The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 16: Angel On High

Godzilla was dead, and Toho had given the American remake rights to TriStar Pictures.  So what was Japanese movie studio Toho supposed to do now that their monstrous star player had gone to Hollywood?  Well, according to longtime head producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, the answer was to give one of Godzilla's most popular co-stars a series of her very own.

Thus was born the Mothra trilogy.  While still considered to be part of the Heisei series (a.k.a. Series 2) which started in 1984, these films are not connected to the others, story-wise.  They take place in a narrative reality all their own.  Classic series elements like giant monster battles, old- school special effects (provided by veteran effects artist Koichi Kawakita on the first two, and newcomer Kenji Suzuki on Part 3), pro-environmental themes and sequences of furious urban destruction are all here, but there are tonal shifts in play which, according to the producers, were meant to reflect changes in the target audience - Mothra had always appealed more to the women and children of Japan than males.

Gone were the big "military versus monster" battles.  Instead, emphasis was placed on the elements of fantasy, color, humor and familial relationships.  The main human characters were no longer the gruff soldiers, stodgy scientists or plucky reporters of yore - kids were now the lead actors.  Supporting characters were now either parents, guardians, other kids or comic relief yahoos.  The trilogy also has three female characters who appear consistently throughout the films (besides Mothra) - the Elias sisters: Moll (played by Megumi Kobayashi), Lora (Sayaka Yamaguchi in the first two films, Misato Tate in the third), and Belvera (Aki Hano).  As in previous films, Mothra was created by a long-lost ancient civilization to stand watch over all life on Earth.  Moll and Lora are this story's version of the Twin Beauties - tiny humanoids who fly around on a tiny Mothra (Fairy Mothra) and help Mothra keep watch over humankind (and occasionally help by singing a song or two).  Unlike the Beauties, they aren't identical twins (Moll is the wiser older sister, Lora the brash one), so that creepy identical twin vibe is gone, thankfully.  Belvera is the evil sister.  She wears black, causes a lot of trouble and flies around on a mechanical bat dragon named Garugaru, as evil sisters do.

Here's a quick rundown of the trilogy -


Rebirth of Mothra (1996)

Merely called "Mothra" in Japan, "Rebirth" starts out with a logging company unwittingly releasing an ancient monster from its stone prison.  That monster's name is Desghidorah (or "Death Ghidorah), an alien beastie who somewhat resembles the classic monster King Ghidorah.  He came from outer space to suck up all life from Earth.  After nearly destroying the entire Elias race (tiny people who were once the primary humanoid race on the planet) and their fleet of giant guardian moths, Mothra managed to defeat him and seal him away for thousands of years.

As Desghidorah rampages across Japan, Moll and Lora battle Belvera for control of a stone seal (in the form of an amulet) which can lock the monster back up for good, with the children of a logging industrialist caught in the middle.  Mothra, weak from laying an egg earlier in the year, is easily defeated and killed by Desghidorah.  The egg hatches, but the little larvae is unable to stop the evil monster, so he (yes, Mothra junior is male) goes into cocoon phase, re-emerging shortly afterward as Leo (Rainbow Mothra), a newly-designed Mothra with the ability to transform into a swarm of smaller moths at a moment's notice.  He easily defeats Desghidorah and locks him back in prison.  Belvera (who really does not like humans) limps away swearing vengeance while Moll and Lora put the seal back in place.  And they all lived happily ever after.

While "Rebirth of Mothra" is a decent start for the new trilogy, it remains my least favorite one, for a couple of reasons.  First of all, while the old school monster effects are still well done and fun to watch, Toho was starting to experiment heavily with incorporating computer generated effects into their monster epics.  There are a lot of painfully bad comping effects which are hard to watch, especially in the Belvera versus Lora and Moll aerial dogfight scene.  It's cheesy, even for the time, but at least they're somewhat inventively used.  The performances by the kids are also painfully annoying.  I know, I know, they're kids, but seeing as how the child actors in the sequels are far less annoying, well. . . yeah.

