Godzilla vs. Megagurius - Godzilla Modified Organism

After the series was brought back full swing the year prior, Toho wanted to reboot Godzilla again. So they did. Kind of. The third series, sometimes referred to as the Millenium series is kind of weird because with ONE exception, every movie in the series is a total reboot and only uses 1954's Godzilla as the base continuity marker. Weird choice, but okay. Godzilla vs. Megagurius is generally one of the weaker entries in the series, despite the fact I absolutely ADORED this one as a little kid and I can't explain why. There's nothing particularly memorable about this movie outside of a few sequences that can make new viewers forget they're watching a friggin' Godzilla movie. There's nothing super special going on here. Simple monster designs and a rather mundane plot that feels like a retread despite some originality, in general, this movie is just kind of okay. You're not going to walk out of this one jumping for joy and shouting to the rooftops of its brilliance like Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, you're not gonna find cheesy moments of classic monster movie gold that make it enjoyable like King Kong vs. Godzilla (outside of one REALLY funny moment), and you're not gonna end up bitter and disappointed like with TriStar's Godzilla. It just kind of is.

In 1954, Godzilla attacked Tokyo but was never destroyed. Over the years, the JSDF has been adapting to Godzilla and doing their best to protect their nation from the terrible monster, but to no avail. That is until the Dimension Tide, a weapon of capable of firing miniature black holes is debuted and is heralded as a weapon that can and will kill Godzilla. But all goes awry when a giant dragonfly from the Carboniferous Era leaves its egg in modern times and soon brings the arrival of the Meganulon, a giant dragonfly species that once dominated the Earth. Now armed with Godzilla DNA, the dragonfly queen is born; Megagurius. Armed with a modified atomic breath, Godzilla's regeneration and tremendous speed the question must be asked: has the monster king met his match?

The answer is no. Like, duh, but no. The big bad bug of this movie of course is Megaguirus and her underling bug minions, the Meganulon. If that name sounds familiar, it should. The Meganulon actually first appeared in 1956 along with Rodan in, well, Rodan. What we saw of them in that movie was VERY juvenile. Because as it turns out, these little jerks can grow into so much more. Pictured right is a Meganula, the evolution of the Meganulon. The more they kill and eat, the grow and sprout wings and begin to grow stingers that drain DNA. Their purpose is a drone for their queen; Megagurius. So, what's the deal with Megagurius, huh? Well, not much. She's not anything special, which is a huge bummer. Megagurius is the last new monster for awhile and she's not exactly a bad design, she just is kind of boring. She gets a variation of Godzilla's atomic breath in a great big fireball, but that's it. She's super fast and has big claws, but that is almost literally it. She's just not a very special monster. I like her design and look, but she just does not actively do anything that's super cool. I love the look and I love the colors, but that's it.

The main human cast of the movie isn't anything special. The main performance is Kiriko Tsujimori, played by Misato Tanaka (pictured right). Her arc is really simple: in 1996 when this Godzilla popped up, Kirko's commander was killed by Godzilla and she blames her self for his death. So she wants to do nothing but kill Godzilla. That's her story. Boom. Movie summarized. Simple arc that has basically been covered in a few movies, especially Gamera 3, a kaiju movie classic. She does get some moments out of this though, climbing Godzilla's back, and I believe she's actually the first person to actively touch. Well, outside of being stomped that is. The humans do get a big power in the form of the Dimension Tide, a weapon that launches miniature black holes. And that's cool and all and a fun way to spice up the military scenes, but it's just not used enough. Because then instead of watching the Dimension Tide tear shit up, then we just see more standard military scenes. It's just standard.

Standard is the word of Godzilla vs. Megagurius. It's nice knowing that it exists, but nothing about it sticks out aside from Megagurius really. Godzilla just kind of does his Godzilla thing and nothing is special. It's just super MEH. I say avoid it.

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Guys. Holy crap. We're so far gone, but I'm so excited. Tomorrow we're going to talk about one of my absolute FAVORITES. Outside of Godzilla and even Shin Godzilla, this one might ACTUALLY be my favorite movie in the series. The movie we're about to watch is just IN. CREDIBLE. Ladies and gentlemen and all in between, please be excited to join me in viewing Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack!

Godzilla 2000: Millennium - Refreshing

So imagine this: you invent a character that is loved by all and a respected cultural icon. The only problem is, not everyone understands this character, so you give another company the rights to adapt the character to introduce him to a larger audience and gain more popularity. This adaptation comes out and no one likes it. Not fans and especially not the general public who now not only don't understand the character, but find him dumber than before and have sprouted misconceptions about who the character actually is. You'd be outraged, wouldn't you? Maybe even embarrassed. Your child who you created and shared with the world now seen as nothing more than a bad movie. That is definitely what Toho was feeling after laying witness to TriStar's Godzilla. A mockery of the character that actively went out of its way to be everything that the character was not. Toho in my opinion did exactly what I would have done: fire back immediately. With TriStar's plans for a sequel to Godzilla pretty much always destined to fall through, Toho got to work and made Godzilla 2000: Millennium, and aimed to restore the character to not only his home turf, but show the world who he truly is. And while Godzilla 2000: Millennium isn't anything spectacular, it is like when you've had a really crappy week and you clean up your room and feel rejuvenated. While it's not going to land in my top 10, this movie is a great palate cleanser after TriStar's embarrassing revision.

In 1954, the original Godzilla attacked. 45 years later, a new monster keeps emerging and attacking the world. This new Godzilla being slightly bigger than the original attacks the country often and is seen as a force of nature, being watched by the Godzilla Prediction Network. But when a 60 million year old UFO reemerges on the planet, this Godzilla must prepare for battle in this new era and make a stand as the rightful monster ruler of Japan.

