Rebirth of Mothra

The Heisei era of Godzilla ended with a bang in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, but Godzilla and Gamera were not the only famous kaiju who enjoyed a revival in the 90s. Today, we're talking about the Rebirth of Mothra, which is aptly named. This first film in the trilogy, directed by Okihiro Yoneda, sets the stage for an entirely new version of Mothra: a male. Named Mothra Leo, it seems that like the Godzilla film that began the Heisei era, all of Mothra's previous adventures still happened at the onset of this movie. But maybe not, who really knows? Because Mothra has always been a puppet, we have no suit actor for either Original or Leo Mothra, but the villain Desghidorah is played by Mizuho Yoshida, who we might remember from being the actor for Legion in Gamera 2.

Let's cut to the chase.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- We watch a forest be destroyed by construction worker types and it's very sad. One of the workers finds a coin that he digs out of a rock, and this is felt by the priestesses of Mothra (called the Elias in this film). He gives the medallion to his young daughter Wakaba.

- The Elias go to the site and realize the sacred seal has been removed, allowing a dangerous monster into the world. They hope it was simply a human who did it, and not the apparently evil Belvera.

- Wakaba is visited in the night by Belvera, who recovers the seal from her and apparently grants little Wakaba superpowers. Her brother, who often bullies her, is beaten up by her new telekinetic abilities and runs away. He's attacked by Belvera, who reveals she's controlling Wakaba now.

- Wakaba is eating junk food while her mom is tied up on the floor, when the brother and the Elias come in to try to stop Belvera's antics. This is a children's movie, and this scene makes it clear while two small flying creatures with tiny women shoot lasers at each other and wreck the house.

- Once Belvera flees (with the seal/medallion), the Elias explain that the seal was used to contain a horrible space monster which landed on Earth 65 million years ago called Desghidorah.

- The family flies to the island where Desghidorah is to try and stop Belvera's plan to resurrect the creature. They are too late and Desghidorah rises again, beginning to suck the energy from the Earth.

- One of the Elias decides they have to summon Mothra, but the other objects because Mothra is too old and weak to stop Desghidorah. But with no other choices, what are they going to do.

- The old Mothra does get her butt whooped, but the Elias manage to awaken Mothra Leo from his egg, and the larval Mothra Leo rushes to attack Desghidorah. He arrives in the morning and aids his mother, but ultimately is almost killed by the beastly Desghidorah. His mother dies in the process of evacuating him to safety.

- In preparation for avenging his mother, Leo wraps himself in a cocoon and emerges are Imago form. He immediately heads toward Desghidorah.

- The two kaiju have an epic battle, with Leo's opening salvo being bascially every power he has and overwhelming Desghidorah. When he starts to fight back, Mothra Leo flies overhead and finishes him off with some sort of circular laser death attack. He actually made this look exceptionally easy.

- The Elias seal Desghidorah away again, so now he cannot return. The children fly away on Mothra's back in celebration.

- The movie concludes with the human characters lamenting the destruction of the environment and a hope that it can be restored in the future. But Mothra Leo shows off one more power, bringing life back to the area.

Kaiju Notes 

- Desghidorah is really just ugly King Ghidorah. This isn't a bad thing, in itself, but is a disappointment as the choice for the villain in Mothra's first solo movie since the 1960's. His abilities are also very similar to King Ghidorah's, though the colors of his breath weapon and the like are all different.

- Larval Mothra Leo and Old Mothra are nothing to write home about, looking pretty much the same as they have in previous films.

- Imago Mothra Leo, on the other hand, is at least different. Still looking very much like older version of Mothra, the color scheme is very different, and he basically just appears to be a masculine version of classic Mothra, including a pitched down roar.

- Mothra Leo seems to have some enhanced powers from the older versions of Mothra. It's a little messed up that the only male Mothra we've ever seen is way more powerful than the others, but what can you do about the gender politics of the 1990's?

- Leo's abilities include silk that gives off energy, the ability to transform into a swarm of energy butterflies that explode and then reform into Leo, sparkly green dust with an indeterminate effect, razor sharp wings, and an array of lasers and other energy attacks.

