"Godzilla vs. Mothra" is a somewhat preachy kaiju movie in which Mothra, a friend to mankind (despite, as we are constantly reminded, our selfish and stupid behavior) faces off against Battra, a guardian of Earth who was created millennia ago in response to an attempt by our distant ancestors to control the weather. Godzilla, having been awakened by a meteorite crashing into the ocean shows up and the two giant bugs have to decide whether to join forces against a common enemy of both man and the Earth. Other than some superfluous "Indiana Jones"-style archeological adventures, the movie is essentially a bug-fight with Godzilla thrown in as an after-thought. I liked the original adult Mothra (1961, 1964) but I'm not a fan of her colourful new appearance (she looks like she's made of fuzzy pipe-cleaners and covered with dyed poodle fur) or her new 'laser beam' (?) abilities. Both larval forms and the adult Battra look pretty good, and the scenes where Mothra passes through her cocoon stage (wrapped in silk, leaning against the Japanese parliament buildings) was great (I was disappointed when Battra's corresponding morphological change was instantaneous). The Heisei-era Godzilla suit is still looks great and the 'fight' scenes are pretty well staged (for a monster that can take tank shells in the chest at close range, Godzilla sure hates having the tip of his tail bitten). As always, Akira Ifukube's score is great and brings back both Godzilla's iconic march and Mothra's beautiful theme (IMO, the best music in the franchise). The acting is pretty typical for a 90's Kaiju outing: fine in non-demanding roles, but the 'Cosmos', Mothra's little fairy-familiars are neither as sweet nor as melodic as the Peanuts (who originated the roles in "Mothra" (1961)). The dubbing in the version I watched (a Tristar DVD) was OK (although the greedy CEO of Murutomo has a silly, cartoonish voice). The environmental self-flagellation in the film is about as subtle as one would expect from a Godzilla film (even when compared to G. vs Hedorah) and comes across a bit self-righteous for a country that uses over 20 billion disposable wooden chopsticks a year, mostly made from imported wood. All-in-all, number 19 in the series is an OK outing but a step down from its antecedent, the gloriously silly "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah". The Japanese seem to suffer from collective kaiju-amnesia (there is no reference to Mothra having visited the islands before) and show tremendous aplomb (no one seems particularly surprised when two gigantic moths show up).
