Director: Jun Fukuda
Year: 1967
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: Kaiju to no Kessen - Gojira no musuko; Battle of Monster Island - Son of Godzilla
Genre: Kaiju
Plot:
Launching an experimental weather system, a team of UN scientists arrive on a remote island in the Pacific to begin their process only to be interrupted when a distress signal goes off before it can take place. As the failed process covers the island in intense heat and radioactive waves that force the team to seek shelter, and when they manage to investigate the side effects realize the islands’ insect inhabitants have grown to monstrous size and impeding their escape plans which then get further complicated when Godzilla arrives to rescue his infant son which is revealed to be the initial disturbance in the first experiment. When the group finds a lone survivor who has lived on the island for her entire life, she reveals a plan of action to let them try their test one last time as a means of getting off the island as the monsters do battle.
Review:
This was better than it should’ve been but is still pretty problematic. The main setup of the film involving the research team visiting the island as a base for their weather-controlling experiments that will allow them to control food growth in inhospitable areas is a great concept here, giving this a logical reasoning for the group to be that far away from humanity and stay on this remote island where they manage to get a solid bit about who they all are, setup some interpersonal animosities that play into later scenarios. The purpose of the project is noble enough and comes across well-meaning with how it’s going to be a genuine betterment to humanity and the intrusion of the reporter into the camp before anything happens has some really likable elements overall. The later half involving the group working together with the local woman who survived everything and can help them come up with remedies for their situation but also assist in their plans to pull their experiment off as the fact that it failed put them into the situation but successfully pulling it off gives them a means of escaping the giant insects and monsters populating the area is a fantastic touch to give this a rather solid storyline.
The other area where this one works incredibly well is the optical effects work used for the constant series of interactions between the monster insects and the humans. Initially appearing as a human-sized creature with glowing eyes giving away its appearance, the first signs of the larger variations appearing at the same size as their massive weather-control towers for the experiments showcase the size of the creature in a series of impressive matte shots with the rescue team hiding on ledges in the foreground while the creature passes by in the background. That the models used to portray them are impressive is a solid point for it as well, being manipulated by wires and carrying out a complex series of movements from the wire-work staff as it gets controlled to the point where it can get into a fight with Godzilla or even feature multiple on-screen at once. The spider is an absolute highlight, taking that to even greater extremes with its scenes bringing about a character and not really being out of place or obvious about how it’s constructed. There’s a lot to like with how it comes off here in its scenes, whether terrorizing the human cast or the other giant monsters on the island, making for a film with some solid aspects to it.
There are some issues here that do bring this one down. The main instance of that is the highly disappointing and just plain awful suit designed for Godzilla in this one, ranking at the bottom if not being the worst costume in the series. The angular face is about the only thing that works as the rest of this is a complete mess, full of odd proportions, distinctive folds in the body that create a swollen, misshapen appearance, and an ugly redesigned series of features that make him feel quite inappropriate for the situation. Considering he’s almost always napping and being roused from his sleep to protect his son, it’s quite silly and goofy-looking much like the costume for his son where the juvenile features, pudgy look, and comical antics are just as bad. Intended to give it a comical touch for children, the scenes are just plain excruciating and painful to watch for how jarring they are against the rest of the human drama regardless of how comical and childish they appear. Along with the obvious low-budget nature of everything throughout here, these are the few factors that lower this one overall.
Overview: **/5
A minor disappointment compared to the other entries in the series, this one is a bit of a mixed bag as there are some genuinely enjoyable factors to this one while also being let down by some detrimental ones. The biggest ones who will want to give this a shot will be those who are franchise completists who don’t mind the issues or those with young children who will be the target audience for the antics within, while most others out there should want to heed caution with the film.
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