Alright, let's jump right in. First and foremost, this is one of my absolute favorite Godzilla designs ever. I see a lot of influence from the KingGoji suit used in King Kong vs. Godzilla, and that's a good thing. I know a lot of people will and have made complaints about his dorsal fins. But I think they're a great evolution of the character's design. It's nothing too improbable, and with this Godzilla being just as, if not even meaner than the original Godzilla, then it makes sense his opinion would share in that. Which I think his dorsal fins do a good job representing. My only honest complaint about him in this movie is that his atomic breath is never blue, and with it having a fiery explosion whenever it is used, it is basically nothing more than a simple fire breath attack. Which in my opinion is a misstep, but, hey. At least he actually has the power in the first place. Something I find fascinating about this movie is that this is the second most screentime Godzilla receives in any movie, but it doesn't always feel like much. Most of his action is saved for the end of the movie with his big battle with Orga and on. Of course he still appears before, getting an awesome introduction scene and a pretty cool encounter with the military, but there's a solid chunk of the screen dedicated to figuring out Orga and what makes Orga up. But he's still mean as hell. My favorite part of the entire movie is how he just blows Orga up from the inside, being devoured like a snake's prey, and then BOOM! It's pretty awesome. He gets to kick a ton of ass in the movie, so watching this after TriStar's Godzilla is just refreshing. He's indestructible, he gets to blow stuff up, he gets some great city destruction and gets to fight another giant monster. This Godzilla is just awesome. He was one of my first versions of Godzilla I ever saw, so I'm glad he's always seemed to age well. I will definitely say he does get some rather crappy shots however with a few CG shots underwater that just look like garbage and a really weird shot that looks off of him chasing a jet, but, it's whatever. He gets in some awesome action, so I can kind of look the other way with some of the cinematography.

For anyone who hasn't seen the movie, seeing mention of another monster must be odd. So far, in Godzilla's introduction movies, he's solo. But yeah, ain't that a shock?! Godzilla does indeed have an opponent, and a pretty good one at that. The only issue about Orga is that the effects on him before he fully transforms are all CGI and look really bad. The interesting thing about CG in this series is how much we can see it affect the effects. Because we get two see two different varieties of effects: the great practical, and the sloppy CG. Tangent aside, Orga! In his UFO and Millenian form, he is entirely CG and he just doesn't look very good. It looks like an incomplete model of CG or from something before Toy Story came out. But then when Orga becomes Orga, he is awesome. Absorbing Godzilla's cells to try becoming the perfect organism, but is incomplete. With massive claws, what looks like a giant turtle shell and a giant hole in his shoulder that is used as a cannon to launch a flawed atomic breath, he looks really cool. I didn't really like him for a good few years, but I like him A LOT more now. There's a lot of intentional flaw in his design and it is inherently perfect for his character. Literally the entire purpose of the character is that he is a flawed failure copy of Godzilla. So when he has ridiculously huge claws and the reused roars of Cretaceous King Ghidorah that make him essentially sound like he's in pain, he has a good look about him. One of my favorite Godzilla channels on YouTube put it best in his review of the movie when he said it is "... at once both pathetic and unnerving." Fun fact, Orga's head was designed in a way to replicate "Godzilla" from TriStar's Godzilla, because Toho wanted to A, blow it up, and B, show the dominance of the real Godzilla over a cheap foreign knock off. It's a nice subtle jab you might not know, but I just love it. It's subtle enough and yet not subtle at all. It's hilarious.

A big plus for the movie is its genuinely interesting human narrative. With Godzilla commonly cropping up in recent events before the movie, people learn to adapt and survive the monster. Essentially, Godzilla is a storm. So what do you do when the storm is coming? You check the news and see how bad it's going to be. The people in charge of this task are the Godzilla prediction network, run by father and daughter team, Yuji and Io Shinoda, played my Takehiro Murata and Mayu Suzuki respectively (pictured right with Naomi Nashida as Yuki Ichinose). Yuji and Io have a really fun to watch dynamic in the film with them being parent and child. They get into a little bit of trouble, but all they want to do is keep people safe from the actual menace that is Godzilla. They even get to dive into the science of Godzilla a bit, diving into the G-Cells we first learned about in Godzilla vs. Biollante. They have a really fun partnership running this team together, but who really takes the cake in this movie is Hiroshi Abe playing the character of Mitsuo Katagiri (pictured left). He gets to have a lot of fun banter with Yuji, them both viewing the solution of Godzilla with two different perspectives: trying to kill the monster with Abe, and trying to simply adapt and protect others with Yuji. Abe just has this menacing "I'm in charge" type look that commands the room and makes you think that he's the one to get behind. As it turns out though he's just a nut and kind of crazy. But he gets one of my favorite direct deaths from Godzilla ever. Him angry at the destruction and death Godzilla causes, he just yells "GODZILLAAAAAAA!" as he knocks the building over and he falls to his death. Yes, this is the dub, please forgive me. It's kind of hilarious, but it's a great way to end the movie. Him realizing his mission is fraught and just accepting his death, it's great.

I feel like despite enjoying the movie, there just isn't a lot to actually say about it. Godzilla 2000: Millennium is basically the movie TriStar should have made. It adapts the character well, has a solid human cast and with the budget they had stateside, they could have made the digital effects look a lot better than they did coming from Toho. The movie is very solid and makes everything feel a lot better after the heartbreak of TriStar's adaptation. If you want a simple enjoyable movie and need a pick me up after the depression of TriStar's botched movie, then give this one a watch.

