Atragon - Watered Down

Can I just never be excited? Is that just never allowed? I think so. 'Cause outside of Mothra, whenever I'm excited to watch a movie for the first time in this series, I just leave upset. So, guess what happened this time? If your answer is "You were excited to watch Atragon for the first time and you were looking forward to it hoping it would be another hidden gem, but instead you watched an uninspired mess of a movie that is in general not recommended," then hooray! Your guess is 100% correct!

Strange occurrences plague Japan! Rogue taxi drivers drive into water with passengers and killing them! What look to be creatures are appearing from the deep! The ancient Kingdom of Mu has returned to the surface after years underwater and is back to let the world know they are back for good and ready to reclaim the Earth as their original home that they occupied. It's either submit or face their god Manda! Who will win? Humanity or the underwater empire?!

Alright, so, I'm not gonna beat around the bush: this one is bad. So, before I really dive into why, let's discuss the very minimal positives. Starting with costume and set design! The Muans are a big highlight in this movie from the design perspective. We all kind of have ideas of the wear and attire of places like Atlantis and supposed lost continents and cities, and the look the Muans have in Atragon is pretty dang good. We don't exactly get to spend as much time underwater as I would have liked, but what we see is really cool. Some pretty solid wigs, costumes and details in the background, everything revolving around the look of the Muans is pretty perfect. And there's even more I don't have screencapped here that's fun to look at. 'Cause despite looking super ancient and living underwater, they're super advanced. They actually say that straight up in this movie that living underwater they established such incredible technology that they INVENTED THEIR OWN SUN. I'm not going to question the physics considering the series I'm dealing with, but it's pretty dang good stuff. The Muans are a pretty dang cool society to watch. Well, that is, they are MOSTLY fun to watch. Because there are a lot of problems with this movie and unfortunately, the Muans are certainly one of them.



Atragon has a lot of problems, but since it'd be exhausting to talk about them all in detail, I'm going to try to be succinct. So, first and foremost, outside of costume and set design, the Muans are bad antagonists. They're really nothing but talk. I mean, almost literally. Oh, in the end of the movie they make one attack on the surface world, but before that, they just send tapes to the surface basically being like "We're the Muans, be afraid!" But when you're just told be afraid without anything to back it up, you get absolutely nothing. They just kind of do nothing in the bottom of the ocean and expect you to be scared. A reason that Godzilla and all the other monsters work as antagonists in their movies is because they initially demonstrate their power. Godzilla sank ships. Rodan ate the entire focus of the first act. The Muans just kind of bow all day and then say they're big and scary. They're TERRIBLE as any kind of villain or antagonist. Another character who suffers from this bad villainy is Manda. Manda is hyped up A LOT in the first two thirds of the movie, so when he does show up at around 20 or 30 minutes before the movie is over, he's clearly an afterthought. He barely gets any screentime and is killed in the most pathetic way possible, being frozen to death and just kind of abandoned next to the Muan city. Everything about the Muans that isn't costume and set suffers!

The bigger problem of Atragon however is that it is an absolute SNORE and it has no idea what it wants to do with itself. Nothing even remotely interesting happens in this movie for a really long time. There is a fight on a beach as a bunch of Muans rise out of the ocean at one point. It isn't scary, it isn't threatening, it's just another mundane scene where you sit looking at the screen saying "I get it, they're supposed to be the bad guys. So what?" And that so what basically never gets answered. The Muan secret agent gets away and we don't hear from him for awhile until they go underwater for the first time in the whole movie what feels like 20 minutes later. The movie has no idea what it's focused on, because it doesn't even have a real true protagonist. We do get introduced to Hachiro Jinguchi (played by Jun Tazaki), who has an interesting backstory. Abandoning the Second World War and refusing to fight for Japan or the world unless it is the Imperial Japan. And he doesn't really develop at all. Yeah, he uses his ship, the Gotengo, to fight the Muans. But it takes so long to introduce him and he's not that likable, that it feels more like filling in dots than properly introducing characters.

The BIGGEST problem with the movie overall is it doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to be a commentary on war? If so, it's not a very good one. Does it basically want to be an alien invader film underwater? Sure, it kinda does that. It's sloppy, poorly made, and in no way threatening. Does it want to be a big budget monster movie like Toho's other classics? Well, clearly no. Atragon has no focus, no strong characters to follow, and no reason to keep watching. This movie is, in my opinion, the most flawed one we've watch so far. If you can find something you can enjoy out of it, I'm happy for you. As for me, I got nothing. My sole positive however is this: I know it won't be the worst movie we watch. That will come in a little while.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tomorrow is an absolute delight, and I really am glad to finish up this review so I can get right into tomorrow. Alright, I can't hide my excitement anymore: TOMORROW IS MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA! 

King Kong vs. Godzilla - Terrific Titans Tussle

It's amazing to say in just a year that we're finally getting a remake of this legendary battle. But I'm just glad it ever happened at all. These days, crossovers seem to be the norm. Avengers: Infinity War, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Batman vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, crossovers are now a commonality. It only makes sense, really. You take two proven formulas, mash 'em together, and usually the result is pretty dang good. But when it was hard for companies to agree and for getting two franchises to collide, it was an event when it did happen. But in the times when it did happen, it was special. And this movie here is a special crossover. It only makes sense. Two giant monsters duking it out is a formula always has and always will work. Hell, giant monsters as a formula work. From the original brontosaurus outbreak in the Lost World, we love seeing monsters run amuck. So when you take the two greatest giant monsters of all the time, what do you get? You get King Kong vs. Godzilla, and a movie and battle for the ages.

