Here's what you need to know; when four shipwrecked survivors are rescued from the site of Atomic testing, scientists are baffled to find them unaffected by the lethal radiation, and an expedition is sent to the supposedly uninhabited island to see just what the survivors found there. But what they find is more bizarre than they'd bargained for; a tribe of natives, a pair of magical fairies and tales of a winged Goddess that watches over the island; Mothra. Trouble soon follows as the nefarious Nelson kidnaps the fairies and turns them into a theatre production, all while ignoring the increasingly obvious warnings that his greed has awakened a sleeping giant, one that's coming for her fairies and will destroy anything that gets in her way.
That's Godzilla and Rodan taken care of, now let's tackle a very different kind of monster, one that ditches the terror of Atomic dinosaurs ripping up cities and goes for something a little weirder, a little more magical. Something that may also surprise you is that while I grew up on Godzilla and did watch Rodan several times a lad, I never watched the original Mothra growing up, I never owned it on DVD or VHS, so having obtained it recently through, shall we say, a bit of sailing on the high seas, I finally watched the film that introduced one of Godzilla's most famous and beloved foes to the world; Mothra.
Less like Rodan and more like Godzilla; Mothra gets right to the point as a ship gets swept up in a Typhoon and wrecked on the coast of the island. The resulting media frenzy is how we are introduced to some of our main characters; Fukuda, a journalist and his photographer friend, Michi. In terms of its characters, Mothra is an improvement over Rodan, it's also still a downgrade from Godzilla. Mothra goes for something a little different though, While Godzilla's characters were burdened with moral plights and Rodan's were standard 50's sci-fi fair, Mothra's characters go for a more, shall we say, animated feel. Take Fukuda for example, or Bulldog as Michi calls him, who is a lovable goofball. He's a strange kind of character, one who's silly and childish but never stoops to the level to moronic, he's an eccentric journalist who will do anything for a story, literally anything, like stowing away on a research ship headed for a deadly Atomic test site. He has his moments of silliness too, but far from being annoying, they make him really endearing, he's just a funny guy and I like him. Michi is less interesting or funny, but she too has her quirky moments that make her very charming. Then there's Chuju, who's the most straightforward of all of them, but his introduction also exudes personality and charm, refusing to have his picture taken only to reveal that it's so nobody sees his beard. But the crown for silly, goofy characters undoubtedly goes to Nelson. This is the first film I've reviewed in this special that has a human antagonist, and he's about as antagonistic as you can get in all the wrong ways, or right, depending on your point of view. He's a straight up evil, maniacal, moustache twirling super villain, a slimy git who always has this scheming, sadistic little grin on his face.
The moral ambiguity of previous films is completely absent in this film and in its place is very clear cut, black and white heroes and villains; a plucky gang of good guys trying to free the fairies from the evil, greedy, smirking capitalist. This is quite the conundrum for me, personally, as on one hand, the moral and philosophical musings of its characters is part of the magic of Godzilla, but on the other hand, Mothra's characters being so wholly good or evil means that they can really play up their roles, and the results are really entertaining and charming. It's ironic that this film, the one clearly more for kids and families is the one I'm watching when I'm 22, but Godzilla, the much scarier and less family friendly film is the one I watched when I was young. Mothra is clearly not coming from the same mindset that spawned its predecessors; it's a much more comedic, goofy film, one in keeping with Godzilla's gradual transition to a more family friendly series, and this change also comes along side this film's decreased focus on science fiction and increased focus on fantasy. Mothra brings the fantasy not just in the form of its God moth, but in the form of the fairies; a pair of tiny twins with a telepathic bond to Mothra who spend most of their screen time singing and chanting to their Goddess. This is easily Mothra's weirdest aspect, and it's something that always stuck as Mothra fell in with Godzilla and company, and while they are reduced to a McGuffin in the film's latter half, their presence is a constant reminder of the coming chaos, as well as the evils of greedy capitalists, and the effects used to create them are pretty impressive for 1961, but then again, this is Toho in 60's, impressive was a trait they nailed ten years earlier in their visual effects.
