A Sordid Affair

I have not been faithful recently. For about 6 or 7 years I have pledged myself to one, and this past week I betrayed that pledge. This was not just once, but 3 times I have rejected the one to whom I've pledged my devotion. Before I expound upon my sins I must first apologies to the one I have wronged: I am so sorry Godzilla for I have seen and enjoyed 3 Gamera movies.
A little bit of context so that those reading may understand the gravity of my actions. Godzilla and Gamera are both giant mutant reptiles created by 2 separate movie studios in direct competition: Toho (Godzilla) and Daiei (Gamera). In highschool I discovered Godzilla with Godzilla, Mothera, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (still my favorite Godzilla movie), and so I became a self professed Godzilla fan. Because Gamera was created specifically to compete with Godzilla in the tokusatsu (special effects film) sub genre of  giant monster movies, a bitter rivalry between fans of Godzilla and Gamera formed, and I considered myself solidly on Godzilla's side. Until recently

My interest in Gamera started out innocent enough: I watched a few Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes which featured the monster, but I never took him seriously until I saw: Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995). A triumphant 90's reboot of the Gamera franchise. It was a dark, yet fun, kaiju (giant monster) film with fantastic action and more explosions then a Michael Bay film. But even better it had some of the most gorgeous cinematography i have ever seen in any monster movie. The plot dealt with genetically engineered monsters called Gyaos and the titular giant turtle fighting them. This Gamera movie didn't really offer me anything I couldn't get from Godzilla, but it was enough for me to come back for round two.

The next movie in the reboot series was: Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion. This movie did in fact offer me something I couldn't get from Godzilla. Gamera 2 had an interesting mystery at the core of it's story, and a far darker tone then any Godzilla movie. While not quite as beautiful as Gamera: Guardian of the Universe it not only had Gamera fighting 2 types of creatures with a very interesting symbiotic relationship, but it also had some bloody action sequences of these creatures terrorizing innocents. Something Godzilla never touched. The symbiotic creatures at the core of the movie's mystery are known as Legion. They are insectoid creatures that use the exploding seed pod of an extraterrestrial plant to spread themselves to other planets. The movie excels in giving Legion an interesting biology: they are silicon based creatures that have no muscular structure, but instead move using pressurized gas. Godzilla has been entirely unable to offer me anything this fascinating in a well made movie like this. I was sold on Gamera and excited to watch more.

The third time with Gamera (Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris) was strange, and a little creepy. This time it had things I expected from a David Cronenberg movie. Some sort of tentacled creature meets a girl who lost her family in the first Gamera movie. The girl names it iris and the movie seems to diverge into some really creepy almost tentacle hentai things. It was uncomfortably weird and although I usually go for really weird movies this time it felt very wrong. Luckly it wasn't too long before the small tentacle monster turned into a giant tentacle monster and it started fighting Gamera. But, things got weird again at the end, and this time it was less hentai weird and more David Lynch/Evangelion weird. I didn't quite understand what was going on.

Now I am happy to return to my first love: Godzilla secure in the knowledge that while Gamera can offer me things Godzilla cannot some times those things can be weird, or down right disturbing. As I write this Godzilla Vs. Biollante is playing on my DVD player, and I couldn't be more content.

In all seriousness though those three Gamera movies are among the best Kaiju films I have ever seen, and while the third one is somewhat disturbing the first 2 are fun, interesting, and a little darker then the usual Kaiju fare. Also I probably need a girlfriend.