When Mr. Tako, head of Pacific Pharmaceuticals is looking for a method to get more airtime and advertise his company better, he forms a venture to the small Farou Island in hopes of finding a giant gorilla god monster in order to use as a way to advertise his company. But when the monster, Kong escapes and Godzilla is broken free of the iceberg he was locked in since 1955, it's only a matter of time until the King of the East and the King of the West collide in a clash that won't be forgotten.

Let's start right off the bat: this movie is funny. It's really funny. Mr. Tako, played by Ichiro Arishima (pictured left IN GIF FORMAT) in particular is just a riot. Never in my years of watching Godzilla movies do I think I've seen a character this over the top, this stupid and this just, directly idiotic and he is just a joy to watch. His plan to get Kong to be a way to help his company is so ingeniously stupid that it is really a wonder that this tactic to use the monsters for advertisements isn't an angle that's been used enough in other movies. The commentary is right on the nose as well. It's not as, I'd say, ingenious as the commentary and messages of Godzilla, but it's still not bad commentary about how the economic boom and capitalism of modern Japan will made a massive race for everyone to advertise like crazy and do anything to be the company on top. It's very funny and yet really kind of poignant. It's a fun watch.


My favorite part about this movie however is, drum roll please: the monsters! Most especially, the look of Godzilla in this movie is one of his best in the entire series. He looks mean, he looks ready to fight, and he looks LEAGUES better than he did during Godzilla Raids Again. Toho was already planning a return for Godzilla once they acquired the script to this movie, so they made sure they went full out with Godzilla on this one. His atomic breath looks better than ever, I mean, I'd hope so considering it's in color and gains its famous blue look. Godzilla's bigger than Kong and his rampages around are a great bit of fun to watch. The character deserved a fun romp after being on ice for seven years, so seeing him return in such a fantastic fashion is really awesome to see.

Of course I know this is about complimenting the monsters, but, uh, let's talk about Kong in this one. For sure, I do still love Kong. I mean, the monster effects and this movie are great. But, I mean, there's no way around it: Kong looks like garbage. Of course, this is RIGHT after watching his masterful debut, but Kong does not look like he's been having a good time in this movie. He even sees some similar beats to the original, basically going on his story that he went through in King Kong, the main differences being he is from Farou Island, fights a giant octopus over any dinosaurs and gets knocked out by the natives from juice. And then once he's dragged to the mainland, he then goes onshore, rampages, kidnaps a girl, but instead of climbing a huge building, he just climbs on top of the Japanese National Diet Building and gets knocked out with the juice from Farou Island and is sent to fight Godzilla. But also, and this is real important here: KONG HAS MAGICAL ELECTRICITY POWERS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. They set up giant towers outside of Tokyo to ward off the monsters like they did with Godzilla in 1954, and while it wards off Godzilla, IT MAKES KONG MORE POWERFUL. I know this is not the original timeline or anything, but I mean, this was something that seems real stitched into the script and based on the original plan of production for the movie, which you can read about briefly here. This is not what I'd call a perfect adaptation of Kong, not at all. And yet? He's still so much fun to watch! If you go into this movie expecting an amazing depiction of Kong or anything, well, you're just not going to get that. But what you do get from this movie is a lot of really fun action scenes, some really funny human characters who make the movie even more fun to watch, and you get to see the two greatest movie monsters of all time fight.

King Kong vs. Godzilla isn't a perfect movie. It's clear that making it was done fast, and yet it's fun to watch. There's sharp commentary, there's fun characters, and there's a great battle with two of cinema's greatest characters battling it out for superiority. There's not a lot else you could ask for. That is, except for a remake. I like this movie a lot, but it's been 57 years as of writing this. It honestly astounds me it took that long to get it done, but, hey! We now live in a world of crossovers being the norm, so when you have the rights to Godzilla and King Kong in this modern era, there really is only one option: remake it with love for the original, big effects and a budget that's so astronomically high that it can't really be fathomed. I'm really excited for when Godzilla vs. Kong comes out, 'cause if it's as fun as this one, then we'll have just another awesome movie under this series' belt.

And of course, because this is a King Kong vs. Godzilla review, let's talk about the ending. Now, if I may, *cough* *cough*. There never was a double ending, Kong wins.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm excited for tomorrow, 'cause we got one I've never seen before! I've always been a huge fan of Manda, so it's time to see his debut movie: Atragon. So far, Toho's not bad on the debut movies. Except for Varan. That was a mistake. So, let's see how I feel tomorrow after seeing Atragon! 

King Kong - Still a Wonder

I don't think there is a film that has aged as incredibly as the original King Kong. Please don't read this as any kind of picking sides on the Godzilla/Kong matter. I promise it is not. What it is is a simple statement of facts. To quote Marcellus Wallace from Pulp Fiction, film is filled with films and filmmakers that are "Mother****ers who thought their ass would age like wine. If you mean it turns to vinegar, it does. If you mean it gets better with age, it don't." And for many many movies, this rings true. What was a classic to some in the 30s isn't a classic anymore. And what is a classic right now might not be one in the next 20 years. Film, like all forms of art, is a medium that is always changing, and at least hopefully, always getting better. But no matter where film goes and what highs and lows it takes, I can almost guarantee that King Kong will STILL be a masterpiece.

