#Rebirth of Mothra movies go hard

[fairylightsandthings]

I'm not going to apologize for the media parkour or emotional whiplash of my reblogs. The tism is tisming for multiple things at once.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (January 7-13, 2024)

Hard to talk about the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters finale without spoilers, so if you haven't watched it yet, skip ahead to the next item. No flashbacks this time (time dilation aside), just our surviving heroes finally all on the same page to solve a seemingly impossible problem. The momentous reunion between Lee and Keiko got the space it deserved, although I was a touch disappointed that the obvious budding romance between Cate and May got shortchanged. And of course we finally got our first kaiju fight of the series, with Godzilla dispatching the Ion Dragon in a quick but ferocious battle. Fun to see this version of the character take on a low-stakes, low-power challenger for a change. I am routinely frustrated by TV seasons ending on cliffhangers (some of which are then never resolved), but they managed to conclude this season's storyline while setting up the next one, should they have the chance to tell it. Good to have some payoff to the Apex episode earlier in the series. I'm wondering if the series is planning to pivot to Kong now. Since Godzilla: King of the Monsters still hasn't happened yet, the Big G still can't make any public appearances without breaking continuity, which is quite the writing complication.

@bog-o-bones has blessed us with an excellent feature-length video essay on the history of the kaiju genre. Even for a walking encyclopedia like me, it was fun to have it all laid out so cleanly—the way the three genre pillars of Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman rise and fall in popularity, never entirely in sync and consequently keeping us steadily entertained over the decades. So many narratives about the genre in print are decades out of date and/or act like barely anything past the sixties was worth making. This one's up-to-the-minute and gives the seismic influence of films like Cloverfield and Pacific Rim their due. I have my quibbles (last-minute re-records accidentally omitted GAMERA -Rebirth-; the original Mothra deserved more attention), but I acknowledge the amount of works covered here is staggering and every fan would tell this story a little bit differently. Highly recommended.

IDW's biggest Godzilla comic ever is coming in May, a one-shot anthology called Godzilla: 70th Anniversary. It'll have nine stories over 100 pages, with the writers including Joëlle Jones, Michael W. Conrad, Matt Frank, James Stokoe, Adam Gorham, and Dan DiDio. (Some of these folks will presumably be illustrating their comics as well.) The solicitation doesn't offer many plot hints, given that scope: "From the American Old West to modern Tokyo and beyond, this collection features stories of the King of the Monsters fighting with its allies like Mothra, against old enemies like the terrible Mechagodzilla, and reshaping the lives of all who fall in its path!" I'm surprised they're not waiting until November—hopefully it doesn't get delayed into November.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will now release in the U.S. two weeks early—March 29. It's taking the place of Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17, which is now undated. I can hardly complain about being able to see it earlier, though the move comes with some risk, as it's now opening the week after Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

SRS Cinema has opened preorders for their Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo Blu-ray. Or is it Yuzo: The Biggest Battle on Tokyo? That's what the product page says, but on the cover the title's unchanged. Oh, SRS. Anyway, bonus features are scant: just trailers and something called "A Brief Introduction To Ishii Yoshikazu."

Here's the teaser trailer for Volcanodon, a short film from Taiwan's Creator Union of Tokusatsu. They're aiming to have it uploaded to YouTube sometime this year, and I'll happily watch it. Obviously low-budget, but it's well-shot and it's nice to see a kaiju movie outside of Japan go all-in on practical effects.

[princecharmingtobe]

And now that that nerdy thought’s out of the way, my thoughts on the movie that nobody asked for!

below the cut for spoilers

I admit I know fuck all about Godzilla, his history, the lore, etc. I know the most about Mothra just because I looked her up the other night cause I couldn’t figure out if she was good or bad (she’s a good girl and I love her). 

