GAMERA THE BRAVE
So this is the first Mark III Gamera movie, which in Deep Purple terms would make it the first version with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes. But is it as good as the "Burn" record? Are you seriously asking me if a movie about a giant mystical flying turtle is as good as a Deep Purple record? Of course it is. GAMERA THE BRAVE is indeed the "Burn" of the Gamera oeuvre. There, it had to be said. So here's the deal. A couple of days back was our 70th day of triple degree temps here in Hellmouth, so I decided to watch a flick with my kids. I figured on Gamera because kids like turtles - especially if they fly and break shit. The flick starts off with a great night battle between a Gamera and the Gyaos. There's a new Gamera design which looks less angry than the Mark II version but still cool. It ends with Gamera going nuclear and sacrificing himself to save the prefecture. Thirty years later we meet li'l Toro, a young sad boy with a dead mom and a hard working dad. Turns out the dad was Toro's age when the earlier Gamera gave his life, and he saw the whole thing.
Continuing the tradition of the Gamera mythos by having a sad boy with a giant turtle connection was a nice touch. From the beginning it's obvious that this version is basically a mash up of the various Gamera incarnations, but one geared towards young kids. My only regret is that the boy wasn't named Kenny. So, Toro finds a turtle egg that hatches a tiny flying turtle which he tries to hide from the adults in an E.T. like fashion. There's also a pathos-drenched sub-plot about a teen girl neighbor with brain cancer. No matter, it all pretty much works. The new monster menace - Zedus - is a nice design. It's a man-eating frilled monitor lizard dragon type thing with a deadly spear tongue. There's some wacky comedy with li'l Gamera and lots of kid power. Also in the mix, some pretty nice monster vs. monster action with nice effects and model work. No surprises but a pretty solid kid's movie that's not boring.