When Carl Denham, an eccentric film director finally finds the lead for his upcoming film, he and his film crew depart for a land lost to time: the mythic Skull Island. When they arrive and talks with the natives of the island turn sour, his lead, Ann Darrow is stolen by the island's ape god: Kong. Now Denham and his crew must venture through the dangerous island in order to get back Ann, and return to New York City with something to show for such a terrifying journey.

Right off the bat, King Kong receives props for its outstanding pacing. Scene to scene, line to line, the film does an amazing job at keeping the viewer intrigued and wanting to watch. It takes a nice chunk of the film for Kong to even be introduced. But even when he does come on screen, the movie was already so interesting that his arrival is close to icing on a cake. And if Kong's the icing on the cake, well, it's a pretty big cake, I can tell you that. Starting in New York, going to Skull Island and coming back, the perfect time is spent in every locale. The film builds and builds in such a fantastic way that it is hard to find any true low points during the entire runtime. The audience is never tense, however. In suspense at times, maybe. But never tense. Unlike Godzilla, Kong isn't a horror monster, neither is this film. So instead of the audience in disbelief at such destruction and horrifying imagery like in Godzilla, they're more so looking at the screen in disbelief at the excitement and with awe as opposed to horror.

Let's talk about the cast. By a leading mile, the most important character in the film is Ann Darrow, played by Fay Wray (portrayed left). Ann is a character that has a lot that needs to get across. First and foremost, she has to be likable. When Kong grabs Ann, the audience has to on edge for what Kong's going to do to this character we've grown to like. So if she's not a likable character, you won't feel anything when she gets kidnapped. Ann really is the character that the film hangs on, and carrying a character must not have been easy. But Wray knocks it out of the park. From her first lines in New York to the intense action she witnesses on the Island, Wray performs the role very honestly, and really earns the title of the first true scream queen. And that is a slight knock on the film, but not on Wray's performance. And while I can see it getting a little irritating how much of Ann's character is made up by her screaming, it didn't bother me all that much, personally. But I can understand some viewers having a plight with this. Regardless, Ann is a character that had to be done right the first time, and I'm glad to see that Wray did the role so well. With the many remakes of Kong that would come in the future, they would all have Ann, or at least their own version of a character like her. And outside of maybe Naomi Watts in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake, Wray is still the best. Now, while Ann is the most important character, the best human character in the movie is definitely Robert Armstrong as Carl Denham (pictured above right). There is so much to talk about with this character, he's just so fascinating. Everything about him just says "You don't want to talk to this guy," but he's a convincing man. He'll lure you into going on a suicide mission to an uncharted island to make HIS movie. He cares so little, and yet he always gets what he wants in the end. He's such a good character, and Armstrong does a fantastic job, and it's fun watching him play a character so dislikable, and yet so convincing.

But, of course, how can we talk about the leads of this film and not mention the main star of the entire production? In his debut to the entire world, Kong shows right off the bat that he would become a character to be remembered for the ages. From his excellent sound design to the masterful work on his special effects, Kong is incredible. Kong isn't a character the audience is scared of like Godzilla, or at least, not as outwardly so. In his debut film, Godzilla is very definitively the antagonist. Running completely counter to the goals and hopes of the main human cast, Godzilla is a monstrous villain who only earns sympathy near the end of the film. Kong on the other hand? The audience is almost always on Kong's side. Even when Kong wipes out most of the crew in the log bridge, he then goes back to doing his Kong business. Kong is to be a rather reclusive character. He just wants to be left alone in his cave and his recently sacrificed bride from the natives. So when it seems that everything seems to get in his way, the audience does feel for him a little bit. "Let him be alone, dammit!' might be a thought that pops into a viewers mind. And Kong earns the audience's love by showing that want to just be alone. And of course by being a grand spectacle, but largely because his motives are clear, and not that unreasonable given his circumstances. Making Kong such an interesting character to watch despite not really existing, only being made of recorded tiger roars and fantastic effects work is a strong testament to how well the film was made in all aspects. And once his story reaches its sad ending, the audience REALLY feels for Kong's plight. Being ripped out of the only life you knew, just to be shot down and unforgiven for your own size and qualities that you were never allowed to control. What a great story.


Now of course, talking about any movie in this genre, but especially King Kong would be a moot point if we didn't give special focus to the effects and everything that went into making the movie so magical. Willis O'brien (pictured right) and his special effects crew just about created the portfolio of a lifetime off of this film alone. From the marvelous stop motion work that still holds up very well today, the backdrops of every scene, creating illusions that made it look as though Kong was interacting with human actors, the work done on this film is monumental. There was so much incredible work done to bring this film to life. Among the many incredible marvels of special effects, my favorite include the life-sized versions of Kong's features. From making a giant sized head of Kong for close-ups of his hilarious grin to a giant hand to hold and interact with Fay Wray and other actors, they're just fun to look at. Well, that is to say, EVERY effect is fun to look at. When you do your research and find the techniques used to make this movie happen, you'll see some incredible stuff. I love everything about the effects work of this film. And while everything about the movie is phenomenal, there really is no way around it: the effects steal the show in this movie.