And going in with that non-existent knowledge, I really liked it! I thought it was going to be Boring Human Stuff and Cool Monster Fights but I actually ended up caring about some of the human stuff, a little, and cried when the old man died (don’t ask me any names I don’t remember). I knew he was gonna die from the start because I’ve... seen movies before. He’s the wise old mentor, of course he’s going to die sacrificing himself for the younger characters. That’s what wise old men old do in movies. But even knowing it was coming it was still a very emotional moment for me, and I loooved him getting to actually touch Godzilla and wish him goodbye, and call him friend T^T

I also cried at Mothra’s death, even though I knew she would die (it’s kind of what she does apparently). And it was SO SWEET seeing her climb on top of an injured Godzilla and challenge Ghidorah to protect him! <3 I ship it so hard. The King and Queen of Monsters <3 And I think there was a news headline in the end credits that implied she would be reborn, which I think I understand is also kind of what she does. My lovely moth goddess of rebirth <3

I also love that Charles Dance’s character basically just existed to 1. Throw us off the trail and 2. Be bitter and sarcastic

I really want more stuff on just... how the world and humanity lives after the movie. I need to find still shots of all those news clippings shown at the end.

Oh, also did not see Ghidorah being an alien coming. Also that was totes Atlantis they found under the water right? I don’t think anyone said it but that was Atlantis right?

[draken049]

SPOILER ALERT FOR GODZILLA: CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE

So I've just watched the second installment of the anime Godzilla series and oh my God...

Not only does this film effectively and smoothly transition from the first into the second, has an entirely fresh feel despite being a direct sequel. The colonists on the expedition ship do take a back seat for the most part but that's cool. It gives us this entire focus on those who survived the destructive tail swipe of Godzilla Earth in which there's two, three groups depending on how you look at it.

The introduction of both Miana and Maina is interesting given that they are in essence, the fairies from previous series in the Godzilla universe. They have these unique markings that just ooze Mothra, even the front of their hair resembles the antennae of Mothra Leo or the small Mothra Fairy seen throughout the Rebirth of Mothra series. The tribe or race, whichever you wanna call them, that is brought up throughout the movie is very Skull Island-esque but they offer much more than the villagers of Skull Island. They effectively communicate through telepathy in verses of a song created by their protector. More will be said in a short while...

The characters are still the same but offer up a great deal of development, especially Haruo who was hell bent on destroying Godzilla in the last film. Now he faces an increasingly hard thought. "Is the plan going to work?" And "Am I a leader that others make me out to be?" These questions, these thoughts, put Haruo in the defensive position throughout the film.

Yuko also shows this admiration to Haruo and you know that those two are destined to be together...if she gets over the jealously of Haruo being around Miana and Maina. Even though Yuko is profoundly human, she does come of as "robotic" once the Bilusaludo get to work on upgrading the mech suits into Vultures. Out of anyone in the movie, Yuko is the one I got to like most, like I was hoping she'd be able to live a future with Haruo on Earth free of disastrous ploys...

Galu-gu and Belu-be are still great characters but there's something oddly Attack On Titanish about them. Before that however, we need to discuss "MechaGodzilla City". This location was the creation of the nanomachines that were used to create MechaGodzilla and the blades/arrow heads of the Houtua. Much like Godzilla, these machines evolved over 20,000 years and created an everlasting, ever working construction plant that's seemingly alive of its own accord. This makes the Bilusaludo filled with eagerness and "joy", knowing that they can kill Godzilla once and for all. What they didn't tell anyone though is that when volunteer saludo's would find it necessary, they enter these pods in which the nanomachines turn the volunteers into solid chunks of the same machines. Galu-gu would reveal that this is their version of "evolution" that they are becoming one with MachaGodzilla. This would be apparent in a discussion between Metphias and Haruo.

Metphias himself still possess this foreboding quality, that he's still somewhat omnipotent and devious. He tells Haruo of what is to come if they were to fully realize the plans of the Bilusaludians. In a sense, he tells Haruo that no matter how they cut it, each race is going to create a Godzilla or a Godzilla like creature out of the plight the comes from them. Metphias foreshadows what and will happen.

Godzilla sadly doesn't make much of an appearance until the last quarter of the film but that's still not a bad thing. You still feel his presence in the world these characters are in. It's even evident that the earth chose Godzilla as its rightful protector/owner/superior life form. The planet and the ecosystem now bows to the monster whom rightfully declared king. When the action does get going between him and MechaGodzilla city, he displays an ever growing might. When you'd think humanity wins, Godzilla is right there to turn everything upside down. Much like with Filius, they trapped Godzilla with the intent of blowing him up the same way as last but instead of blowing up, Godzilla increases his body temperature to the point he is what we all would imagine a Burning Legendary Godzilla would look like. Once he was free of his trap and able to bring his shield up, he laid waste to the MechGodzilla city.

