Varan1958

33/100 Imagine the story of Godzilla, executed with the stylings of Rodan, and yet without the passion of either of those, ending in a boring, uninspiring Kaiju movie which feels more lethargic than anything, and you have Varan. I’ll start with my compliments, or rather, compliment, because Akira Ifukube’s score stands out like a diamond in the rough with this thing. It’s genuinely so good, and Varan’s theme is amazing, incorporating cues from both Godzilla and Rodan’s theme, yet utilizing them in a unique way. This genuinely might be my favourite score from him, as the music here is pretty much great all around and kind of saves several scenes from the film. Sadly, the rest of the film doesn’t at all live up to the music. The plot here is just a retread of Godzilla (1954). An accident leading to death in a remote area leads to a group including a reporter and a scientist heading to a nearby village, where they learn of the legend before meeting the real monster. This monster is then attacked by the military, only to survive and attack a city before another scientist comes up with a plan which defeats it. Thes plot points are played entirely straight, making this feel like doing the bare minimum with the story, as unlike Godzilla, no attempt is made to make me care about these characters. They’re pretty much just the average stereotypes like the scientist, the reporter, the lead, and as a result, they are perhaps the most uninteresting of these old movies’ casts. The greatest offense this movie has committed, though, was that travesty of a final battle. Apparently whatever meagre budget this thing had ran out, because half of the final battle is 1954 stock footage, down to clips being reused multiple times. These reminders of the better movie I could’ve been watching shifted this movie from boring to irritating, resulting in an ending I outright hated. When comparing this movie to its predecessors, it’s easy to see why Varan was never a big name. This film is nothing but a ramshackle effort without any passion or creative vision behind it, and Varan himself is sadly wasted on this movie and poorly utilized as a result. It’s boring, it’s cheap, and it’s “unbelievable” how bad it is.