Kaidžútó no kessen: Godzilla no musuko

Pure cringe with a big dose of slapstick humour, terrifying examples of monstrous parenting and an inclination toward tear-jerking in the style of Annaud’s The Bear. Son of Godzilla is a sacrilege for devotees of the more serious line in Japanese monster flicks, but for fans of naïve childishness and rubber kaiju spectacle, it’s one of the absolute peaks of the genre. Due to the limited budget, this time there is no toy-makers’ orgy as in the works directed by Ishiro Honda, but that is fully compensated for by the unbridled silliness, the absence of any seriousness and the naïvely trashy framework with a genius scientist, a beautiful savage and an intrepid reporter who parachutes onto a mysterious island in search of a scoop. (27/02/2021)

Yes, the movie "Kaijuto no kessen: Gojira no musuko" can be seen as a naive banality, because cute creatures have no place in kaiju films. However, Fukuda showed that it can also work with the comedic aspect, because the final battle, which is quite long, is not compromised in any way. People in costumes still don't quite work, but there are other tricks here and I must say that they don't seem bad at all, on the contrary, there is some effort here. The story is simple, but overall entertaining. Thanks to the comedic aspect and the family bond, there is also better accessibility for a wider audience. (21/12/2014)

9) SON OF GODZILLA – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. Simple in plot and yet (or maybe because of it) quite enjoyable. There are none of the typical plot twists, no aliens, no gigantic metropolis demolitions, just one island, a bunch of meteorologists and two new monsters: the giant mantis Kamacuras and the giant spider Kumonga, two of the most visually accomplished Godzilla adversaries of the Showa era. Naturally, this Fukuda entry could be cursed for one simple reason: it marks the first appearance of the fan-unloved Godzilla cub Minira, a chubby, bulging baby, who brings childishness and unnecessary farce to the franchise. Otherwise the film has nice visuals (the pretty tropical island scenery favours the camera), the studio sets are adorable, the special effects are again laughably naive in the context of the Showa series, and the fights are quite entertaining (Kumongo's sticky spider webs is a powerful weapon indeed). And as a bonus, there’s a Japanese supermodel playing an Amazon :) (31/08/2010)