However...in the process when he was increasing his body temperature, there was one way to defeat him. That was by kamikazing the vultures through his body. Haruo wanted to try but the price was the worst possible thing to think of. Inside each vulture were the previously mentioned nanomachines. They were entering and turning Belu-be and Yuko into things of metal which Yuko didn't want. Instead of killing off the king of the monsters, Haruo tries to save Yuko, since he awoke with what looks like pollen seen ln the native at the start of the movie, kills Galu-gu to stop the infection of the nanomachines. Him and Yuko take to an outcropping outside the reaches of the city where he looks upon Yuko, trying to wake her up...only to see liquid metal drip from her eyes as a tear. In the grand scheme of things, it's reminiscent to the first two MechaGodzilla films of the Showa series.

As far as we know...Yuko is dies from the infection of the nanomachines which I certainly hope not. This hit me right in the feels and can only hope that Maina and Miana save her.

Whilst I'm talking about it, I feel like it's time for some fun speculation. While the survivors were conversing with the Houtua, there's constant talk of a sole egg and the death of their protector at the hands of Godzilla. I believe that this implies that protector was Mothra and that one larva remains to become the next of kin. With Ghidorah confirmed, it's possible that we will get to see a new version of both Mothra and Ghidorah in the next installment.

While the film may not be everyone's cup of tea, it still holds up as a strong story with intersting and conflicting characters. Where this movie does run short is the run time. I feel like it would be better as a full 2 hour journey, that way we get more back story with the Houtua or having more time with the twins. Other than that, this entry gets a solid 4/5.

Still holding on hope that they bring Yuko back...

[wazafam]

An instantly recognizable member of Toho's kaiju lineup and a fan favorite overall, Mothra is an aptly-named giant moth that kaiju fans the world over know and love. Across many Godzilla films as well as some solo appearances, Mothra is one of the few kaiju that is always presented as unambiguously good and friendly to mankind. Mothra is a selfless protector of the Earth and a frequent ally of humanity. Her stories typically touch on themes of environmentalism, as well as death and rebirth, making her a welcome addition to any piece of kaiju media.

RELATED: Godzilla: The 10 Most Iconic Kaiju, Ranked

Not every Mothra movie is created equal, however, and, across the many films in which she has appeared, there emerges a fairly clear hierarchy of the best movies that star or guest star everyone's favorite giant flying insect.

10 Rebirth Of Mothra II (1997)

Arguably the weakest of the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, a series of solo films marketed with younger audiences in mind, Rebirth of Mothra II succumbs to a number of pitfalls that make it a lackluster kaiju movie overall. Most of the film's human elements are taken up by children running around a sunken temple with somewhat unclear goals, which doesn't do any favors to the pacing.

Although kaiju action has a little too much downtime, there are some downright outrageous abilities Mothra gets access to in this one to keep it interesting. This might not be a great movie overall, but seeing Mothra morph into dozens of tiny Mothras to attack her opponent from within makes some of it worthwhile.

9 Rebirth Of Mothra III (1998)

The final entry in the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy is of middling quality overall; although it leans more heavily into kaiju action and has overall better effects than its predecessor, it still falls short of the original Rebirth movie on account of its less-than-stellar human characters.

King Ghidorah wants to kidnap the children of Japan for some reason, and Mothra has to go back in time to defeat a younger Ghidorah like some kind of kaiju terminator. These plot points are interesting enough in themselves and they set up some great action sequences, but the movie is a bit muddled overall. Generally speaking, the second and third movies in the Rebirth trilogy ought to be reserved for only the most ardent Mothra fans because it's hard to forgive their shortcomings otherwise.

8 Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)

Largely remembered for being the not-as-good sequel to 2002's Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, Tokyo S.O.S. is a movie that features Mothra and her fairies attempting to convince the human characters of the film to stop messing around with Mechagodzilla, lest they suffer a terrible fate. Things aren't so simple, though, as Mechagodzilla represents humanity's last line of defense against a renewed Godzilla menace.