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With the third series officially under way, let's get the train rolling. Tomorrow we're going to meet an evolution of a monster first established a little over 60 years ago with the original Rodan. So let's get reintroduced to some giant prehistoric dragonflies as we watch Godzilla vs. Megagurius.

TriStar's Godzilla - I'm Upset

Alright, where do we start with this one? TriStar's Godzilla is infamous. It comes from the era of adaptations where if the creative team just wanted to not follow the source material, it was kind of expected, but also not frowned upon. Characters didn't get themselves on screen, they got a director's vision. Nowadays, we're spoiled. Between the MCU and its very solid treatment of the source material to even Godzilla's amazing treatment of the source material in the modern day MonsterVerse, it's easy to assume this was the norm and characters being treated as they are these days was expected. But this was never the case for a long period of time. And that brings us to TriStar's Godzilla. When Roland Emmerich was tasked with reimagining Godzilla for American audiences, he sure reimagined him alright. What we see in this movie is a character assassination that neuters the original character of his very simple, memorable and easy to replicate abilities, and was swapped out for more supposed "realism." A version of the character that doesn't look or act like the character we even know. Even if it was different, whatever, as long as he can still do his trademark abilities, but, nope. This movie is often paired with the line "Takes the God out of Godzilla," which I find completely true. But what about the movie itself? Well, overall the movie isn't exactly as awful as people hope. What we get is a VERY generic monster movie, and that's about it. But most every issue with this film we can boil down to the title of the movie: Godzilla.

After continued tests of nukes in French Polynesia, an iguana egg is exposed to radiation and births something frightening; a 50 meter monster who soon begins sinking sea vessels, one leaving only one victim who gives the creature its name; "Gojira." With the monster headed to New York City in search of a comfortable habitat for his young, the scientists and military of the US must band together to save the Big Apple from Godzilla, its young, and total destruction.

SO. Here we are. I really dread talking about this movie because it is so infamous, and with 21 years after its original release, practically everything about it has been said. So if it sounds like parroting, it probably is. So, let's talk about "Godzilla." This interpretation of "Godzilla" is known by many names. Evil, Zilla, Godzilla In Name Only just to name a few. And it all makes sense. By all accounts, Godzilla is not the most complex monster in the world. He is a big dinosaur that stands upright, has giant plates on his back, is indestructible and he breaths radiation that looks like blue fire. Easy as pie. So, what does "Godzilla" get? Well, is he a big dinosaur? Well, not really. He's a mutated iguana. It's not the most amazing change of origin or whatever, but sure, I'll bite. Well, does he stand upright? Nope. He walks around like an actual dinosaur would have, is a LOT smaller and focuses on agility and not being able to take the hits. Well, indestructible. He's gotta be, right? It's Godzilla! Nope. As I said, this "Godzilla" is frail, dying in the end from getting caught in the Brooklyn Bridge and being shot down by missiles. Most if not all of the city destruction done in the movie is from "Godzilla" dodging missiles and the MILITARY really doing the damage. So, take that army. You're never allowed back in Manhattan. Well, breath blue fire? What has been every answer so far? Oh, you bet he does not. Every defining characteristic of Godzilla is completely GONE in this movie. Roland Emmerich has openly stated before that he is not a Godzilla fan and wanted to make a "realistic" interpretation. I'm sorry (this is probably the most explicit I'll ever get in these reviews, so, you're warned), but that's bullshit. When you're dealing with a cultural icon of importance like Godzilla, you should not be allowed to fuck this up. When they first presented the design to Toho, the original design was met with shock, but was approved after reassurance that the movie would turn out great. This monster is not Godzilla. Imagine this: I'm going to make a Batman movie. Okay, well what are Batman's defining qualities? Well, he's a detective, he's wicked smart and he doesn't kill people. Okay, well, I have an idea: I don't want anyone of that. I want him to be a street thug bent on killing criminals because he's hardened by the world and thinks it's the only way to save it. So who cares about him being a detective?! It's not like that is his most defining subtitle! Oh wait, it is! You see the problem here? When you strip a character of their essential elements, the character is gone and you'll essentially made a legally distinct version. So tell me. When you look at this Lenozilla patrolling the streets of New York looking for MSG, do you think even for a fraction of a second that he could earn the title of King of the Monsters? No. Because this isn't the King of the Monsters. Because this is NOT Godzilla.

Oh, and don't even get me STARTED on the "BabyGodzillas". This is bad. This is really REALLY bad. Yet again, I apologize if this sounds like parroting, but it is completely true. THESE "BABYGODZILLAS"AND THE ENTIRE SEGMENT OF THE MOVIE ARE A TERRIBLE RIPOFF OF THE VELOCIRAPTOR PORTION OF JURASSIC PARK! Godzilla always has had a child in all of the series, Minilla will even be making another appearance in the third series (spoilers) but this is just ridiculous! Godzilla does not get pregnant! And while sure, this is maybe a slight improvement because, and I'll give them this, they do look like baby versions of their father, but mother of Mothra, this is just ridiculous! These guys are just horrendous overall, legitimately ripping off more from Jurassic Park than from Godzilla! They get pounce attacks, they outnumber you, they're six foot tall giant lizards, come on. These are just the raptors of Jurassic Park and there is no exaggerating that. Again, yes, Godzilla has always had a child in all the series. But he has never had A, this many, and B, produced an amount of young that so blatantly ripped off another intellectual property. For anyone who might not believe or agree with this, I absolutely DARE you to watch the final 30 minutes of Jurassic Park, and then skip to the MSG portion of this movie. You will be astonished how similar they are. So what we get here is after a good, very solid interpretation of Minilla and BabyGodzilla in the second series also receives a character assassination in the form of these little abominations.


