For over 50 years Godzilla has rampaged across Japan in movies taking on any and all challengers to his title of "King of the Monsters". And now Toho, the company responsible for decades of Godzilla goodness, has decided to send him off with a bang. Godzilla: Final Wars is allegedly the last Godzilla movie we will see for some years to come. Be prepared as this is probably the most unique Godzilla movie anyone will ever witness in comparison to past efforts.

Godzilla: Final Wars is an over the top action film featuring more kaiju (mysterious monsters) than you can shake a stick at. In some ways, Final Wars is like a pseudo-remake of the classic "Destroy All Monsters". What really made a big difference in the content of this Godzilla film was the decision to have Ryuhei Kitamura direct. That would be the same Ryuhei Kitamura that directed the cult favorite movie "Versus". That said this film, similar to "Versus", contains a number of high octane action sequences unlike anything you'd expect from a Godzilla film. And also unlike any other Godzilla film, there are many action sequences that focus on the human versus alien conflict.

The story is nothing new and original, but actually a mixture of ideas taken from other films. This isn't a bad thing by any means for this film. Godzilla: Final Wars' storyline revolves a secret alien invasion gone bad. Toho's various and most famous monsters (kaiju) simultaneously attack the Earth's major cities worldwide. The Earth Defense Force, using metahuman soldiers, fight the giant lobster Ebirah with rocket launchers and masers before the alien ships beams him and all other attacking monsters away. From this point on the Xilian aliens seem like the Earth's saviors until the ambitions of the alien leader's subordinate, played by the awesome Kazuki Kitamura, cause him to commit a murderous betrayal on worldwide television. This betrayal reveals to humans worldwide that the aliens are really more alien freak than humanoid. From that point on the plan to conquer Earth becomes painfully obvious as the aliens unleash the kaiju upon Earth's cities once against.

The Gotengo (the flying submarine from Toho's classic "Atragon film" and the anime "Super Atragon") is dispatched once again in a desperate plan to fight off the alien invasion. The plan is to release Godzilla from his frozen prison and lead him into battle with the other kaiju worldwide. From that point Final Wars becomes a balls to the wall death fest like no Godzilla movie has ever been. Godzilla's battles are not only fast and to the point, but just plain brutal. Heads get blown off, torsos get impaled, and atomic fire reaps havoc. Godzilla literally owns every kaiju in this film, including USA Godzilla (good riddance).

Not to be outdone by the Big G though, the humans and alien action sequences surprisingly well done. It's clearly obvious that Ryuhei Kitamura borrowed a lot of ideas from "The Matrix" as the fight scenes are full of similar stunts. In fact, the lead character Ozaki is basically this movies Neo. And he actually looks a bit like Keanu Reeves to boot. Especially during a scene in which he stops a barrage of oncoming laser beams in the same manner and pose as Neo stopped the bullets in "The Matrix" There is also an intense motorcycle chase, shootout, and battle between two metahumans that all occurs on a freeway.

Godzilla: Final Wars' special effects are adequate for the newer Godzilla films, but there are some hiccups here and there. Longtime fans of kaiju movies are already going to be used to the low-quality miniatures that are meant to make the monsters look up to scale. But still, it would've been nice to see some CGI or better models used since this is Big G's last run for a while. The special effects like Godzilla's atomic breath and the masers are the usual standard quality for recent kaiju movies. Godzilla USA was rendered completely in CGI and actually looked pretty good. Here's to hoping that CGI might be the new direction Toho takes the next generation of Godzilla movies years from now. Not that the old rubber suit kaiju weren't good, but some of the suits just did not have the high level of detail one would expect at this day and time. Godzilla looked great as usual and actually seemed to be more streamlined for mobility. Even Mothra looked better than ever. And on other note, something about Anguirus just looked wrong.

Acting in Final Wars is the usual over the top stuff you see in kaiju movies. Major props go out to former UFC fighter Don Frye in his role of Donald Gordon, captain of the Gotengo. Frye delivers all of his lines in English language with a gruff, tough guy coolness that makes his character very likeable throughout the film. But the character who truly steals the human side of the film is Kazuki Kitamura who plays the villainous Xilian leader. Kazuki Kitamura is just as over the top in this film as he was in "Versus" and it pays off in spades. At times cool as ice, freakishly evil, or just plain comical, Kazuki Kitamura comes off as one of the coolest villains on-screen.

In the end, Godzilla: Final Wars will likely leave many a longtime Godzilla fan in shock. It may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on that person. As far as longtime traditions goes, Final Wars breaks many of them. As I've stated before, this is a Godzilla movie unlike any previously made. As a longtime Godzilla fan myself, I see that Ryuhei Kitamura obviously wanted to take Godzilla in a new direction. Was it the right direction? In my honest opinion I would say "yes". 50 years is a long time to wait for something this drastically different. Final Wars is not by any means perfection on film, but it is a fast, furious, and fun rush of action movie escapism. Too bad this has to be the end for Godzilla...for now.