Still, it's a fun movie.  It's colorful, fast-paced, and it's more fantastical, lighthearted tone is a nice change of pace in the wake of the doom-and-gloom Godzilla films.  It seems like the filmmakers of "Rebirth" were having some trouble establishing a solid foundation, but the sequels would get it right.  "Rebirth" was directed by newcomer Okihiro Yoneda and written by Masumi Suetani, who continued to write the entire trilogy.  Kudos must be given to composer Toshiyuke Watanabe, who scored the trilogy.  His music is excellent, with hummable themes and great John Williams-esque bombast - easily one of the highlights of these movies.  And, yes, the Mothra song is back (plus two original songs which aren't as memorable).

Rebirth of Mothra II (1997)

Originally called "Mothra 2: The Undersea Battle", the movie begins with an ancient monster named Dagahra rising from the ocean to destroy mankind.  He was created by the long-lost civilization of Ninai Kanai as a means of cleaning up the ocean.  Now that mankind's polluting ways have damaged the sea, Dagahra is out to eliminate the source - humanity.  I like to think of him as one of those mobile pool cleaners gone wrong.

A fuzzy little critter named Ghogo has also emerged from the ocean, along with an ancient temple.  After running afoul of a couple of bumbling (and cat abusing) thieves, he falls into the hands of some kids.  Mothra Leo appears and fights Dagahra, only to get defeated by his swarm of life-sucking starfish.  Moll and Lora need Ghogo to lead them to the city of Ninai Kanai to find a mysterious "treasure" with the ability to stop Dagahra once and for all, so all of them (kids included) head for the risen temple to save the world, hounded all the way by Belvera and the two thieves, who are now under her control.

Well, well (Spoiler Alert), after reaching the temple, it's revealed that cute little Ghogo is the "treasure" they seek (um, thanks for making us come all this way, fuzzball).  Ghogo sacrifices his own life to infuse Mothra Leo with the ancient power of Ninai Kanai.  Leo transforms into his new Aqua Mothra form and destroys Dagahra for good.  The temple sinks back into the ocean, Belvera flies off, fuming, and everyone lives happily ever after.

This is my favorite movie in the trilogy.  It's fun, fast-paced, full of great action and off-the-wall weirdness, and improves on everything from the first movie.  The effects are more refined (even if they're still cheesy by today's standards), the acting, while still over-the-top, is far less annoying (especially from the kids), and the movie has a couple of effective heartstring-tugging moments (like Ghogo's sacrifice).  It's also the funniest movie in the series - maybe even in the entire genre!  I belly laughed a couple of times during this movie (let me say this - Ghogo's pee can instantly heal any wounds).  I don't know how much of this can be attributed to new director Kunio Miyoshi, but that may be a place to start.  "Rebirth II" also features what I think is Watanabe's best score of the three.  Ah, good times. . .


Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)

Here we go, the last one.

"Mothra 3: King Ghidorah Attacks" was the Japanese title of this chapter and, like 1991's "Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah", it also features a heavy time travel element to go along with the classic villain.  In "Rebirth III", giant golden space dragon King Ghidorah comes to Earth to destroy all life.  Long ago, he killed off the dinosaurs.  Now he's back, and he starts off by imprisoning the children of Japan (and also Lora and Belvera) in a giant energy dome, intending to eat them sometime in the near future.  Mothra Leo arrives to do battle but is easily bested by Ghidorah, who also takes control of Lora's mind, turning her into evil Lora.

Moll decides that the only way to stop Ghidorah is to defeat him in the past, when he's younger and weaker, so she puts her life at risk by using all of her power to open a time portal.  Leo flies to the past and emerges in the age of dinosaurs, where he interrupts a battle between a t-rex and a triceratops and engages young Ghidorah (Prince Ghidorah?) in battle and kills him (blowing off his tail in the process).  Back in the present, Belvera successfully frees Lora's mind, and together they manage to get free of Ghidorah's prison.

But something is wrong.  Ghidorah was killed in the past, but the present timeline remains the same - King Ghidorah then reappears in the present (his severed tail somehow evolved over time into a new Ghidorah - um, okay) and begins to terrorize the world anew.  In the past, a group of prehistoric Mothra larvae seal the weakened Leo in a cocoon - Leo emerges from the cocoon 65 million years later, where he uses his newly gained prehistoric powers to transform into Armor Mothra (encased in metal) and finally destroys Ghidorah in one last, furious battle.  Lora and Belvera then team up to revive the near-dead Moll, all of the children return home, and everyone lives happily ever after - and Belvera flies off, vowing to return, or course.