What more can I add? Nothing. With a movie as old and as famous as this, everything that can be said has been said. And it only makes sense. This movie still has its legacy for a reason. It is a very very good film. From fantastic performances to effects that still stand the test of time to music, a story and action beats that are simple yet iconic enough for anyone to recognize, this film will always be eternally loved. When the curtains close and all the theaters of the world are gone, everyone will still remember the image of a gorilla atop the Empire State Building, showing the world his might. This movie is wonderful, always has been, always will be, and I'm so happy that it's as recognized as it is.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, tomorrow's gonna be a blast. You know what time it is. That's right. With our two contestants entering the ring, tomorrow is a battle of East and West, Land vs Sea, Fire vs Electricity (for some reason)! Tomorrow, we're watching the legendary monster mash: KING KONG VS. GODZILLA! 

Gorath - Melancholia Before Melancholia Was Melancholia

Alright, not gonna lie, this one probably shouldn't be in this series at all. I mean, it's not gonna have any kind of importance or significance for a long time. And by a long time, I mean this movie isn't going to have any kind of importance or significance to this series until about a week before King of the Monsters comes out. But, I wanted to give every monster and every fun little detail of this series the attention it deserves and show everything in its most prominent appearance and/or role. So with that in mind, let's talk about Gorath.

A giant rogue star claimed the lives of the spaceship JX-1 Hawk, and it has its sights set on about about 4,000,000,000 more, as it is on a course straight for Earth. Stuck between doing the impossible and the end of the world, it's time for humanity to come together, find a way to movie heaven and hell, and save all life on planet Earth from extinction.

Alright, so, this one is kind of hard to talk about, not gonna lie. On one hand, it's got some pretty enjoyable and really high quality stuff. But, it's kind of like the Mysterians. It's got some good and really solid ideas cooking, but it hasn't quite perfected the recipe. It's still like the Mysterians comparison continues however, in that though it does make some decently odd choices, it doesn't overall ruin the film or make it something I wouldn't recommend.

Let's start with the star (PUN VERY MUCH INTENDED) of the whole movie: Gorath itself. This is probably the most active inanimate object you're ever gonna see. I mean, it's the antagonist of a movie and it's not actively seeking to destroy Earth. It's not even forcing itself to drift throughout outer space like it is. It's just drifting aimlessly through outer space, and we just happen to be in its way. But for such an inactive antagonist, this thing is super intimidating. I mean, it kind of goes without saying. A giant celestial body headed towards Earth, it doesn't matter the quality of the film at that point. You're already dealing with a concept and antagonist that's gonna get under your audience's skin just by thinking about it. And yet despite already being a pretty serious thing to think about and deal with, its execution in this movie is pretty fantastically done. Gorath's blood red color scheme makes you look at it and you're basically already thinking it's a menace. And then the first thing it does in the entire movie is kill an entire crew of astronauts. So already you're kind of thinking "Oh, so we're getting serious, huh?" And then it just keeps getting more serious. The farther Gorath travels and the more matter it hits, the bigger it gets and becomes literally more and more inescapable. The math shifts throughout the movie and becomes a possible miss into something that humanity has to really actively work against in order to have even a slight chance of surviving. It even takes out the Moon once it hits Earth. Gorath is just a menace, and it's really interesting seeing it approach Earth, because we actually get to see entire cities get destroyed without a monster causing the damage. Well, sort of. Alright, I mentioned early on that this movie makes some WEIRD choices, so I think it's time to start diving into some of them. Let's begin with a contradiction to saying it's interesting not seeing a monster this time around.


Despite this movie being about Gorath and its dance of death with Earth, the movie really abruptly throws a monster into the fray: Maguma. Yeah, this must have come out of nowhere, huh? At first you were reading a review about a sci-fi disaster movie, and out of nowhere, BOOM, it's time to start talking about a giant walrus monster that is actually not a walrus. I'm making none of this up, by the way. Maguma is supposedly a giant prehistoric lizard, even though it clearly is based off of a walrus. It's a weird inclusion into the film, being thrown in completely out of left field, with the only approximation of an explanation being that the plan to build rockets in the Antarctic to help Earth escape Gorath's path woke it up. It never gets a proper explanation, it never even gets named. Maguma is shoehorned into this movie, pulling a lot of focus away from the central story and antagonist at hand for a sidequest that lasts all of about five minutes. It's really distracting and out of place and removes a lot of tension from what's really important and actually going on.

