Monster Seafood Wars (Fantasia Fest)
**Seen for the 2020 Fantasia International Film Festival**
I never anticipated a movie title like “Monster Seafood Wars” to have a double meaning, and yet, here we are. The film feels like a parody of kaiju movies on the outset, and believe me, it’s very funny, and pokes more than a little fun at the Godzilla series. But the film also has other ideas that, truly, caught me by surprise. This is one of my favorite moviewatching experiences of 2020; I wish I could see it on the big screen, with an audience.
The film begins as a documentary discussing the aftermath of a kaiju attack, and right away, as we’re hearing about a rice vinegar smell that doesn’t seem to be going away, we can tell that something is a bit different about this attack. We then catch up with Yuta, the son of a sushi chef, who is delivering an offering of goodwill to the temple. On the way, he loses his offering of crab, octopus and squid. Not long after, however, we see a giant octopus and squid come up from the depths, and begin to reek havoc. Is Yuta capable of looking at the situation with the gravity it requires? Will a rivalry with another scientist make destroying the threat impossible? Does this happen so often in Japan that there’s a standing Seafood Monster Unit part of the Defense Department in Japan?
Can we just appreciate the design of these seafood monsters for a second? I think it’s the eyes of the octopus, which are anime eyes on a live-action monster costume. And what is the squid doing with its tentacles? And wait until you see the crab in action. There is an inherent cheesiness to the “man-in-costume” approach to this film that is purely delightful. We probably do not get as much monster action as we would like out of this movie- there’s a ton of exposition- but what we do get is memorable in every way, especially when we make our way to the stadium that still smelled like rice vinegar at the beginning. Why does it smell that way? Let’s put it this way- it’s one of my favorite, absurd things I’ve ever seen in a kaiju movie, next to the general in “Godzilla 2000: Millennium” say that a missile would go through Godzilla like “crap through a goose” 20 years ago. It’s just the type of insanity I needed for my birthday this year, which is when I watched it.
This is the sort of B-movie discovery that is purely delightful when it comes to film festivals, whether it’s a short film of feature. You really need to search to get this if you’re just paying attention to mainstream cinema. I didn’t get to watch it with an audience in person, but if the opportunity presents itself, oh you better believe I’m taking advantage of it…and getting friends to join me.
I mentioned that the title has something of a double meaning at the outset of this film. It does, but if you think I’m going to reveal how in a review, you’re absolutely nuts. Some secrets are best left for the cinema. When it arises, though, it’ll either be the last thing you expect, or the most expected thing you’ll see in an 84-minute movie about seafood coming to life. Either way, you’re welcome.
