On a dare, Ayana ventures into a cave near the village. The cave is rumored to be the resting place of a legendary monster called “Ryuseicho.” Ayana succeeds in moving the sacred stone that is said to restrain the monster.

Meanwhile, Gyaos have been reappearing around the world. The busy nightlife of Shibuya is shattered when Gamera confronts two Gyaos there. In the most incredible scene of urban destruction in any kaiju eiga, Gamera destroys the Gyaos…at a tremendous cost to the human population. When the battle is over, the smoke from the raging inferno left in the monsters’ wake obscures the stars in the once clear night sky.

Returning to the cave, Ayana finds that a strange tentacled creature has hatched. She also uncovers a crescent-shaped stone (similar to the one that allowed Asagi to communicate with Gamera in GOTU). The creature and Ayana share a common bond: A seething hatred for Gamera. Ayana names the creature "Iris," and decides to raise it as her own.

As the government desperately tries to come up with a plan to deal with the giant monsters, Iris increases both its size and its connection to Ayana. It feeds on forest animals, and then moves on to the people of the village, draining their life with its tentacles. Upon reaching true daikaiju proportions, Iris takes to the sky and heads toward Kyoto for a showdown with Gamera.

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris is the culmination of both the Gamera trilogy, and modern kaiju eiga as a whole. This somber, serious, multi-layered film is considered by many fans to be the greatest work in the genre since the original 1954 Gojira. G3 seamlessly combines the human drama with the monster action, so that one cannot proceed without affecting the other. The human characters are likeable and interesting. Dr. Nagamine, former police inspector Osako, and Asagi are reunited from the previous Gamera films. It’s great to see how these characters have grown and developed since GOTU in 1995. The character of Ayana is played and presented so sincerely that the audience can sympathize with her, while still realizing that her path of revenge is misguided. There are several new characters: Asakura Mito sees herself as the rightful human guide for Iris and thus tries to manipulate Ayana for her own purposes. Her companion is Kurata Shinya, an eccentric computer programmer whose simulations predict the interrelations of humankind, giant monsters, and Mana (the Earth’s life-force). Moribe is a young man whose family has guarded the secret of the Ryuseicho for generations, and who tries to protect Ayana from herself.

On the monster side of things, Gamera is looking and acting a whole dimension meaner than before. The flying Gyaos are leaner and more convincing than ever. Iris is an odd creation. When flying, it’s hauntingly beautiful as it propels itself through the skies with translucent membranes stretched between its tentacles. It looks like a deep-sea creature swimming through the night, and the sounds it makes are melancholy and mysterious, like the song of a whale. On land though, it is largely immobile (except for its flailing tentacles) and doesn’t look organic enough to be believable. Otherwise, the special effects are excellent. G3 is by far the most successful integration of suitmation and CGI to come out of Japan. The CGI elements, such as the flying monsters, raging fires, and Iris’ tentacles, are effective and convincing. The destruction of Shibuya is the best FX sequence in kaiju history. It brings the long-absent element of horror back to the genre by convincingly showing what happens to human bystanders when giant monsters fight to the death in the heart of a populated city. The final battle between Gamera and Iris takes place in a Kyoto that has been drenched by a typhoon. The monsters face off amidst the misleading calm and quiet of the eye of the storm. The last stage of the battle takes place indoors (a first in daikaiju history!) at the cavernous Kyoto railway station. Without giving anything away, the ending of the film is somber and poetic. It leaves the audience with a true sense of respect for Gamera as he marches toward what could be the Earth’s final chapter. Also deserving of our respect is director Shusuke Kaneko, FX director Shinji Higuchi, writer Kazunori Ito, and composer Ko Otani. Their Gamera 3, and the trilogy as a whole, is a masterpiece. Grade: A