Superhero Media: Gamera 3 - Revenge of Iris

I wasn't actually aware that Gamera 3 - Revenge of Iris existed until my DVD collection arrived in the mail years back, but I was immediately excited that the two Kaiju films I loved best had a final part of the trilogy. The first time I watched Gamera 3, I was really disappointed, finding it a strange turn of direction for the series and a bit of a let-down after Gamera 2. Now that I've been back again, I have to reevaluate my take on Revenge of Iris; it's still a weird turn, but there is a lot here worth taking a look at. The film opens during Gamera Guardian of the Universe, with a young girl seeing her family killed during the battle between Gamera and Gyos when her mother tries to rescue the cat, named Iris. Years later, the now-teenaged girl, Mayumi is ostracised by her classmates for her hatred of Gamera and is peer-pressured into violating a sacred shrine, where she awakens a new monster, naming it Iris. Also, it's hinted that Mayumi and Iris have sex? I wouldn't bring this up, but it's a weird scene that never comes up again, and it really sticks in the brain. 

Meanwhile, Gyos have appeared again, and Gamera is battling them across the planet, causing no small amount of collateral damage in the process; this is drawing the attention of authorities who are starting to consider Gamera the real enemy. Combating this trend, Asagi and Watarase are doing more research on the history and creation of Gamera, coming to understand mana and it's function in balancing the environment and the planet. Asagi finds Saito, now a homeless drunk, living in a shanty town and enlists his help to track down Iris and save Gamera from the military industrial complex. Watarase brings in Midori to help Mayumi through her monster problem and at last the team comes together. Gamera 3 is more focused on the human characters than the previous outings, especially the women of the series, Asagi, Midori and Mayumi, almost making up a kind of "maiden, mother, crone" tryptic, except with more of a "knowledge, nurture, innocence" focus. That's right people, Gamera 3 is the one about contemporary Japanese feminism and how women need to step up and save the world because the men just keep failing. 

Does this mean Iris somehow represents feminine rage? I'm not so sure, as the translation on my copy isn't brilliant and I miss around 1/3rd of the lines in the film, but there is a definite focus on nurture as a healing force more so than revenge. Saito starts his redemption and healing journey because of the kindness of an old friend, Iris loses its hold over Mayumi not because of the disposable love interest coming to save her, but because Asagi and Midori are there for her. Towards the end of the film, there's a great moment between Asagi and Watarase where they silently acknowledge their mutual respect and realise that their relationship has reached its peak without becoming romantic; it's a great moment of maturity and melancholy in film-making you don't see often. As good as I now find Gamera 3, I'd still say that it comes in a little disappointing after Gamera 2, just because it's such a departure in tone and is going for something very different. All in, the 1990s Gamera Trilogy is probably one of the best moments in the history of Kaiju film-making and a great place to start for anyone wanting to jump in to the genre.