***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** To describe this movie is in one word: SENSATIONAL! I was not prepared for how this movie would effect me. It seems silly to say that a monster movie could touch someone but this one does. In a nutshell, this movie picks up where Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth left off. Mothra is a few years older at the beginning (I don't know what that is in human years). She has just given birth to an egg and is on Infant Island recuperating from the difficult birth. We are introduced to her 'friends' Mol and Lora the 'Elias' sisters. In Hokaido an old gowth forest is being leveled to make room for industry and expansion. A ancient carving in stone is found with what seems like a medallion at its centre. A man takes a knife and works it free. Somewhere else, Belvera, the older and meaner sister of Lora and Mol is gleeful atop her fairy Desgaru (a litle dragon-like creature that breaths fire). She knows that the removal of the medallion will set off the chain reaction toward the end of the earth. Because of an accident caused by Belvera the stone carving begins to break apart causing the ground to heave up begetting an even larger stone structure. From this a fiery three-headed dragon appears. It is Desghidorah, and even fiercer cousin of King Ghidorah. It begins to feed off the forest killing the trees and flowers using their lifeforce to grow stronger. With Desghidorah released Lora and Mol must call upon the only one who can banish Desghidorah for good. Mothra on Infant Island summons all her strength and leaves her egg to go help mankind. There is a Japanese family who become imbroiled in this mess and who help Lora and Mol to help Mothra. During one of the many great battle scenes Mothra is hurt, her strength diminished. On Infant Island, the larvae inside the egg calls out to its mother and begins to work its way out of the egg. Once feed it makes its way to its mother. Mother and child are reunited when the baby is attacked by Desghidorah and Mothra with all the strength she has left deals the dragon a terrible blow and takes flight with her child in her grasp. Mothra though by this point is dying, she can no longer help mankind and succumbs to her wounds. This is the most touching part of the story. My heart broke as Mothra with her last breaths tells her child it must continue the battle. I believe Mothra told the larvae where to go to enhance itself. The baby begging Mothra to stay, goes to comfort her before she plumets to the bottom of the ocean in a poetic dive to her death. The bay heads for an island that has the oldest growth forest in Japan. There the baby spins it coccoon as the trees and ancient woods impart their knowledge and their strength to the little one. Fianlly in a beautiful swirl of kaleidoscopic colours the new Mothra is reborn, stunning, and different than her mother. As she harvests all her strength and courage this cheeky little girl flies off to battle Desghidorah to the death. Of course she wins sending Desghidorah back to the hellfire from which it sprang, but the world has changed. The forest is dead and lifeless. Mothra has one more trick up her wing. Using the force she received from the ancient forest she sets about to reseed the flora creating the most beautiful garden, this in final tribute to her mother. this movie succedes on different levels. For me it was one of the most orginal plots I've seen in kaiju films. Sure the environmental issue was there, but this goes beyond that. It is a human endeavour. How does a child best serve a dying parent? Complete the work that was started and leave a monument to that parent. In this case the reseeding of the dead forest. There wre human actors in this movie, however, I feel that the message was there from Mothra and her chld. All in all the best of the giant monster films. This one comes highly recomended as a must-see.
Review of Rebirth of Mothra