So, we have that out of the way, so how about the rest of the movie? Well, those are definitely the low points. It just so happens that the low points are so low it drags down much of the rest of the film. So, how about the rest of the film? Well, by no means is this movie great, it's just mediocre. It's just a mediocre movie and that's all there is to it. Nothing about the movie is particularly outstanding, well, one exception. For such a waste of time, the score is not bad at all. It's not Akira Ifukube or anything and it does not retain the original Godzilla theme at all, but whatever. Make your own stake in history first, I guess. You can listen to it all here if you want. Not gonna win a Grammy or anything, but it makes sitting through the movie much easier. So, what else? Well, we got some good set pieces. "Godzilla's" boat destruction and first appearance, the chase leading to the Brooklyn Bridge, it's not bad stuff. The only problem is that the monster is not actively likable or enjoyable to watch and sprinkled throughout before any of these fun set pieces are really boring human scenes with some generic dialogue and some PAINFULLY unfunny jokes sprinkled in for good measure. Honestly, it's just mediocre. I find that the most I want to discuss with this movie is the monsters, but it's not positive. Of course all I want to do with these movies is talk monsters. That's why I love them so much. But when I find myself already talking about them and everything is just fine at best from the performances to the action scenes, I just get bored.

THIS MOVIE IS BORING! TriStar's Godzilla is definitely not AS bad as I remember it, and same for you too. But it's still just mediocre. If you go into it expecting more a remake of the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, you might turn out much more please. But if you're coming for "Godzilla," the title character like everyone did come for, then you're going to be disappointed. This movie is just disappointing now. Disappointing for what it couldn't be, disappointing I can never love it, disappointing I can never just purely hate it, the list goes on. I feel like an angry parent talking to this movie, because when I think of TriStar's Godzilla, "I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed." And if you are too, I completely understand.

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I can almost smell the popcorn of the theater when I go to see Godzilla: King of the Monsters. We're in the final stretch of not only the wait for the film, but of this review series. We have A LOT of great movies coming, so make sure to stay tuned. Tomorrow the gravy train is going to start rolling again as we begin a whole new series and meet a brand new Godzilla, as we take a look at a good revitalization in Godzilla 2000: Millennium. 

Rebirth of Mothra 3 - Ghidorah Kidnaps the Kids!

After Rebirth of Mothra 2, it wasn't gonna take a lot to make me happy. Honestly entire detour hasn't exactly been splendid. The first movie wasn't bad but it could have used something more that I can't place my finger on. And the second one was just not good. So, how about Rebirth of Mothra 3? Well, I'm happy to report that despite this one being a bit redundant, it's definitely the best of the trilogy. We get to see a fun exploration of all of the Elias as sisters and see some interesting development of their characters, a bunch of cool powers from Mothra Leo and much better digital effects compared to the first two movies. Now, I'm not gonna say this movie is anything more than some light entertainment. It's not gonna win an Academy Awards or anything, not even for visual effects, but it's not bad. It of course has its flaws, largely in its redundancy, but it's not a bad watch. I can't exactly tell you you should go out of your way to watch them. Like the previous two, I will only recommend them if you are that much of a fan that you want to explore EVERY facet of Toho's monster catalog. But if you want to explore and have a solid hour and a half to kill, then I can definitely think of worse movies to sit down and watch in that time.

On a night mostly like any other, what seems to be a meteor shower is striking the Earth. This turns out for the sinister however, as this meteor shower heralds the arrival of King Ghidorah! An ancient monster that fought with Mothra in the past, Ghidorah is looking to wipe out humanity by kidnapping all of its children and forcing the rest of the world to die out. To weak to stop him in the present, Mothra Leo plans to go the past and kill Ghidorah in the Cretaceous Period in hopes of saving humanity millions of years before they were even born.

Alright, let's start with some of the issues. First and foremost, let's talk about the redundancies and Ghidorah. Ghidorah's awesome, he always is, and always will be. The problem however is that we've already seen Desghidorah. So, if we wanted to use Desghidorah as this world's only Ghidorah, then I'll accept that. That's pretty interesting and a new way to take the character, so, no problems there. So then when we meet the TRUE King Ghidorah, it's kind of like "I've already seen this." Plus, his backstory is exactly the same, being the dragon that came from space and wiped out the dinosaurs. Except the Elias say he wiped out the dinosaurs 130 million years ago, which, just, okay. They do avoid this being a 100% complete rehash however with the introduction of the Cretaceous King Ghidorah. Again, Ghidorah is ALWAYS cool, so getting a new interpretation and take on one of the greatest movie monsters of all time is welcome. And it's kind of necessary in this movie when we've alright seen a Ghidorah before and heard the same back story. So when we get to see the Cretaceous Period and see a battle between Mothra Leo and the original Ghidorah, not only does it give us a fun action scene that probably wouldn't exist anywhere else in the series, but it works to avoid the complete plot rehash of the Rebirth of Mothra.

As mentioned above, Aki Hano and Megumi Kobayashi both return in the roles of Belvera and Moll respectively, but Lora is played in this movie by Misato Tate (all pictured right). In this movie, we get to see a bit more of their full sibling dynamic. Belvera was very much like a cartoon villain in the first movie, acting childishly and just being a curled mustache away from a caricature, but she's been seeing a steady character evolution. Even with all the flaws of Rebirth of Mothra 2, she got in a good character moment when she saved her sisters and all of the kids from a massive fire in the the Nirai Kanai pyramid. So, she definitely cares about her sisters, but just disagrees with their stances on humans. And this is made even clearer when Moll gives up her life to give Mothra enough power to travel through time and she mourns for her and briefly joins forces with her sister Lora, despite still believing that humans are not good for the planet. We get much less black and white character morality out of the three this time around, and it is always splendid when we get to see such a situation with characters who previously were a bit more bland and not as well written as I'd hoped for them being an expansion of the Mothra fairies. Oh, and the Mothra theme is WAY better in this movie. God, it sounded bad in the last two.



