Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

The fourteenth film introduced Mechagodzilla to the roster, a mechanical Godzilla with jet-propulsion in its feet and whose fingers are mini-rockets. On paper it sounds like a guaranteed winning formula. It should've been the same in reality, too, but the script loses sight of what's most important.
It's full-on story to begin with: an ancient prophecy and a modern day premonition predict the same event. As expected, the heavy plotting is followed by plenty of action. But then it stumbles into a listless midsection.
It eventually reasserts itself by pushing a secondary character to the fore, turning the whole thing into a James Bond film complete with secret base, elaborate death room and gadgets. It was probably bandwagon jumping, and may even have been undertaken with the best intentions, but it ruined what was otherwise an okay film with potential up to that point.

2½ rainbow beams out of 5