Above all else, Rebirth of Mothra is a movie for children. This isn't a bad thing, necessarily, and Mothra is definitely one of the kaiju who is most children-friendly in concept and design, so it makes a lot of sense. That said, it does make my personal enjoyment of the film suffer. While I don't think children's entertainment has to be or inherently is less good, the first hour of this movie is a great example of how it can be. The battle between the Elias and Belvera in Wakaba's home is long, tedious, and goofy in a way that is surely meant to appeal to children but did very little for me. The intertwining of the two small children in the main plot with the parents shunted off to the side is another great example, causing the appeal to adults to likely suffer a bit but equally likely to make the kids in the audience quite happy.

None of this is to say that the movie is by any means bad... it simply suffers from the weight of its audience. The kaiju action is relatively good, managing to shoot for a sense of pathos and importance despite the movie being relatively light-hearted in nature. When Mothra Leo attempts to save his mother from dying but instead watches her drown, it's brutal. When he then cries himself into a cocoon so he can metamorphose into a creature with enough power to destroy Desghidorah, it seems the obvious choice. And when Leo bursts from his cocoon in a rush of power, his counter-attack seems fueled by exploration of his newfound power as much as it is rage and revenge. It works! The only downside throughout the movie is that it takes so long to get there. But it does get there.

As far as Heisei era films go, they have been very good overall. Rebirth of Mothra is, for me, the weakest link so far. It's not bad, at least not bad enough to be remarkable, but it's the worst reboot in the Heisei era (I think by far). Very entertaining once it gets moving, it just takes a really long time to get moving.

Next: Godzilla (1998)!

Godzilla vs. Mothra

Mothra is back, in a movie once again written by Kazuki Ōmori but this time directed by one Takao Okawara. The main man Kenpachiro Satsuma remains the animalistic version of Godzilla, with Mothra being played by a puppet (as always!). This movie's direction was much more family-friendly and fantastical than the earlier days of the Heisei era, but in line with the approach the previous film, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, took. There's not a whole lot to explain about this movie except to emphasize that Mothra is awesome and movies with Mothra in them tend to be pretty good, so let's get to it.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A trio of explorer's find a giant egg, belonging to Mothra. The Mothra Twins, in this movie called the Cosmos, explain that Mothra has an ancient enemy named Battra.

- Battra was created by the Earth itself to take down an ancient civilization that tried to control the climate, but eventually lost control of itself and aimed to destroy all humanity before being stopped by Mothra.

- The discovery of the egg appears to wake Battra, who goes on a frenzy while the Mothra egg is transported to the mainland for protection (until Mothra can hatch).

- Godzilla also awakens, attacking the ship on which the Mothra egg is being transported. The egg hatches just in time to avoid total disaster. Battra also appears here, lured by either Mothra or Godzilla.

- Larval Mothra, Godzilla, and larval Battra all fight in a 3-for-all. Battra and Godzilla take the fight to the bottom of the ocean while Mothra escapes to fight another day.

- Battra and Godzilla are swallowed by the earth when they cause a fissure in a tectonic plate and fall inside.

- The Cosmos being kidnapped (predictable, like the 3rd time this has happened), they sing Mothra's song and summon her. Mothra begins to return to Japan to retrieve her priestesses.

- Mothra destroys some of Japan as she searches for the Cosmos, until they manage to eventually call her off once they are freed. Hilariously, she destroys as much leaving as she did coming in.

- Mothra is attacked by the JSDF as she attempts to return home to Infant Island, eventually being weakened by the barrage of bullets and missiles. She wraps herself in an impenetrable cocoon attached to the Japanese Diet Building.

- Godzilla is back, baybee!

- Mothra emerges from her cocoon as Godzilla wrecks everything. She heads to confront Godzilla when a fully formed Battra emerges from the sea as well. Looks like another 3-for-all is beginning, but this time the two moth kaiju are in their final and most powerful forms.

- Battra manages to take down Mothra as Godzilla approaches them. Not able to finish her off due to Godzilla's intervention, Battra is then knocked down and injured by Godzilla's Atomic Breath. Before Battra can be finished off, Mothra recovers and interrupts Godzilla.

