Gamera 2: Attack of Legion

A meteorite falls on Hokkaido, and what comes out of it is an insect-like species that multiplies fast. They settle under cities and feed on energy. Gamera intervenes, and the matter stops being one monster beating another and becomes an invasion to be stopped. The film is not interested in a monster fight. It is interested in procedure: how the military, the scientists and local government reach decisions is shown with real seriousness. That register, rare in kaiju cinema, is what distinguishes the series' nineties revival. The form rests on miniatures and practical effects: city models, crowded defence scenes, real explosions. Computer effects are limited and used in support. This is the second film of Shusuke Kaneko's trilogy. His Gamera films were cited as a model for later Godzilla productions because they lifted the genre out of children's cinema into adult seriousness. Toshiyuki Nagashima and Miki Mizuno are in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like kaiju cinema and practical-effects destruction. Who it is not for: anyone wanting depth of character. The human thread is functional and the film saves its force for the monsters.