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.
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