Like Rodan, Mothra takes quite a while to get to its titular Monster, with her hatching in her larval form at the halfway mark and only taking off in her adult form in the last fifteen minutes. But thanks to its entertaining characters, the film never got slow or boring, and while they probably could have done more on the island, that isn't the point, Mothra is a battle of good and evil, and in a twist, it makes its titular monster a good guy. Mothra is a constant presence in the film, even if she only appears in the latter half, there's always a feeling that she's coming that drives the characters and story to the inevitable moment that she makes landfall. And while Godzilla's motive was more metaphorical, Mothra's is more direct, she wants to save the fairies and take them home. This is quite the departure, putting Mothra in a more protective role than Godzilla or Rodan, but if you're hungry for a giant monster levelling a city, this means that Mothra might let you down. In the Larval form, she does deliver, crawling her way through streets and buildings while the Army uselessly tries to stop her, and her emergence as an adult is a downright gorgeous scene and the adult form is a wonderful thing to look at, but once her adult form emerges, she just kind of flies around and destroys things by flapping her wings at them. This could be a problem attributed to her design, given that she doesn't have claws or a beak or a tail, but this fits the monster's more gentle nature, she isn't a destroyer and this is reflected in the choice to make her a big, beautiful moth rather than a mean looking dinosaur like Godzilla or Rodan. While those monsters were clearly trying to instil terror in their audiences, Mothra clearly isn't, and that really makes her stand out from the bunch.
But this is a kaiju film, so that means that there will be death and destruction, they're inseparable, and Mothra does cause a bit a chaos in this film. She destroys a Dam at one point, and her path of destruction towards Tokyo is a feast for the eyes thanks to vastly improved model work and pyrotechnics, which seriously do get better and better with each film. it's amusing just how much destruction she causes in her Larval form given that all she does is crawl, she also shoots down a helicopter at one point with silk. It's not just the model work itself that's further improved, the integration of actors and miniatures is downright black magic, the film swaps out miniatures for life-sized counterparts almost seamlessly, making the miniatures feel more alive than they ever have before and the scenes where the Army throws everything they have at Mothra hugely exciting. That being said, the destruction is still more fun in Rodan. Mothra may be a more compelling monster and the model work is far better, but Rodan was just more indulgent than Mothra, the scenes where Rodan is crushing buildings and kicking up a storm with his wings are just so awesome, and I think that Rodan's more aggressive, antagonistic nature lends itself to that kind of mayhem, while Mothra just isn't that kind of monster. What Mothra has on Rodan is its characters and story, which are much simpler but far more endearing, making the heroes' victory a satisfying and uplifting moment rather than a depressing, foreboding one. And since the film has a cartoon bad guy, seeing him get is comeuppance is an absolute treat, as his own misdeeds come back to ruin him, he is such a dick throughout the entire film, to an absurd degree, and seeing him meet his end is made all the more joyous because of it. And in another twist, Mothra's ending isn't depressing; the equilibrium restored isn't ambiguous and full of dread, it ends with the heroes joking and laughing while Mothra flies home, it's certainly a change, but it fits the more family friendly tone of the film and gives its characters the happy ending that they deserve, or unhappy in Nelson's case.
I suppose It Was Those Two Girls
Mothra is a very strange kind of kaiju film that's targeting a different audience to its predecessors and in my opinion, it's all the better for it. Even with the improvements to the visual effects, Mothra's scenes of destruction are not as spectacular and badass as something like Godzilla or Rodan, but despite this, from a pure entertainment aspect, Mothra is easily the best of the three. It gets this boost thanks to a collection of genuinely lovable heroes that are a lot of fun, a deliciously sinister and over the top villain and a story whose focus more on fantasy and magic over science fiction creates a very different viewing experience. Even though Godzilla is objectively a better film, I'm conflicted as to which one I enjoy more, because Mothra is just so much fun, and I'm kind of ashamed that I didn't watch it as a kid, I like it that much. Mothra is just a joyful blast and I'm even tempted to call it a must watch, I highly recommend it.
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