Rebirth of Mothra (1996)Â
Rebirth of Mothra II (1997)Â
Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)Â
Three films in which a pair of fairy sisters, Moll and Lora, work to save humanity with the help of children and the goddess moth, Mothra, while their evil sister attempts to do the opposite using various huge monsters.
In Rebirth of Mothra, a middle-manager at a lumber company accidently releases Desghidorah (aka Death-Ghidorah), who will drain the world of energy if not stopped. The good fairies team up with the middle-managerâs wife and children, and of course, Mothra, to stop the monster, while the evil fairy coaches it.
In Rebirth of Mothra II, a pollution monster has returned to destroy the world and is countered by Mothra. The winner of the battle between the giants will be determined by who finds a treasure hidden in a pyramid in the middle of the ocean: the evil fairy and her two thieves or the good fairies, three children, and a furby with healing urine. Yes, that last bit isnât a typo. A Furbee with healing urine.
In Rebirth of Mothra III, King Ghidora returns to Earth, with very different powers than he had in the Godzilla films. Now he captures children with a form of teleportation, storing them in a dome. Mothra travels back in time to the age of dinosaurs to fight him when he was weaker. In the present, a troubled youth attempts to save Lora, whoâs been captured along with the children.
Mothra was the second most popular âmonsterâ in Tohoâs stable, and with the Godzilla films going on hiatus, they decided to spin off a trilogy of kids films. With the exception of the original Gojira, the Godzilla films had always had a juvenile quality, but the best were family films that everyone could enjoy. Mothra vs Godzilla is a family film, and a lot of fun. Son of Godzilla is a kidâs film, and is trash. The Rebirth of Mothra Trilogy is strictly for children. Thereâs nothing here for anyone older than 10. However, for Daikaiju kids films, they are better than average, and a step above the equivalent Godzilla films (i.e. the â70s juveniles), and leaps and bounds better than the early Gamera movies. The second falls down, but the first and third are surprisingly moving and should give the kids an enjoyable Saturday afternoon.
The first has a whacky segment early on, and the third spends a too much time dwelling on how hard it is to be a kid, but both play out primarily as earnest daikaiju films. The monstrous threat is very real, as are the emotions. The fights are surprisingly savage, a great deal more intense than in a majority of daikaiju films, and far more than in any of the others pitched at kids. I suspect you might have your own young children hiding behind pillows and getting teary-eyed now and again. By â90s daikaiju standards, the puppetry and special effects are pretty good, and by kids flick standards, theyâre great.
The second is more of a fluffy childrenâs adventure tale. Nothing really matters and the kids just run around a maze-like temple for an hour. It might work for young childrenâIâd put the cut off around kindergartenâbut better just to skip it.
That second runs into another problem: the children in the trilogy are annoying and the child actors are underwhelming. But in I and III, the children do very little, and are just around the action to be frightened and put in danger. In II, they are the protagonists, getting lots of screen time and lots of terrible dialog. They are worse than the urinating furby.
The fairies, on the other hand, are cute, with the good ones being played by teenage pop stars, which worked out well since they have multiple songs, all of which are pleasant (Lora was recast for the third when the actressâs career took off). The evil one overacts, but thatâs pretty normal for the villainess in a kids movie.
All three movies have strong environmental messages, hammering their points over and over again, with characters repeatedly stating âpollution is bad and we must save nature.â Well, for a small child, perhaps thatâs the way your message needs to be delivered. Still, it is another way the films are annoying for adults.
Thereâs a final problem. The dubbing is terrible. The emotions (or lack of them) do not match what should be coming from the characterâs mouths. It kills the drama and the humor, and I take a Reel off of each when dubbed. The Japanese originals are the only way to watch these. Well, that will work if your kids happen to be speak Japanese. Otherwise, Iâd be surprised if many seven-year-olds will want to read subtitles. I suppose you could use these as a reading lesson.