This is another good one.  The tone of the movie is darker and more somber than the previous two, but it still lies well within the realm of color and fantasy.  Director Okihiro Yoneda returned from the original "Rebirth" and did an excellent job this time around.  Except for some wobbly time travel shenanigans and a couple of out-of-the-blue magic powers (Ghidorah can turn people evil?), it's a good closing chapter for the trilogy.  It's good to see Ghidorah again (although Desghidorah is never mentioned - he's some sort of relative, I assume), and Belvera's switch to "good guy" is a nice turn of events.  My favorite moment in the movie takes place in the past, when the aforementioned triceratops and t-rex temporarily stop fighting in order to watch young Ghidorah and Mothra Leo fight.  All that's missing is for them to be sharing a giant bag of prehistoric popcorn.

I should note that "Rebirth III" has not received any sort of home video release in America.  It's aired on the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy) and can be found a couple of places online, but that's it.  Maybe someday. . .

Next time I tackle the 1998 American "Godzilla".  Ugh.

The Yuck of the Irish: The Leprechaun Saga

Every so often, a film comes along that challenges your perception of what true art should be, that takes you on a satisfying roller coaster ride of emotion, that ignites your passions, alters your world view, makes you question your very beliefs, and forever changes the way that movies are made.  And then, every so often, a film comes along that makes you think to yourself, "Why in the hell did they make five sequels to this crap?"  That movie. . . is "Leprechaun".


Leprechaun (1992)

"I want me gold!"

Thus spoke the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) in the classic first film, the aptly titled "Leprechaun", which was released theatrically in early 1993.  Writer/director Mark Jones was very, very serious in his attempt to make the fantastical Irish folk legend into something that would scare the pants off of audiences, but clearly didn't have the chops to do so, creating a cheesy cult classic instead.  That would not stop Jones from ending his quest to be an iconic horror director, however, as he would attempt something similar in 1995 with the release of his next film "Rumpelstiltskin".  The attempt failed.

Warwick Davis has often said that the Leprechaun was his favorite role of all time.  Before that, he was known primarily as Wicket the Ewok in "Return of the Jedi", and as the title character in the Ron Howard/George Lucas fantasy romp "Willow".  Since then he's been seen in everything from "Harry Potter" to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" to "Jack the Giant Slayer" to "Doctor Who" to the T.V. series "Life's Too Short", but getting to ham it up as the titular green-clad villain while being covered beneath layers of grotesque makeup appliances remains his fondest role.  One can't help but sense the fact that Davis is having a great time in these ridiculous movies, which, I suppose, adds to the fun factor.

The plot is simple (of course).  A man returns to America from a trip to Ireland.  During his trip he manages to capture a Leprechaun and steal his pot o' gold, then keels over from a heart attack.  Years later, a group of yahoos show up to renovate their brand spankin' new rundown old house in the country and inadvertently release the Leprechaun, who's ugly, pissed off and will let nothing get in-between him and his gold.  After reciting many awful rhymes, killing a dude with a pogo stick, riding around in a little toy car, indulging in his shoe-shining obsession and informing everyone within earshot that he's a leprechaun, he's taken down by a four-leaf clover.  Or is he. . .?

This movie is perhaps most famous for starring Jennifer Aniston, who, at the time, was a nobody (this was before "Friends").  She, along with the rest of the cast (which includes the guy who played the bully who wanted Pee Wee's bike in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure") all ham it up like they're on a prime time sitcom.  Can you blame them?  The special effects are cheesy, the music is awful, the direction is ineffective, and the overall idea behind the movie is just plain dumb.  Aniston's legs are the most riveting part of the movie, and maybe they were the reason the movie made enough money to warrant sequels because, otherwise, I can't quite explain it.  If you love movies that are so bad they're good, or if you just want to laugh at something ridiculous, than "Leprechaun" is your #1 choice.

Leprechaun 2 (1994)

Don't worry if you haven't seen the original movie - the sequels have nothing to do with each other.  Each entry was either a complete reboot or were stories about identical, but separate, Leprechauns who happen to look and act like Warwick Davis.  "Leprechaun 2", released theatrically in '94 (it was the final "Leprechaun" movie to be released in theaters), was directed by new guy Rodman Flender and once again starred Warwick Davis as the titular menace. 

