Godzilla Raids Again Revisited

This was part of A Most Unusual Tuesday

I wrote a brief little paragraph for "Godzilla Raids Again" (1955) back in a multi-content post in 2017. I am about to get "Godzilla fever" in anticipation for the new Kong/Godzilla monster mash coming up this month. "Godzilla Raids Again" is available on HBO Max and I thought it is a well done follow up to the first Toho classic, as I mentioned the first time I ever watched it. I guess I was expecting something wonderfully campy, because I've had such a steady diet of these Kaiju since I was a kid, catching a few of these at all times of the day, whether waking up to them during early morning, catching them on a lazy Saturday afternoon, or finding them as filler for late night programming. "Godzilla Raids Again" wasn't a film that ever come across my radar until Turner Classics showed it during one of their marathons you might see pop up at odd times during the year. I was excited to see "Godzilla Raids Again" as part of HBO Max's catalog. This was a revisit I was looking forward to again. It holds up to me. A couple of pilots are the human stars of the film, Koizumi as the handsome Tsukioki and jolly comedy relief, Chiaki as Kobayashi. Wakayama is Tsukioki's love interest, a radio and telegraph operator, and Kurosawa icon, Shimizu, returns as a respected scientist and Godzilla expert. Tokyo got a break in this film...its poor Osaka that gets leveled when Godzilla and a spike-shell back creature called Anguirus bring their fight from an island onto Japanese shores. I so admire the craftsman behind all the models utilized for decimation. And Osaka's model stand-in gets plenty of Godzilla and Anguirus combat carnage bombarded on it. I think the film being shot in B&W was a major advantage in its favor because I thought that gave "Godzilla Raids Again" a certain class. Yes, the two creatures are obviously rubber-suited, but the plot doesn't have any real silly characterizations or developments that hinder it from being taken seriously. I think the clever finale where an island's mountainous peaks and terrain is used by fighter jet missiles (and some ships that bring in explosive barrels to keep Godzilla from fleeing into the water) for an avalanche that collapses onto Godzilla and envelopes him is an extra boost in the film's favor. I just think this is a very well made Godzilla film. It has dialogue and Shimizu to tie this in with the first film (Shimizu tells our heroes that this is a second Godzilla). There is no oxygen destroyer (or its genius scientist creator, who perished giving his life to stop Godzilla) available so the convenience of Godzilla leaving land for the island after vanquishing Anguirus and the sacrifice of a plane pilot driven into the mountain (keeping Godzilla still on the island) provides a big finale. I have no complaints, really. This is a good creature feature. I think Toho Godzilla fans--unless they want their camp and cheese--would approve. 4/5

***The scene where a camera pans the city after Godzilla leaves Osaka annihilated is chilling but the characters left behind recover and move to a different location. There is this brief period of relief for the survivors before reports on a ship attacked by Godzilla bring them into action against the giant lizard with atomic breath.***