Kaiju Chronology: Gamera 3- Revenge of Iris

At last, the final Chapter (until this one)!  Today's film is Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (or Gamera 1999: Absolute Guardian of the Universe in Japan), the third and most violent film in the Trilogy.  It wraps up everything up and builds upon almost all that has come before.  See- this is what the third film in a Trilogy should do.  I'm looking at you, Michael Bay's Transformers!  In the previous films, Gamera fought off the Gyaos, followed by the Legion.  However, there were consequences for all of these battles.  Are the Gyaos truly dead?  Does the Military still trust Gamera?  Will a new threat emerge to endanger the World again?  In this film, a girl with revenge on her mind finds a power source to allow her to get what she wants.  Will it mean the end of Gamera, the World or both?  This one is dark and violent (especially in the Climax), but quite good all the same.  As blood is drawn and lives are lost, we must wonder what will happen.  To find out, read on...

The film gives us a nice, helpful recap of (just) the first film.  We learn that the threat of the Gyaos may not be over and that more evidence behind their past is around- like this.

This girl is sad and angry since her parents (and cat Iris) were killed during the battle in the first film's Climax.  She blames Gamera, as opposed to the thing he was there to destroy.

To be fair, she is a grief-stricken teenager- common sense need not apply!

Dared to go into an old Shrine, she discovers a weird stone that eventually makes a new creature be born.  It has traits of the Gyaos, but is different and...cute?

Okay, maybe not that last part.  As it gets bigger, it gets a bit more aggressive.  This is bad.

Meanwhile, the Military is now completely-against Gamera after another city-smashing during a Gyaos battle.  It is a good foreshadowing of Man of Steel, I see.

This helps keep the Military busy while the creature gets alot bigger and even more aggressive.  You kind of wasted your chance, guys.

Meanwhile, all of the Main Characters return- even Cowardly Cop.  He's here for a bigger part!

Gamera, as you can imagine, is not happy after being attacked on all sides.  He battles the creature, but he has little chance after it has been powered up (by partially fusing DNA with a Host Girl) and after he's been shot by some Patriot Missiles.

Huh?  I only remember those from the first Gulf War.  We must have let Japan have our leftovers.

When Gamera is down, all hope lies on...the boyfriend of the Host Girl.  He takes the dagger he has been carrying for the last hour and...throws it harmlessly at Iris (the creature, duh).

Thankfully, the real hero of this piece fights back, blows his own hand off to survive and wins the day.  It is the biggest, loudest and bloodiest (even if it is green) thing in any Gamera film!  See you in 2006.  The End.

Damn- this one gets brutal!  Forget what you think a Gamera film is like- this is far more intense.  The film builds and builds, giving you a simple attack from the Gyaos at first to the later climax of blood (albeit green) and explosions!  Gamera is just pure bad-ass here.  He takes two Patriot Missiles and only gets slowed down.  He bites, scratches and claws at Iris to win.  He even blows off his own hand (pinned to a wall by one of Iris' claws) in order to fend off a beam attack!  He takes Iris' own attack and uses it to blow him to pieces!  We even get a moment right out of a Slasher Film as a couple breaks off from a Nature Hike to make whoopie.  However, the medium-sized Iris is there and drains the lady's nutrients Lifeforce-style!  Damn!  It kind of reminds me of the one out-of-place moment in Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster where the creature's blast turns a bunch of people into skeletons.  While this is more disturbing, it is just as graphic in its own right.  As I said in the Intro, the film also rewards you for watching all three films (or at least the first and last one).  You get the lead Actress from the first one, the girl with the Psychic Link and Cowardly Cop are all back in important roles.  If you just watch the last film, you can still figure out who they are, but it helps to know them more.  It is kind of like how you can watch The Avengers without ever watching a Marvel film, but it sure helps you get more context to have at least watched Thor.  You can watch that one- it is good!  In summary, Gamera 3 (whatever subtitle you prefer) is a good finale to the Trilogy and it shows you just how far the Series has really come...

Next up, we move to another Trilogy from Toho.  This time, their most adorable monster is reborn for the 1990s!  Stay tuned...