This is the first and only Millennium series Gamera that was ever filmed, returning him as a kid-friendly monster who this time is raised by a little boy named Toru (Ryô Tomioka) when he was first born and then grows up in full adult monster form, just in time to battle the evil, man-eating monster Zedus.
Of all the kid-themed Gamera movies, this is actually the best one to feature a kid as the main character. He is not annoying or screaming songs like the kid characters in the earlier Gamera movies and his relationship with Gamera is actually quite heartfelt. There is also some strong character development between Toru and his widowed father Kousuke (Kanji Tsuda), who in the movie's prologue witnessed a Gamera sacrificing himself to destroy the Gyaos birds, which I thought gives the movie a heroic, yet sad touch. There are also scenes where Toru frolics around the beach in a lazy afternoon with friends and where he reminisced about his late mother Miyuki (portrayed by Megumi Kobayashi of the "Rebirth of Mothra" trilogy). All this adds some pensive drama to an otherwise monster-action-packed film.
The special effects were quite good and the story has some decent monster action and battles (you really want to root for Gamera to defeat the cruel Zedus), though I thought the human drama does tend to drag the movie a little somewhat. It's not as thrilling or suspenseful as Gamera: Guardian of the Universe or Gamera: Attack of the Legion and it does not surpass most of the Godzilla movies in overall entertainment, but this is one of the better of all the Gamera films in my opinion.
Grade B-
Of all the kid-themed Gamera movies, this is actually the best one to feature a kid as the main character. He is not annoying or screaming songs like the kid characters in the earlier Gamera movies and his relationship with Gamera is actually quite heartfelt. There is also some strong character development between Toru and his widowed father Kousuke (Kanji Tsuda), who in the movie's prologue witnessed a Gamera sacrificing himself to destroy the Gyaos birds, which I thought gives the movie a heroic, yet sad touch. There are also scenes where Toru frolics around the beach in a lazy afternoon with friends and where he reminisced about his late mother Miyuki (portrayed by Megumi Kobayashi of the "Rebirth of Mothra" trilogy). All this adds some pensive drama to an otherwise monster-action-packed film.
The special effects were quite good and the story has some decent monster action and battles (you really want to root for Gamera to defeat the cruel Zedus), though I thought the human drama does tend to drag the movie a little somewhat. It's not as thrilling or suspenseful as Gamera: Guardian of the Universe or Gamera: Attack of the Legion and it does not surpass most of the Godzilla movies in overall entertainment, but this is one of the better of all the Gamera films in my opinion.
Grade B-