"MOTHRA VS GODZILLA"
Alright the idea of Godzilla fighting a cute moth like monster doesn't seem like a plausible concept. Hell, for a moth creature that pretty much only used her wings to attack people in her debut film who now has to fight against a giant reptilian monster that breaths atomic blue fire, doesn't at all seem like a fair fight either. Surprisingly however, this film is well received by Godzilla fans, and many call it one of the best Godzilla films ever. Is it really as good as people say it is, or is it just an overrated film; ON WITH THE REVIEW!
A giant egg is discovered after a typhoon and two rich men buy the giant egg from the villagers who brought the egg to land and plan to use it to make money off it by using it as a tourist attraction in a giant facility house that they somehow quickly manage to build in one night, that will also confine the monster inside the facility once the egg hatches. However, a news reporter, a photographer, and a scientist, disapprove what the two rich millionaires are doing to the egg, but sadly can't do anything about it since they legally own it. The trio then meet Mothra's two tiny fairies who tell them that the giant egg belongs to Mothra, and that they must bring it back before it hatches. The trio try to persuade the so called owners of the egg to bring it back, but they refuse, and instead of Mothra getting the egg herself, she just flies away; wow, some parent that Mothra is. Things only get worse, when Godzilla rises from being trapped underground after being blown away by the hurricane and starts terrorizing the city. The trio goes to the Island where Mothra lives and begs for the natives and the fairies to have Mothra fight Godzilla in the evacuated city before Godzilla roams somewhere else to destrot humanity.
The last two Godzilla films that I reviewed were both really different in tone. The film "Mothra" was a light hearted family friendly giant monster flick, while "King Kong VS Godzilla" was a flat out comedy. This film pretty much goes back to that light hearted feel that the film “Mothra” had with our monster being cute; the sweet and innocent singing fairies; the one dimensional greedy villains; having a few comical moments; and of course having pretty much the same happy ending that Mothra had. With that said, the film doesn't feel like it was aimed for kids as much as the film "Mothra" did. Don't get me wrong, "Mothra" did have its action scenes and a few moments that did feel serious, but what makes this film's tone different from the tone and look in "Mothra" is the comical, innocent, and whimsical tone that was carried throughout the run time of“Mothra”, doesn't really consume the entirety of this film. Actually, it’s pretty serious and dramatic. Despite the characters having a few funny moments, the film isn't showered with comical moments like in "Mothra", nor do we have a lead that's as comical and over the top as the character Zen from "Mothra". While the action sequences in "Mothra" were dramatic and awesome, this film feels like that there is more at risk, considering that Mothra who is slowly dying, is battling against a giant fire breathing monster that might destroy Mothra's egg and kill Mothra in the process. There's even a fight sequence between the humans, and instead of being as comical as Zen's fight against the guards in "Mothra", this fight is brutal and graphic looking. Another thing this film does that "Mothra" didn't do (or hardly addressed) is bring back the message about the dangers and sadness of nuclear destruction as the characters visit the Island where Mothra lives and see the ruins of a once beautiful land (that for some weird reason has the skeleton of giant turtle that bobbles its head like a bobble head), and meet the Natives who don't trust humans for what they did to their Island. While the message isn't as depressing and effective as it was carried out in the first Godzilla film, as well as the message of building a better world feeling a bit corny and just thrown into the movie to just have a moral; I honestly did feel bad for the tribe and their beautiful land where half of it is destroyed, while the beautiful half of it is contaminated with radioactivity. There was talk of nuclear testings on the Island in the film "Mothra" which lead to the voyage of the characters visiting the Island, but there wasn't a sense of sadness that made you feel bad for the tribe that live on the Island, this film on the other hand does make you feel sorry for the tribe despite how corny and forced the film's message is. The film is also not as bright and colorful as the film "Mothra" is, thus adding to why the film's look and tone is different. Even though the film doesn't have a character that's both as comical and innocent as the character Zen, nor do they feel that different from the characters from the first film that “Mothra” was in, the human characters are still good, if not great. Our heroes are pretty much like the scientist and the photographer from “Mothra” who are not memorable characters, but are still likable characters that are well acted; the two villains are pretty much like the villain in "Mothra" that are fun and unlikable villains that you love to hate, despite being one dimensional; and the two tiny fairies are still just as freakin' adorable as they were in the first film that starred Mothra.