Returning back to the theme of redundancies however, let's look at Mothra Leo last. The Rebirth of Mothra movies are structured very similarly to the original wave of Gamera movies (which, for those asking; no, weren't not gonna watch any Gamera), with Mothra Leo meeting his opponent early on, getting it handed to him, getting some kind of powerup and then being able to beat them later. We saw it in the first two, and it was already egregious by the first one, so seeing it repeated here is irritating. But Leo still gets some cool moments. In particular, my favorite is when he reawakens from his ancient cocoon after his battle with the Cretaceous Ghidorah, covered in Armor and of course taking the name Armor Mothra. And of course then the rest of the movie is simple: one sided battle where Mothra kills Ghidorah, the day is saved and the kids return to their parents. It's nothing special, but it's still a fun enough romp. Mothra sees some good action and really gets some cool forms, especially the Armor form. The movie is redundant, but it's still exciting to at very least look at.

Overall, Rebirth of Mothra 3 wasn't bad. I definitely needed a bit of a palate cleanser after the Ghogo movie, so, this was nice. It definitely is not a movie I'd fully recommend however. It's not bad, but just not a movie to actively seek. I watched it once when I was very young and it was fun enough. It's just a simple movie for kids, nothing much else to it. If you just want that, then you'll be happy enough, I suppose. Just don't go into it expected GMK or anything.

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Alright, you knew this was going to happen. Unfortunately it's time to write a review that will please no one. Because I'm not going to tear into the movie, and I'm not going to call it a hidden gem, because tomorrow's movie is just a waste of time. Yeah, you know it. Tomorrow we're talking about TriStar's infamous 1998 debacle, Godzilla, or as some call it, Godzilla 1998. Come back tomorrow and prepare for disappointment. 

Rebirth of Mothra 2 - The One About Ghogo

Alright, well, this one wasn't great. The Rebirth of Mothra wasn't exactly going to change the world or anything, but it definitely wasn't a bad flick. Like I said, if it's ever on and you just happen to be watching, it's not a bad watch. Rebirth of Mothra 2 however is not in the same conversation. I tell you what, it certainly is a follow up to the first movie, I guess. Honestly, this movie is not good. I won't say it was as bad as say Atragon or Varan, but it does have ironically enough talk about the Kingdom of Mu in Atragon. What we get here is basically a knock off Indiana Jones movie with a plot focused on this stupid little monster named Ghogo and then we have the entire separate have of the movie dealing with Mothra, Dagahra and the Barem. And the stuff with Mothra and Dagahra is pretty exciting stuff, honestly. It's just that everything else in the movie is not so. There's a common joke that you have to suffer through the human scenes of a monster movie to get to the good stuff. And while I will say you don't have to "suffer" through most of the movies, you do for this one. A boring cast largely made up of kids and a leading monster with magical healing pee (I'm not making that up) all culminates in a movie that has some positive intentions, but just ends up being better for gotten by time.

After creatures who look like starfish named Barem rise from the ocean, another ancient monster soon washes on shore; Ghogo. An ancient water fairy from a long lost kingdom of Japan. Ghogo's mission is to return to the lost kingdom of Nilai Kanai and save the ocean from the pollutants that are slowly killing it. What stands in his way is Dagahra, the monster corrupted by pollution bent on destroying the last remnants of the kingdom that made him. Now Mothra must come to protect Ghogo and defeat Dagahra to save the ocean and the planet as a whole from the Dagahra and his toxic Barem.

Alright, I don't want to tear into this movie as much as Atragon, so I'm gonna start with the negatives first and foremost. First of all, we got Ghogo. I gotta be honest; I HATE this little thing. Everything about I just find really irritating. I really do not like its design. I feel like they were trying to aim for a cute angle, which, I can see how someone might find it cute, but I do not. He makes a bunch of very strange sounds, almost like purring and he never stops making noises. Also, I just realized I don't know if they gave Ghogo a gender in the entire movie, but WikiZilla's calling him a he, so that's what I'm going with. Worse from Ghogo is that he doesn't ever walk around. If he's not being carried, he's hopping around with a really dumb bouncing sound that is also joined by a jingle because he has two golden loops tied around his tail. And in the second half of the movie or so, when he does nothing but jump around, it gets really annoying. My biggest problem with Ghogo however, is that he completely steals the attention of the movie. The movie is called Rebirth of Mothra 2, the second movie in the Rebirth of Mothra series. And Ghogo just dominates the screentime. In part this is because he is small and almost always being carried by the humans, but what this feels like is like he was the star of a completely different movie and they just mashed it together with a working script of Rebirth of Mothra 2 and mashed them together because they knew it'd make a box office killing. It's not like Ghogo is a bad monster or anything (although I do indeed find him to be very irritating), but he just completely steals the attention of the movie. And for a sequel made for one of the greatest movie monsters of all time, that really sucks.

