Mothra (1996)

Due to humans tearing down a forest and digging too deep, inadvertently unleashing a three-headed fire breathing monster, our heroine Mothra must come out of retirement to protect the Earth.

The Rebirth of Mothra gave the beautiful Kaiju a makeover and a trilogy aimed at kids. With the focus on a young brother and sister there's no doubt who the target audience is. The twin priestesses are no longer called the Cosmos and are no longer twins. Their costumes are brightly colored, and they ride a miniature Mothra-like fairy just to up the cute quotient. We are still gifted with the Mosura song, which they would have been remiss to leave out. Their comically evil sister stirs up trouble as she rides what amounts to a miniature dragon. To make sure you know this movie is aimed at a young audience there is also a lot of glitter and rainbow butterflies galore.

The movie really began for me when they got to the heart of the issue. Because of man's greed and short-sightedness, the Desghidorah is released. This monster sucks up the energy from the earth and forests. Where he goes, a shortage of oxygen also follows causing problems for the local humans. Desghidorah looks like a close cousin of King Ghidorah. Mothra at the end of her life is unable to defeat him and her caterpillar son swims to the rescue. I have to say, this was the most beautiful Mothra metamorphosis out of all of the movies. Her son is given extraordinary powers after cocooning on an ancient, mystical tree.

Because the movie is aimed at children, the action begins early with the fairies fighting and never lets up. The best of the action is when Mothra and Desghidorah are fighting. The fairy sisters battling each other wasn't as entertaining for me. In fact, on a second viewing I skimmed much of the initial action until Mothra and Desghidorah showed up. The children are actively involved in helping the fairies and Mothra. For the most part, the kids did a good job and their dominance on the screen didn't prove too annoying for me.

I was disappointed Mothra's child was a male. Mothra being the only female Kaiju, not counting Bolliante, set her apart. If they wanted to make a more powerful Mothra, why not let a female have some new kickass powers?

I don't usually grade niche movies on a curve after the 1980's but this is a children's monster movie, so I did give it a small rating bump. Don't expect too much from the special effects. Honestly, it looked like it could have been made in the late 1970's or early 80's from all the psychedelic colors. And of course, we're treated to a guy in a rubber suit and miniatures. It is Toho after all. This movie is definitely not a movie for everyone. You have to love Mothra, and if you happen to be over the age of 10, it helps if you are still a child at heart and easily entertained.

Mothra reminds us that she isn't just a pretty monster face. She cements herself as a protector and as a defender of the environment. In The Rebirth of Mothra, humans and Desghidorah were reminded why Godzilla gives her a wide berth. She might look like a butterfly, but she stings like a bee (to paraphrase the late great boxer, Mohammed Ali).

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