Gamera vs. Jiger1970

49/100 Not quite as enjoyable as the last one, but still far from bad. Things are starting to look up for my favourite Kaiju franchise. The plot on this one is fairly average for your kiddie Kaiju films, with enough fights to keep kids and action junkies entertained. It keeps moving at a fairly quick pace, which I like. The human characters in this one, like pretty much every Showa Gamera film, have a lot of room for improvement. Granted, the kids aren't all that annoying this time around and even manage to help Gamera, but the acting is really spotty and the milquetoast character work really doesn't help. Jiger herself is also my least favourite of Gamera's foes. She's not bad, but she looks deformed and has way too many weird powers. I usually applaud the childlike imagination these films have, but they may have gone too far here, and she pales in comparison to the likes of Guiron. The film itself is far more average than your usual Gamera film, but there are still some fun setpieces. My favourite sequence was the one where the kids have to travel through Gamera's lung in order to kill a baby Jiger after the adult...impregnates Gamera. These films got weird. Gamera himself is probably at his best in the Showa era here. He's still charming in his usual goofy way, and now they've really leaned into his scrappy underdog role. This makes it all the more disappointing that he's taken out halfway through and only returns for the final battle. However, he makes the most out of what little he has, as usual. This is a hard film to rate. The middle of Gamera's Showa era was littered with movies equal part irritating and fun, and sadly, I think this one has more bad than good. It's still not completely bad, though, and I could see this being fun for a younger audience. It just wasn't my thing, and that's all right. Check it out...maybe.