At the bottom of the heap in terms of Kaiju flicks, and one of the worst from the classic era. The monster itself is a somewhat interesting twist on the tyrannosaurus rex/Godzilla-type creature. It has semi-translucent, long spines up the entire length if its tail, back, and head. It's arms and torso have visible bulges of muscle as distinguished from the sheer bulk of most other Kaiju, and in some close-up shots parts of its body are bristled with mud from the lake in which it lives.
Toward the beginning there are some atmospheric scenes with characters moving through fog and the heavy wind which seems to whip up around the creature. But that effect is inconsistent and is pretty much dropped in the last part of the movie.
There are a couple of moments of okay miniature work, but the excessive use of cheap-looking military stock footage (something other Kaiju flicks from the era didn't rely on) is not only boring but visually unappealing.
In a strange and I think haphazard point of plotting, something that distinguishes this Kaiju from others is that the monster isn't awakened by an accident, or a bomb, or something else, but is intentionally provoked by the scientists and military personnel who are supposed to be our heroic protagonists. If they had just left the thing alone it might have terrorized the local village from time to time but it had heretofore shown no desire to emerge from its muddy lake home and storm Tokyo. Similarly haphazard, the sister of one of the First characters killed in the movie is, conveniently, a reporter on the beat, who shows absolutely no regret over the death of her brother and just sees a good story. This is not a point of character development or something, it's just thoughtless writing. Similarly haphazard is the methodology of the scientists and the military. They try one random thing after another to defeat the creature that they blame for attacking, despite their having started the thing to begin with. There is no pseudoscientific method like there is in other Kaiju flicks, and the military leadership seems befuddled and at a complete loss. The lead military dude and the lead scientist dude are, as in many movies of this kind, supposed to be the sage and well-informed leaders of the endeavor, but in this movie the actors who are cast in those roles are devoid of personality and charisma, with their roles written in such a way as to make them seem like fumbling old guys who don't know what they're doing. There isn't some kind of statement about ineffectual bureaucracy being made here, of course; it's just bad writing, bad casting, bad direction, and bad acting. This is not a Kaiju that I will ever watch again. It's just not worth the time since there are a number of others that are so far superior. (Shin Godzilla from 2016, on the other hand, is a funny, savvy, and exciting modern Kaiju that *is* an intentional satire of the bureaucratic process of fighting a giant monster. It's a great movie in its own right and I highly recommend it.)
Toward the beginning there are some atmospheric scenes with characters moving through fog and the heavy wind which seems to whip up around the creature. But that effect is inconsistent and is pretty much dropped in the last part of the movie.
There are a couple of moments of okay miniature work, but the excessive use of cheap-looking military stock footage (something other Kaiju flicks from the era didn't rely on) is not only boring but visually unappealing.
In a strange and I think haphazard point of plotting, something that distinguishes this Kaiju from others is that the monster isn't awakened by an accident, or a bomb, or something else, but is intentionally provoked by the scientists and military personnel who are supposed to be our heroic protagonists. If they had just left the thing alone it might have terrorized the local village from time to time but it had heretofore shown no desire to emerge from its muddy lake home and storm Tokyo. Similarly haphazard, the sister of one of the First characters killed in the movie is, conveniently, a reporter on the beat, who shows absolutely no regret over the death of her brother and just sees a good story. This is not a point of character development or something, it's just thoughtless writing. Similarly haphazard is the methodology of the scientists and the military. They try one random thing after another to defeat the creature that they blame for attacking, despite their having started the thing to begin with. There is no pseudoscientific method like there is in other Kaiju flicks, and the military leadership seems befuddled and at a complete loss. The lead military dude and the lead scientist dude are, as in many movies of this kind, supposed to be the sage and well-informed leaders of the endeavor, but in this movie the actors who are cast in those roles are devoid of personality and charisma, with their roles written in such a way as to make them seem like fumbling old guys who don't know what they're doing. There isn't some kind of statement about ineffectual bureaucracy being made here, of course; it's just bad writing, bad casting, bad direction, and bad acting. This is not a Kaiju that I will ever watch again. It's just not worth the time since there are a number of others that are so far superior. (Shin Godzilla from 2016, on the other hand, is a funny, savvy, and exciting modern Kaiju that *is* an intentional satire of the bureaucratic process of fighting a giant monster. It's a great movie in its own right and I highly recommend it.)