Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla

Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002) is a Japanese kaiju action film from Toho — watch online on iFILM. Directed by Masaaki Tezuka, the 88-minute picture kicks off a two-part arc and marks one of the more quietly strange entries in the franchise.

When a new Godzilla surfaces and storms ashore, JGSDF pilot Akane Yashiro is blamed for the deaths of her unit during the first attack. She's sidelined. The government's answer to the threat is Kiryu — a cyborg built around the bones of the original 1954 Godzilla, dredged from the seafloor and wired with modern weapons systems. Akane gets called back to pilot it. The machine and the monster are, in a sense, the same creature.

What separates this from a standard kaiju sequel is that question hanging over every scene: can you turn something's remains into a weapon and expect no consequences? Kiryu carries a kind of restless memory that the film doesn't explain away. Stream Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002) online on iFILM.