Next up with my issues for the movie we have Dagahra. Despite legitimately being the biggest reason I included the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, he just, I gotta be honest, he just isn't a very interesting monster. My main issue with Dagahra is his design. It's not inherently a bad design or anything, looking like a classic western dragon, but he is just too bulky, WAY too. While Dagahra does get in some classic Godzilla style city destruction scenes, he just looks stupid doing it. Between his wings that just do NOT look like they'd function and how covered he is in what basically looks like fat, he is just not a high quality design. What also doesn't help is that he just kind of grosses me out. This is one of very few movies that we get to see the inside of a giant monster, and we get to see him producing the Barem inside his body, and it just, oh my GOD it looks so nasty. His backstory is definitely kind of interesting, being a monster designed to destroy the pollutants, but he basically got corrupted from the inside out in creating the Barem. Interesting backstory, but the Barem are more intimidating than him. We get to see some good near horror scenes from them with them jumping onto land and burning people like acid blood from a Xenomorph in Alien, but that's about it. The Barem pose a bigger threat than Dagahra, which it feels like that might have been the intention, but it just wasn't perfect in my opinion.

Alright, on to some better horizons. Despite not being very important in most of the movie, Mothra Leo does still get some good moments. In particular, we really get to see how even though he is the strongest Mothra thus far, he is still vulnerable, getting swarmed by Barem and being crippled for a long while in the climax. And while I'd usually say such is a negative, I thought it was a good scene. And him falling into the water near the end similar to the death of his mother was a nice callback. Mothra Leo also gets an awesome powerup in the form of the Aqua Mothra power granted to him by Ghogo to finish off Dagahra on his turf. It's definitely odd seeing Mothra Leo I guess, shrink (I actually don't know, it's weird, you'll have to watch the movie for yourself), to kill Dagahra from the inside, but it's still a cool thing. I really like how he gets this super cool X shaped, I guess beam that he launches at Dagahra like a torpedo. It's not exactly necessary, but it still looks cool. What little of Mothra Leo we do get in the movie is ultimately pretty cool stuff. I just wish there was more of THE TITLE CHARACTER AND NOT FREAKING GHOGO!

Honestly, I was disappointed by Rebirth of Mothra 2. While the first movie wasn't special but still enjoyable, this one is just forgettable, boring, and better left at the bottom of the ocean. It's not terrible, but it's not particularly good. Watch it if you're REALLY dedicated. Otherwise, stay away.

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Alright, tomorrow we're ending this detour with the only movie of the trilogy I've seen before this marathon; Rebirth of Mothra 3. I watched it MANY years ago, so this refresher will be nice. But, I think tomorrow's review will be much quicker. Because once that's done, we got bigger fish to fry. 

The Rebirth of Mothra - Mothra vs. Ghidorah!... Kind Of!

We're taking a bit of detour from as we watch the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, and where better to than start with the original Rebirth of Mothra? Nowhere. This was a rhetorical question. So, how's the actual movie? Well, it's nothing outstanding or anything. Any movie Mothra will be in has a lot to stack up against. Her own solo movie is a monster classic and all of her numerous appearances alongside Godzilla almost make you forget she existed before appearing in Mothra vs. Godzilla. So any movie with her in it is going to have a lot to work against. As its own work, it's alright. It does a lot to please audiences and has some great moments of spectacle and a surprisingly good score, but, that is honestly it. It doesn't do anything particularly game-changing or evolve Mothra as a character much if at all, honestly. Well, she does get to fight her first opponent without the help of Godzilla, which is sort of a big deal, but it's not much. Honestly, the Rebirth of Mothra is just kind of okay. What we get in this movie is a really interesting reinvention of the Mothra mythos with some Ghidorah thrown, and of course a new Ghidorah to be introduced too. The main issue we'll see with this movie is improper spacing. And while by no means this movie is not a bad one, it's just kind of a mixed bag.

The hidden away Mothra has mustered the energy to make a new egg and carry on her species, and with perfect timing too. Humans destroying a forest stumble upon the ancient seal hiding away the ancient Mothra priestess, Belvera. After she is awoken, she uses the rediscovered seal to control the evil space dragon, Desghidorah. After losing against him, Mothra must die, and her son known as Mothra Leo must now challenge Desghidorah to save the world from the evil monster's life draining powers.

Alright, let's start with that interesting reinvention of the Mothra mythos I was talking about. First and foremost, we have the Elias, the ancient race of miniature people who serve as Mothra's priestesses. What you will find that's quite interesting is that Mothra technically has three, Moll and Lora played by Sayaka Yamaguchi and Megumi Kobayashi respectively (pictured left with Lora on the left and Moll on the right.) And then we have the third Elias, Belvera, played by Aki Hano (pictured right.) Moll and Lora are Mothra's direct priestesses, basically being the Shobijin with fancy new names. They aren't particularly special or notable, but their biggest draw and watch makes them such a deviation is Belvera. She is their older sister, and despite loving nature as much as them in the past essentially became Battra. Viewing humans as dangerous and destructive, she does everything she can to try wiping us out. Sure, it's not exactly the most original dynamic or anything, but it is a new one. Belvera is definitely the most fun to watch of the three however. Despite being the oldest sibling, she acts like a child and pouts, kicks her mount, Garugaru, and is just hilariously over the top. Again, it's not the most amazingly original dynamic or anything, but it is a change from the source material, and it's not a bad take.