- Mothra flies over to Battra and they appear to communicate while the Cosmos sing. Godzilla rallies and attacks again, defeating Mothra and nearly crushing her with a ferris wheel.

- Despite being enemies just minutes before, Battra saves Mothra. He distracts Godzilla long enough for Mothra to launch a counter-offensive. She's eventually joined by Battra and they tag team the G-man.

- Godzilla is utterly defeated by the two working together. When he rallies and tries to win this fight, both moths drag him to the sea and Battra sinks with him, critically wounded already. 

- Mothra uses some sort of Mothra magic on the area before heading home with her Cosmos.

- Before leaving, the Cosmos warn that Battra was supposed to wake up in 1999 to save the planet from an approaching meteor. Mothra has now inherited this mission, having spoken with Battra about it before his death.

Kaiju Notes

- Mothra seems to look better every time she's in one of these movies. Larval form was not as juicy this time, which is my preference, because gooey Mothra is upsetting to me.

- Battra is actually a better designed larva than Mothra. She's... boring, but larval Battra is kind of badass. Combined with his horn, it makes larval Battra almost seem like he could be a final form.

- Imago Battra is a very cool interpretation of him as a a dark reflection of Imago Mothra. Where she looks cute and heroic he appears edgy and evil, which makes sense given their background as ancient enemies and Battra's specific origin as a manifestation of the planet's rage.

- The kaiju powers in this movie are relatively common: Battra having purple beams of energy as opposed to Mothra's gold and Godzilla's blue. As is often the case with flying kaiju, the flying makes the most significant difference.

The environmental message of this movie is clear. It's not quite as beaten over the head as it was in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, but the monster that is Battra is just "the rage of the Earth itself" that has lashed out to destroy all humans in order to prevent us from destroying the Earth first. This is not subtle. That said, it plays into the various kaiju as metaphors rather than outright villains or heroes. Ghidorah, excellent as he is, is a bit dull because he's always just the strongest minion of some other group with no real thought needing to be given as to why he exists. Battra, Mothra, and to a lesser extent in the Heisei era Godzilla, are all creatures that exist for a purpose even if that purpose proves detrimental to humanity. Mothra is a great example: a protector of humanity and humankind but absolutely willing to turn her awesome power against us should we violate her principles or desires. Unlike Godzilla she does not willingly destroy a city, but she's absolutely willing to cut a straight path through buildings to get to her Shobijin and then leave the same way. It allows kaiju to all be representative of different things and give them individual wills without having to insert some human character to explain it to us, which is the worst trope in the genre.

While it's unclear if this has happened in the past "canon" of the series now, I am tired of seeing human kidnap the Shobijin/Cosmos and think everything is going to be okay. On at least 3 separate occasions now we have seen human character trying to profit off of the Shobijin and it always ends disastrously for them. Even if we assume the new timeline has made this the first appearance of Mothra, the writers have to come up with a new trope. Somehow kidnapping them with the intention of getting a particular city destroyed is one random idea, and would at least create some new dynamic to play with rather than the greedy businessman we're always stuck with when Mothra is in one of these movies. Businessmen are evil, I agree, but this is fiction and sometimes we gotta mix it up. It's why Spider-Man has villains that aren't The Shocker, despite The Shocker being the best one.

Of note: Mothra and Battra become allies only after they appear to agree to save the planet from the approaching meteor and realizing that they won't survive against Godzilla if they don't work together. The three monsters initially fighting each other only weakens them all, and since Mothra and Battra share a purpose in protecting the planet they appear to make a shaky alliance to do that, knowing it will probably kill one of them. It's more characterization than most kaiju get, and I am into it. On the other side of things, the human story here is almost entirely forgettable, and I don't mind at all. While I can appreciate a good human side of a kaiju movie, I have said many times now that a kaiju movie should be about the monsters and this one manages that very nicely. The human story never seemed to last too long or be obtrusive, really just giving some additional context or stakes while allowing the monsters to do the real work.

The Heisei era is honestly pretty good so far. It doesn't seem to be the most popular series in Godzilla's timeline so I wasn't sure that it was going to be any good, but there have been no stinkers yet. Some are better than others, of course, and some (vs. Biollante) don't live up to their own potential even if still being really good, but there have been none of the era so far that have been unenjoyable or not worth seeing. Godzilla vs. Mothra is no different, managing to add enough new elements to make it a worthy successor to the original Mothra vs. Godzilla. Battra is a very cool monster with an interesting backstory, and Mothra remains the Queen of the Monsters.

