Godzilla and Minilla against the huge Mantises and the giant Spider On a remote island, a team of scientists is conducting an experiment to control the weather. There are also found insects of human growth. And after a failure with a radioactive storm - the monsters are swinging to giant sizes.
The island is inhabited by mantises, which look very threatening and sinister. Fukuda again catches the same contrast - Godzilla's ridiculous costume against the really outstanding arthropod monsters. If in the last film it was the lobster Ebira and the butterfly Motra, now against Godzilla fighting mantises Kamakurasa (Gymantis in English and Russian versions) and a huge spider Kumonga (Spiga).
Godzilla himself is shown in the prologue, although in the American version this episode was cut out to keep the intrigue with his appearance. Since from the very beginning it is said that the monster moves to the island, and then it appears closer to the middle of the film.
Other monsters do not keep themselves waiting, especially mantises. The movable jaws that go through the legs are quite huge insects, like insects. That's what they were supposed to look like. Quite an ominous image of dangerous giant creatures with a kind of homage to the American film Deadly Mantis.
The film itself is inspired by the American Son of Kong, even though Son of Godzilla was released a few decades later. Well, a giant spider - clearly inspired by the film "Tarantula" and made also very great, even moves more believably than mantises.
But those, in addition to moving and jumping, still know how to fly, opening their wings, and according to the plot of insects, a radioactive egg is attracted, whose contents they certainly intend to dine. From the egg hatched something small, green and slimy. But if earlier in Kaiju movies it was always Motra, this time it is different.
The creature turns out to be a little Godzilla. It looks more like a toad, just like Dad's costume here. He, in turn, soon responds to the call of the baby, although it is not very clear at all how Godzilla had a son and who then the mother was.
Goji's appearance here is the worst possible. The costume is even dumber than before. And despite sharp teeth, a beautifully made atomic ray and even moving and closing eyes, it does not pull at all at a dangerous monster.
The situation is saved by arthropod giants attacking lizards, battles with mantises are numerous and diverse here, besides, the authors of the film do not regret their creations - they let insects into consumption, then tearing off limbs, then burning alive. In general, at least no excessive savings on the effects, and then glorious.
If you can digest the appearance of Godzilla and Minilla (in the English version he is Minya), but the rest of the film looks pretty good. Of course, they will strain child-father scenes like how the father teaches Godzilla Jr. to growl and shoot with a beam, but there are not too many such episodes here.
Godzilla here is too humanized and throws stones again, but it is not to say that the authors are overstepping the stick with thrash. The most delusional scenes with Godzilla like handshakes and flying on the beam are in later films. Plus, the monster here, albeit shown by a caring father, but to the protector of the Earth he oh how far.
So all the nonsense of “Monster Zero”, including the aliens, Jun Fukuda helps to forget like a terrible dream. And if in Godzilla against the Sea Monster, an atomic lizard destroyed the base of war criminals developing nuclear weapons, serving as a punishment to villains, then in this film he delivers the buildings of laboratories quite positive heroes. So Godzilla still wreaks havoc and is not good at all.
Speaking of the main characters. Fukuda again avoids the classic triangle, filling the plot with a huge number of main characters. And if the previous film did without classical scientists at all, then all but two are representatives of the scientific professions. Tadao Takashima is not a newcomer to Kaiju movies. His leading assistant is Akihiko Hirata, who played in the first “Godzilla” by Professor Serizawa, and many others in the future in genre paintings.
They literally fall on their head adventurer-paratrooper, played by Akira Kubo – also a very iconic face for films about giant monsters. He is a writer looking for inspiration and no restrictions of scientists can stop his stay on the island.
All this male brethren soon find a woman on the island - not that "savage", but the daughter of a hermit scientist who spent his last days away from civilization here. The writer quickly begins an affair with her, but we must give the film its due - all this develops without unnecessary snot and melodrama.
She also imbues with sympathy for Godzilla Jr., feeding the baby with fruit. He is attached to people, which is very disliked by Godzilla himself. All this sweeps through a series of adventures and trials, until a huge spider wakes up.
I must say that the most stupid moment of the plot was a sortie to the “red water”, which helps with fever. Not only that, after Godzilla’s visit to her, she was already supposed to become radioactive, so they, along with the baby, also fired atomic rays there. To give it to the sick is a very dubious idea.
The monsters that have grown, awakened and come to the island in their diversity too interfere with the work of scientists, you have to fold and leave while the monsters fight among themselves. This film is good – there are quite a lot of monsters and constant skirmishes between them.
Mantis in general as many as a few pieces, the spider is shown in the final, but also in a fairly large number of scenes, and the final “fight of two yakozuns” between Goji and Kumonga (Spiga) generally occurs under a powerful snowfall, bringing even more variety to the location of scenes with Godzilla!
As a family and children's film, the movie generally works perfectly, as a child on television was very impressive. As an adventure film – already in question, great giant insects against ridiculous costumes of lizards, and even father-son scenes with inappropriate humor.
Nevertheless, at least everything is well done. Even the composer Masaru Sato tried this time, in addition to the stupid and ridiculous tracks, which, unfortunately, are still available here, wrote not a few tense and successful musical themes that accompany the attacks of monsters and their appearance in the frame.
“Son of Godzilla” is very good and only moderately unserious. In some ways, it is worse than Godzilla vs. Sea Monster, but perhaps mantises and spiders are still cooler arthropods than cancer and butterfly. And the story here, in general, if not better, then at the same level of interest and this time with a melancholy ending. Despite Godzilla’s worst costume, the film may still be interesting and enjoyable.
6 out of 10
Original