Godzilla - Attack All Monsters

11) GODZILLA´S REVENGE – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. The most infantile episode and a debasement of the Godzilla saga. The film follows the character of a young boy who in his dreams is transported to Monster Island, the home of Godzilla and all the monsters that had to do with him in previous films. The boy's guide on the island is Minira, Godzilla's son. It's hard to liken this creature to anything, it looks like a cross between a human, a gorilla, a lizard and God knows what else; it can talk, it's really fucking cute and just looking at it makes you laugh. Together with the boy, he watches his dad (Godzilla is said to be male) fight other monsters with passionate encouragement, interjecting now and then and letting his dad teach him how to whip the characteristic blue flame. In real life, outside his Godzilla dreams, the boy is inspired by Miniro's courage, remembers Godzilla's words that we should fight and not be cowards, defeats two thieves hiding at his house and beats up a boy who was mocking him. The infantile script is like something out of a kids show, obviously aimed at the youngest audience and with a hidden educational message: "You have to be brave and know how to defend yourself, look, Godzilla is not afraid either!" and the whole thing is about as witty as Pokémon. (27.08.2010)

"Gojira-Minira-Gabara: Oru kaijû daishingeki" is truly a family film, where the monsters are used more marginally and take up a minimum amount of overall screen time. Even the freedoms are not drawn out and are minimal. But it is simply given by the fact that this has a different structure compared to other kaiju films, and the monsters are just a complement, a backdrop for a little boy to find enough strength within himself and stand up to his own monsters. (17.05.2015)