This time, he's abandoned his quest for gold in exchange for a new, far more precious quarry - a wife of his very own.  If he can make the woman of his dreams sneeze three times without anyone "blessing" her sneezes, she will be his forever and they will go off and have litters of ugly little Leprechaun babies (I'm not making this up).  Unfortunately, Leppy chooses the girlfriend of a poor schmoe who gives celebrity "death tours" in Los Angeles, and the fight for her hand in marriage commences.  The Leprechaun loses when he gets killed by being stabbed with a wrought iron bar.

The movie is less fun than its predecessor.  It has a slightly more professional tone to it and, therefore, less of that "so bad it's good" quality.  Davis is still entertaining to watch, though.  My favorite scene is when he's engaged in a drinking contest at a local bar with one of the protagonists.  The way the lighting is designed to make the Leprechaun look menacing has the opposite effect on me - it makes me crack up!  The cast is still full of sitcom-level actors, although the female lead this time around is pretty awful, but least the Leprechaun gets to engage in bloodier kills this time.  Still, it's not as good (?) as the first movie.

Leprechaun 3 (1995)

Here's where the series began to find its footing.  Thanks to director Brian Trenchard-Smith (director of such trash classics as "BMX Bandits", "Dead End Drive-In" and "The Man From Hong Kong"), the next two entries in the series managed to strike that golden balance between grindhouse thrills and entertainingly bad campiness.  Davis even seemed to be having more fun than ever before.

This time the Leprechaun's scouring LasVegas for those who took his gold (fitting, yes?).  The special effects are more inventive, the kills are nastier, the limericks are more insanely stupid than ever before ("What a lovely lass - I had to blow up your ass!"), the humor is far more shameless, and the acting has graduated from sitcom-level to over-the-top, perfectly matching the material.  The leading man this time around comes off as unintentionally creepy, but his acting gets better later on in the story when he becomes a were-leprechaun (you heard me).  The real highlight among the cast is Caroline Williams, best known as the fetching Stretch from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2" (and recently seen in "Hatchet 3").  I may just be saying this because she's kissed me (randomly, out of the blue) at two separate horror movie conventions within the past couple of years.  What can I say, I'm such a pushover.

While the first "Leprechaun" may have the edge for being the original, I kind of like "Leprechaun 3" better - as the entertaining trash it is, of course.

Leprechaun 4 In Space (1996)

He's back, and more ridiculous than ever before!  Brian Trenchard-Smith returned to the director's chair to create this crazy hybrid of psycho Irish fairy tales  and sci-fi adventure epics via the direct-to-video franchise meat grinder machine.  The result was probably the most loony entry in the series, a send up of many sci-fi/horror movie conventions, but mostly just a rip-off of "Alien" and "Aliens".

In the far future, a group of gung-ho space marines are sent to destroy an unknown life form which has taken over a lucrative gold mining planet.  It's the Leprechaun, of course, and his main goal this time is to marry an alien space princess in order to get his greedy hands on her family jewels.  First, though, he needs to deal with these pesky soldiers. . .

I don't know where to begin.  Dr. Mittenhand?  The "crotchburster" scene (like the chestburster from "Alien" only, you know. . .)?  The spider/human hybrid?  The cardboard sets?  The bad-ass cross-dressing marine?  The terrible CG effects?  The scene where the Leprechaun becomes giant-sized?  The green light saber?  The fact that there's a Leprechaun - in space?  The nuttiness of part 3 is amplified to inhuman extremes in part 4.  In fact, the movie becomes exponentially more ridiculous the longer you watch it.  It must be seen to be believed.

Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)

Yes, indeed.  In the hood. 

This time it's a three-way battle between the Leprechaun (Davis, of course), badass music mogul Ice-T, and a group of rap star-wannabes led by Postmaster P (played by Anthony Montgomery from "Star Trek: Enterprise"), all battling over the Leprechaun's magic flute, which has the power to hold sway over the minds of others. 

I know, I know.

The jaw-dropping "what the hell am I watching-ness" of part 4 was toned down somewhat, but was still very much present.  The notion of juxtaposing a classic (albeit murderous) Irish fairy tale with the hip-hop trappings of downtown L.A. was weird enough, I suppose, but while "In the Hood" slows down a bit in the middle section, it still managed to "bring the strange" in the end.  Director Rob Spera lacked the twisted, "anything goes" vision of Trenchard-Smith but still managed to deliver many groan-inducing, queasy laughs.  Need I mention the "Leppy Rap" which closes out the film?

