Godzilla vs. Mothra – Review
Godzilla vs. Mothra. You got your Indiana Jones in my Godzilla! Yeah to be honest this movie either stole or just decided to have an adventure feel to this movie and it actually works really well but it much like the first Godzilla movie to feature Mothra it falls in between two really good ones and just becomes average. It starred Tetsuya Bessho, Satomi Kobayashi and Akiji Kobayashi. The 19th installment in the Godzilla series of films remains the highest grossing film of the entire Godzilla. After the success of the previous year's Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Toho decided to bring back all their famous creations back into the fold so the next to return would obviously be Mothra. But he isn't alone and we get a new monster as well named Battera.
Plot wise there's a lot going on here, large meteor hurtles towards Earth, and lands in the ocean, causing disasters, and one typhoon awakens Godzilla. And other earthquakes uncover a giant egg from underground. A young man named Takuya Fujita is detained after stealing an ancient artifact in a very Indiana Jones way. Later, the Japanese Prime Minister arrives with Takuya's ex-wife, Masako Tezuka, and offers him to explore an island in exchange for his freedom. Eventually he accepts and the group is off on their adventure. I really like this section of the movie because it plays out in a really awesome way making many homages to classic adventure movies. The island set takes its spot as the best island type setting in the series too. Mothra, Battra, and Godzilla square off over earth pretty straight forward stuff on that front. Seriously it's Godzilla fighting a moth… and a bat?
Well since its Mothra you know we need to get into the environmental message which is again prominent in this one. They subtlety show mankind's disregard for the Earth has wrought dire consequences in a way that doesn't actually annoy me because it's not preachy. Remember how bad Godzilla vs. the Smog monster annoyed me? I hate that movie why does that movie exist? The story is honestly very similar to the original, in that Mothra goes on a rampage to recover her fairies. The inclusion of Mothra's antagonistic counterpart, Battra, provides an excellent new twist on the story. The subplot involving Masako and Takuya's personal struggles is handled decently; it gives the humans some much needed character development. Which let's be honest most of these movies lack a lot of. Special effects wise this film is impressive as is all the films form this era but there is nothing as spectacular as the last two. The flying mechanical flaws from the last film are gone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-oRf_BP8M4
I want to note that Godzilla isn't around nearly enough in this film. A little city damage could have helped matters a great deal for me personally. We mostly see the humans and Battra and Mothra, spending little time with Godzilla till the end. Mothra, herself has a few new fittings and her antenna beams are interesting at least to watch. Miniatures, such as tanks and buildings, are quite realistic. Transformations are excellent too; Mothra's metamorphosis establishes her beauty, while Battra's is explosive In fact I think I like Battra the most in the film he is kind of an antihero not really working with humans even disregarding their safety in favor of destroying the bigger threat Godzilla. The acting is pretty fantastic too by Godzilla standards. This one is worth a watch but in all honesty it's not as good as the last one, or the awesome ones coming up soon. Plus there is very little of the love of my life Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka) even though this marks the 3rd time her character has been used a first for the series.
Best Moment of Destruction: Godzilla fights at sea, not something you see too often.
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