However, I do feel like a big downside with the movie is the cast. Usually Ishiro Honda was able to get out a lot out of actors, even if the script wasn't amazing. But this seems to be the exception, I think. With the fate of the entire world at stake, I just don't think people give enough thought with their performances or give enough to the screen. Earlier I mentioned that in the film, the Moon is hit by Gorath. And, that's it. The Moon is gone. That's not a tiny thing. Now, of course. With the approach of Gorath and of course the Moon being officially dead, we do see the immediate destruction. But what you don't see is even a glance from the people of Earth at this. Now, of course, some of that is either it was filmed or wanting to get right to the scene of the destruction on Earth. Which, okay, whatever. I understand. But that's not a light thing that can just be skipped over. So when it does, I felt like I got cheated out of seeing some very genuine emotion and shock from the people of Earth that I feel would have added a lot to the film. On a positive side for the acting however is Akira Kubo (pictured above right in Destroy All Monsters) as Tetsuo Kanai. Kubo is a rather underrated member of the Toho backlog of actors, I find. As a kaiju film actor, his filmography is a mixed bag that I'll bring attention to later, but he always does a great job. He definitely does a great job here in Gorath as well. When you first meet Kanai, it's clear that he's not a character that's ready to face anything in outer space, let alone the apocalypse. He futzes about in an anti-gravity chamber, basically steals a helicopter early on to tell a higher up to let him go on the mission to see Gorath, and even tells one of the women mourning from the JX-1 Hawk mission to basically get over it and move on from the tragic and sudden death in her life. When he does venture into space and goes on a one man mission to see Gorath and almost dies, he basically forgets his entire life and traumatized from the inevitable suffers from amnesia. Only when he returns home to a still alive Earth does he return back to normal. It's an interesting arc, and not one I would have written, but seeing a man being humbled from facing mortality on such a grand scale is really fascinating to watch. Another performance I want to give some props to is Jun Tazaki (pictured above left) as Captain Raizo Sonoda. Captain Sonoda is the leader of the ill fated JX-1 Hawk mission that was killed by the star. Despite being in the film briefly, he stars in an amazing scene. Telling his crew that though they're about to die, they have to let the message of the oncoming trouble reach Earth and to accept their death, but know they're dying for a good cause. As he and his men day saying hoorah, they are absorbed into Gorath and die. His final speech actually makes me think about Theodeon's speech at the Battle of Minas Tirith in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. But instead of chanting "DEATH!", he and his men simply say "Hoorah!" as they accept the inevitable. It's a stirring image, and one I'm happy to say was in the movie. Though I did say I had a gripe with the performances, there's no way around it: the acting and direction on the opening of the film was incredible.


Before I completely close the page on this review however, I do want to give a very special mention to the man behind the music of this movie: Akira Ifukube. Ifukube composed a lot of the music for the Toho films of the late 20th century, in particular with this series of films. And while he especially deserves mention with his work on films like Godzilla, Mothra and even Varan, his work on the opening title of Gorath alone is just masterful. While I do feel that the movie itself wasn't as dire as it needed to feel, the music composed for Gorath does deliver on that front. You can find the title theme located right here, as well as a compilation of many of his works on other films. Ifukube's music was a very defining part on many of these films. I literally cannot imagine a single on of these films without his masterful composing. Of course, any great composer would make any great movie even better. But these movies would not be as great as they are without him. Literally! (On a bit of a side note, he also created Godzilla's roar and the sound of his stomps in the first film. From him getting creative with using a double bass and a leather glove to knocking over a Toho amplifier, he helped make more sound in these movies than just the music he was instrumental (pun intended) to the making of these movies. Here's looking forward to hearing Bear McCreary's renditions of some of his music in King of the Monsters!)

Overall, Gorath, while by no means a bad film just isn't a great one. It has some very strong components. The star itself in particular being a sinister force of nature, driving the whole movie and every action of its cast. The special effects and destruction that show a new take and spin on the standard city destruction effects. Two very memorable performances no matter how brief they are, and a very impressive score by one of the masters of the 20th Century. And while those aspects are fantastic, some of the stranger choices like Maguma do hold the film back from achieving a status like that of Godzilla and even Rodan or Mothra. Gorath is a great movie to watch if you have an hour and a half to kill. It's just not a film I'd prioritize as much as some of the ones we have coming up shortly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that was longer than I was expecting. Thanks for sticking along! Tomorrow, we're gonna take some time to look back at one of the classics. And by that, I mean one of the all time classics! Not of the kaiju genre, but of all cinema history! Tomorrow, we're taking a journey to a strange land called Skull Island, to meet the Eighth Wonder of the World, as we look at the 1933 classic: KING KONG! 

For those asking why we're looking at King Kong now, it's important to note that my original plan was to review King Kong first, actually. But since this is a marathon about Godzilla and Toho's classics, I felt like that'd be a bit of a disservice. But, I felt it was necessary to include it considering what's coming after it, and because Kong is gonna make a few appearances in the future. I just wanted to give his character the proper introduction, which I felt this was the right way to introduce him. Regardless, come back tomorrow for King Kong!

Mothra - Lepidopterophobia

So, I think I can say we're back on the right track today. We've honestly been kind of off to a rough start with this marathon so far, but it has been very fun. At the very least so far, we've watched two really great movies and everything else has just been kind of a mixed bag. Well, I'm really happy to say that after today, we officially got THREE good movies on our watched list so far, as today we talk about Mothra!

Infant Island is a mysterious land; despite being continually devastated by nuclear weapons test from Rolisica, a crew who returns after being shipwrecked on Infant Island is completely free of radiation. A joint effort of Rolisican and Japanese scientists goes to the strange land and finds two twin fairies, the guardians of the Island who beg for no more nuclear tests. But as a greedy scientist kidnaps them, Mothra hatches from her egg and is headed to Japan to get her fairies back to Infant Island by any means necessary.

