my first exposure to Gamera was VS Guiron on VHS as a stupid kid hungry for more after hitting my limit on rewatching Godzilla flicks. At the time I felt that film was condescending, dull, and disquietly violent and today watching my second Gamera feature as a 37 year old I can say I wasn’t that stupid. 

Gamera is lame, though not boring or cheap mind you. A sub 90 minute runtime filled with kaiju bullshit including monotonous head scratching and chin stroking by the human characters is par and wonderful here. Even more impressive are the FX. Showa Gamera has this texture Godzilla suits lack. Combined with the strange scaling to the only semi intricate models gives this movie a “live action cartoon” feel except by cartoon I mean those nightmarish dialogue-free Gumby shorts. This is all made or undone by your delight in Gamera’s utter squareness. Even as his fights show way more flare and imagination that any of Big G’s you’re still taking in a walrus toothed turtle screaming whenever he’s on screen and children doing the same. And that’s in a film all about the power of high frequency sounds! I’m surprised I didn’t just watch the damn thing on mute given it’s subtitled now. For this my sympathies immediately swept to Jiger’s side, who did nothing wrong in my estimation, that capitalists from the 1970 Expo didn’t incur. I guess that Itchy & Scratchy mix of cute and cruel is part of the formula’s charm?