The real element which brings life to this movie is Ice-T.  He's in a stupid movie and he knows it, hamming it up equally as much as Davis, creating a nice counterbalance.  Also, look for a cameo appearance by Coolio.  I don't know what else to say beyond that.  It's a treat for bad movie fans.

Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003)

This movie was originally intended to be about the Leprechaun crashing Spring Break, but was changed at the last minute to capitalize on the success of "In the Hood".  Director Steven Ayromlooi took the reins this time, creating a movie experience more akin to "Leprechaun 2" than any of the other ones.  It's less fun than the last few movies, to put it another way.

After a nifty animated prologue, we get to the actual "story".  Some desperate kids in downtown L.A. steal the Leprechaun's gold, he gets murderous, yadda, yadda, yadda.  One interesting thing about this movie is how the filmmakers try to bring it back around to the original movie with the basic plot ("I want me gold!").  They even bring four-leaf clovers back as his main method of dispatchment.  Otherwise, except for a couple of standout moments (impalement by bong, the Leprechaun trying to drive a full-sized car), it's pretty lame, even by "Leprechaun" standards.  When the biggest name in the movie is Sticky Fingaz (T.V.'s "Blade"), you know you're in trouble.

Included with the DVD release of the movie are two separate audio commentaries by the filmmakers.  I recommend listening to them because they're far more entertaining than the actual movie and provide a neat look into the world of low budget franchise filmmaking.

Well, that about does it for the Leprechaun - for now.  About a year ago, WWE films bought the rights to the franchise and announced that they were working on a new movie, "Leprechaun: Origins", set to star diminutive wrestler Hornswoggle in the title role, but I haven't heard anything since then.  What happened to the Leprechaun?  Where did he go?  I think I may have the answer -

Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone!

The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 15: Crucifixion

Let the countdown to May 16th begin!


Godzilla Vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)

While "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth" (1992) was one of Toho's most successful monster movies of all time, the follow up, "Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II" (1993), while still a big hit, had a significantly lower box office take than its predecessor.  So what was Toho's strategy to bolster the success of their next project?  To hire some new behind-the-scenes blood and throw everything but the kitchen sink into the plot, see what works (I'd pay quite a lot to see "Godzilla Vs. the Kitchen Sink").  The result: A somewhat desperate but merely okay entry in Series 2.

Let's start with SpaceGodzilla himself.  Brought to life after some of Godzilla's cells got sucked into a black hole (courtesy of either Mothra's or Biollante's journey into space), SpaceGodzilla is one ornery dude with a mean territorial streak a galaxy wide.  He heads straight for Earth with the sole intention of taking out the competition - namely, his terrestrial kin, the Big G himself.

Godzilla's got his own problems, however.  Humanity is enacting its own plan, Project T, an attempt to psychically take control of Godzilla and end his reign of smashiness.  SpaceGodzilla's arrival puts an end to all that, especially when he captures and imprisons Little Godzilla (a larger and annoyingly cuter version of Baby Godzilla).  In the end, humanity and their giant robot Mogera (a more half-assed version of Mechagodzilla) teams up with Godzilla to take down SpaceGodzilla.

There are a lot of elements packed into this story.  First of all, the presence of SpaceGodzilla (just like EarthGodzilla but with two ginormous crystals jutting from his shoulders) appeases all of the fans who've been clamoring for "Godzilla Vs. Godzilla" (there are, surprisingly, a lot of them).  Little Godzilla, who looks like Minilla from the first Series, is there to amuse the kids in the audience.  Mogera (a redo of the giant alien robot Moguera from "The Mysterians") is there to please the mecha (giant robot) fans in the audience.  Mothra and the Twin Beauties even appear (briefly) to warn the Earth of SpaceGodzilla's impending arrival.

Then there are the humans.  The Project T concept is something new, and is spearheaded by none other than Miki Saegusa (Megumi Odaka), in her fifth appearance in Series 2.  "Godzilla Vs. SpaceGodzilla" gives her the most screen time yet.  She gets to participate in more action than ever before, and even gets her own romantic subplot.  There's also a crusty veteran with a vengeful bone to pick with Godzilla (his buddy was one of the main characters killed in "Godzilla Vs. Biollante"), a hotshot pilot with something to prove (he's the pilot of Mogera, the Little Mecha That Could), and an additional subplot about Yakuza gangsters trying to take over Project T (complete with exciting shootout).  The producers clearly wanted to appeal to as many segments of the audience as they could.