Mothra was a joy to watch. A lot of the movies in this series so far have been understandably darker than one might expect, though I already knew that'd be the case. But Mothra however is a lot more lighthearted than all of the other movies put together. This is the point in the series when Toho stopped trying to actively make the movies for a more mature audience, instead realizing that if they appealed to younger viewers, that their films would be more profitable. And that really works in Mothra's favor. Mothra is one of VERY few kaiju that is purely good. She only causes destruction when it is necessary or being mind controlled, and only does what is needed so she can be with her fairies. So it only makes sense this one would feel more lighthearted. Mothra isn't Godzilla. I mean, duh, but what I mean is that Godzilla just kind of does what Godzilla does. He's a true neutral character. Mothra however is lawful good. She literally only does bad things if she is forced into that position. If this movie was as dark as Godzilla or Rodan, it just wouldn't work. So, I'm really glad they saved the tone for Mothra.


This more optimistic tone starts with the human cast. My favorite character in the movie is Frankie Sakai (pictured left) as Senichiro Fukuda. He works for a newspaper and is ready and willing to do anything to get his story. And I do mean anything. Sneak onto a boat intended only for scientists, get into a fight with men bigger than him, chase a mouse (yeah, it's brief, but it does happen), he is a tenacious  and he's really enjoyable to watch. Honestly, all the people are. But he was the main highlight for me. I also didn't know the movie was actively going to try being funny. I mean, it only makes sense. Sakai was on a career high when Mothra came out, basically being the biggest comedian in Japan at the time. So, it'd only make sense he'd bring his comedic talents to Toho films eventually. And he really does a great job here, being just funny enough to make you laugh, but still knowing when to play it serious and be able to play it honestly. Of course, I have to mention the Shobijin Fairies, played by Emi and Yumi Ito (pictured lower left). At this time, the two sisters were part of their singing duo, the Peanuts, and so it was definitely a blessing that they could add their talents to the movie. Despite not being actresses by trade, they do a really great job. It helps that they get plenty of time to sing in the movie, which, the music is great by the way. But when they aren't singing, they show exactly what they need to show and play every scene exactly how it needs to be played. Another stand out performance is the main villain of the film, Frank Nelson, played by Jerry Ito (pictured top right). He is a REAL scumbag. He's the king of guy who clearly didn't listen to his parents when he was little, because he is willing to do anything for a quick buck. He is the "scientist" who actually kidnaps the Fairies. I put scientist in air quotes because he doesn't even have a clear backstory, he has know real history and is basically under the radar. So when he does show up here, it's clear that he's here to do bad and feel great doing it. Ito wouldn't appear in anymore films in the Toho's kaiju series (partially because Nelson straight up gets shot to death at the end of the movie), which is a real shame, especially because his absolutely nasty looking face would make any villain of this series more detestable.

This movie's got a lot of really memorable scenes too that I really enjoy. My favorite has got to be when the Shobijin first sing. Nelson kidnaps the two in hopes of making them to be showbiz girls, putting them in fancy dresses and making them sing in front of sold out crowds every single night. But of course he's such a dimwit that he really doesn't get that what he's doing is causing more destruction. When the Shobijin first sing, they sing the famous Mothra song, which you can hear here. While all Nelson sees is the two girls doing their job and singing, Senchiro hears them singing for Mothra and knows that they're in for trouble. They aren't singing for a show; they're singing for help from their sacred moth protector. Mothra also is pretty awesome in this movie. Mothra as a larva just runs everything over, and it's pretty entertaining to watch. She slams through boats, swims through fire, runs over tanks, breaks dams, so on and so forth. The Shobijin warn the humans early on that Mothra can and will do anything to see them returned safely to Infant Island, so when we at last see Mothra reigning destruction, it's really fun to watch, because you just stare and the see the Shobijin weren't joking around at all. And once Mothra grows into the full Imago stage, it is a pretty awesome sight, especially 'cause we get to see even more fun destruction. Mothra really gives us the business in this movie, and it's awesome to see. Because despite being a normally peaceful and nice monster, Mothra still is a giant titan. And she makes her time on screen very much enjoyed. You also gotta praise the effects work in the movie too. Mothra's two distinct forms took a lot of work to make happen, both versions kick just as much butt on screen as the other. The larva Mothra was operated like a giant Chinese dragon with actors operated the puppet from the inside, walking forward and moving as needed. Apparently this puppet was up to 40 ft. long. I can't imagine how heavy it must have been. The imago Mothra is performed entirely with a puppet, and seeing her devastate cities is awesome. Most Mothra puppets through out the series aren't actually that mobile, but this one is, at some points even tilting and dodging accordingly to dodge missiles. Mothra is a super entertaining monster to watch, and overall, so was the movie.

Mothra was an absolute pleasure to watch. Mothra's always been one of my favorites, but without seeing her debut film, I always felt like a fake fan. But this movie was really enjoyable all around. Some pretty marvelous effects, one of the most standout casts of the entire series, well structured scenes and an excellent score make this really worth it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that was a lot of fun. I'm a bit at odds with myself over tomorrow's film: Gorath. I've always wanted to watch it, and I don't really have a better reason to watch it any other time. But I do still have to ask myself if it really deserves a spot on this marathon. Well, we'll see when we get there. Till then, thank you for reading, and make sure to come back tomorrow!

