cult film freak: MEGUMI ODAKA IN 'GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH'

Title: GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH Year: 1992 Rating: ***1/2

The previous installment GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH, the first sequel to GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE after GODZILLA 1984 rebooted the franchise, actually has a character as Steven Spielberg's father in a time-travel sequence during the Second World War, witnessing a space-ship landing, which is a vision he'll pass down to his son...

And in the followup's followup GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA: THE BATTLE FOR EARTH, the young lead is straight out of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, a maverick archeologist reluctantly teamed with his spunky ex-wife and a corporate gopher in what's also a TEMPLE OF DOOM style adventure that results in the discovery of a large colorful egg...

From Godzilla Vs Mothra: The Battle for Earth

Which belongs to MOTHRA, the more female-friendly monster that's actually a worm for most of the time, and isn't entirely formidable... hence Battra, a darker version... and both eventually battle Godzilla in city-stomping sequences that are experienced both by the audience and these characters, always watching ringside...

The hook being that (like the original), a pair of Mothra's tiny pixie/protectors wind-up kidnapped for the same reason the original KING KONG was shipped back to America... for big bucks based on corporate greed: just one aspect in a semi-comedic adventure also involving a bickering-romance and sporadic input by Megumi Odaka's Miki Saegusa, the returning starlet in a total of six GODZILLA films from the late-80's throughout the entire 1990's...

Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa in Godzilla Vs Mothra: The Battle for Earth

Meanwhile the campy (and politically-motivated environmental) elements make sense enough for the practically non-stop action to pierce through all the highs and lows: like the two pixies (who are actually really hot) singing as if they were 1990's Grammy winners... albeit a hypnotic tune that brings Mothra swimming from her island in a rage...

That's literally watered down since, being a protagonist geared for a teenage girl market, there's little to fear... but GODZILLA, involved in enough ferocious battles within sprinkled neon aesthetics glazed with bright infrared imagery, highlights what's mainly a character-driven adventure that's involving from beginning to end.