Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) [Tokusatsu Review]

Godzilla vs. Mothra; or, For Mother Earth!
     There isn't a job that is too tough for me, except, the one time I was married to a real stubborn woman.
I am back at my revisitation of Godzilla movies. This time, I would like to focus on the fourth instalment of the Heisei series, Godzilla vs. Mothra from 1992. This text is going to be actually a re-review, but I have already discussed this film on the blog years ago, but I felt that my initial reaction was too crude and too emotional. So here it is: my new thoughts on one of my least favourite Godzilla films.

Release Info

Directed by: Takao Okawara Starring: Tetsuya Bessho, Satomi Kobayashi, Takehiro Murata

Language: Japanese Original Title: ゴジラ対モスラ Runtime: 102 min

Synopsis
A large meteoroid crashes in the Ogasawara Trench and awakens Godzilla. An explorer Takuya Fujito (Tetsuya Bessho), his ex-wife Masako (Satomi Kobayashi), and a representative of the Marumoto company Ando (Takehiro Murata), go to the Infant Island and discover the hidden egg of Mothra which is guarded by two representatives of an ancient civilisation known as the Cosmos. They explain that thousands of years ago Mothra used to fight Battra, a monster created by the Earth’s ecosystem as a punishment for the Cosmos’ vanity. The team decides to transport the egg to Japan, but Mothra hatches while en route. What is more, it turns out that Battra got reawakened as well. With Godzilla thrown into the mix, all three monsters rush for a showdown in Yokohama.

Mothra Strikes Back
As I have already mentioned in my review of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Toho had various plans for a follow-up, including making a direct sequel that would bring back the Big G’s arch-nemesis once again. However, special effects director Koichi Kawakita together with Minoru Yoshida and Marie Terunuma submitted a script called Godzilla vs. Gigamoth, which was inspired by an unmade Mothra vs. Bagan story. In its essence, the basic storyline is very similar to the final film, but the main difference is the fact that Godzilla fights an amalgam of a good Mothra and evil Mothra in the finale. It is unknown whether the series veteran Kazuki Omori read the script for Godzilla vs. Gigamoth or maybe he based his premise on Mothra vs. Bagan, but under the supervision of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka he penned his own screenplay that was ultimately filmed.

It is clear from the get-go that Toho wanted to cater to as many groups of cinema-going audiences as possible. Women constituted the majority of moviegoers in Japan in the mid-1990s, so it goes without saying that bringing back Mothra was a logical decision. However, the film also tries as hard as possible to be family-friendly: we get light action (see the first act being a rehash of Indiana Jones), parental conflicts, twin fairies (who are not actual twins) and an Oblivion NPC child who struggles to be kawaii in every scene.

Well, the strategy worked for Toho because Godzilla vs. Mothra turned out to be a massive box office success, basically financing the rest of the Heisei era movies. Nevertheless, this movie is not by any means decent. The pacing is uneven, the editing is jarring at times, and all the action reaches a standstill in the second act because there has to be room for family-friendly drama (Fujito actually tries to sell the Cosmos, but Mothra rushes to save them).

I believe the main cause of these issues is the direction done by Takao Okawara. Indeed, this man is an experienced director who worked with the best of the best, serving as an associate director on Akira Kurosawa’s and Kihachi Okamoto’s films, but in my opinion, Okawara fundamentally does not understand Tokusatsu action. He finds it hard to tell a compelling story with Kaiju monsters at the helm. All of his Godzilla films have grand finales, but the middle segments are frequently forgettable.

With regard to special effects and cinematography, Godzilla vs. Mothra is the film that has the best looking Heisei Godzilla. I just love all the close ups of the new BattleGoji suit worn by Kenpachiro Satsuma. What is more, Koichi Kawakita did an amazing job with the battles between Godzilla, Battra, and Mothra; however, the moves of the latter two monsters are a bit clunky at times. The underwater sequences are also great to look at.

Speaking about additional advantages, Akira Ifukube obviously delivers yet another brilliant music score as the film’s composer. Of course, he reuses and repurposes Yuji Koseki’s Song of Mothra from the original 1961 film, but this piece of music is so synonymous with the Queen of the Monsters that it is a given it accompanies her all the time.

With regard to performances, all the actors and actresses feel like a wasted opportunity. Tetsuya Bessho has a more commanding presence than Isao Toyohara from the previous film, but most of the time he is forced to play an Indiana Jones/Han Solo type of guy, which does not add anything to the film. The always-wonderful Satomi Kobayashi plays a bitter ex-wife and her character's objective is to either comment on the monster action or carry the Cosmos around in a special basket. Veterans of the series, such as Akira Takarada, Megumi Odaka, Akiji Kobayashi, and Yoshiko Tanaka do not have anything compelling to do apart from standing in front of giant monitors and observing the monster rumble.

Recommendations
All things considered, I did not hate Godzilla vs. Mothra as much as I did during the first viewing. Still again, I regard it as a deeply flawed entry in the Godzilla franchise. The Big G deserved better and Mothra deserved better as well. Ultimately, she received better treatment in the Rebirth of Mothra Trilogy, and Millennium entry Godzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003).Overall score: 6/10

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