RELATED: Mechagodzilla: Every Power The Daikaiju Has

Unfortunately, the movie takes a little bit too long to get going, choosing to reserve the appearance of its monsters for too late in the game. Although things do pick up once the kaiju hit the scene, it's still hard not to feel like it can't quite stack up to its contemporaries, and Mothra's inclusion touches on themes that have been handled better elsewhere.

7 Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2019)

The second Godzilla entry in Legendary's "Monsterverse" is a big-budget kaiju crossover featuring Godzilla himself alongside his legendary rivals King Ghidorah, Rodan, and, of course, Mothra. This film makes a lot of notable changes to Mothra's toolkit; she's notably without her twin fairy escorts and this time opts for two-bladed front legs over lasers.

Reviews of King of the Monsters at the time were sharply critical of the human-centered drama, but they generally praised the realization of several classic Toho monsters, Mothra included. Indeed, the big moth certainly does look great in this movie, and she gets some impressive fight scenes, making this one worth a watch.

6 Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster (1964)

In one of the wackier plots to meet the history of kaiju cinema, this is a movie involving an assassination plot of a political figure, an invading astro-monster, possession by Mothra's fairies, and a spirited kaiju round-table debate with the fate of the human race in the balance. Indeed, with King Ghidorah is set to destroy Earth, Godzilla and Rodan have the power to stop him, but only if Mothra can convince them to work together first.

RELATED: The 15 Best Godzilla Enemies, Ranked

This is one of those movies that really thrusts Mothra into the kaiju peacemaker role that she so often inhabits, and to great effect. Watching her literally mediate an angry argument between Godzilla and Rodan while the fairies translate for the audience is not to be missed, and is certainly a scene that belongs in the hall of fame for kaiju history.

5 Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)

Godzilla vs. Mothra is a confusingly titled remake of sorts of 1964's Mothra vs. Godzilla, and, as such, the movie follows similar plot beats to the original. Greedy businessmen with no respect for the environment pick up a giant egg, Godzilla is upset, Mothra hatches from said egg, etc., etc.

However, there are a couple of twists this movie introduces to keep it feeling fresh for those who have already seen Godzilla and Mothra's inaugural showdown from 1964. There's some fun family drama stuff, featuring an Indiana Jones wannabe trying to reconnect with his daughter while navigating his divorce settlement, and also a "Dark Mothra" that must be defeated. The effects and miniatures in the final battle are impressive as well, making this a diverting kaiju romp.

4 Rebirth Of Mothra (1996)

Without a doubt the best of the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, this film sees a new-and-improved Mothra—read, more lasers—going head to head against Death Ghidorah. The kaiju action here is extremely impressive, with the suits having remarkable ranges of articulation and great built-in pyrotechnics to explode all over the place when one of them gets hit by a beam.

Although the movie starts slowly and leans a bit too heavily into the child-friendly tone of the trilogy, the character drama here is quite effective in its own right, and it's a welcome complement to the battle sequences that populate the second half of the movie.

3 Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Mothra vs. Godzilla is remembered as a kaiju classic from the earlier Toho films of the 60s and 70s, and it certainly is a lot of fun. The plot should be somewhat familiar by this point; a greedy businessman finds a giant egg and plans to use it as a tourist attraction, but this upsets Godzilla, who in turn leads to Mothra hatching from the egg, and a decisive battle.

RELATED: Godzilla VS. Kong: Ranking The Human Characters By Intelligence

Despite Godzilla being in the title, this is still mostly Mothra's movie, although Godzilla does make one of his most iconic entrances in this one, and the human characters happily have quite a bit to do in order to keep the plot moving at a brisk pace. The only thing keeping this film from being truly great is a somewhat lackluster final battle, but it's still a great time overall.

2 Mothra (1961)

Mothra's big-screen debut is still one of her most successful appearances, and it establishes many of the tropes that would be associated with the character going forward. Mothra's fairies are kidnapped from Infant Island to be exploited as tourist attractions, which angers Mothra and invites her destructive wrath.

The cast here is great, as well; there's an outrageously villainous businessman as an antagonist as well as an assortment of likable but dubiously competent protagonists who set out on a quest to return the fairies to Mothra before it's too late.

