The kaiju genre contains its own specialized wonderment. Publisher Jim Main knows this, which is why for Brain Freeze #2, he recruited only those artists equipped to give the theme (and its towering celebrities) a respectful spin.
For Brain Freeze #2, readers get Godzilla (in several incarnations), King Kong, Mothra, Ghidorah, King Caesar, Kiko, Minya, Baragon, Gorgo and the mighty Rodan (in a spectacular, family spread, no less): super-colossal creatures one and all, aimed to rekindle the imaginative spirit of one's youth and beyond.
Brain Freeze #2's artists are Marc Haines; Brad Foster; Kevin Dale Duncan; Allen Freeman; Doc Boucher; John Lambert; Brian D. Leonard; Brian W. Foster; Scott McClung; Jack Bertram; Verl Holt Bond; Matt C. Ryan; Anthony C. Bray; Rick McCollum; Jacob Dubi; and Alan Groenig. Their passionate renderings make this issue a stylish gem to behold.
Without question, if you love kaiju, this issue is for you: a significant, celebratory collectible from front to back.
To obtain a copy of Brain Freeze #2, email Mr. Main at mainjim23@gmail.com.
You'll roar in kaiju triumph that you did.
The sequel to Gareth Edwards' "Godzilla '14" steals its name from the U.S. '56 edit of "Gojira", but if the truth be known, this new flick is more a quasi-remake of 1964's "Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster" ("Three Giant Monsters: Earth's Greatest Battle"), '65's "Monster Zero" ("Invasion of the Astro-Monster") and 69's "Destroy All Monsters" ("March of the Attacking Monsters").
The 2019 variant comes from director Michael "Krampus" Dougherty, whose retelling, per a script co-written with Zach Shields, touches as much on sweetened, human negotiation (i.e., lots of Monarch Company hot air) as blurred-out, battling behemoths.
There's loads of feminine overflow, as well. Though that's not altogether displeasing, it too often distracts from its colossal beasts, more so than the humans ever dared in "Godzilla '14", where there was at least some symbolic symbiosis.
As a '60s Toho knock-off, "King of the Monsters'" set-up is familiar, with the multi-headed terror manifesting from the celestial mist (or in this case, the ice) to zap the world to bits, as various other Titans (as they're now commonly called) join in. Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra emerge in the forefront to deal with Ghidorah, aka Monster Zero, each in his/her own way. On occasion, they get a little help from their little, human friends. Why not? The Titans and humankind play for the same team, plus or minus a philosophical discrepancy here and there.
To bring the epic to life, the CGI gets pretty heavy-handed, though is preferable to the clunky interpretations that blemished the Toho '70s run. (Some would argue that such was the case even in the '60s, but I detect enough care invested into that period's puppeteered costumes to give the economical angle a deserved pass.) On the other hand, CGI is a swift substitute for stop-motion. I do believe that Ghidorah would have benefited from a meticulous, classic approach. (Think along the lines of "Jason and the Argonaut'"s hydra.)
Rodan, in my opinion, is the most fascinating of the film's gigantic stars. Though prior Rodans were for the most part intimidating, this new one projects a formidable semblance unlike any predecessor: a nightmarish, flying demon, even if the entity's presence has virtuous potential when all is said and done. (Sad thing is, as awesome as Rodan appears in this retelling, he won't get a solo outta it; that'll go to sweetie-pie Mothra for sure. Bloody blah.)
Again, the film's drawback is its matriarchal stance and the chatty softness that coincides with it. I do dig "Stranger Things'"s Millie Bobby Brown and "Bates Motel'"s Vera Farminga, who get thrown into the focused-character gist. However, what good are competent actors if planted without purpose, or if that purpose does exist, it's for a concealed, PC (let-that-pretty-moth-rise) cause. (I must confess that I did fancy Zhang "The Grandmaster" Ziyi, who brings beauty and logic to the proceedings; it's just that there wasn't enough of her.)