Next: Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla II!

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Ebirah, a giant lobster, is, apparently, a horror of the deep. At least that is the premise of the movie titled Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. Directed by Jun Fukuda, this is the first film in the mainline Godzilla canon to not be directed by Ishirō Honda so hopefully some distinctions in their direction style will be clear here. Haruo Nakajima is once again Godzilla, with newcomer (?) Hiroshi Sekita playing the titular Ebirah. Writing this without having seen it yet, I am dubbing this current era of Toho releases "the dark times" due to my general underwhelming response to the last couple of movies we have seen. Hopefully Ebirah breaks this streak, but word on the street is this is not one of the beloved films of the Showa era. Crossing fingers!

Also, humorous (or foreboding?) side note: this movie was originally supposed to start King Kong against the dreaded Ebirah. But when the rights owners of Kong rejected the concept Toho gladly took up the task and cast their homegrown monster in the role. Word on the street is that the script was changed very little given this change of concept, so we might see some reverberations of that through this film.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Searching for his missing brother whom he is certain is alive, Ryota steals a boat from a dance marathon competition and goes searching.

- Things do not go well, as he and his companions come across the giant lobster Ebirah and nearly die.

- Stranded on an island, they come across a native woman from Infant Island and make friends. She tells them that the terrorist organization Red Bamboo has kidnapped some of her people and forced them produce a special yellow liquid to help control Ebirah.

- Meanwhile, the people still left at Infant Island pray to Mothra in the hope she will awaken and rescue their kidnapped brethren.

- The gang finds Godzilla sleeping in a cave. They wisely try to avoid waking him up.

- Moving on, they sneak into a Red Bamboo building by hiding behind a movable bush they've made in an effort to defeat Red Bamboo so they can escape.

- When that goes predictably poorly, one of the men accidentally floats away on a giant balloon which takes him to Infant Island.

- Deciding to wake up Godzilla as a weapon against Red Bamboo and their dastardly desires, they make a lightning rod which awakens Godzilla from his resting state just as Ebirah attacks them.

- Still on the run from Red Bamboo, the remaining core cast barely escapes Red Bamboo before Godzilla appears and puts the fear into them. He is distracted/infatuated by the woman the boys met earlier, apparently a plot holdover from when this was a Kong movie.

- Interrupting Godzilla longingly looking at her, a giant bird and then some planes attack Godzilla only to be soundly and easily defeated.

- Godzilla destroys the Red Bamboo base after they empower him using high voltage electricity (not how Godzilla works) and the humans find out that the entire island is going to be completely destroyed in a mere two hours.

- Godzilla and Ebirah rematch, this time taking the fight underwater where Ebirah may have the advantage.

- Godzilla wins anyway, easily.

- With 6 minutes runtime remaining, Mothra finally leaves Infant Island to retrieve her people.

- Godzilla and Mothra fight, briefly, despite being allies in their last meeting, before Mothra runs away with her Infant Island people in tow.

- Godzilla jumps off the island just as Red Bamboo's plan to destroy the island comes to fruition, narrowly escaping the giant explosion and swimming off into the ocean.

Kaiju Notes

- Ebirah's introduction is as nothing more than a giant claw destroying the boat our human leads are on. Outside of the very fake lightning effect, this introduction is very well done. Menace and mystery but without too much uncertainty about what it was: a giant claw.

- Ebirah's screech is one of the more effective roars we've heard so far.

- On his reintroduction, Ebirah literally spears two men floating near him, making it very clear that he's giant and red because of the fiery rage inside him.

- Godzilla is awaken by lightning in this movie, apparently recovered from his injuries by it. This is not a power Godzilla has ever had, and in fact appears to be a holdover from when this movie was Kong-centric.

- Ebirah and Godzilla play giant rock volleyball on multiple occasions when they first fight, it's cute and also ridiculous.

