps, but they are not treated well, least of all nearly all footage of Gamera or his kaiju opponents is recycled from the previous features. One sequence seen here is shown to viewers for what is now the third time in the franchise. I can appreciate that Daiei was desperate to pull in some easy revenue with minimum expenditure, but the construction for this piece just feels like an outright insult to viewers. That is, more than the kitschy, ham-handed forebears of 1967-71 already were.
Ninety-two minutes feel inordinately long. Incredibly, however, even as a glorified clip show, this title manages to notably better than expected. Some of the acting is unexpectedly solid; Fumiake, Kojima, and Komatsu are charming despite the limitations placed on them, and the skills of Kudo Keiko and even Maeda do shine through every now and again. Some of the scene writing is surprisingly smart. There are tidbits of cleverness throughout, and it's also worth mentioning that by focusing on what are generally, somewhat, the best aspects of the franchise, the kaiju fights sometimes come across with more vibrancy than they do in the films they're drawn from. The concept of a veritable kaiju gauntlet is not new, and we would see it again in due course ('Godzilla: Final wars' is one of my favorites of that series), but it's splendid all the same, and I wish only that the doing here were more than mere recycled footage. And, hey, overall the new footage boasts strong production values. And still there are too many other examples in the writing and direction that all too apparently did not receive the same attention or care across the board, including the repeated cutaways to Giruge before and after each battle, a preponderance of the dialogue, the most lighthearted scenes with Keiichi, and the abrupt but temporary turn in the plot entering the last third.
The sad fact of the matter is that no matter how generous we wish to be while watching 'Gamera: Super monster,' it's not very good. It's not fully rotten. In light of what it does well, I want to like it more than I do; a short fight scene in the third act is an unlikely but welcome highlight. Given its most ignominious troubles, on the other hand, including decidedly forthright storytelling and plot development, maybe I'm being much too kind as it is. There is truly more strength in this picture than I would have ever assumed, all told - which just makes its sorriest qualities all the more vexing. No matter how you look at it this can't possibly be said to even rise above "below average" when all is said and done, and while there are worse ways to spend your time, there's just not enough lasting value to make this especially worthwhile. I suppose if one is immensely curious, or a completionist, this is just passable enough to provide mild entertainment for a quiet night. That's about the best that can be said for 'Gamera: Super monster,' however, and this is a movie best left in the archives of cinema history.
The first minutes aren't filmed footage, but still images with narration over top; the art looks fantastic, sure, but it's an inauspicious start. So is the design of the enemy spaceship, and one of the first glances we get of it, which are both obviously pulled from a certain Hollywood space opera of 1977. The first new post-production visuals we're treated to in this installment are jaw-dropping in their artificiality, being plainly outdated, and many instances to follow are no better. Before ten minutes have passed we're introduced to our young protagonist Keiichi who will invariably have an extra super special connection with Gamera, and like his predecessors in 'Zigra,' Maeda Koichi was clearly instructed to be as cutesy and boyish as possible - often giving off airs of mid-day television for kindergarten kids who only have half days at school. For good measure, add questionable treatment of animals. Though appearing out of the blue for this entry, and curiously exercised, the one interesting idea that this flick had was the "Spacewomen" superheroes who... are powerless to stop the villain.
I feel bad for everyone who got roped into participating in this, but especially Fumiake Mach, Kojima Yaeko, and Komatsu Yoko, who are forced into such small corners as the Spacewomen. From one scene to the next we're commonly subjected to writing and direction that are confounding for how weakly thought out they were. It is, in fact, possible for kids' movies - those centering kids, and those intended to appeal directly to them - to be good. But that doesn't happen by sacrificing meaningful craftsmanship, or by talking down to your target audience, and as with its antecedents, that's what happened in 'Gamera: Super monster' more than not. There are decent notions here for a story, perhaps, but they are not treated well, least of all nearly all footage of Gamera or his kaiju opponents is recycled from the previous features. One sequence seen here is shown to viewers for what is now the third time in the franchise. I can appreciate that Daiei was desperate to pull in some easy revenue with minimum expenditure, but the construction for this piece just feels like an outright insult to viewers. That is, more than the kitschy, ham-handed forebears of 1967-71 already were.
Ninety-two minutes feel inordinately long. Incredibly, however, even as a glorified clip show, this title manages to notably better than expected. Some of the acting is unexpectedly solid; Fumiake, Kojima, and Komatsu are charming despite the limitations placed on them, and the skills of Kudo Keiko and even Maeda do shine through every now and again. Some of the scene writing is surprisingly smart. There are tidbits of cleverness throughout, and it's also worth mentioning that by focusing on what are generally, somewhat, the best aspects of the franchise, the kaiju fights sometimes come across with more vibrancy than they do in the films they're drawn from. The concept of a veritable kaiju gauntlet is not new, and we would see it again in due course ('Godzilla: Final wars' is one of my favorites of that series), but it's splendid all the same, and I wish only that the doing here were more than mere recycled footage. And, hey, overall the new footage boasts strong production values. And still there are too many other examples in the writing and direction that all too apparently did not receive the same attention or care across the board, including the repeated cutaways to Giruge before and after each battle, a preponderance of the dialogue, the most lighthearted scenes with Keiichi, and the abrupt but temporary turn in the plot entering the last third.
The sad fact of the matter is that no matter how generous we wish to be while watching 'Gamera: Super monster,' it's not very good. It's not fully rotten. In light of what it does well, I want to like it more than I do; a short fight scene in the third act is an unlikely but welcome highlight. Given its most ignominious troubles, on the other hand, including decidedly forthright storytelling and plot development, maybe I'm being much too kind as it is. There is truly more strength in this picture than I would have ever assumed, all told - which just makes its sorriest qualities all the more vexing. No matter how you look at it this can't possibly be said to even rise above "below average" when all is said and done, and while there are worse ways to spend your time, there's just not enough lasting value to make this especially worthwhile. I suppose if one is immensely curious, or a completionist, this is just passable enough to provide mild entertainment for a quiet night. That's about the best that can be said for 'Gamera: Super monster,' however, and this is a movie best left in the archives of cinema history.