The Godzilla suit and design has gone through another change since Toho felt like that they should try to bring Godzilla back to his original horrifying approach. So what they did with the suit and design to make him appear that way was to make the suit less bulky; changed the yellow around Godzilla’s pupils to white; made Godzilla's skin a little more greenish instead of grey; made his snout a little shorter; and made Godzilla's tail longer. While I don't think Godzilla is as scary he was in its 1954 debut, Godzilla still looks just as awesome as he did in "King Kong VS Godzilla". Once Godzilla rises from out of ground and starts attacking, already I found myself getting invested into the awesomeness from this monster, as it destroys buildings; takes every kind of abuse that the army throws at Godzilla which doesn't work at all; and seeing awesome shots of the monster. My favorite shots of Godzilla has to be when Godzilla's face catches fire, but doesn't at all take effect on him (which was an accident on the set that was kept in the movie); and the shots when we look into his cold dead eyes! Despite how awesome Godzilla looks, as well as seeing Godzilla do some really amazing things, I feel like that this film made Godzilla bit of a wimp. Despite how awesome the scenes are of Godzilla causing damage and destruction are, Godzilla acts a bit clumsy as he falls and runs into buildings and gets his tail caught on one occasion, which is a bit insulting considering that Godzilla is not as clumsy as this film portrays him. I also feel like that Godzilla gets his ass kicked way to easily when he’s facing Mothra and the Larvas that hatch out of Mothra's egg. But with that said though, not only are the fight scenes between these two giant monsters as cool and entertaining as the previous Godzilla films, but you do root for Mothra and her Larva's to beat Godzilla since Godzilla does pose as a serious threat towards them, so I can't really complain that much about Godzilla's fight with Mothra and the Larvas. However, I did find the scene when the army tries to electrocute Godzilla that actually does hurt him instead of Godzilla acting like its nothing like in the first film, as stupid as when King Kong uses electricity to hurt Godzilla.
When it comes to building-up to our lead monster Mothra and the hatching of the egg that was left behind, there really isn't that much of a build-up. Our lead monster Mothra really doesn't have any build-up, Mothra actually just shows up once the fairies start talking to our heroes, and Mothra doesn't even make a grand entrance, she’s just lying there when she enters the film. The build-up to the egg being hatched isn't as epic as the build-up to Mothra's egg being hatched in Mothra's debut film either, but the scene when the Larva's hatch out of the egg is just as cool as when Mothra first hatched out of her egg as a Larva in her debut film. By the way, I just love how willing our heroes are to see the Larva's hatch out of the egg since they've apparently been up all night waiting for the egg to hatch while listening to the fairies sing through the night, without showing any signs of them looking tired, annoyed, or disheveled.
I must admit this about the scenes of Godzilla and Mothra fighting each other, for a fight that I thought was going to be unfair, it was overall a good fight, and to my surprise Mothra and its Larvas can actually kick ass! While the Larva's can only use their thread against Godzilla; Mothra can not only fly fast and use its wings to create hurricane like wind, but Mothra also has the strength to pick Godzilla up by its tail, and carry a new power where she can spread a deadly pollen on Godzilla, which is a new power that fits this Butterfly like monster perfectly. When it comes to effects in this movie, I must say they seriously have improved! Mothra not only looks as great as she did in her first film, and this time you can hardly see the wires at all. There were a few shots where I can spot the wires, but for the majority of the film they're hidden quite well. The film has also upgraded the design to the Larva Mothra's by making them brown, which makes them look a little more disgusting and dirty looking like a real bug, while the Larva design in “Mothra” looked way too clean looking. The blue screen effects that looked horrendously obvious in "Mothra" though not great does look a little more convincing here, especially when considering the fact that we don't see those Blue lines around the actors whenever the effect is used. On top of it, the scenes with Godzilla attacking a city and village, are surprisingly shot up to size and scale, making Godzilla look gigantic, and making the city look less like a model, much like the effects in the first Godzilla film. I'm not saying that these are pitch perfect effects, but they are still an overall improvement for Toho.
So after reviewing this film do I think it’s as good as people build it up to be? Well it’s not what I call 5/5 great. I can kind of forgive the screwy plot for leading up to the awesome things that does happen in this film, but the build-up between both monsters is poor; the moral of building a better world felt forced into the movie; and the fact that the film made Godzilla a clumsy weakling who gets defeated in the end way too easily is very insulting to his character, and feels a little anti-climatic when the film ends. But with that being said, I do think it's a really good Godzilla flick, as well as being a better giant monster crossover than Godzilla's last one, because this film actually feels like a legit crossover instead feeling like it was made as an entertaining joke, and what makes it work is because Toho did create the monster that Godzilla is fighting against, so naturally they would know what kind of effects to use for this monster and what kind of new powers that would fit this monster for this epic battle. You get the sense as you're watching this film that the studio feels right at home with making this crossover as opposed to when they made "King Kong VS Godzilla". The film also has great updated effects; plenty of action scenes that's awesome to watch; characters who maybe recycled characters from the film "Mothra", but are still likable and well acted; and a look and tone that feels balanced out for both kids and adults, while the last two films I reviewed seemed more focused towards kids. The film in my opinion may not be as great as people make it out to be, but it's still a good giant monster crossover movie brawl that doesn't feel as much of a rip-off as Toho's last giant monster movie brawl.
RATING 4/5
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