1 Godzilla, Mothra, And King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

As a longtime fan favorite, GMK is a movie that gleefully upends the typical character roles that kaiju fans had become familiar with across decades of Godzilla material. Godzilla is a villain of pure malice this time around and a serious threat to the continued survival of Japan, and possibly the world! As such, it's up to two familiar monsters to stop him: Mothra and... King Ghidorah?

Featuring eye-popping special effects, outstanding kaiju battles, and a great cast of human characters, GMK is a movie that easily lands itself in the upper echelons of the kaiju film tier list. It's also exciting to see Mothra and Ghidorah team up, as that's not a pairing fans are familiar with.

NEXT: 10 Best Kaiju Movies Like Godzilla vs. Kong

The 10 Best Kaiju Movies Featuring Mothra | ScreenRant from https://ift.tt/3tMF1mj

[recentanimenews]

How Dragon Ball And Godzilla Reinvented Themselves At The Same Time

  Towards the end of its run, the ratings for the original Dragon Ball were lacking. According to Kazuhiko Torishima, who was Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's editor at Weekly Shonen Jump for awhile, it was because the producer for the anime at the time wasn't exactly creating the "serious tone" that Torishima wanted, the tone that had been developing in the manga. At the same time, Toriyama requested that he be able to change Goku's stature. See, for a lot of OG Dragon Ball, he'd had to distort Goku's appearance in order to have him effectively battle opponents that were way bigger than him. So to draw the "serious" battles that Torishima wanted, it made total sense to make Goku super jacked.

  Eventually, the producer was changed, Goku's proportions were altered to make him more bicep-ey, and the seeds for Dragon Ball Z (The new producer said that a new show and new title would bring newly invigorated ratings) were planted. All of this would change what we think of Dragon Ball forever.

    Meanwhile, the producers of the Godzilla series faced a similar problem. Their big return for the King of the Monsters hadn't exactly broken the bank. Despite having "improved" special effects and a darker tone than the films of the late 60s and early 70s, the 1984 Godzilla was nowhere near the grand return that producer Tomoyuki Tanaka had wanted. But he decided to hold a public contest for a story idea for a sequel, focusing on the "monster vs monster" thing that had brought the series so much prior success (Godzilla 1984 had seen the Big G as a solo act.) Eventually, they chose a story by Shinichiro Kobayashi which not only looked at themes of death and bio-technology, but also introduced the terrifying plant crocodile, Biollante. 

  So the story (which became Godzilla vs Biollante) was not only a return to the classic image of Godzilla beating the snot out of another building-sized creature but it also launched an entire new series of Godzilla Vs installments. And though Biollante wouldn't exactly kill it at the box office either, the change was made and a new era of Godzilla truly began. 

    So, aside from both being given a sort of "rebirth" in 1989, what do these two series and their new incarnations have in common? Well, first off, their tones are a sharp change from what came before. Dragon Ball Z, while still funny, doesn't exactly give us a cavalcade of goofy antagonists for Goku. Instead, we're presented with world-ending villains and monsters, creatures whose power is only matched by their malevolence. The tone becomes darker and more desperate, and the fights become drag-out, brutal affairs. For everyone that watched the original Dragon Ball and thought "Gosh, I just wish Goku could have, like, every single one of his bones broken more often," Z was for you. 

  Godzilla adjusted similarly. While there's definitely blood in Godzilla's 1970s output (Director Jun Fukuda was not averse to having Godzilla gush red from the head like a 150-foot-tall Ric Flair), it was countered by the series' continuing attempt to appeal to kids. But here, Godzilla is treated like a serious threat, even when he's just moseying through Japan. He's not evil, nor is he out to get anyone or anything specific. He's just an animal, and his size makes it hard for him to not bring doom wherever he goes.

    I mentioned earlier that the later portions of Dragon Ball saw Goku becoming more swole and the same goes for Godzilla. The new special effects director Koichi Kawakita wanted a more "animalistic" Godzilla, and he definitely got that, at least when it came to Godzilla's appearance. His size was nearly doubled and his head took on a sharper, more reptilian look. This Godzilla does not look like someone that's eager to pal around with children, or other monsters, or, well, anything. 