Varan - the Uninspired

Alright, well, here I was giving Raids Again all the crap in the world, and here I am after watching Varan and I can't help but think I was being really mean. I remember I ended off the review of the Mysterians saying how excited I was to watch this one. This one's always been hard to find for me, so now that I finally had A, the time, and B, a way to watch it (I watched it on Amazon Prime), I was like "Yes! Finally gonna get a chance to watch Varan!" I've always liked Varan as a monster, and I really can't explain why. I mean, aside from this one, he's only in one other movie, and I've already seen it. He was in Godzilla: Unleashed which was pretty cool, but he never really seemed that cool. I really cannot explain why on Godzilla's green earth I've liked Varan so much, but, I just have. And here we are. This movie is 87 minutes I'm not getting back any time soon.

After a search for a newly discovered butterfly species in a remote part of Japan goes awry, an ancient monster, the terrifying Varan is awoken and ready to ransack Japan. Armed with the ability to glide long distances, our humans must work together to kill Varan before he makes his way to Tokyo to devastate the city like Godzilla only a few years prior.

There's no way to beat around the bush on this one: everything about Varan is what Godzilla did except worse in every possible way. Everything down to Varan's roar was really cheaply taken from Godzilla in hopes of lightning striking the same spot twice. Instead what you get is a slow, repetitive mess that is really unbefitting of the general quality kaiju films that Toho produces.

Alright, I'm gonna play it nice and talk about the two things I do like about the movie: first and foremost, the movie actually has a unique setting compared to other films throughout the rest of the series. Set in a very small village in the Northwest region of Japan (which keeps getting referred to as the Tibet of Japan in the movie), the backdrop of the movie is A LOT more rustic and unique than most of the other movies. I mean, the Mysterians had a similar idea, being in a village close to the base of Mount Fuji, but until almost the very end of the movie, it feels a lot more isolated. There's a lot that is good with isolation in film, I mean, just look at Alien and Predator. Now, while of course Varan NEVER escalates to the level of those two classics, it does set it apart and it helps to give it its own identity.

And of course, I like Varan himself. I feel like you have to work REALLY hard for me to not like your movie monster,  but, hey. Some movies still don't make me like the monster. Varan doesn't exactly do a lot in this movie, honestly. Which is odd 'cause he's actually in a lot of this movie, but it's really nothing about what he does in the movie, because I do mean it. He really doesn't do a lot in the movie. But I like his look, I like his roar, I like his whacky ability of gliding. I mean, it comes out of nowhere in the movie, which earns bonus points for me, because it almost makes me think of the first Gamera movie, honestly. But he's just a cool enough monster to stand out on his own. I just wish he got a better movie to show that off in.

Now, let's get into literally everything else about the movie. Yeah, this is a bad one. When I say literally, I do mean literally. Let's start with the fact that this movie is does not know when to show something at the right time. It starts VERY similarly to Godzilla, to the point that it is basically them ripping off their own movie. The main difference here being that you first hear Varan roar like 10 minutes into the movie. And then 10 minutes later, he's fully revealed on screen. There is no time for patience in this movie. There is a difference between show don't tell and letting there actually be build up. Godzilla and Rodan did this masterfully, revealing everything that needed to be revealed at an excellent pace, building tension, revealing the monsters, and then letting it hit the fan. Meanwhile, Varan appears so early and so often in this movie that he really isn't that interesting or scary. He just kinda comes off in this movie as kind of a nuisance, which I think is really not acceptable for a movie from Toho. The movie wants really bad to be exactly like Godzilla, but after watching these two so closely together, I kind of have to wonder if they saw Godzilla in the first place. There is an art to tension and making your audience feel nervous. This movie doesn't do that. This movie is so obsessed with trying to be Godzilla that throughout the entire final confrontation with Varan in Tokyo Bay, they use a metric ton of stock footage from Godzilla. From the jets shooting rockets to the artillery guns firing at the monsters, even a shot of very clearly Godzilla's tail slamming into a building. It's already very poorly edited to boot, using the same shot like jets flying towards Varan three times in a row and cut that they the clips don't even finish, it just becomes embarrassing.

But by far the biggest single issue with this movie is the people. Oh my God, the people in this movie are really bad. There's a lot more running around and shouting for other people in this movie than there is running away from monsters in fear. The people in this movie don't even really have anything memorable about them outside of just being really stupid and irritating. I've been pretty good at remembering names and such for this series, partially because I keep notes, but also because the actors and characters that stick out, they really deserve that mention, so I make sure I go out of my way to mention them. I got one ACTOR, not CHARACTER, that I can genuinely name: Akihiko Hirata. I tell you, during the Showa era of films, this guy was one of Toho's young studs and he did a pretty serviceable job with some terrible material. Everyone else fairs terribly, however. They have a Dr. Yamane stand in in this movie, and he's boring and he looks like he's going to fall asleep. And most of the time people are running around the jungle looking for some other unimportant person shouting their name WAY out in the open like it's a freakin' Jurassic Park movie. This movie doesn't feel like it cares about its genre, the genre that the studio that made it almost ALMOST (don't worry, we'll get into it later), created. It's just embarrassing.

