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A pointless, nonsensical entry in which Godzilla is drawn to a remote tropical island, discovers a freshly-hatched infant of his own species and takes it under his wing. Various light amusements ensue: misguided fire-breathing lessons, jump-rope with the adult creature's tail, forgettable tangles with a trio of giant insects. The little guy, an unholy mishmash with a reptilian body and the pudgy cheeks of a human infant, might be the worst-looking kaiju in the entire series (which is really saying something) and big daddy appears to have developed a case of the googly eyes since his last appearance. If everything weren't so incredibly dull, I might have been offended.
There's a ground-level story going on, too, something about an isolated team of scientists whose weather experiments tie into the climax, but that doesn't amount to much. Without a city to stomp or a serious threat to punch - those radioactive mantis critters scarcely offer any resistance - there's very little to keep viewers engaged through the dregs of bad comedy and bland storytelling. Even my Godzilla-crazed kids turned to me afterward and admitted that it was lousy.
Single parent Godzilla has so much more potential than what we got
Mothra would be proud, except for that baby's face. It's pretty ugly.
In one scene of "Son of Godzilla", one character says to another, "We're not watching wrestling here." Right before that, Godzilla gave a giant praying mantis a bodyslam like Hulk Hogan against André the Giant. I don't know; somehow, that's not the tone I like in this kind of movie. The whole concept of Godzilla suddenly having to take care of an adopted son is also ridiculous to the max, with humor that just doesn't work for me. The story surrounding the human characters is also weak this time around, making "Son of Godzilla" a major letdown across the board.
Please note: This review is for the original Japanese subbed version
I am conflicted about this movie. On one hand, it's trash and I hated every second scene. On the other, it has an odd charm that I couldn't shake the entire time.
There is hardly a story, so I feel no need to even dive into that, as the script seems to not want to either. Same human plot as Ebirah, just the scientists are... good? Who knows anymore with these movies. What we do know, is that Manilla (Godzilla's son) looks as stupid as he sounds. Godzilla also has this terrible new face going on. This is probably the derpiest he has ever been.
As for foes in this movie, the giant mantises and spider are not threatening at first, but as the story continues and that charm I mentioned before starts to settle in more. I actually began to feel for Godzilla and his son a little bit. However, this is vastly overshadowed by the absence of one key detail; sanity.
It's total crap, yet I under the surface is a heartwarming story that just did not pan out the way they were hoping. Probably because they were way too kid-friendly about it instead of having the raising of a child revolve around the essence of what Godzilla is, a subject and result of human failings and mistakes. You can do a lot with that, but they were already too deep in this trap they have placed for themselves in regards to the audience.
3/10
See my Godzilla ranked list: https://trakt.tv/users/corruptednoobie/lists/godzilla-films-ranked?sort=rank,asc
Review by whitsbrainVIP 6BlockedParent2022-01-15T16:37:28Z
Up to this point, Godzilla movies had been moving closer to becoming children's fare. With "Son of Godzilla", the series is full-fledged kids' stuff. The storyline features a team of scientists working to control the weather for the benefit of mankind. Their testing is occurring on an island which just happens to be the destination of Godzilla, who is traveling there to meet up with his son Minella. While hatching from his egg, Minella is roughed up by some giant insects. Godzilla comes to the rescue and proceeds to train Minella in the fine arts of being a giant monster, that is when he's not sleeping or just lumbering around the island.
Let's get to the problems with this movie. Godzilla spends a lot of time roasting giant insects with his atomic breath. If you are looking for hand-to-hand monster combat or building-smashing chaos, you've come to the wrong movie. The Godzilla suit itself is the worst looking one of the series so far. The small, almost toothless jaws, the round head, and huge bulging eyes make this Godzilla suit nearly unsightly. Minella is ridiculous. He stumbles and flops around and sound at times like a donkey when he's not whimpering like an injured dog.
The giant insects, specifically the spider (Kumonga) are highlights. There is some sparse but neat miniature work also. The actors that portray the scientist, reporter and native girl are as serviceable as any other Godzilla flick, but the story is so un-engaging it doesn't matter.