The studio also decided to shake things up by giving the movie some new blood.  The director (Kensho Yamashita), writer (Hiroshi Kashiwabara) and composer (Takayuki Hattori) were all new to the series, and did a decent job.  Hattori's musical score is a little cheesy, but it's a nice break from the usual, pounding Ifukube score.

All in all, it's a decent movie.  It feels a little too cluttered and the action sequences are a bit too abbreviated but it never bores and is a reasonable amount of fun, which turns out to be a good thing - because things get real dark, real fast. . .

Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah (1995)

GODZILLA DIES!!!

Spoiler Alert.

Okay, it's not really a spoiler, since that was the main slogan of Toho's marketing campaign.  They hoped to draw in viewers by bringing Series 2 to a spectacular climax, doing something that's only been done once before, in 1954 - killing Godzilla onscreen.  It worked.  The movie was a monster (ha, ha) hit and a worthy close for the Series.

They brought back a few veteran Godzilla filmmakers to give him a proper sendoff.  Akira Ifukube returned to score the film, creating one of his finest soundtracks.  Kazuki Omori (director of "Godzilla Vs. Biollante", "Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah", and writer of "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle For Earth") provided the screenplay, and Takao Owara (director of "Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle For Earth" and "Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II") once again took the directing reins.  There were a couple of returning cast members as well.  Megumi Odaka returns one last time as Godzilla's personal psychic Miki Saegusa.  While she isn't as involved as she was in "SpaceGodzilla", she's still here to give Godzilla a teary-eyed farewell.  Also returning is Momoko Kochi, reprising her role as Emiko Yamane, the female lead in the classic 1954 original.  That's pretty cool.

The story begins with a sickened, crazed Godzilla destroying Hong Kong.  Scientists, with the help of Emiko's brilliant grandson, determine that Godzilla's nuclear heart is about to go into meltdown.  If that happens, the entire world will be destroyed, so they devise a plan to freeze Godzilla at a critical point in his meltdown.  The weapon they choose to use to freeze G with is none other than the Super X3 (descendant of the Super X from "Godzilla 1985" and the Super X2 from "Godzilla Vs. Biollante").  First, though, they must lure him away from civilization by using Godzilla Junior (all grown up and out of his cutesy phase, thank the gods) as bait, because his meltdown will turn the immediate area into an atomic wasteland.

Unfortunately, Godzilla's meltdown has awakened Destoroyah (pronounce it Desu-to-ROY-ah!!!), a creature created by the aftereffects of the Oxygen Destroyer, the weapon which killed the first Godzilla in 1954.  After appearing first as a gaggle of scary crab monsters which take out a Japanese S.W.A.T. team (in a sequence ripped off from James Cameron's "Aliens"), they soon combine to form a humongous, satanic-looking beastie which can fly and shoot red lightning bolts from its horns.  Destoroyah kills Godzilla Junior and takes on Godzilla in the middle of - where else? - Tokyo.  In his final battle, Godzilla decimates Destoroyah, then begins to go nuclear.  The Super X3 freezes him at just the right moment, saving the world from destruction but leaving Tokyo a permanent nuclear wasteland.

Destoroyah is an intimidating villain, and all of the cool callbacks to original movie are appropriate, but the real highlight of the movie is, indeed, Godzilla's death scene.  It's quite beautiful and tragic and strangely moving, accentuated by excellent visual effects and heightened by Ifukube's haunting "death theme".  The movie has a strange coda, however.  It suggests either that Godzilla Junior has been revived and will continue on with the family legacy, or it's meant to be metaphorical, like "Godzilla's shadow looms forevermore", or something pretentious like that.  You can take it however you want - it's the end of Series 2.

Overall, "Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah" is a fine film and a great ending for the Series.  Series 2, on the whole, is easily the most solid and overall satisfying series of films in the Godzilla canon.  Technically, "Destoroyah" wasn't the last movie of the Heisei era (a.k.a. Series 2).  Three more movies remain in that era, but they're unrelated to all the rest, story wise.  I'll get to them next time. . .