A follow-up to the 1964 four-way monster battle Ghidrah – The Three Headed Monster, the venerable Godzilla crew returns with this outer space epic one year later. Astro Monster follows a solid human story, even with a massive logic hole, that’s entertaining enough that the hold off the monster action until the finale. This is one of the best out of the lighter-toned sequels.
Nick Adams heads up a cast of Toho staples, including his love interest, Kumi Mizuno. The film wastes no time in making it to the first special effects shot as two astronauts fly into space to investigate the newly discovered Planet X. Once they landed, human-like aliens, decked out in iconic space wear, welcome the Earth’s ambassadors.
As with nearly every movie involving aliens, there’s a plot to take over the Earth. Yoshio Tscuchiya plays the alien commander (in one of his many giant monster film roles) with an expressionless, pale face that simply feels cold. Their plan is long-winded, if only for the purpose of creating intrigue amongst the Earth people.
In execution, the aliens go through a staggering amount of work for a superior race. Requesting Godzilla and Rodan from Earth to protect their own home world from an invasion by Ghidrah, they transport the monsters with the approval of Earth’s government. While the battle does take place, albeit briefly, it’s not long before the aliens are back on a defenseless Earth controlling all three monsters in a classic Toho rampage.
With their extensive technology, it’s rather obvious that they never needed to make an interstellar trip with multiple monsters in tow, or even communicate with humans. They could have just as easily taken control in a surprise attack, which would have been far more effective.
Gaping plot holes aside, this is still a fun, energetic monster movie. The final three-way monster fight is a classic, loaded with destruction and miniature smashing. Two of the suits are familiar for those who viewed Ghidrah one year prior, though the Godzilla suit has definitely underwent some extensive design alterations. It’s far too baggy, hanging off suit actor Haruo Nakajima instead of sticking to his frame. The holes in the neck are blatantly obvious at times, and tongue flops around whenever the mouth opens.
As the human drama plays out, there’s always a need to go back to it. In other kaiju epics, the dialogue-driven plot ends as the characters become nothing more than onlookers. While that eventually happens here, through most of the struggle, there’s an urgent last-minute attempt to save the planet from the invaders. It cleans up nicely without leaving questions, while still leaving things open for the next sequel.
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