Godzilla Raids Again

Released 24th April 1955, Godzilla Raids Again continues the story of Godzilla from his 1954 debut film. While this does raise the question of how Godzilla is back after being obliterated at the end of Godzilla (1954), the film is able to somewhat develop the original’s ideas in a believable way. Godzilla himself isn’t as prevalent in conveying nuclear power, however, the film does a great job in establishing Godzilla as a natural animal in his animalistic conflict with Anguirus, a descendant of the ankylosaurus. As well as this, the characters accept from the get-go that Godzilla cannot be killed without the oxygen destroyer from the original; as a result, the characters work more to stall him until they conjure a plan.

The characters are surprisingly well acted, considering the standard of the time, however, the film opts to establish so many narratives that it is difficult to connect to the characters and their drama throughout the film. This is made more unfortunate by a couple of scenes which draw upon the themes of the film with bittersweet beauty. Instead of being very character driven, the narrative is more of a mindless action film as a result of its various battles and lowered concentration on direct characters. Godzilla is the only character that the film tries to focus on in depth; this is achieved through expansion of his lore and also quiet moments of reaction to the events surrounding him. Moments like these really set the stage for monster movies to have cognitive-thinking creatures with their own wills and identities thus forming a richer film experience.

Even in the space of a year, the development of visual effects is notable in this film with a sophistication in its blend of models and to-scale effects. The suits for the monsters are also phenomenal and are impressively detailed. As for the soundtrack, there not a great variety of new tracks with only one track reoccurring through the film. Godzilla Raids Again is certainly a good sequel which doesn’t disregard its predecessor. However, its lack of concrete characters make large portions of the film slow to get through and a subsequent detriment to the viewing experience.