- Godzilla vastly outpowers all of his enemies in this movie except Mothra. Even his Atomic Breath is used only sparingly because it would clearly decimate all of his foes. His fights are much more human than normal, using rocks, his tail, and even kicking objects over either because it's fun or to use as weapons. 

- Godzilla continues to adopt human-like mannerisms: examples being the aforementioned volleyball squence and most notably when he rips off Ebirah's claw and claps it together in a taunting fasion.

- Mothra is perhaps at her most majestic, appearing larger than before and with more realistic colors. The closeup shots allows a better look at the "fur" on her face better than ever before.

First thing to note: this movie is much more comical than almost any of kaiju flicks we've seen thus far. While comedy is not an unexpected element in the series thus far, the first 60 minutes are almost entirely farce. The humans are bumbling even when competent, and the plot comes together almost as a series of unfortunate events, including one man accidentally floating away on a balloon. The humans using a mobile bush to infiltrate the Red Bamboo stronghold is hilarious to watch even if you think it's a good idea. It reminds me of Metal Gear Solid's Ultimate Weapon, even if this movie did come decades before the cardboard box of doom was invented.

Perhaps due to budget cuts, this movie focuses much more on the human story than any kaiju movie we've seen thus far. While I will almost always argue for more monster focus, this movie in particular gets the note as it spends a huge percentage of its time building up to Godzilla's awakening. With Ebirah being a mostly unseen force until he and Godzilla face off, the movie crams all of it's kaiju into the last 3rd or so of runtime, limiting how much they really feel like part of events even when they finally show up. While one argument could be made that the human characters are getting the kaiju tops into place before releasing them and letting them spin toward each other, another argument could be made that a Godzilla movie should have Godzilla wake up from his slumber before the 3rd act.

A few notes on the direction, things I think I noticed being different between Fukuda and Honda. Long, extended shots of the entire kaiju, showing off more detail of the suits than previous entries in the series. Scenes of destruction and the consequences are now back in the series, not truly being focused on since the original Gojira. There are also significantly more shots of human characters interacting in the same space as the kaiju, helping to create a greater sense of scale. This is one of the highlights of this movie, making the giant monsters seem giant and monstrous in a way we haven't really seen before.

Strangely, this movie comes in almost opposite of Invasion of Astro-Monster. While I found it a bit more interesting from a storytelling perspective it ultimately didn't work for me for some intangible reason. This is the opposite: an empty headed comedy that I still somehow enjoy despite the lack of time for my favorite part of any monster movie, the monsters. As you can see by me ending here, this movie isn't exactly the most intriguing (versus the paragraphs I wrote on the previous post), but I somehow enjoyed it nonetheless. Maybe I just like my monster movies stupid and think I like them smart because it makes me feel better about myself.

Next: King Kong Escapes!

Mothra vs. Godzilla

The 4th movie in the Godzilla franchise, this is the first Toho movie to pull kaiju from two different Toho franchises into one instead. Whereas King Kong vs. Godzilla was the first explicitly versus film in the franchise, now we've got two Toho-originating beasts to enjoy. Once again directed by Ishirō Honda with Godzilla (as always) played by Haruo Nakajima, one day those credits will change but I am glad it hasn't yet.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A giant egg is found. Obviously, in the continuity of Godzilla movies, this is concerning.

- Happy Enterprises, a company, has purchased the egg. The rep is a real smug bastard.

- His company wants to build an amusement park around the egg, the largest in the world. They expect to make possibly 1 billion yen from this endeavor.

- We saw what happened last time someone tried to profit off of kaiju. Why do people keep trying?

- The Twin Fairies (Shobijin) appear in the office of Happy Enterprises to ask for the egg's return. Nuclear testing has destroyed their home and sent the egg into the sea. They escape before being captured.

- Because the egg is Mothra's egg, it is the only hope of restoring Infant Island. And just as last time (see: Mothra), when the egg hatches the larva will head to their destination and destroy everything in its path.

- Before the egg hatches, Godzilla wakes up. One can imagine this is going to end poorly for at least one of these kaiju and a lot of humans.

- A group of humans go to Infant Island to ask Mothra to aid them against Godzilla. After the Shobijin implore Mothra on their behalf, they are told that Mothra will use the last of her strength to help them. The current Mothra is dying but will be reborn from her egg.

