Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

After a lengthy, 26-year rest, Japan's other giant radioactive reptile is back, and none too soon. Gamera, the 60-meter flying turtle with elephantine tusks and fiery breath returns riding the coattails of Godzilla, who himself (or, really, herself) has been enjoying a resurgence of late. Plotwise, this new, improved version of every Japanese schoolkid's favorite airborne saurian remains much the same as when Daiei Studios introduced him in 1966. This time out, Gamera comes to light when a mysterious drifting atoll is spotted moving through the South Pacific. A transport ship carrying a load of weapons-grade plutonium has already run aground on the perapatetic land mass, and when lowly insurance inspector Naoya (Nakayama) and naval officer Yoshinari (Shinobu) invesigate, they discover a bizarre metal plate bearing an inscription in an unknown language. Before a rough translation can be made, the atoll comes to life and leaves the pair drifting at sea. Meanwhile, reports of giant birds beging to filter in from a nearby island, where a research team has suddenly, inexplicably gone missing. To make a long and excessively convoluted story shorter, the island, it turns out, is the top of Gamera's shell, and the birds are the offspring of his ancient nemesis Gyaos, a giant bird-like creature with a striking resemblance to Rodan. Both creatures, according to the arcane inscription, are from outer space, and though it's hard to appreciate it at first, the saber-toothed Gamera is here to save mankind. That should be obvious from anyone who caught the exploits of the über-turtle the first time around, when his adventures quickly moved from the sublime to the ridiculous in a misguided effort to allow him to keep pace with the ever-sillier Godzilla. Effects master Tomoo Haraguchi has left Gamera pretty much as before -- he spits fireballs instead of shooting outright flames, but his basic design remains unchanged. Also as usual, there's precious little character arc for Gamera to follow, so the filmmakers instead have him trounce Gyaos and a few city blocks, neither of which is too convincing. Gamera always struck me as the poor man's Godzilla, and the impression is only solidified with this new outing, which is by turns cheesy and downright ridiculous. Not that it isn't any fun -- it is -- but I still think every Gamera film should come stickered “Suitable for ages 8 and up.”