In conclusion: Yeah. This is a bad one. Normally with bad movies in this series, I can write them off as being enjoyably cheesy. I WISH there was even a hint of cheesiness in this movie. All it comes off as is just a movie that you'd find yourself waking up to when you fell asleep watching a movie marathon on TV. Shameless stock footage, some really boring use of the monster an absolutely TERRIBLY written script and TERRIBLY assembled cast in general came together to form a movie that I can undoubtedly say will be in the bottom five once this series is done. Thank you, and GOOD NIGHT.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, this one was a bummer, not gonna lie. But, I'm still going strong. Tomorrow is looking to be REASONABLY excited, however. Up to bat tomorrow is Mothra. Mothra is another one of my favorite giant monsters, but, like Varan, I've never actually seen her debut film. So, here's hoping we watch a nice exciting movie tomorrow.

The Mysterians - Playing with Space Toys

Oh, the Space Race. That fascinating measuring contest of world history where the USA and USSR said "Oh yeah, well I can do this!" Over and over and over and over again until we stopped caring and then started caring again years later. Outer space is always going to be one of those crazy things about being alive that's always fun, yet kind of intimidating to talk about. I mean, we only truly understand out own cosmic neighborhood, and even then we're never gonna be able to physically stand on a lot of the planets in our Solar System. We really don't know what's going to be beyond our own area of space except for a small amount of things that aren't going to matter in our own lifetime. Space is fascinating, and it is always is going to be. And Toho of course wanted to get their own cut of the outer space sci fi phenomenon. The 50's were an amazing time for science fiction, and it seemed like alien invader movies were EVERYWHERE, especially in the US. The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, the Thing from Another World, War of the Worlds, the list goes on and on. Tin foil hats were abound and according to filmmakers of the time, it was a matter of minutes before an alien threat came out of nowhere and decided it was time to invade. And Toho's take on the genre is today's movie: the Mysterians.

In the Mysterians, an alien race from the planet Mysteroid have established a base of operations and are on their way to Planet Earth. After demonstrating impressive weaponry at hand with the robot under their control, Moguera, the Mysterians make an ultimatum: give them land and women to reestablish their species, or soon suffer their wrath and increasing power. When humanity refuses, it is now an all out war between the Mysterians advanced technology and the newly formed Earth Defense Force to see who will be the ones to inherit the Earth.

As much as I'd want to praise and be a fan of the Mysterians, it's kind of difficult. I usually like talking about stuff I enjoy in a movie, but this one I find a little harder to enjoy. I do like some of the effects work, that's for sure. But for every effect that's great, it gets muddied by something that's really really bad. Take for example, Moguera. I'm not gonna sit here and lie and say Moguera deserves recognition on par with Godzilla or Rodan. I mean, it doesn't. It's not even the true star of the show. It's just another weapon for the Mysterians to use and attempt to show their might and power. And for that explicit purpose, Moguera doesn't do a bad job. He might look a tad bit silly, but it's still bigger than a lot of other Showa monsters and can even shoot lasers out of his eyes. Because that's just awesome. But, then it gets muddied, like most of the effects due in this movie. You might want to actually look and Moguera and be exciting, because the action really is pretty well directed. But the problem is that Moguera is IRRITATING and never stops making the same exact sound while on screen. I'm not joking. Whenever Moguera is on screen or even nearby in some parts of the movie, he is always beeping. Really obnoxiously beeping. It really pulls away from what's going on on screen when people are running away in terror, tanks are firing missiles and the whole screen is filled with chaos and all you keep hearing is BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP and then it stops because it cuts away and then BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. I actually got happy when Moguera got destroyed, not like with Godzilla and Rodan because the scary threat was taken care and the day was saved, but because the irritating beeping was over. If you want to hear it, the link is right here for you to "enjoy.". I'm not exaggerating. I really do wish I was though.

Eventually, I'm gonna have to talk about them: the Mysterians themselves. Yet again, a good idea and/or concept gets muddied because of not great execution. The Mysterians honestly are a pretty serious lot. They're mutated from nuclear war and 80% of them are born disfigured and scarred from the war they brought upon themselves. The remaining 20% have to live in suits to stay alive and have to live in cold temperatures in order to stay alive. That's a pretty honest and serious backstory, and it only makes sense that Toho would be the ones to make a film about the isolated aliens mutated and scarred by atomic warfare. But for such a serious topic and group of people, their costumes are UNBELIEVABLY cheesy. Now, of course, this was years about 20 years before Darth Vader ever walked onto screen, so we have to lower the expectations for what a life support spacesuit is gonna look like, but I mean, come on. This is pushing the line of silliness even for me. And I'm the guy going out of his way to watch and be okay with some ridiculously cheesy movies. They aren't acted terribly, it's just hard to take seriously.


I don't think the Mysterians knows the kind of movie it's going for. It's not actively trying to be funny, that is for sure, and yet you will inevitably look at a lot of things in this movie and you can't help but laugh. The alien invader genre was pretty well established in 1957, so what it needed was something new. We've seen all the ideas at this point, so trying to make a new one was always going to be tricky. But even despite its goofy nature, I can't say I hate the Mysterians. It makes a lot of odd choices and isn't going down as a classic, but it's not a bad movie by any means. It's just an odd one. If you want a quick watch to pass the time, I say go fot it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, four movies in, and I'm genuinely very excited! That's because, well, tomorrow's actually a movie I haven't seen yet: Varan. Despite being a monster I like and have been well aware of because of his appearances in the IDW Godzilla comics and his appearance in Godzilla: Unleashed, I've never yet actually seen Varan's debut film. So, make sure to come back tomorrow as we watch Varan, also known as Varan, the Unbelievable!