This film is considered one of the best Godzilla films ever, by both fans and critics. It
features Godzilla fighting a giant butterfly named Mothra. I’m
going to be watching the original Japanese subtitled version for the review. The dubbing in
the English version isn’t too great.
Some things you need to know about this movie is that Mothra is already an established character. She’s a good kaiju, who only means to protect the earth. It’s actually one of the first protagonist kaiju made. She only causes destruction when her 6 inch tall twin fairies are in danger. Sound weird? It is.
Even though it’s kinda weird at first seeing Godzilla fight a giant butterfly, the movie isn’t bad. It’s the best since the original. No joke. I love King Kong vs Godzilla, but this tops it. Before I get into detail, I’ll do a little stats check, like I did with the last movie.
Godzilla needs no introduction. He’s indestructible, and this movie emphasizes that fact. Nothing hurts him. Well, nothing much hits him either. The military has really bad aim.
Mothra isn’t too special in terms of abilities. She fights by flapping her wings to make a wind storm, and sprays a deadly pollin. Another disadvantage is the fact that she’s reaching the end of her life cycle, so she’s not at her full strength. The fight is going to be tough for her. Now we need to know who wins.
The film starts with a typhoon washing a giant egg on a beach in Japan. Some corporate jerks try to make money off the egg, but the twin fairies tell them if they don’t return it to Mothra, they’re screwed. The jerks get the idea to use the fairies as an advertising campaign. That’s one problem I found. The people in this movie are aware of Mothra’s existence. I can only assume that means the events of her first film are known here. Using the fairies as display pieces is what made Mothra so mad in the first film. Does this guy not remember what happened? I don’t know, but good thing a few news reporters don’t let him have them.
Unfortunately, the reporters can’t help the fairies much, so they give up and head back to their home of Infant Island. I don’t know why Mothra doesn’t just pick up the egg and carry it home. Who knows?
A few days later, the flooding from the typhoon has gone down, leaving a big field of mud and silt. All the sudden, Godzilla rises from the ground and goes on a rampage... again. I
Some things you need to know about this movie is that Mothra is already an established character. She’s a good kaiju, who only means to protect the earth. It’s actually one of the first protagonist kaiju made. She only causes destruction when her 6 inch tall twin fairies are in danger. Sound weird? It is.
Even though it’s kinda weird at first seeing Godzilla fight a giant butterfly, the movie isn’t bad. It’s the best since the original. No joke. I love King Kong vs Godzilla, but this tops it. Before I get into detail, I’ll do a little stats check, like I did with the last movie.
Godzilla needs no introduction. He’s indestructible, and this movie emphasizes that fact. Nothing hurts him. Well, nothing much hits him either. The military has really bad aim.
Mothra isn’t too special in terms of abilities. She fights by flapping her wings to make a wind storm, and sprays a deadly pollin. Another disadvantage is the fact that she’s reaching the end of her life cycle, so she’s not at her full strength. The fight is going to be tough for her. Now we need to know who wins.
The film starts with a typhoon washing a giant egg on a beach in Japan. Some corporate jerks try to make money off the egg, but the twin fairies tell them if they don’t return it to Mothra, they’re screwed. The jerks get the idea to use the fairies as an advertising campaign. That’s one problem I found. The people in this movie are aware of Mothra’s existence. I can only assume that means the events of her first film are known here. Using the fairies as display pieces is what made Mothra so mad in the first film. Does this guy not remember what happened? I don’t know, but good thing a few news reporters don’t let him have them.
Unfortunately, the reporters can’t help the fairies much, so they give up and head back to their home of Infant Island. I don’t know why Mothra doesn’t just pick up the egg and carry it home. Who knows?
A few days later, the flooding from the typhoon has gone down, leaving a big field of mud and silt. All the sudden, Godzilla rises from the ground and goes on a rampage... again. I
guess he got stuck in the mud. In fact, he’s a real klutz here. He gets his tail stuck in a
tower, then trips into a pagoda. Maybe he’s getting over a hangover. He must have turned
to drinking after ‘losing’ to a derpy gorilla.
Anyway, the news reporters get the help of Mothra to fight Godzilla. It’s a good fight, but she uses up all her remaining strength and dies. Wow.
Godzilla resumes devastating Japan, and the military doesn’t do a good job at stopping him.
