Codzilla vs. Megalodon
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| Codzilla vs. Megalodon | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rudolf Krosmeier |
| Screenplay by | Ivan Kawalksi |
| Produced by | Ibrahim Al-Radicti |
| Starring | Martin Renford Johann Kafmann Erika Schwansen |
| Music by | Edgar Kodebov |
Production company | Shoestring Productions |
| Distributed by | Morzov Entertainment Group |
Running time | 135 minutes |
| Country |  Radictistan |
| Language | Radictistani |
| Budget | R$4,750,000 |
| Box office | R$125,000,000 |
Codzilla vs. Megalodon (Radictistani: Codzilla gegen Megalodon) is a Radictistani low-budget comedy film released in 2012. It is the third film in the successful Codzilla franchise. Codzilla vs. Megalodon represented an attempt to return to the films' roots of shoestring-budget farce after the poorly received 2 Big 2 Cod which tried to be more of a mainstream film. The second sequel also delivered a new take on the franchise by presenting the eponymous character not as an outright villain but as a morally complex savior of the Radictistani people.
Plot
On the open ocean, a container ship named the West Diamond is rammed by an unknown object. A sailor is thrown overboard and is lost. Despite the large hole in the starboard side of the ship it manages to limp into the Port of Brightburg. It is greeted by a large number of journalists, one of whom is Mikal Kaspov (Johann Kafmann), a young reporter for a local television station. He and his camerawoman Frieda Krogen (Erika Schwansen) obtain footage of the ship's damaged hull. The television station airs the footage and it is picked up by the RBS.
Watching television that evening is Dr. Igor Simonovich (Martin Renford), hero of the first Codzilla incident and now full Professor of Biology at the University of Beschertal. He asks himself whether the attack could have been the work of Codzilla but cannot be certain because the victims were not fishermen. He decides to travel to Brightburg and see what is going on firsthand.
Meanwhile Mikal talks to some of the survivors of the attack. One of them claims that he had been on deck at the time of impact and had seen a gigantic fin in the water. Mikal asks whether it appeared to be that of a cod. The merchant seaman says no, it was the fin of a shark. Back at his apartment, the journalist is troubled by this revelation.
Meanwhile a second ship, a coastal freighter carrying iron ore, is attacked. Unlike the larger container ship it does not survive. Dr. Simonovich retrieves some of the wreckage off a beach. As he examines the wreckage he becomes increasingly convinced that neither this attack or the one before it was perpetrated by Codzilla. He finds a small, nonhuman blood sample and takes it to a lab for analysis. The results are startling: the sample contains the DNA of a shark.
Cast
- Johann Kafmann as Mikal Kaspov
- Martin Renford as Dr. Igor Simonovich
- Erika Schwansen as Frieda Krogen
Production
Principal photography was completed in seventeen days. The film was shot digitally at 1080p like the first film of the series. Most location shooting was done in Erdwoodsur. The film did not return to the use of a live cod for filming as many fans had hoped. However the quality of the computer-generated creature was improved compared to the preceding feature.
Release
Critical reception
Codzilla vs. Megalodon received mostly positive reviews. A critic for the Radictistan Times wrote that the film "did not quite recapture the magic of the first Codzilla but in its entirety manages to be ludicrous without being insulting in the way only a superbly executed Codzilla film can."
Box office
Codzilla vs. Megalodon was a success at the Radictistani box office, grossing over R$125 million, recouping its meager budget of R$4.75 million many times over.