  With new looks came new focuses in battle. Dragon Ball Z has always been lauded for its intense, hand-to-hand combat, but the number of lasers being fired between combatants increased, too. The new Godzilla series saw a similar increase in lasers, as nearly every new enemy monster had some version of Kamehameha to display. And while this could sometimes be to the series' detriment if you liked the more wrasslin' focused brawls of the 60s and 70s movies, there's something awe-inspiring about Kawakita's ability to display an explosive fight between titanic beasts. 

    Finally, both Dragon Ball Z and the new Godzilla series saw an increase in the amount of transformations. Goku finds himself able to achieve various levels of Super Saiyan, and most of his major villains (Frieza, Cell and Buu all go through various forms, each seemingly stronger than the last) all get bad guy glow-ups.

  Meanwhile, Godzilla's atomic breath gets an upgrade at the end of Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II, and he becomes the meltdown-friendly Burning Godzilla in Godzilla Vs Destoroyah. And Godzilla's villains? Biollante goes from being a big flower to the aforementioned plant crocodile, King Ghidorah goes from a triple threat of tiny, cute Dorats to a more "classic" form to Mecha King Ghidorah, Mothra and Battra each have worm, cocoon, and moth stages, and Desotroyah changes with every act of the film. And that's not even all of them. 

    Overall, both Dragon Ball and Godzilla found a new way to refresh their lead characters and the stories they told with them, creating new fans in the process. And it's hard to imagine Goku without Z, and Godzilla's design in the Heisei series is so iconic that the character is still being promoted with it to this day. So maybe change is for the best. But you know what's also for the best? Adding more lasers. So thank you MOSTLY for that, Dragon Ball and Godzilla. Your genius has been noted.

  Who's your favorite Dragon Ball villain? Who's your favorite monster in the Godzilla series? Let us know in the comments!

    ---------------------------

  Daniel Dockery is a writer and editor for Crunchyroll. You should follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[briangroth27]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Review

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a significant step up from 2014's Godzilla, the first installment in Legendary's kaiju-focused Monsterverse. I thought the pacing of the first movie was too slow, that it had too much focus on the human characters and not nearly enough Godzilla, and I was disappointed in its monster battles where Godzilla and the Muto squared off...after stepping behind a skyscraper. This film fixed the monster problem in a big way and these humans felt like they fit into the plot better, even if there was still something off about them to me. There’s still some room for improvement, but King of the Monsters is a kaiju-sized step in the right direction and it’s absolutely worth seeing for your giant monster fix!

Full Spoilers...

I thought this movie walked the line between Godzilla the horror monster and Godzilla the hero fairly well. I haven't seen much of the original series, but I have seen the first film and the analysis of it I’ve seen from others framing Godzilla as the embodiment of residual radioactive horrors from the United States' bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (as well as later atomic testing) is a sobering take on the character (and my preferred one). There could absolutely be context I'm missing from the movies following that one, but Godzilla as a hero or an indifferent but ultimately positive force feels less important, definitely less relevant, and—especially in a remake made by Americans—could be construed as a whitewash (or at least a conveniently forgetful sidestep) of the atrocities we've committed (though I don’t believe that was the filmmakers’ intention at all). That said, this film does remind us that Godzilla was awakened by atomic testing and the Titans are returning in part because of what humanity has done to the planet. So, that culpability’s kind of still there, but it's not nearly as pointed or hard-hitting and it’s far more generalized into a “we’re all to blame for killing the planet” message instead of “we did something specifically evil and the effects are still wreaking havoc on innocent people.” Regardless, Godzilla's (TJ Storm) reemergence being a truly positive reaction to our negative impact on the planet doesn't entirely work for me: where it fell apart for me was when the movie agreed large numbers of people had to die to save the world. Yes, there is a line when the number of deaths becomes a bad thing to most of the characters, but Godzilla accidentally kills innocents too and the solution is to let more die? This is especially puzzling coming from Vera Farmiga's Dr. Emma Russell, who started her quest to understand the Titans because of the death of her son (Tyler Crumley)...so her resolution, the reason for her son’s death that she was looking for, is that more kids should die so everyone else can live? I can’t connect those dots and I just don’t buy that these huge creatures lumbering around and sometimes fighting is going to result in anything but more death (not every city can be evacuated like Boston was).

