This feels pretty fresh relative to the last few movies (which was pretty surprising since Jun Fukuda is consistently the worst director in these Showa Godzilla films). Even more than Godzilla vs. Hedorah, even though that’s arguably more unique kaiju-wise and even though that actually engages with some thematic content (unlike this and the previous two films which hardly or just don’t engage with anything beyond spectacle). But Mechagodzilla is just such an interesting and fun Kaiju, maybe one of the best in this era. The repeated alien plot is getting irritating, but I thought the human sections were still pretty good and had a lot of unique elements, especially with King Caesar. Plus apes are cool. This flows very well too; I’ve noticed a lot of these last few films have major pacing issues, but this feels pretty smooth (though I wish the Mechagodzilla reveal was built up more). This still doesn’t live up to the best of this era though, especially because the kaiju battle isn’t as fun as much of the series. It has a brutality that I do enjoy when it is there, but much of the fights are pretty standard. The final fight especially is mainly just showing off Mechagodzilla’s move set, which is definitely fun but it could use more tag team wrestling or flying Godzilla.