(1964)
Overall: MEH
For round four in the Godzilla series, Toho keeps the cycle going with the logically formulaic Mothra vs. Godzilla, (Mosura tai Gojira, Godzilla vs. the Thing); yet another showdown smash-em-up between the titular monster of the franchise and another titular monster of a franchise. This would be the last movie in the initial Shōwa era to depict Godzilla as the "bad guy" as future installments would continue the kid-friendly trajectory by making him more heroic in comparison to his earlier, metaphoric scourge of the H-bomb persona. By this point, virtually everyone involved in the production had been making only slight variations of the same kaiju movie over and over again, so there are understandably no surprises here. The suitmation and miniature special effects are still laugh-out-loud silly, the human characters are still one-note and dispensable, and everyone on screen still suffers from amnesia where they recognize the giant creatures that they are up against by name, yet also fail to recall that all military weapons do absolutely nothing to stop them in their tracks. Thematically, the money-hungry and short-sided villains appear to awake both monster's rages, so one would think that Godzilla and Mothra would team up in destroying all of these pesky idiots instead of duking it out with each other, but it is probably a safer bet to just follow through on the catchy title instead.
(1964)
Overall: MEH
Another Toho science fiction/crime film mash-up from director Ishirō Honda and screenwriter collaborator Shinichi Sekizawa, Dogora, (Uchū Daikaijū Dogora, Giant Space Monster Dogora, Dagora, the Space Monster), is a particularly forgettable one. Naming the movie after radiated space cells that have transformed into a giant, jellyfish-like creature is misleading in the fact that said monster not only shows up for just a brief moment almost an hour in, but it also merely serves a minor role plot-wise in what is far more prominently a ho-hum "police vs bad guys" rigamarole. American actor Robert Dunham, (playing an insurance agent who outsmarts everyone on screen with a charming smugness), does provide the narrative with a minor twist midway through, but it still becomes all too easy to lose complete interest in the awkard melding of clashing ideas. Low on spectacle and high on boredom, its shoehorned elements seem wackier on paper than they do in the final result which lacks the quirkiness found in other tokusatsu films from the studio, namely their "Transforming Human" series that had a similar angle, minus the over-sized monster threat. When Dogora itself finally show up, it is visually striking and far more convincing than the standard suitmation nyuck nyucks, but the movie is still a drag elsewhere.
(1964)
Overall: MEH
Toho's biggest over-sized creature rally to date, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, (San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen, Three Giant Monsters: Earth's Greatest Battle, Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Greatest Battle on Earth, Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidorah: Chikyu Saidai No Kessen), is the usual slog where the human drama is concerned, but delivers the suitmation goofiness as reliably as ever. Rushed into production to make an end-of-year release once the studio's version of Red Beard fell behind schedule, it is an impressive rush-job in this respect, especially considering the ambitious scale. Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra all return with the former two laughably thrown in with no narrative purpose whatsoever besides providing the climax with its inevitable duke-em-out. Mothra and their doll-sized, singing companions, (portrayed yet again by The Peanuts), end up being the driving force in bringing everyone together as they break up a fight between Godzilla and Rodan so that they can all bum-rush the three-headed alien dragon Ghidorah. The special effects work is particularly absurd and merely looks like rubber toys smashing together and flopping around, but it is the sheer amount of rubber toys smashing together and flopping around that is so much fun. As far as everything else going on with a brainwashed Princess who thinks she is from another planet plus some other nonsense, bah, who cares. Monsters yo!
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