Speaking of new takes, we get two completely new takes on two classic monsters of the series. Of course, there's Mothra, who there are actually two of in the film. Of course, there is the original Mothra, the one who created the new egg with her remaining power. Her design is practically the exact same as every other Mothra before. But what is a completely new update is Mothra Leo, her son. Mothra Leo is pretty cool, honestly. Outside of his completely new color scheme, he is pretty powerful. He basically gets all of his mother's powers, but at the end seals Desghidorah away on his own AND heals the Earth. Of course we have to go through the Larva into Imago form, but that is remarkably fast, as he grows into full size in about five minutes of screen time. He'll get some more forms later on, but for a starting appearance? Not bad. And of course, there's Desghidorah. So, this is kind of hard. On one hand, pretty interesting design. On the other hand, it isn't really Ghidorah. Sure, he's got three heads and is from outer space, but he's all black, walks on all fours, can't even fly from the start and breaths FIRE. Then again, he has a sweet backstory, being the monster who wiped out the dinosaurs and poses a real threat returning to real Earth. But then he gets really annoying real fast with a roar that just gets used WAY too much because this might be the first Ghidorah to never learn how to roar with one mouth. Honestly, not a bad monster, but I'm fine with not using him again unless it was like a mutated version of some other Ghidorah.

Above I mentioned the film's surprisingly good score. Right here, you can find the entire soundtrack on YouTube. I definitely think watch the movie before you listen to any music from the movie, but it's great stuff. In particular, I love love love love LOVE the piece of the original Mothra's death. Look, Mothra dies. Mothra dies A LOT. But every time she does, it does always sting. It's Mothra! You know her, you love her, and even if she doesn't know you, she'll still risk herself to save you. And this is the same Mothra we get in the movie. Of course, it isn't the Mothra from Godzilla vs. Mothra and Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla who appears very briefly, but she is still clearly Mothra, and works her hardest to save everyone if possible. So as a result, that emotional attachment to Mothra is still there. So even though we were just introduced to this one, when we watch Mothra die, it still hurts. Made worse by a piece that just stabs you in the heart and looks you in the eye the entire time. The entire score itself is honestly pretty great. Well, most of it. Honestly, this movie's version of the Mothra song is REALLY weak in my opinion and not one I'd particularly go out of my way to hear again, but aside from that, it is a really solid score that I could enjoy without the movie.

Honestly, the Rebirth of Mothra isn't the greatest movie in the world, but its got heart. It's not gonna change anyone's entire spirit or save the planet like it really wants to do, but it's not a bad time. I won't say go out of your way to see it or anything, but if it's on, might as well stick around for the show in my eyes.

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Next up, we got us a sequel! With the financial success of the original, Toho wanted to keep making that cash. So next up, they got to work and made a sequel the following year. So come back tomorrow and we'll be reviewing the direct sequel, the Rebirth of Mothra 2!

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah - Endgame

Alright, let me break it down like this: Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is not only the best movie in the second series, but it is easily one of the best entries in the entire series and one of the best monster movies ever made. After bringing Godzilla back and having a solid 11 year long series, Toho wanted to give the TriStar movie the best chance it had to succeed. And in order to do that, they had to finish off their current series and finish it strong enough that people knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the American Godzilla was not the original Toho monster. And so, they did what only one other movie in the entire series has done: that's right. In Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, you get to watch Godzilla die. The best thing about the movie is that even though that's the conclusion, it isn't even the best part of the movie. Everything about Godzilla vs. Destoroyah sees the second series go out with an absolute bang. The final original score for a movie in the series by the master Akira Ifukube, effects so brilliant and effective you'd think Tsubaraya had made them, and some of the best monster designs of the entire series all come together to make a movie that must be seen by all. To put it as bluntly as I possibly can, if there is only one movie you can watch from the second series, you had better watch Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.

After Birth Island erupts into flame and sinks into the ocean, LittleGodzilla is missing. This is just the beginning of the problems however, as an angry Godzilla menaces Hong Kong. Glowing red and orange, this new form of the monster, Burning Godzilla is soon discovered to be going into nuclear meltdown, and he will soon die, taking the world with him. At the same time, microorganisms enhanced by the Oxygen Destroyer from 1954 have grown and are growing still into a new giant monster capable of killing anything in its wake. In hopes of killing both monsters, Godzilla and Destoroyah are brought together by the JSDF in a desperate plan to not only save Japan, but the entire world from the death of Godzilla.

Let's start with the cast. I do mean it when I say everything about the movie is great, but we're just gonna keep getting better and better as this review goes on. First and foremost, this movie has probably the single greatest cast of characters in the entire series. We get to see a lot of fan service and old faces return in this one, but they're just the icing on the cake. New blood in the cast includes Takuro Tatsumi, as Dr. Kensaku Ijuin. A scientist who nearly rediscovers Dr. Serizawa's terrifying discover of the Oxygen Destroyer, he has an interesting lens to watch the movie, as the man who almost rediscovers, or reinvents, the horror of 1954. We also have two new Yamane in the world, Kenichi and Yukari Yamane, played by Yasufumi Hayashi and Yoko Ishino respectively. They both cover two interesting perspectives. Kenichi being another man looking to reuse the power of the Oxygen Destroyer if it means the destruction of Godzilla, and Yukari having to stand between both the men trying to recycle the horrible power. She has to stand helpless and realize Dr. Serizawa's fears of the Oxygen Destroyer came true. But while they're all fantastic and great characters, where this movie really shines is in its send offs to characters it's already introduced. Miki Saegusa is a fan favorite character, and she gets portrayed one last time by Megumi Odaka (pictured above left). She's been through a lot since Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2, and with this movie, we get to see her reconnect with BabyGodzilla who gets another significant redesign in this movie. While I can say she doesn't exactly do a TON, she is instrumental to the plot, and basically sets up the circumstances for the final battle, using the baby to lure Godzilla into the final fight. We also see the final appearance of Sho Kuroki who we first met in Godzilla vs. Biollante, although he is strangely not played by Masanobu Takashima, instead being played by his older brother, Masahiro Takashima (pictured above left). It's mainly odd since he's already played a character in the second series before as Kazuma Aoki in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 2, but whatever, I'll buy it. It's always fun seeing a cool guy pilot reappear. Now, I know she only gets basically a cameo in the movie, but I just ADORE that this movie brought back the late great Momoko Kochi as Emiko Yamane (pictured above right). Bringing back her character is an amazing way to really tie the whole series up full circle. She, like Yukari, has to live in horror and recognize what's happening to the world. As despite her former betrothed tried to save the world with Oxygen Destroyer, she has to watch in horror as her nephew tries to resurrect the weapon that killed the original Godzilla. It's a brief, but great final performance. This movie's cast is stellar, honestly. And bringing back all these old characters is a great way to really salute the second series. Like bringing back fan favorite characters in a series finale.

