Still dipping my feet into the world of Japanese
monsters. It is a puzzling universe. On one hand the films depict Japan as
this very normal place - people go about their every day affairs, go to work,
get married, raise a family, go sightseeing, drink too much on Saturday nights
- and yet in the space of only a few years they have been attacked by Godzilla
four times, have encountered a giant moth twice, seen King Kong, had some
giant pre-historic bird come alive, had the two fairies appear on TV and
now they get Ghidorah, Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan all at once. But they just
go about their lives. Is there no sense of why us? Is it because of the Americans
and nuclear weapons - or is it karma for their horrific war crimes? Do people
think about this?
I can imagine if Godzilla showed up today in America. The QAnon nuts would
think Godzilla was here to install Trump as President, the NRA would be saying
see we told you those guns would come in handy, the liberals would be demanding
an environmental assessment before we attacked Godzilla, the religious right
would be blaming this on homosexuality and saying End Times, a Godzilla Cult
would start up selling T-shirts, the Republicans would be blaming the Democrats
and the Democrats would be blaming the Republicans and even with a monster
here the divide would just get larger sort of like covid. But the Japanese
just huddle together and as the General says "we will do our best".
This film followed the last one I saw - Mothra vs Godzilla - and is connected
to that one. Strange things are happening in Japan - it is very warm in January,
there are constant meteor showers and suspected sighting of UFOs. In other
words a typical day in Japan. You can even turn on the TV to an entertainment
show and see our girls, the twin fairies (Emi and Yumi Ito) appear and show
us telepathically Mothra and the tribe once again dancing back at Infant
Island. Mothra is still a larva. All is well in the world. For a few minutes.
Then Rodan who we haven't seen since Rodan (1956) comes out from under a
pile of rocks. Eight years is a long time to be under rocks. He might be
irritable. And sure enough Godzilla makes an appearance out of the ocean
and blows up a ship as if to say, don't forget about me. How could we. The
first sighting of Godzilla is always a special moment. Rodan and Godzilla
tussle about but seem to be an equal match. It is more of a show me some
respect match.
Meanwhile among the humans - a news reporter played by Yuriko Hoshi
who was in the previous film but as a slightly different character is on
top of the story and her brother (Yôsuke Natsuki) is assigned to protect
the Princess Selina of Seigna ( Akiko Wakabayashi - who had been in
King Kong vs Godzilla). Seigna you ask? Apparently a small country in the
Himalayas where they speak and look Japanese but wear big collared attire
from the Court of Charles I. Anyway, people back home want her dead and blow
up her plane - but not before some mystical force pulls her out and sets
her down on earth but now thinking she is from Jupiter and warning the world
that Ghidorah will destroy the earth. Ghidorah does in fact show up and he
is a ball-buster - three heads, wings and can shoot lasers out of each mouth.
I think I dated her years ago. Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan are punks compared
to this guy. But if they were to unite? Turns out Godzilla has a good right
arm and really just wants to pitch for the Yomiuri Giants.
These films squeeze a lot of stuff into their 90 minutes running time.
Hectic and chaotic but good fun jumping back and forth between plot lines
like a yoyo. The fights are on one level pretty awful - Ghidorah keeps zapping
Godzilla in the butt and gonads and at one point Godzilla and Rodan play
volleyball with rocks. But who cares. It's great. The little kid in
me says so. But now at some point I feel like I have to see the first Mothra
film and Rodan. The circle just keeps getting bigger.
