In my continuing quest to watch every Godzilla movie, I was pleased to bump into a true monster fest. Yes, "Destroy All Monsters" is that party. I fully admit that I am a Godzilla nut although as I watch the middle-to-late '60s Big-G flicks, I have been desperately trying to retain my strange fixation with the films. The most recent entries that I have watched have tested my patience (that would be "Son of Godzilla" and "Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster"); but then along comes this Ishiro Honda-directed treat and all is again well in my irrational kaiju-obssesed little world. That's not to imply that "Destroy All Monsters" is a good movie, it's just that there's like a dozen monsters trampling assorted cities 'round the world. And above all else, that's why I watch these ridiculous flicks. Part of the satisfaction I got from "Destroy All Monsters" was the fact that I couldn't rent the movie anywhere. No Netflix, no Amazon, nothing. I actually bought the DVD as part of a two-pack. To add further to its charm, the DVD is a no frills, no extras, menu-less release by ADV Films. It's also got the worst English dub of a movie I think I've ever heard. But that actually adds even more to it's goofy low rent appeal.
I haven't mentioned much about the story. Somehow humans have herded all of the monsters to Monster Island. Aliens then release the monsters loose to wreak havoc on the Earth. That's about it.
There is really quite a lot of monster goodness here and it's welcome because many of the late '60s Godzilla movies were sorely lacking it.
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.
This is the fourth Godzilla movie in the series and it is the second straight following "King Kong Vs. Godzilla" that takes a decidedly silly turn. Looking for deep meaning in any Godzilla flick is ridiculous to begin with but this movie cements Godzilla's descent (or ascent if you choose) into the absurd. The big guy shares top billing with Mothra here, but as with King Kong, he is practically a special guest star and not the headliner.
When Godzilla is on screen, he's a floppy-jawed klutz. In one scene, he gets his tail caught in a radio tower, pulls it down, and knocks himself over with it. Shortly thereafter, he misses a step and falls face first into Himeji Castle. He's not exactly the atomic-born demon found in the original "Gojira", he's actually more like Curly Howard. To make matters worse, he survives a five minute fight with a big moth, a big moth who just happens to be near death according to two annoying twins that follow her around. Then the mighty Godzilla is dismissed in short order by a couple of caterpillars. Its sad, really.
As usual, there are some miniature effects that are totally impressive and some nice shots of Godzilla towering over the hills of the surrounding countryside.
This is another Godzilla movie that isn't any good. The plot mixes an ancient tale about a beast named King Seesar, with secret agents, with aliens, and finally with the reemergence of Godzilla. With all of these ingredients, I'd like to report that it's a complex but delicately intertwined story. But nope, it's just a mess that substitutes tangled subplots for the monster mayhem that people really watch Godzilla movies for.
There is some good news. This movie features lots of new fight footage. The Godzilla movies that preceded this one used so much recycled footage that it's hard to tell one movie from the next.
There aren't as many miniature effects this time, which is kind of disappointing because they are always so well done. The pyrotechnics are here, though. Man! These guys knew how to do small-scale explosions.
Mechagodzilla is a neat creation but Godzilla himself is in full Cookie Monster mode. He's got big googly-eyes and looks just like the Sesame Street resident from the waist up. I got a few chuckles from the floppy, stuffed scales on his back too.
As I've been wading my way through the Godzilla series, I am still strangely drawn to watch them even though I haven't thought anymore than a few of them have been any good at all.
[8.9/10] What a nice way to close out the show’s original run. Jack’s done escort missions before, but I don’t think any have been this sweet. Having him do a Lone Wolf and Cub routine with this little babe was a real treat, and a lovely note to end on.
What I like best about it is that it is both a glimpse of Jack as a surrogate father, showing that hiss compassion and kindness is not limited to the bounds of his sacred quest, but that it’s also revealing of his childhood. There’s a lot of adorableness to this one, but also a subtle implication, through Jack recreating his mother’s care and remedies, that this was the treatment that turned him into the fierce but caring person he is today. It is ultimately a story about Jack’s soul as much as it is a story about protecting a babe from harm, and both sides of it are outstanding and endearing.
I particularly enjoyed the way the episode leans into the joys and pains of child care. Jack is overjoyed and very sweet himself when he talks baby talk to the little tyke, or warmly tells him a story, or revels in the satisfaction of a happy child. But he also has to try to fight while having his hair-pulled and his location exposed through crying, and to struggle to find the nourishment that his ward needs, and to have to worry when the kid in his care seems sick and uncontrollable.
Of course, the show doesn't skimp on the visual coolness of it all. The design of the baby himself is impossibly cute, with appropriate coos and cries to tug the heartstrings. The images of him and Jack trudging through rain, or mischievious crawling around through trees, or having to be strung and spun away from attackers are all striking. And the tale of the Peach Boy has a subtle art shift that befits the fable.
It’s a fun fable! I don’t know whether it’s based on something real, but it works both as the type of children’s story that sounds familiar to anyone who’s been read or told one, with a simple tale of adventure and kindness that teaches kids important lessons about courage and altruism. But it connects to the peaches, a sign of new life growing in spring, and a symbol of both innocence, growth, and strength in a child’s upbringing here.
The fight scene through the peach patch is a strong one, with the child-eating ogres/trolls each having unique designs and Jack having some creative defenses. The addition of the child to the skirmish adds stakes and creates complications for our hero. But my favorite part is the end, where Jack finds the child’s mother and returns him, only for the mom to discover that her child has experienced so much with Jack that he’s developed the spirit of the Samurai, replete with Jack-like eyebrows and a cry right out of the story Jack told him.
It’s a great way to suggest that, if this had been the end of the line for Samurai Jack, Jack still would have left a legacy, of the lives he touched who could carry on this fight inspired by his story and struggly. That works for those both behind and in front of the screen, with the suggestion that just as the baby became emboldened by the story of the Peach Boy, so too would the kids who watched Jack’s adventures be inspired by him, and strive to achieve great deeds like their own fictional hero.
At the end of the day, Samurai Jack is a story, and done right, the purpose of a great story isn’t just to entertain, but also to move us, to make us think, and to inspire us. This episode implies that Jack himself was once inspired by such tales, and made into the man he is by the care and concern of his own parents. A television show can only do so much, but as “Jack and the Baby” shows, these four seasons of adventures hopefully meant as much to you, made you want to emulate Jack’s example in spirit if not in deed, as they did to me.