Luckily, the egg hatches, and two baby caterpillars continue the fight. They keep shooting their web to constrict him, and he falls into the ocean... again. Mothra’s two offspring are the winners here. You’d think a 50 meter lizard would incinerate them, but no.
Despite a few little oddities here and there, it’s a great film. The story, though ‘outlandish’ to some, is taken quite seriously. Godzilla’s still the bad guy here, and they still treat it like a big threat, like the first film. People freak out like they actually have seen the return of their worst fear. It might not be as grim and serious and deep as the original, but it’s not too far off. It’s got a giant butterfly and twin fairies in it. Of course it’s a little more comic book like. But for this one, it’s not a bad thing.
The humans aren’t as painful either. I still don’t remember their names, but I liked them. The guy who plays the corporate jerk pulls it off real well. All the actors do a good job. Even though I need subtitles to understand what they’re saying, I can’t deny that the acting is good. And the island natives aren’t as stereotypical as the previous movie. Since I’m reviewing the Japanese version, I didn’t have to deal with dubbing.
By the way, who's idea was it to rename the title for the US release? Just look.
Anyway... the special effects are VASTLY improved over King Kong vs Godzilla. The blue screens and compositing effects are much better, and really impressive for the time. The suit acting is also pretty good. Godzilla’s design is great, and is definitely the most recognized out of all of them. Mothra is a decently done puppet, not too bad to look at, but there were some shots where the strings are visible. That kinda took me out of it for a second, but I got over it. The miniature buildings are, once again, very detailed and get destroyed nicely. The explosions are impressive, too. Godzilla just walks through the flames without flinching... until his head catches on fire. Oops. The monster fights, though short, are entertaining. And when they’re not fighting each other, watching the tiny tanks roll around and jets shooting is fun to watch.Just add another one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard, and you got yourselves a fantastic movie. The Mothra song is still stuck in my head.
Anyway, the news reporters get the help of Mothra to fight Godzilla. It’s a good fight, but she uses up all her remaining strength and dies. Wow.
Godzilla resumes devastating Japan, and the military doesn’t do a good job at stopping him.
Luckily, the egg hatches, and two baby caterpillars continue the fight. They keep shooting their web to constrict him, and he falls into the ocean... again. Mothra’s two offspring are the winners here. You’d think a 50 meter lizard would incinerate them, but no.
Despite a few little oddities here and there, it’s a great film. The story, though ‘outlandish’ to some, is taken quite seriously. Godzilla’s still the bad guy here, and they still treat it like a big threat, like the first film. People freak out like they actually have seen the return of their worst fear. It might not be as grim and serious and deep as the original, but it’s not too far off. It’s got a giant butterfly and twin fairies in it. Of course it’s a little more comic book like. But for this one, it’s not a bad thing.
The humans aren’t as painful either. I still don’t remember their names, but I liked them. The guy who plays the corporate jerk pulls it off real well. All the actors do a good job. Even though I need subtitles to understand what they’re saying, I can’t deny that the acting is good. And the island natives aren’t as stereotypical as the previous movie. Since I’m reviewing the Japanese version, I didn’t have to deal with dubbing.
By the way, who's idea was it to rename the title for the US release? Just look.
?
Anyway... the special effects are VASTLY improved over King Kong vs Godzilla. The blue screens and compositing effects are much better, and really impressive for the time. The suit acting is also pretty good. Godzilla’s design is great, and is definitely the most recognized out of all of them. Mothra is a decently done puppet, not too bad to look at, but there were some shots where the strings are visible. That kinda took me out of it for a second, but I got over it. The miniature buildings are, once again, very detailed and get destroyed nicely. The explosions are impressive, too. Godzilla just walks through the flames without flinching... until his head catches on fire. Oops. The monster fights, though short, are entertaining. And when they’re not fighting each other, watching the tiny tanks roll around and jets shooting is fun to watch.Just add another one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard, and you got yourselves a fantastic movie. The Mothra song is still stuck in my head.
I am not surprised that this is regarded as one of the best. Great acting, great visuals, great action, great everything. Maybe a few quirks, but that’s a given with kaiju movies. I love this one. If you only have time for a few Godzilla movies before you watch the new one, then this should definitely be on your list.
FINAL RATING: 46 / 50
STORY: 4 / 5
CHARACTERS: 4 / 5
ACTING: 4 / 5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 4 / 5
ACTION: 5 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 5 / 5
TONE: 5 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 5 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 5 / 5
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