Next up, HOW ABOUT THAT SOUNDTRACK?! The monster music maker master, Akira Ifukube as well returns to the series one last time to give the second series the musical farewell that it deserves. Ifukube's work in this movie might be his best in the entire franchise, honestly. Because what we get here is some of his most absolutely stellar work that really sets up and backdrops every scene in the entire movie masterfully. Every song on this incredible score from the opening credits to the final Requiem of Godzilla,  to the final moving rendition of the BabyGodzilla theme, to the bone chilling theme of Destoroyah's first reveal (which I didn't know until now was actually reused motives from the music of Atragon), is pitch perfect. This movie's soundtrack hits every note perfectly, being simultaneously awe inspiring, exciting, sad and terrifying all at once. It only makes sense, as an event like the death of Godzilla would be. This soundtrack is like a death march. While always being sad and making you think about the events that have happened leading up to it, it still never stops moving and just goes on and can't be stopped. Ifukube's work was perfect for this franchise, and he is still very missed to this day. This franchise receives some really incredible music in later years, but in the case of Akira Ifukube, nothing can top the original and absolutely ingenious work that went into this franchise through the hands of one man, a brain built for melodies and a baton. Listen to some of it on your own outside of the movie, it's genuinely incredible.



And now for the part everyone saw coming: the effects and monsters in this movie just absolutely steal the freaking show. Of course there are the two heavy hitters of the movie, Godzilla and Destoroyah, but we'll get to them very soon. Just be patient. First up to bat, I want to talk about Godzilla Junior. Or in other words, the perfected version of the son of Godzilla. Of course, BabyGodzilla was fantastic, and despite my small gripes, LittleGodzilla is still really great. But Godzilla Junior is basically pitch perfect. First of all, he looks like Godzilla. I mean, look at 'em right next to each other. They basically just made a smaller version of a big Godzilla suit. Ingenious really, because it means the son of Godzilla finally looks exactly like the Son of Godzilla would. And in this, he gets his most awesome appearance. First and foremost is of course his design. It's basically just Godzilla, but he's a lot younger and smaller than his dad and doesn't get the super ultra mega death beam of rage and fire that his dad does. But I mean, why would he? Godzilla is melting down, it wouldn't make sense for Junior to be on his power level. This movie also manipulates you the most with him though, because and foremost he also dies (in a really painfully sad and dramatic fashion, by the way), followed by Godzilla mourning his death and Miki trying her best to reconnect with him before he dies. I'm sorry, it's just, oh God. If the ending of Son of Godzilla was heartwarming, then the death of Godzilla Junior might turn on the water works. Next up to bat, Satan. I mean, Destoroyah. Destoroyah is one of Godzilla's best opponents ever. Of course, being linked so closely to Godzilla's origin is awesome, the organisms that make the monster all being a colony of microorganisms that thrived off of the use of the Oxygen Destroyer reawoken from a tunnel construction sight. I think there's gotta be some commentary in there, but I don't want to dig into that right now. So, we got a monster tied into Godzilla's origin. What's next? Make him absolutely terrifying. Destoroyah just is horrifying to look at. He actually does look like the Devil, or at least a horrifying interpretation of Satan, that is. He looks malformed, spikes pointing out of his knees and adorning his body, he just looks somehow simultaneously over the top and perfect. He doesn't mess around to, and he gets a lot of time to be scary. Before he develops into his perfect form, he develops and grows as he's an aggregate monster, being built up and formed from other smaller crustacean Destoroyahs to form the hulking monstrosity we see. No foe of Godzilla's can ever top King Ghidorah, but if one ever has come close, it's Destoroyah. And last, but CERTAINLY not least, the King of the Monsters himself: Godzilla. The design used from Godzilla vs. Biollante makes its final appearance with a slick change: BURNING. FIRE. FLAMES! Burning Godzilla is just so cool. He's just so freaking cool. Of course the origin of him is a bummer and the story of Burning Godzilla is sad, but he just looks so awesome. From his pulsing lights to his intense power ups he keeps getting throughout the movie, Burning Godzilla is too awesome. The only bummer of Burning Godzilla is watching him die. It's really sad and hard to watch the biggest and most iconic monster of all time die in such a really sad and horrifying fashion. Honestly, the only downside of the movie is that it's sad. But even then isn't a true flaw because it ends with Godzilla being reborn in Godzilla Junior. It's a sad ending, but it's a beautiful ending to this series and movie.
Simply, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is the absolute peak of the second series. They really ended it right. With the best effects up this date and the best monster designs of all time to this point, it's only made better by a brilliant score and awesome human story and cast. This is one of THE movies to watch. To put it lightly, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is incredible. Watch it.

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Tomorrow we're beginning another trilogy with the Rebirth of Mothra. Honestly, I'm just trying to delay watching TriStar's Godzilla. But these also do introduce new monsters, so, I consider them necessary watches. So, come back tomorrow for the Rebirth of Mothra!