This is no innocent peek over the ridge!
Either he has cataracts from all that time under water, or it’s the evil Godzilla, and judging from his actions, it’s the latter in (deep breath) Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001). An American nuclear submarine has been lost, and the Japanese find its hulk, along with a mysterious glimpse of something glowing.
Soon, to their consternation, the Japanese government knows that Godzilla is on his way, having fed off the radiation of the power plant of the submarine. One of their leaders wants to know: Why Godzilla is picking on them? On this question pivots the plot of this movie, as it turns out the daughter of one of the military leaders, a photo-journalist working for a company of dubious quality, has run into an old, mysterious man who has some sort of confused story concerning how there are monsters which will reappear when the land of Japan is menaced.
And Godzilla represents the spirits of those who were killed during the ‘Pacific conflict’, who are angry.
I think. It’s a muddle.
Along with the named monsters comes a somewhat smaller one with red skin and a horn, who is never named. Emerging from the ground, he intercepts Godzilla near a resort, but Godzilla tricks him to falling into a hole, and as he tries to escape, Godzilla rather cruelly atomizes him with his trademark bad breath. I felt sad for him.
Then Mothra appears, sans her fairy singers but armed with darts, and meets Godzilla at Yokohama. By this time, the army has been informed that only Godzilla need be fought, and start to work on him while Mothra flaps about. Sometime during the battle, King Ghidorah also appears. It’s an epic battle, and Ghidorah actually manages to die three different times, while Mothra only once – but she resurrects Ghidorah with her spirit. At this point, they’re underwater in the bay and the Japanese army has sent a submersible armed with special weapons, where Godzilla makes the same mistake as will one of the Ogdru Jahad will do in Hellboy, and eventually disappears himself.
For American eyes, the plot seems outlandish, and the land based monsters trudge about like guys in rubber suits, while Mothra is more like a work of art than a monster. On the other hand, the stages are impressive, as are the various explosions, and we see only a few model planes and trucks, for this is mostly about the battle of the spirits of the Japanese homeland against the spirits of those killed by Japanese aggression. The central theme is anti-war. The actors try hard, but when you’re up against monsters, it’s hard to generate that memorable character.
All in all, this entry is not as bad as some in this long-running series.
