Godzilla x MechaGodzilla (2002)

Forty-five years have come and gone since the first Godzilla attack (see first film). Japan feels it’s prepared should it ever happen again, but when a new Godzilla descends upon the city unexpectedly they discover the truth: if the humans are to survive they’ll need to fight fire with fire.
A female pilot with something to prove, a scientist who wants to buy her dinner, and a young girl who sees the world in a way that adults are no longer able to each help the film juggle fun times and serious musings in different ways. But the action is where GxM really excels. When Mecha goes toe to toe with Godzilla and the missiles start flying... Oh, my!

It’s the 26th film in the series and the 4th in the Millennium era. The Millennium films are standalone, alternative sequels to the 1954 original that you can jump to directly after viewing it, except Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), which is a sequel to GxM. It's less confusing than it sounds.

3½ military toys out of 5

Sky High (2003)

After seeing potential in the genre-bending Versus (2000) about a decade ago, I hoped that Ryûhei Kitamura would someday get the opportunity to put his talents to better use and make a great film, but this isn't it. It’s a prequel to a TV Series that's based on a manga. If everyone (except Hiromasa Taguchi) had been replaced with cast members who could act and not just look good on a magazine cover, and if Kitamura had taken more risks, the film could've been worth the time invested in it. Perhaps then I wouldn't have spent almost two hours wondering when it was going to get good and why it was even called Sky High. If I'd seen the series I may have felt differently about the story, but a lot of that would still apply.

2 destinations out of 5

The Princess Blade (2001)

A 'reimagining' of Kazuo Koike's four volume manga, Shurayuki-hime, that places it in the not-too-distant future. It starts out okay but actress Yumiko Shaku is much too frail looking to be believable as the assassin Yuki and as it gets deeper into the story everything goes kind of limp.
Donnie Yen was responsible for the choreography and it shows; it's balletic stuff that resembles a high-octane Chinese action flick.
If you prefer your Japanese movies to be more subtle and traditional, then you may want to seek out the first Lady Snowblood film instead, Blizzard from the Netherworld (1973), for a vastly superior take on the same story.

1½ crunchy worms out of 5