Mothra - Das Siegel der Elias

This is the first of 1990s Mothra trilogy after the death of '90s Godzilla in 1995. The tone of this trilogy is very different from that of Godzilla's. In this movie, Mothra is the protector of earth, and when a monster which threatens to destroy earth's habitat, Mothra comes to rescue.

I rather liked this movie because of its beautiful cinematography and a plot that was not based simply on destruction, but about the importance of protecting our environment. While American cinema was busy producing darker movies in the '90s, this series positively bucked the trend with its brilliant color and putting nature before humans.

Casting was okay. It had a good central focus for a change called the Elias. But for the most part, Toho can use better actors in all its movies. Watch this, and you'll be treated to the most beautiful colors you've ever seen.

Although not generally one of the most popular kaiju (Japanese for monster) movies, Mothra: 1996 is in my opinion one of the most beautiful.

Mothra: 1996 is the first in a new trilogy from Toho studios. It features one of their most popular monsters Mothra. Mothra battles a new creation in the form of Death Ghidora. Although, the fairies in this film are not the same in past films they do an adequate job.

What caught my attention of this film was the first 30 minutes. The beautiful visuals of the northern forest and of it being destroyed by man leading to the discovery of the tomb of Death Ghidora. Death Ghidora is one of Toho's most popular recent creations and is a fearsome looking beast. This film contains no less than 4 separate battles between Mothra and Death Ghidora.

The special effects are up to par and the creation of Belvera, the evil fairy is interesting. Although geared toward younger viewers, die-hard kaiju fans should have no problem enjoying this film.

This movie was the first of three solo Mothra adventures following the Heisei Godzilla series. This movie was pretty good. It has some great points to it: fast pace, great looking monsters, great optical effects, lots of monster fights, as well as a cute looking actress as Lora. However, I thought the movie was too kid-oriented and that the final battle was too short. The monster battles lacked the ferocity of Godzilla battles and Mothra's powers seemed overkill. However, it is a fun movie for fans of the genre.

This film has many colorful and beautiful sceneries, especially the forest scenes. Mothra begins a new solo adventure, battling Desghidorah to save Earth's green landscape. She hatches an egg and out comes her son MothraLeo. To pick up where his mother left off, MothraLeo battles Desghidorah to the finish.

There are amusing battle scenes and great special effects by Koichi Kawakita. And, there is a fine score by Toshiyuki Watanabe.

This movie is a big change from the concepts of the original Mothra of the 1960s. The two tiny priestesses are not twins like the original one who were portrayed by The Peanuts, and each one in this movie is actually given a name: Mona and Lora (the "Elias"). They have an evil sister named Belvera who favors Desghidorah's mission to turn Earth into a barren landscape. The central character in this movie is a kid who helps Mona and Lora battle their evil sister. The scene where the Elias and Belvera riding on their "Mothra" pets and shooting rays at each other at the kid's home is too childish and took away to much time in the movie. The scene is more associated with kids' shows or cartoons. And, MothraLeo's powers are very excessive. Its releasing of rays and beams make MothraLeo act more like a robotic creature. Though all the creatures in this movie are worked out well, there are limited emphasis to the human characters and overall, the movie is more kid-oriented. The Mothras in this movie are not treated like the Sacred Goddess in the Mothra films from the 1960s, but more like superheros ready to defend Earth. And, there are no natives worshiping Mothra in this film as in the 1960s Mothra films, making Mothra seem less sacred, as it was suppose to be according to the original concept. But, the ever-so-popular "Mothra's Song" (sung in Malaysian as always) returns and is performed by the Elias. Some new songs are introduced also. A serviceable movie, otherwise, to spend 106 minutes on a boring day.

Grade C

This is the kick off of Mothra's very own series and I must say it wasn't a bad move by Toho. You see, Mothra, like Rodan, was originally a solo character who was introduced to the Godzilla franchise in the cross-over "Mothra vs. Godzilla"in 1964. Her first film had been back in 1961 and for whatever reason, audiences like Mothra a lot. Want to guess which monster co-star has been in the most Godzilla films? No, it's not King Ghidorah, no not MechaGodzilla and Christ no it is not Minilla. That's right, it's Mothra. She's starred in a total of nine Godzilla films. MehaGodzilla's been in five and Ghidorah has been in eight. Therefore the idea of her own series wasn't too shabby at all. However, I must say I was expecting more.

To begin this review I'll say the good points to this film. Oddly, this film's universe is that of the Heisei Godzilla series. It's the same Mothra from "Godzilla vs. Mothra" back in 1992 to be exact. The monsters are grade A in my book, Mothra and Mothra Leo both look awesome, as well as the larva form. Death Ghidorah looked incredible and his attacks were great. I didn't like his roar and the original shrieks would've been better though. While in flight, the quadruped dragon looked awesome as well. The real downside is that to save money Toho had Death Ghidorah rampage through a forest the entire movie without even touching a single building! Wack status! Isn't Tokyo supposed to get crushed in these films? The thing that truly ruins this flick are the annoying and overly childish characters. The dialogue and every scene involving any of them, especially the fairies, just leaves older viewers like me frustrated. The human characters are just plain crappy. On the opposite side we have good monster moments, as when the larva watches its mother drown right before its eyes, a somber moment where the tragic music really sets the mood. Toshiyuki Watanabe is a great composer, giving Mothra a heroic theme and everything.

Unfortunately, most will find the bad outweighs the good and find watching the film unbearable. All in all, I still find it a fun film to watch.