- Godzilla attacks. The greedy businessmen have turned on each other with one shooting the other. Revenge comes by way of Godzilla, crushing the building the murderer is in and he also dies in the collapse.

- As Godzilla approaches Mothra's egg, adult Mothra appears and it's time for a kaiju duel.

- At one point Mothra drags Godzilla around by his tail and that shit's hilarious.

- Eventually struck by Atomic Breath and badly wounded, Mothra goes to her egg and dies near it.

- The military attacks Big G, to the traditional and expected no avail.

- The egg hatches and TWO Mothra larvae emerge. They use their cocoon powers against Godzilla, encasing him in an impenetrable shell.

- The Mothra larvae head home and the movie's over.

Kaiju Notes

- Mothra spends much of this movie simply sitting on a rock. She looks much more friendly in this framing than in her previous appearance, and I argued she was pretty majestic in that one.

- Godzilla no longer has ice cream hands, but otherwise looks very similar to the last one. My initial impression is that his face has changed a bit (for the positive) but nothing major. Dude has BROWS now. And they're angry.

- Godzilla's tail has relaxed significantly from it's wild flailing in King Kong vs. Godzilla, they seem to have settled into a nice "dangerous but purposeful" movement style for it.

- Mothra looks even better in movement here than she did in her own movie. They do closeup shots to obscure some of the clunkiness, and this girl is way more mobile than she was. The improvements they've made with flying creatures is legit impressive. This is still the 60's, after all.

- Godzilla flailing around trying to Atomic Breath Mothra is one of my new favorite shots. Hilarious image.

- Mothra's secret weapon is "poisonous" pollen she can cover her foes in, so it's not just sonic booms and mobility she has to win fights. She technically loses, but she stomped his ass for a minute.

- Mothra larvae are way less cute this time. Way slimier looking, wrinkly, and with disconcerting little beaks.

First thing to note: in the beginning of the movie Mothra's egg is purchased for ¥1,224,560. I did some math and some googling and discovered that this is *roughly* about $56,000. That's a lot of money, yes, but is... not a lot for such an incredibly rare and potentially dangerous artifact. This is not a movie that takes place in its own continuity, Mothra and Godzilla and Rodan and the rest all exist and are known to the world. If you found a gigantic egg, I would wager most people would realize that going anywhere near it is just going to cause trouble. But business people be business people, greed always comes first. More on this later.

Mothra vs. Godzilla has more in common with King Kong vs. Godzilla than any of the other movies we've seen so far. They spend an hour of the movie building up to a big showdown between two established creatures, and then pay it off in a pretty satisfying way. In comparison this one is significantly better, I'd argue, if for no other reason than the creatures don't have multiple underwhelming encounters before finally having a showdown worth talking about. I especially liked seeing Godzilla get his big ass literally tossed around by a cute moth and then get sniped by baby Mothra's with String Shot. They literally hide behind rocks while he tries to harm them, then stick their little heads out and cocoon him up while he screams helplessly. It's not the most noble or courageous way to take down Godzilla, but the shit works.

While this movie isn't terribly metaphorical, I think I can tease one out, especially given the scenes on Infant Island and the final lines of the movie. "The only way to thank them is to create a better world... A world based on mutual trust." Infant Island, as it appears in the movie, is destroyed by nuclear testing, only habitable because of the special juice that the natives of the island make and consume regularly (as established in the original Mothra). When the humans come seeking Mothra's aid they are initially rejected by both the natives of the island and the Shobijin (the voices of Mothra). Told they cannot trust the humans from the mainland/outside world, especially because they've destroyed Infant Island by refusing to stop nuclear testing, they'd rather just let Godzilla sort them out. Only a plea that "even bad people deserve a chance to live" convinces Mothra to help fend off Godzilla. Apparently Mothra is quite compassionate, cause it was not the most convincing argument I've ever heard for saving the world. Godzilla himself is a sort of symbol of consequences. He only seems to wake because Mothra's egg is brought to the mainland, and heads toward it directly. When he destroys the building that the unethical businessmen are inside, they die as a direct result of their greed (and take many innocent people with them). 

