Gamera 2: Advent of Legion1996

89/100 Not quite as good as its predecessor, but still leaps and bounds ahead of what came before that. This is one of my favourite, if not my favourite, trilogies of all time, and this is a great second act. The plot for this one is, of course, just the same old alien invasion story, but its executed in a fresh enough way that its entertaining and enjoyable, helped along by special effects even better than the last one. The execution of Mother Legion is especially something to behold, being one of the best practical effects I've ever seen. Speaking of Legion, they are very effective as a villain. Their alien nature is exploited to the maximum for some really weird and cool biology, and I like how in addition to the larger Legion, we have smaller Soldier Legion that're really cool to watch. The Legion add to the apocalyptic feel of the movie. The destruction is so wanton and widespread in nature, to the point where Gamera himself comes closer to death than ever. The characters also feel like they represent all of Japan, making all this feel as if the country itself is at stake, along with Gamera himself. Gamera in this movie is the closest to humans he has been and will be throughout the trilogy, and its a good approach, though I don't quite like how his arms morph into fins. The flying in the previous movie looked natural, but this is just goofy. Moving on from that tangent, Gamera here spends time fighting Legion just to ensure the escape of a few refugees, and in addition is saluted by the military, who for once don't think of him as an enemy but instead a neutral force. However, he ends the movie by shattering his connection to humanity, which brilliantly sets up next movie. Gamera is also used really well, as this movie has what I consider the best action in the whole series. There are a lot of great fights between the monsters, and it helps that Legion is such a good foe. However, no movie is perfect. Here, there's a bit of a pacing issue, along with a few plot holes. The Soldier Legion tend to just die, first in Sapporo and then in Sendai, for seemingly no reason. The final battle also ends with Gamera randomly using a hitherto unmentioned ability with seemingly no consequences. It does cause problems, as explained next movie, but I feel its a bit annoying how you have to watch the next one so as to not make this one feel random and contrived. The human element is also at its weakest of all the Heisei movies here. I did quite like Colonel Watarase, who's easily the most awesome character, to the point where he takes out a Soldier Legion all by himself during the climax, but aside from him I didn't really like any of the characters. Asagi's back, but she's basically the same character as before without the arc that made her interesting. The new girl is cute, but she's basically a worse Nagamine, existing purely as exposition. The rest are pretty forgettable. This movie has issues, and ones which are easily more noticeable compared to the last movie, but its also just a really great sequel. It builds on the first movie while also showcasing a continuous effect. Osako returns, now more cowardly than ever, and we get a nice shot showing Tokyo rebuilding from the Gyaos attack. On its own, its also a great Kaiju action movie, with plenty of fun to be had. I'd highly recommend it.