Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (1996)
Produced and Released by: Kadokawa-Daiei
Domestic Release by: ADV Films
Director: Shusuke Kaneko
Images: Some images come from Monster Zero (check them out!)
By DrKain

Introduction

In 1995, Daiei brought back Gamera, the giant monster turtle that appeared back in the sixties to compete with Toho’s Godzilla. While he was not as popular as Godzilla, he gained his own group of followers. In the first Heisei movie, Guardian of the Universe, Gamera battled the bird-like creatures known as the Gyaos. Both monsters were made with new origins and a new look. A sequel was made in 1996, featuring new monsters called Legion and they proved to be a powerful force for Gamera to battle.

The Story

A meteorite crashes onto the Earth, but no one can find it. Midori Honami (Miki Mizuno), who works for a science institute, is helping Colonel Watarase (Toshiyuki Nagashima) discover what is going on around Japan because people are being killed, a beer warehouse was destroyed, but only the glass was shattered, and a giant flower-like structure has appeared in Sapporo. Bug-like creatures appear to be the source of everything, but they are the size of humans, and they are very dangerous. It is discovered that the flower is going to send out a seed into space and then explode, taking out everything within a 6KM radius. Gamera makes his appearance and destroys the flower before this can happen though. Immediately after the flower’s destruction, he is attacked by thousands of the monsters, which are now being called Legion. Gamera retreats and his blood splatter everywhere as he flies away. A giant Legion flies out of the ground, but it's shot down into the ocean.

Another flower-like structure has appeared in Sendai, so the army evacuates everyone in the city onto special choppers. Honami was told to get on one of the choppers from Watarase and there she runs into Asagi Kusanagi (Ayako Fujitani), the girl who is said to be able to speak to Gamera thanks to her pendant made from Atlantian Orichalcos. Once again Gamera makes his way to Sendai, but is attacked by the giant Legion creature. In the end, Gamera is unsuccessful, and the flower launches it seed and destroys Sendai, along with Gamera.

Watarase and Honami discover the Legion are destroying anything that can disrupt their radio waves, such as cell phones, walkie talkies, glasses, etc. Legion begins to attack again, making its way to Tokyo, but Asagi, Honami, and a bunch of children arrive to the destroyed Sendai to wake Gamera up. They are successful, but Asagi’s pendant is shattered. Gamera flies off to fight the Legion, and the two battle each other. With the help of the military, Gamera defeats the Legion and Earth is saved again.

Review

I used to like the Gamera movies from the sixties, but after a while, they just got dumb, so I stopped watching them. I first heard about Gamera: Guardian of the Universe when Dark Horse Comics released a 4 part comic mini-series, which was to take place in between GotU and AotL. ADV released the Gamera Heisei Trilogy on DVD in America in 2003, and it was the first series to have a bilingual (English and Japanese audio) release.

Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion is an excellent movie, which contains a lot of story telling mixed with monster action. While it is not required to see Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, scenes and characters will make more sense in this movie if you did. Everything in this movie improves upon the first one, and that is a good sign.

The special effects are awesome. Some of the CGI effects look a little odd, but it does not detract from anything. Another great thing about the special effects is that they seem to be more realistic than shown in previous Kaiju movies, which is one of the reasons I think Shusuke Kaneko is an excellent director. The music in the movie is awesome, which is to be expected by Kou Otani (Gundam Wing, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe).

The costume designs are just as great. Gamera looks similar to the design from the sixties, only his shell is not as flat, and he has added features such as spikes on his arms. The Legion designs are cool, but they also seem to mimic Destoroyah’s (Godzilla vs. Destoroyah) a little bit, but it works. Legion had many attacks, which made him a powerful force.

The characters are also likeable in this movie, even though some of them still act stupid. Yukijiro Hotaru (Inspector Osako in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe) returns for a cameo, but this time he is a security guard because he said he realized he was not cut out for being a detective after the Gyaos incident. Ayako Fujitani reprises her role as Asagi, but she has also grown since the first movie. Those are the only two returning characters, which were nice to see.

Conclusion

If you loved the older Gamera movies, Gamera: GotU, or GMK, you will most likely love this. In fact, even if you do not care for Godzilla movies, you may like this Gamera trilogy. My girlfriend cannot stand Godzilla movies, but she found this Gamera Trilogy to be enjoyable. I highly recommend it, especially if you are trying to get someone into Kaiju movies.

My Rating 4/5.

DrKain