As a whole, the third series of Godzilla films, known as the Millennium or Shinsei series, is just as spotty and hit-or-miss as the Heisei series, but takes it in the opposite direction of that era. While the Heisei films focused on having a continuous continuity between entries, the Millennium series were mostly self-contained entries, with each movie taking place in its own little universe where none of the other Godzilla films happened outside of the first movie. Even then, these movies would often change the events of the 1954 movie to suit their needs.
We've already seen one film from the Millennium series, "Godzilla: Final Wars" and that didn't turn out so well for anyone. Now we meet another terrible entry in that series, "Godzilla X Megaguirus." This is one of those movies that changes things about the first Godzilla film, namely that after Godzilla's initial rampage on Japan, rather than using the Oxygen Destroyer to kill him, they decide to do nothing and let Godzilla continue to roam the oceans. There is no mention of the Oxygen Destroyer or it's inventor, Dr. Serizawa. They simply just let Godzilla go free after leveling Tokyo.
To me, the Millennium series is a bunch of "What if" questions, but most of the time they're not interesting questions. It can often be great to explore alternate paths through history, especially with established fiction, to see how differently the worlds we've come to know and love would change, as well as its characters. But with "Godzilla X Megaguirus," the question it wants to pose is "What if the Oxygen Destroyer was never used on Godzilla?"
Well, then Godzilla would still be at large. There, that was an easy answer.
If the question is a simple and boring one, then it's going to lead to a simple and boring movie. If they wanted to go with a far more fascinating route, they could have asked something like "What if Dr. Serizawa chose not to use the Oxygen Destroyer on Godzilla?" Not only could they still continue their many of the plotlines this movie starts, but have the addition of Dr. Serizawa still being alive and watching the destruction Godzilla causes, possibly regretting every day his decision to protect his invention from the world. Or maybe he doesn't regret it, thinking that he made the right decision because the Oxygen Destroyer could have killed far more people than Godzilla ever could if it fell into the wrong hands.
There would not only be a plot about a helpless military trying to combat Godzilla, but also one about the most classic human character in a Godzilla movie getting another chance at redemption. I think that would have made for a far more intriguing monster movie while still staying within the confines of the Millennium series. But instead, we get a bare bones monster movie with extremely unlikable characters and poor pacing. Think of "Godzilla X Megaguirus" as the "Godzilla Raids Again" of the Millennium series.
The film opens with a timeline recap, showing how Japan rebuilt after Godzilla attacked in 1954. The country shuts down all of its nuclear facilities, focusing instead on alternative fuel and energy sources, moves the capital of Japan from Tokyo to Osaka and eventually develops a new form of energy based on plasma. But every time the Japanese make further strives in that field, Godzilla shows up and destroys everything they've worked on.
So basically, Godzilla's role in this movie is to come yell at Japanese scientists every time they try to play God.
Eventually, the Japanese defense force gets tired of Godzilla always attacking their country and decides to find a way to get rid of him for good. Rather than developing a new Oxygen Destroyer, they come up with the next most sensible plan - creating a black hole gun!
Normally, I am all for ludicrious plans to deal with equally ludicrious threats, but this is one that I never got into because of how idiotic it is. Disregarding the science of creating an artificial black hole, that could be far more dangerous than Godzilla. Keep in mind that, as far as we currently know, nothing can survive or escape the grasp of a black hole. How do they know the black holes they create to contain Godzilla won't continue on for all eternity and consume our entire solar system? Or that someone won't hijack the black hole gun? Or what if it misses and ends up destroying an entire city (or even the world)? There are so many ways creating black holes on Earth can go horribly wrong that you have to step back a bit and ask yourself, "What the hell were they thinking?"
Of course, this is also Godzilla we're talking about, a monster that survived five years inside of an active volcano and fought off a monster made from machinery from the 23rd century like it was nothing. You also have to ask if this black hole gun will even work on him.
So while scientists are testing out their black hole gun, nicknamed Dimension Tide, they fire off a round and immediately notice dimensional rifts starting to form near the impact sight. They theorize that they've opened up a portal to another dimension. Because I am sure having a gateway to another plane of existence won't go wrong at all.
Immediately following this, a large dragonfly-like monster breaks the barrier between the dimensions and starts to lay her eggs all over the place. And yet the defense force continues to support Dimension Tide, saying it is the only way to defeat Godzilla, despite releasing another dangerous monster upon the world.
This other monster is known as Megaguirus, a giant dragonfly that can suck the energy out of just about anything and can fly really fast. And that's about it. We don't learn more about the dimension Megaguirus comes from, why she feels the need to cause destruction or what her ultimate goal was. She's just another monster created to fight Godzilla, leaving little impact on the story outside of some little kid trying to explain that she's based off the Meganulon and Meganula.
When I first watched "Godzilla X Megaguirus" I felt there was something off about it that I could never put my finger on. It just didn't feel like a good monster movie. While part of this is because of the slow as molasses pacing, taking over an hour before Godzilla even gets close to Japan and spending way too much time with the little kid, I think I finally figured it out on my most recent viewing of the movie, and it comes down to the characters.
Every single character in this film comes across as a smug asshole, where they feel compelled to handle everything on their own and tell anyone trying to help them to piss off. Our protagonist is Kiriko Tsujimori (Misato Tanaka), the leader of the "G-Grasper" unit of the defense force and always seems to have a chip on her shoulder. She constantly feels the need to show off in front of her subordinates, even tell her fellow pilots to sit out their final mission because "It's my show."
There's also Hajime Kudo (Shosuke Tanihara), a young tech-wizard who constantly infiltrates computers and technology that doesn't belong to him. Like Kiriko, he sends away all support and help when Dimension Tide starts to collapse so he can take all the glory when things start going his way. Even the little kid acts like he knows better than anyone else when he starts describing Megaguirus' evolution process, like everyone else is an idiot for not seeing it and he should be the supreme leader of Japan.
Honestly, of all the Godzilla films, "Godzilla X Megaguirus" probably has the most selfish, poorly written and unlikable cast of characters. There wasn't a single person in this cast that I enjoyed or didn't want to see trampled by Godzilla. Since they're a huge focus on the film, that made the majority of it a hard one to get through.
There are many Godzilla movies I have watched over a dozen times because they're so much fun and bring me so much joy. Since the release of "Godzilla X Megaguirus" in 2000, I think I've seen this one two times. It is poorly paced, boring, and has some of the worst characters in the entire franchise. The scenes with Godzilla are few and far between and his fight with Megaguirus is okay but made worse by pacing problems. The only redeeming quality is the music by Michiru Oshima, as it provides some amount of atmosphere and tension. Other than that, don't bother with "Godzilla X Megaguirus."
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