This is the fourth Godzilla movie in the series and it is the second straight following "King Kong Vs. Godzilla" that takes a decidedly silly turn. Looking for deep meaning in any Godzilla flick is ridiculous to begin with but this movie cements Godzilla's descent (or ascent if you choose) into the absurd. The big guy shares top billing with Mothra here, but as with King Kong, he is practically a special guest star and not the headliner.

When Godzilla is on screen, he's a floppy-jawed klutz. In one scene, he gets his tail caught in a radio tower, pulls it down, and knocks himself over with it. Shortly thereafter, he misses a step and falls face first into Himeji Castle. He's not exactly the atomic-born demon found in the original "Gojira", he's actually more like Curly Howard. To make matters worse, he survives a five minute fight with a big moth, a big moth who just happens to be near death according to two annoying twins that follow her around. Then the mighty Godzilla is dismissed in short order by a couple of caterpillars. Its sad, really.

As usual, there are some miniature effects that are totally impressive and some nice shots of Godzilla towering over the hills of the surrounding countryside.

This is the fourth Godzilla movie in the series and it is the second straight following "King Kong Vs. Godzilla" that takes a decidedly silly turn. Looking for deep meaning in any Godzilla flick is ridiculous to begin with but this movie cements Godzilla's descent (or ascent if you choose) into the absurd. The big guy shares top billing with Mothra here, but as with King Kong, he is practically a special guest star and not the headliner.

When Godzilla is on screen, he's a floppy-jawed klutz. In one scene, he gets his tail caught in a radio tower, pulls it down, and knocks himself over with it. Shortly thereafter, he misses a step and falls face first into Himeji Castle. He's not exactly the atomic-born demon found in the original "Gojira", he's actually more like Curly Howard. To make matters worse, he survives a five minute fight with a big moth, a big moth who just happens to be near death according to two annoying twins that follow her around. Then the mighty Godzilla is dismissed in short order by a couple of caterpillars. Its sad, really.

As usual, there are some miniature effects that are totally impressive and some nice shots of Godzilla towering over the hills of the surrounding countryside.

==Please note: This review is for the original Japanese subbed version.==

This is a good return to form when it comes to story-telling in the Godzilla series. While it still has abandoned its horror roots. This new movie highlights aspects of commercialism and corrupt corporations and their views on life itself as monetary value. This is an over-used plot, but in this case, it's used well considering Godzilla is a consequence of humans yet again.

Not since the first Godzilla movie have we really had an engaging human cast to follow and be concerned for, and it's good to see that the human aspect of this movie is not just filler or an annoyance. The story is great and remains prevalent today, maybe even more so. But, the action is of the same quality as King Kong vs Godzilla and is bad. The actual action sequences are not until the very last third of the movie, and for good reason. I really enjoyed the story so much more than the "versus" aspect. Which is the idea. Godzilla and Mothra's showdown at the end is the result of human corruption and is a lovely closer. Even if the ending is the same as the last.

Not much has changed in the set department, but the use of colour is fantastic and really makes certain scenes pop to give clear exposition. The visual effects are about on-par with the last entry and displays the green-screen clipping through Godzilla himself at some points. But the practical effects (which would be vastly improved in the next movie) actually aren't too bad. Mothra's design is nice and all, but she looks like a stuffed toy here. Which only makes the action funnier than it already is. As for the fact that previous movies did not slow the footage down or have the monsters move slowly to give the scale some realism. This movie uses that for some shots, but for the more"intense" shots, they just flail about at normal speed like the last movie.

I really enjoyed my time with this movie and was a welcome change-up from the previous installments in the series. But if you were looking for Godzilla action, this one may not be for you.

**7/10**

>See my Godzilla ranked movie list: https://trakt.tv/users/corruptednoobie/lists/godzilla-films-ranked?sort=rank,asc

Two of Toho's star city-wreckers come to blows in this rubbery dash of mid-sixties mayhem. When a major typhoon deposits a giant egg on the beach of a coastal Japanese town, it's exploited as a tourist attraction... until Godzilla randomly emerges from the Earth and terrorizes the landscape. Soon the egg is revealed to have traveled from Infant Island, where Mothra is quickly enlisted to defend humanity (and her unborn offspring).

While not as deliberately cheesy or cut-rate as its immediate predecessor, King Kong vs. Godzilla, it's very tough to imagine this as a serious effort, even in the era of its release. The special effects are often laughably transparent, a mix of happy accidents (Godzilla's head catches fire during a napalm attack, which looks cool but can't have been planned) and a stream of good-spirited, if inept, toy-stomping sequences. Many of the monster-on-monster fight scenes are equally silly. Zilla himself is prone to throwing up his arms in a panic, tossing his head about in a hilarious temper tantrum whenever he's confronted with a new obstacle, and the twin Mothra grubs who emerge for the final battle closely resemble a pair of giant, wriggling cat turds.

The accompanying human story is serviceable but shallow, a rather basic morality play that closely matches earlier entries. In short, it's almost exactly what one should expect of the series; tons of noise, explosions and screams, well-intentioned but feeble effects, puffy, expressionless monsters and a simplistic message. And yet, there's a certain dash of irresistible charm to it all. You get what you think you'll get, nothing more and nothing less.

**The Definitive Giant Monster Fantasy**

Among the plethora of Godzilla sequels Mothra vs Godzilla is simply one of the finest. The best of the Godzilla films work by having a thematic purpose underneath the spectacle of kaiju mayhem. Godzilla, an unstoppable force of destruction against the benevolent Mothra, a fragile and delicate creature.

A frequent motif in the films of Ishiro Honda was the notion of the brotherhood of man. Here this is put to the test as greed and mistrust take a hold of our characters. Our human villain seeks to exploit Mothra for profit while the islanders of Mothra's island are reluctant to help humanity in their fight against Godzilla. In many ways it shares many similarities to it's predecessor, King Kong vs Godzilla, though this film executes its themes in a more thoughtful manner. Its story and characters may be simple, but the actors give charismatic performances that really make them enjoyable. The human villains in particular are some of the finest in the series.

Tsuburaya's effects are at their apex here. Godzilla's design is imbued with a menacing personality along with a fantastic performance by suit actor Haruo Nakajima. Mothra is once again is brought to life through some stunning wirework. Her wings, head, and legs all wiggle and bob making her feel alive. The film has some of the finest hand made tokusatsu craftsmanship of the original series. Add to that a phenomenal soundtrack by Akira Ifukube and you have what is undoubtedly one of Godzilla's finest moments.