Son of Godzilla
Release Date: 16th December, 1967
New Monster: Minilla (a.k.a. Minya)
Description: Kewpie-faced miniature Godzilla baby
Origin: Broken out of an egg by giant mantises
Destruction: Minilla is not killed
Actor(s): Little Man Machan
Description: A giant pink praying mantis with glowing yellow eyes
Origin: Ordinarily a nine-foot mantis, they were mutated by a passing ultra-storm
Destruction: There are several Kamacurases, and they are all torn apart, set ablaze, or stomped on by Godzilla
Description: Giant hairy spider with a retractable fang and a facially-located web-spinner
Origin: A native of Sollgel Island, presumably also mutated by a passing ultra-storm
Destruction: Beaten up and set ablaze by Godzilla and Minilla
In terms of story, Son of Godzilla is more akin to the early Godzilla films (it’s about a reporter discovering clues of an impending monster), but in terms of tone, it’s just as silly and trifling as The Sea Monster. It doesn’t help that so much of the film is devoted to weird paternal scenes of Godzilla teaching his newly-hatched son how to fight and breath radioactivity and generally behave the way a kaiju oughtta. And before I go any further, I am going to address the mystery of Minilla’s origin, and Godzilla’s sexuality. I honestly never thought I would type the phrase “Godzilla’s sexuality.”
Godzilla, as far as I can tell, may be the only member of his species remaining. The monster in the original Gojira may have been a different monster than we’re following now (we do see his rather definitive death in that film), but we’ve been with the same second Godzilla ever since Godzilla Raids Again, and we’ve never run into any other monster who looks like him. Godzilla is referred to as “he,” by everyone, so I’m operating under the assumption that Godzilla is a male. Godzilla looks like a lizard, but hibernates underwater, so he may be part frog or even part whale. Where did Godzilla’s egg come from, then? I know of no reptile or amphibian and whale species that lays eggs and fertilizes them asexually the way Godzilla did. Maybe I’m giving it too much thought. If this is one of the only of his species, then reproduction can be handled however the filmmakers want. Godzilla has an egg. It is a mere fact that should not be questioned. Godzilla stores his egg inside a rocky mound to hide it from Kamacurases.
The human story: A rogue reporter named Goro (Akira Kubo) has secretly trekked to a remote Pacific locale called Sollgel Island to investigate… something or other. What he finds is a secret enclave of scientists who are working on weather-control experiments intended to increase crop production. The island is subject to super-storms which, early on, mutate the local nine-foot mantises into 50-foot mantises that Goro nicknames Kamacuras. The numerous Kamacurases immediately gather and dig up a giant egg, and crack it open, releasing Minilla, Godzilla’s baby, who actually won’t be named for another two films. Goro also discovers a hot sari-wearing Japanese wild-woman name Riko (Bibari Maeda) who is surprisingly clean, well-spoken, and well-behaved for a woman who has been living on a deserted island for years. She knows all about the local monsters, what local unguents can cure ailments, and even what baby Godzillas like to eat; she throws little yellow fruits into Minilla’s mouth.
Godzilla appears, as is his wont, to look after his son. There are several very long and kind of painful scenes (complete with doop-a doop-a doop music) of Minilla playing jump rope with his dad’s tail, learning how to roar like a Godzilla, breath radioactivity like a Godzilla, all while making a series of utterly grating mewling noises. It’s easy to accuse Godzilla of being cute – he does have a fun puppety quality – but when an intentionally cute baby monster is introduced into the mix, you kind of want to bash your head against a hard flat surface. Any cool that Godzilla once had totally drains out of this film.
There is a quest by our human character to find a local medicine for a mysterious fever (that only lasts one scene), and during said quest, we are introduced to Kumonga, the leader of the local monsters. Kumonga is a giant spider, and look pretty cool. Eventually Minilla will wander too close to Kumonga, Kumonga will wrap him in webbing (along with some ancillary Kamacurases) and Godzilla will charge to the rescue. Godzilla will also bat some planes out of the sky and stomp around on some small buildings. Or maybe that was the last film. The plane-batting scene is really cool either way.
The film ends with the scientists freezing Godzilla and Minilla in a manufactured snowstorm. It’s very sad. They look so chilly. The humans all reassure themselves that Godzilla will be okay as he’s been frozen before. No word as to whether or not Godzilla likes being frozen.
I miss the orchestra. What is up with the goofy-ass music in this film? It’s the kind of music that would feel out-of-place in a Herbie movie. My guess is that the newfound cheeky cutesiness of the series was too much for fans, as the next flick, often considered the best in the series, was something of a return to form. Let’s gaze in awe at the wonders of…
