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Toho once again digs deep into their vault to revive past ideas for fan appeal following the disappointing box office return of Godzilla vs. Biollante. Unlike the previous entry in the Heisei era which was a fun experiment that was different enough that it didn't need to supplant the King Ghidorah films of the Showa period, this time they hit closer to a straight remake of both Mothra and Mothra vs. Godzilla with a superfluous smattering of Indiana Jones tossed in for good measure, and for me it worked a lot better than the last time the Big G fought Madame Moth. I chalk this up to having more interesting battles between the three creatures as well as a human story that felt moderately more earnest and relatable.
Yes, I said three creatures: in addition to the two you know, we also have the introduction of Mothra's darker counterpart, Battra, a monster destined to be forgotten because they're not mentioned in the title or even on the poster. Since The Terror of Mechagodzilla did its best to suppress the existence of Titanosaurus, Toho appears committed to avoid marketing anyone other than Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. It's not as though they aren't designing new monsters, they simply aren't granted the exposure necessary to make their mark on the cultural zeitgeist.
Aside from Godzilla getting sucker punched by a Ferris wheel, the other unintentional joy I got from this was spotting the Mothra suit routinely catch on fire right before they cutaway to the next shot.
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