Sayonara Jupitâ

Being a fan of Godzilla, I was interested in this movie because of its director (Koji Hashimoto, Godzilla 1984) and effects director (Koichi Kawakita, Heisei effects director from 1989 to 1997). I appreciate the ambitions of this film, wanting to be a sort of Japanese equivalent of a film like 2001 rather than another star wars knock off like many of the time, and indeed the effects of this film truly are great, I would say on par for the most par with American films of the time. But, sadly, great effects work cant save this shoddy plot. the core concepts seem sound, in the future humans have colonized off world areas, debate among groups on whether it is right to do so, and having to save the planet from a doomsday scenario. But the plot is filled with underdeveloped characters and motivations, ideas that seem to just drop off halfway through (like the Jupiter Ghost ), and a general vibe of melancholy that never feels earned (in that, characters die so that we feel sad, but they aren't nearly developed enough to where we SHOULD care). I do feel that somewhere in this mess there is a great work of science fiction, and perhaps some day there will be a good film of Komatsu's novel, but as it is, this is just a messy, albeit somewhat interesting, misfire.