After the Heisei Godzilla
series ended with the King of the Monster's
death in Godzilla
vs. Destoroyah (1995), Toho decided to
pursue their second most popular kaiju in its
own film----Mothra. The film in Japanese was logically
titled, Mothra, while in America, it
was titled as Rebirth of Mothra. Most
original Mothra fans are not used to this film,
because they believe that it strays from Mothra's
original character, a protector of only her island
and people. This movie homes in on her kind and
benevolent side, and it largely focuses on Mothra's
character as well, which is a very good point
to this film.
The plot of this film is quite original. It does
not seem to steal any of the ideas that were dished
out in Mothra
(1961) or Godzilla
vs. Mothra (1992). On Infant Island,
Mothra sits upon her throne, ready to finally
reproduce after living a very long life. Shortly
after, a logging company on business in Hokkaido,
accidentally discovers an ancient rock. The person
in charge of the logging facility in that region
investigates and eventually removes a small piece
of metal from the rock's surface, and takes it
home to his daughter, Wakaba, as a gift. The removed
piece of metal arouses the attention of Mothra's
priestesses Moll and Lora----called the Elias.
They summon their insectile steed, Fairy Mothra,
to take them to Hokkaido in order to investigate
this unusual accident. It is revealed by them,
that the small piece of metal removed from the
rock, was called the Seal of Elias, a device that
possessed the ability to harness universal energy
which was created by their ancestors, to lock
away the demonic Desghidorah, the very creature
that made the dinosaurs go extinct, and left the
surface of the planet Mars a barren wasteland.
Eventually, Moll and Lora discover that Belvera----their
evil sister, stole the seal from Wakaba, and they
eventually retrieve it, after she manages to release
the vile ancient kaiju from its dungeon, hoping
that it would absorb the life force contained
with in the planets flora (therefore eventually
destroying humanity). While all this happens,
the Goto family becomes involved. They aid the
Elias by keeping the seal hidden from Belvera.
In response to the threat of Desghidorah, the
Elias eventually summon the elderly Mothra to
fend off Desghidorah. While that happens, Mothra's
child----Mothra Leo also emerges, confident and
ready to help its mother. After a long battle,
Mothra dies, saving her child from Desghidorah
as she sinks into the depths of the sea. After
witnessing its mother's death, Mothra Leo
swims to Yaku Island, hoping to gain the power
of the Ancient Tree of Life. After gaining new
powers, Mothra Leo metamorphoses into the adult
Mothra Leo, a powerful Mothra that holds off Desghidorah
long enough for the Elias to seal him away again.
In the process, Belvera's steed----Gargaru
is destroyed and she manages to escape. Mothra
Leo repairs the environmental damage caused by
the rampage, the Elias bid farewell to the Goto
family, and they take to the skies with Mothra
Leo, returning to Infant Island.
In this film, Mothra's reputation of the
"Savior of the World", like in Godzilla
vs. Mothra (1992) is re-established.
This is portrayed very well, giving Mothra a very
emotional character. This makes Mothra more interesting
than she is in most of her other movies, her character
is expanded, and tweaked just a little. Probably
the most emotional part of this film was the elderly
Mothra's death scene. After saving her child,
she slowly drowns into the sea, while her child
watches in horror, attempting to help her. It
is a real tear jerker, and it is probably one
of the best kaiju death scenes ever to be displayed
on film.
Another notable thing in this film is Mothra's
new powers. The elderly Mothra possessed the same
powers as its Heisei predecessor with some new
little abilities. Even the larva Mothra Leo receives
new abilities as well----energy charged silken
spray, a chest beam, and a camouflaging technique.
This is only a small fraction of Mothra's
new abilities, during the final battle between
Death Ghidorah and the Mothra Leo adult, at least
a dozen beamy moves are used by the insect Goddess.
Original Mothra fans often do not really like
this Mothra because of its sheer power in regards
of its numerous amount of beams and energized
abilities, but the fans of this film find it to
be an interesting addition to Mothra's mystic
power.
The nemesis in this film----Desghidorah (translated
to Death Ghidorah in English) is probably one
of the scariest, demon-like Ghidorah's to
ever hit the screen. He is revealed as a demon
from space that goes around siphoning the floral
life out of various worlds. When he came to Earth,
he was fortunately sealed by the ancient Mothra's
and the Elias' ancestors before he could
completely destroy it like he did to Mars. This
kaiju really displays himself as a dark and fiendish
creature, and is actually the first Ghidorah ever
to walk on four legs.
This all leads up to the kaiju battles in the
film. It takes up a good deal of the movie, the
first battle with Desghidorah was fairly long.
The kaiju were used very well, except that I wish
they had a little more tooth and claw battling,
it was mostly a beam fest. But still, it did not
take away from the battle's emotion and
sheer struggle between the kaiju.
The human aspect of this film was rather weak.
The Goto family had poor character development
and were not really focused upon. Most people
actually find the children---Taiki and Wakaba
to be very annoying, since through the entire
film they are whining and arguing with each other.
Which is almost the exact same thing in regards
of the parents. Another annoyance that I find
in this film, is that there is no city destruction
at all, and no military battle whatsoever. It
takes a lot of the human aspect of this film away,
which is probably the lowest point of this movie.
Despite the flaws in the human aspect, the real
characters that steal the show here is the Elias----Moll,
Lora and Belvera. For the first time ever, Mothra's
priestesses are displayed with separate personalities.
Having a mind of their own. Their characters are
developed quite nicely, and we get to see how
each of them looks at the situation at hand. Moll,
wants to save the world from Death Ghidorah even
if it means taking her life, Lora, doesn't
want Mothra to fight and die in the process yet
wants the world to be saved, and Belvera wants
to use Desghidorah as a weapon to destroy humanity,
for she fears that they will eventually destroy
the Elias. Belvera's evil laugh is very
amusing, she reminds me very much of the Xilian
second in command in Godzilla:
Final Wars (2004), indeed a great aspect
to her character. What is interesting to note
though, is that how the Elias are virtually against
Belvera, it is displayed that they still love
each other, and respect each other as sisters.
Megumi Kobayashi (Moll), Sayaka Yamaguchi (Lora)
and Aki Hano (Belvera) did a wonderful job in
regards of acting, and performing the part of
their characters.
Probably the greatest thing about this film
is its musical score, composed by Toshiyuki
Watanabe. It is perhaps one of the best scores
in the entire Heisei series. The various themes
for Mothra, such as the battle march when Mothra
first appears to battle Desghidorah is very catchy,
and memorable. Another neat aspect to this score,
is the Mothra Songs, both new and original. The
original Mothra Song is preformed in almost a
latin beat from the way it sounds, making it very
interesting and addicting to listen to. Plus the
other vocal performances by Megumi Kobayashi and
Sayaka Yamaguchi in: "The Song of Prayer"
and "Mothraleo" are very beautiful,
and my personal favorites when it comes to Mothra
songs. It is a pity that some of the Rebirth
of Mothra vocals were not used in more recent
films such as Godzilla:
Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), they would have
made great additions.
This film may not be a classic like the original
Mothra, but it certainly is a memorable and enjoyable
one to watch over and over. Also, since it was
originally intended to attract a younger audience,
it would be a great film to introduce to kids.
Rebirth of Mothra is certainly a nice
addition to Mothra's peace/environmental
character, and hopefully it will continue to flaunt
its theme in regards of protecting the environment.
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