Thus, the two kaiju can be seen as a kind of metaphor for the consequences of bad actions like greed and nuclear testing (Godzilla) and the sacrifices needed from those note responsible to save everybody from the former (Mothra). Mothra literally dies to save people who caused all of their own problems, but has to get involved because the fate of her egg has become tied into the situation. Like the real world, those responsible for causing damage and destruction are shielded from the true consequences of their actions by those who would actually pay the price; Mothra has to save them because if she does not then she will not be reborn. Unlike the real world, at least some of the responsible parties of this film face the fates they've set others up for, in the form of Godzilla stepping on their building. Read it as a metaphor for global warming, oil spills, unfettered capitalism, nuclear testing, war, or whatever other ill springs to mind (perhaps them all), but Mothra and her larvae sacrifice themselves and put themselves at risk because even if they try to avoid the situation they become inevitably threatened by it. The larvae in particular are real champs, because once they hatch they could definitely just go to Infant Island and chill, but they really are looking out for humans who've done nothing for them. And ain't that just the way?

Overall, this is one of my favorite Godzilla movies so far. It speeds by in comparison to some of the others despite relatively little kaiju action until pretty late into it, then pays it all off at once. It's a great example of how pacing can improve a movie overall, as even the other versus focused movie (King Kong vs. Godzilla) in the canon so far had some serious pacing issues that made it a bit of a drag. The metaphor is also a bit more subtle in this one, but I think clear enough that it's not the simple giant ape vs giant lizard of the previous outing. I have no problems with movies about nothing (we've got like 50 more to go for this blog, so you'll see), it's also nice to sometimes see a movie that has something on its mind. Side note: Mothra is now the kaiju with the most consistent record for greatness. Of the 2 movies she's appeared in so far they've both been pretty great. If she keeps this up she could be the symbol of "dope shit here" in this series.

Next: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster!

Mothra

If you know little about kaiju movies, you probably know the name Mothra. She's the Queen of the Monsters, and this is her first appearance. Not just a support character in Godzilla flicks, this establishes Mothra as a force in the wider Kaiju-verse before she gets subsumed into Godzilla movies. Directed by (the OG) Ishirō Honda like Rodan before it, I think it's intended to see what kind of legs Mothra had on its own before deciding what to do with the character in the future. Let's talk giant flying insects.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A Japanese ship is caught in a typhoon and sinks near Infant Island. Impossibly, none of the survivors have died of radiation poisoning.

- An expedition led by fictional nation Rolisican businessman Clark Nelson is set in place to investigate the secrets of Infant Island with just a few reporters in tow.

- While being attacked by a blood sucking planet one of the reporters is rescued by a pair of tiny, identical women, no more than a foot tall.

- Returning back to Japan, the expedition is considered a success.

- Clark Nelson returns to Infant Island separately and kidnaps the women, killing a bunch of the natives in the process. With his dying breaths, one of the natives calls out to Mothra to help them.

- Exploiting the tiny twins for commercial purposes, Clark Nelson has them performing on stage against their will, calling them the Secret Fairies.

- Mothra is revealed to be a protector of the island who will be coming to Japan to rescue the Fairies. They warn that innocent people will be hurt until they are returned to the island and there's nothing they can do to stop it.

- Mothra begins a rampage in a beeline toward the Fairies. The newspaper blames Clark Nelson even as he sues them for libel.

- The military attempts to stop Mothra, to no avail. Even her larval form is too strong to even be slowed by human weapons.

- Despite all this, Clark Nelson refuses to give up the Fairies and the Rolisican government protects his right to maintain possession of the kidnapped women.

- Mothra builds a cocoon which and begins her metamorphosis. In the meantime, the Rolisican government agrees to loan Japan their newest weapon: Atomic Heat Cannons. These set the cocoon on fire but Mothra emerges from it in her new badass moth form unharmed.

- When civilians surround Clark Nelson to insist he return the Fairies before Mothra arrives to kill them all, he whips out a gun and begins to threaten people. He is shot by the police and the Fairies are returned to Mothra as safely as possible, though with some significant collateral damage being done in the process.

- Mothra returns to Infant Island as soon as the Fairies are secured, the threat she poses to those who threaten her Fairies now over.