While the humans do affect the plot (waking the Titans, saving Godzilla, luring Ghidorah (Jason Liles, Alan Maxson, and Richard Dorton) and the others to Boston), it's weird that humanity has no part to play in the grand scheme of saving the planet, no redemption to earn, no way to out-think our extinction and create a better future for ourselves: we just have to sit back and let the kaiju remake the world. It's certainly daring to let the humans be so inconsequential, but I wonder if treating us like children whose toys are taken away while the "adults" fix everything is the best way forward. It certainly sets things up for a whole new world order that we’ve never seen though! It should definitely be interesting to explore this dynamic in future installments: what does the social structure of the planet look like with the Titans roaming around “in charge?” Unfortunately, the logistics of the Titans saving the Earth falter a bit for me: shouldn't the radiation they give off that rejuvenates the Earth also make those areas uninhabitable for a long time? And/or does it create new, potentially dangerous mutated creatures there? If they hadn't made a big deal out of the radiation in Godzilla's hollow Earth kingdom (which was a cool idea and very well-rendered; that was totally Atlantis, right??), the casual radiation they give off wouldn’t have bothered me since it would've just been part of the movie's pseudo-science. But since they made that level of radiation a thing, I would’ve liked at least a line or two explaining why the rest of it is safe. Godzilla’s atomic breath should also be a problem to anyone in the vicinity, right? Yet no one bothers to mention dangers potentially associated with the near-misses they all have. Oh well; it’s a movie about giant prehistoric monsters and while that’s not a free pass to forego internal consistency, fluctuating radiation levels are not enough to break my suspension of disbelief or my enjoyment.

Reimagining the kaiju in this movie as the ancient Titans is an absolutely clever idea! They definitely feel mythic and the movie does a great job of staging enormous creatures in beautiful surroundings with a lot of scope to craft iconic imagery. Their shared origin was a simple, easy way to tie all these creatures (plus semi-unrelated giant monsters like King Kong) together. The impact of the fights between monsters and the near-inescapable feel of their attacks on humans were visceral moments and these animals truly felt dangerous throughout the movie. The CGI was great and the creature choreography was solid too.  They found a wide variety of landscapes to plunder and spreading the Titans out around the planet was a cool way to truly make this a worldwide phenomenon and global event. While I would've preferred less shaky-cam, those kaiju battles were some seriously crowd-pleasing moments that made seeing this on the big screen worth it. The creatures’ disparate abilities also helped to keep each fight/attack fresh.

Like I said, I think they walk the line between Godzilla as a hero and as a monster pretty well—as reasons to fight the other monsters “to protect us” go, they gave Godzilla good ones—but I didn't need them to essentially make him Jesus, dying and resurrecting to save us all. I did like that they incorporated the way they killed Godzilla in the original movie—an "oxygen destroyer" deployed in the ocean—and Dr. Serizawa’s (Ken Watanabe) sacrifice to bring him back totally worked for that character's devotion and dedication in this version. However, the savior trope didn't land for me and the "Godzilla's gonna explode!" countdown also came off as a little less threatening than it was intended (and that's more radiation that apparently doesn't matter unless you're at ground zero), but it didn’t hurt the final battle for me. Mothra was very cool; she was my favorite kaiju in the movie. Her abilities were the most intriguing (and the ones that would seem to make the most sense to jumpstart the Earth's rebirth, since she also helps stabilize Godzilla) and I was sorry to see her die. I hope that the reports in the credits of another Mothra egg are true, but is it possible Godzilla laid that egg and it's the offspring of the two of them instead (Mothra did rain some sort of energy down on him at one point)? It’s probably a Mothra twin, though, to reflect that bit of the Mothra mythology that’s also represented here by the twin Monarch scientists played by Zhang Ziyi (Doctors Ilene and Ling Chen). Either way, I liked Godzilla and Mothra’s bond/relationship and thought it was totally believable. Ghidorah was suitably imposing and scary; he was a more than worthy opponent for Godzilla and the reveal that he was an alien instead of a native of Earth felt totally natural to the story, so the inclusion of aliens on top of everything else was easy to roll with. I don't need to see him again like the post-credits scene implies, but maybe he'll be rebuilt into a cyborg next time. Rodan (Jason Liles) was cool in short bursts, but ultimately his attacks were limited and I feel like we saw all we need to from him. I was disappointed he survived (it definitely looked like Mothra stabbing his heart killed him!) and Godzilla's glare at the end didn't feel like enough of a reaction to Rodan killing Mothra at all. I would've also liked the other kaiju that show up in Boston to do more than just walk around, even if they didn’t end up fighting Godzilla or Ghidorah, but ultimately their lack of action and involvement didn't hurt those sequences for me.