Kaiju Notes

- Larval mothra is equally gross and cute. Not slimy or otherwise unpleasant like a bug, but definitely an unpleasant creature.

- Mothra's powers are similar to Rodan, mostly powerful winds caused by wings. It's the only thing about Mothra that's not an improvement over the previous flying monster.

- Mothra as a flying creature is a huge improvement over Rodan in a small amount of time. Perhaps because she doesn't use her legs to do a lot of standing or towering, Mothra is a lot more believably moved around then the previous flying kaiju. The wings in particular are much more wing-like, actually flapping.

- Mothra's design really can't be argued against, it's one of the most inspired ones in all of kaiju. Mothra's colors and features reflect that she's less aggressive than her Godzilla counterpart, nothing about her stands out as aggressive or even a weapon as opposed to Godzilla's claws, size, large dorsal fins, and Atomic Breath.

- Mothra's (dope) design is also the first to truly utilize color: the design simply wouldn't work as well in black and white, whereas Godzilla and Rodan are perfectly suitable for the limitations of black and white picture.

This movie is actually quite good. It has more purpose than Godzilla Raids Again, is more coherent than Rodan, and is the best directed movie we've seen so far besides Godzilla (and the argument could be made that Mothra is better). Obviously some of the effects are quite dated by now, but the tiny Twins actually mesh relatively well with the rest of the actors and Mothra herself is a true feat of puppetry. On a pure technical level the first Mothra outing may be what earned her the place as Queen.

Mothra as a creature is distinguished from all other kaiju we've seen so far by being relatively non-violent. While she definitely causes collateral damage, most notably the civilian ship which just happened to cross her path, for the most part Mothra only does damage to people and structures either in her way or trying to stop her. Sequences of civilians falling prey to her are limited to the ship (mostly bad luck) and no one else, every other person targeted by Mothra is someone trying to stop her. Granted, the buildings that are destroyed definitely have people in them as well so it's not as though her kill count is low, but the (relative) pacifism is reflected in everything Mothra does. It's an interesting choice, especially so early in kaiju history.

The Twins are an interesting element to add to the movie, both the driving force of the film because Mothra pursues them relentlessly but also as helpless as anyone else in the movie because they do not control of even truly influence Mothra despite their obvious importance to her. When the other natives of Infant Island are slaughtered by Clark Nelson Mothra remains idle, but once the Twins are taken she awakens and wrecks havoc to get them back. The Twins performances themselves also serve as a really useful backdrop of the storytelling, allowing us to see Mothra move toward her goals while we listen to the forced performances of the Twins. I'm not sure if these scenes are part of the message, but I have to think it is.

Onto that message: this seems pretty obviously a warning against unfettered capitalism. Clark Nelson is described explicitly as a capitalist and nothing else. We don't know if he's an oil baron, businessman, banker, or treasure hunter, but he's a capitalist all the way. He funds an expedition to an uncharted island with the express purpose of exploiting it, and once he captures the twins her forces them to perform so he can profit off of the spectacle. The scenes of Mothra destroying things to rescue them while they seem to perform happily can definitely be read as an allusion to the pain and suffering that is truly in the background of many capitalistic endeavors. As every disingenuous person who reads anything critiquing anything capitalistic will point out: this is often done these days on computers or iPhones, products made by people in some pretty brutal conditions. The performance of the Twins also causes carnage by Mothra, just as the convenience of modern technology causes the exploitation and brutalization of people all over the world. Clark Nelson is even protected by his countries government and uses the legal system against anyone who correctly pins some blame on him, which seems a pretty simply transference. 

The most significant difference between the two examples is that Clark Nelson actually does suffer the consequences in this movie, whereas real world exploiters are almost never punished in any way (let alone meeting a fate similar to Clark Nelson). While his country's government was finally prepared to force him to return the Twins once Mothra had set her sights on Rolisca, he would likely have gotten off scot-free had he not overreacted. The only mistake Clark made was using the same tactics he does around the world on people in his own country, drawing a weapon at home rather than only abroad. Another reason to appreciate Mothra: she makes capitalist face consequences.

Next: King Kong vs Godzilla!