I wanted more from the humans script-wise and couldn't figure out what was missing at first. I've finally landed on the idea that a lot of them feel like they exist mainly as their plots ("must help Godzilla," "must kill Godzilla," “must save family,” etc.), but I wanted to know more about their lives, hopes, and interests outside of these goals (is there any hope for whatever they wanted to do with their lives in the worlds Emma and Monarch are trying to create?). Kyle Chandler (Dr. Mark Russell), Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, and Millie Bobby Brown (Madison Russell) are all very strong actors and do good work with what they’re given here, but I thought the writing left them all with one big goal that overrode everything else about them (though we see a bit of Mark outside of Monarch). There also wasn’t much room in the writing to explore the character growth they did get as their opinions on the Titans evolved over the course of the film. Things like Emma accepting the death of more kids and (like my sister pointed out) Madison’s concern for her mom at the beginning vs. her going along with the “kidnapping” plan could’ve used more explanation in the script instead of feeling like we’d missed beats to set up plot twists. Perhaps the cool stuff Madison got to do, like going rogue and calming the Titans down via the Orca device while bringing them to a deserted city, could’ve been grounded in a third viewpoint on the “monsters will save us/kill us” discussion to further illuminate her character and tie the struggle to save the planet to real life a little bit more closely. They could’ve framed her as the embodiment of the younger generation, looking at the options offered by the adults and finding a new way forward that didn’t involve killing the Titans or handing the planet over to them; maybe they could’ve worked out a partnership of some kind so humans could have a hand in helping to save themselves (especially given the Orca was a communication device). Still, characters in a lot of movies lose detail in service of the plot, so at first I didn't know why it felt so odd here. I now think it’s because these humans are also so inconsequential on the grander scale of saving the Earth that their lack of personal lives left me with very little to connect with even on a “Yeah! Humanity can turn it around!” level. Doesn’t knowing what kind of life they’re fighting for make for a more compelling and complete struggle than simply fighting to survive? If we can’t save the world without relinquishing control to giant monsters, what does that say about our chances of dealing with the perils facing our real world? Regardless, all of these humans were more engaging and entertaining than the ones in the first movie, whom I can barely remember (and the returning ones seemed to fit this film’s more bombastic tone better). I hope the survivors get to come back in the next one!

While it feels like I’m being hard on this, I did enjoy it and it's very entertaining; a massive improvement from Legendary’s first Godzilla! They could still stand to give the humans more depth beyond what’s needed for the plot, but this cinematic universe seems to be evolving in the right direction even if I don't agree with the conclusions it's coming to about the fate of the world and who can save it. Ultimately, it seems they learned all the right lessons from Kong: Skull Island and this is a fun rapid-fire journey through the original Godzilla series in a modern (though not as pointed) context. I'll definitely watch King Kong vs. Godzilla—the original was one of my favorite movies as a kid—but I'm not sure how that will feel different from this one since the news reports during the credits indicate it's just another challenge between alphas. Will Kong be the hero in that one, as in the original (they do mention that Godzilla's on humanity’s side..."for now")? I can't see either of them dying; will their battle lead to Mecha-Godzilla instead? Will Mecha-Ghidorah appear to help fight Godzilla? Maybe adding human-created cybernetics to the story will be a good way for people to take a bigger role in saving the world, unless they want to knock us down again by having our technology distort the Titans and their natural function on the planet in some manner. Those are all questions for later though; in the meantime, if you're looking for a giant monster mash, Godzilla is king!

 Check out more of my reviews, opinions, and original short stories here!