Kyle "Kong '05" Chandler; Ken "Batman Begins" Wantanabe; David "The Spiderwick Chronicles" Strathairn; Thomas "Replicas" Middleditch; Bradley "The West Wing" Whiteford and Charles "Phantom of the Opera '90" Dance (looking more Peter Cushing-ish than ever before) are there for us guys to identify (and butt heads) with, but though commanding, their development is stilted by heaps of gobbledygook. That in turn hampers the film's required toughness. Playing it nice and verbose may be fine and dandy for real life, but for a movie of this cataclysmic caliber, two-fisted, bone-crushing intensity should have run high--real high--and on all subplotted levels. (For the record, the film offers one moment of moving sacrifice, a clever twist on the climax of "Godzilla '54", but it's too late in the game to make everything okay.)
If the plan was to lift from "Ghidrah/Monster Zero/Destroy", those films should have been "Godzilla '19'"s lasting foundation and not mere nods. With garrulous padding anchoring its premise, "King of the Monsters" develops like a half-baked "Rampage": the latter a superior, giant-monster rally, if only due to its shameless, building-breaking melees and brawny, get-it-done hero.
(If I may digress, I do hope that for the sake of "Godzilla vs Kong", the "Rampage" blueprint is matched. If not, I've a gnawing hunch that we could see even more babble and no-do than this time round. Hey, that's just the way things roll these donnish days.)
With that said, I don't need a giant-monster flick to help me tap into my feminine side, my diplomatic side, my side that wants to talk and talk and talk while others do the work, even if they are monsters. Sorry if that offends certain sensitive factions, but I don't think I'm alone in that view. Too bad the makers of "Godzilla '19" snubbed those of my adamant ilk.
On the other hand, why get all flustered? To balance things out, there must be a Dwayne Johnson/Jason Statham team-up on the horizon, where the duo combats Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Brite in a battle to the death, right?
"King Kong vs Godzilla" was a box-office smash, not only in Japan, but abroad. (It still stands as the all-time, Toho/kaiju earner.) A direct, shoe-in sequel to the titanic clash was proposed, but Toho (per trailblazing producer Tomoyuki Tanaka) picked a different path.
As such, Mothra (and her offspring) challenged the studio's homespun "dragon", in what became "Mothra vs Godzilla" or "Godzilla vs the Thing", as it was better known in the U.S. (thanks to American International Pictures), with other title variations surfacing around the globe. (Later, it was released on Paramount VHS as "Godzilla vs Mothra".)
I must confess, I was a trifle disappointed when I first viewed the 1964, Ishiro Honda directorial effort, in that I had anticipated a super-morphed version of James Arness' "The Thing (from Another World)". Mothra's name recognition beyond Japan wasn't as strong at this point, which is why an air of mystery enshrouded her.
Though I found Mothra (Mosura) interesting, she was my least favorite of Toho's A-listers. I fancied Rodan (Ladon) and Ghidrah (Ghidorah) more. Also, since I was viewing the Toho flicks out of sequence on UHF, my loyalty to the mighty moth was stunted due to no fault of her own. Be that as it may...
Per Shinichi Sekisawa's script, Godzilla is much meaner in his fourth, headlining outing, and that's saying a lot since he was far from Mr. Congeniality in the earlier chapters.
Disgruntled by his defeat to Kong, Godzilla appears determined to pounce Mothra/the Thing (who goes by both names in the dubbed version) for a presumed, easy win. If Mothra's washed-ashore egg just so happens to get smashed along the way, so be it. However, much to Godzilla's dismay, the ailing Mothra fights with unsurpassed vigor to protect her confined twins.
Mothra's egg also impact's the film's make-a-buck subplot: similar to the prior chapter's, which in its own right springs from "King Kong '33" and "Mighty Joe Young '49".
To thwart the business men who wish to exploit the uncanny formation, the miniature, guardian ambassadors of Infant Island (dubbed Mothra Island) intervene: The fairies are portrayed by Emi and Yumi Ito, who were better known as the Peanuts on Japan's nightclub circuit and held a significant role in the first Mothra movie. They sing (pray) in a most melodious manner to Mothra and her soon-to-be-hatched larvae to halt Godzilla.
Beyond its ultra-small/ultra-big performers, the film features an all-star Toho cast, with Hiroshi Koizumi as Professor Shunsuki Miura; the lovely Yuriko Hoshi as novice photographer Nakanishi Junko; Akira Takarada as reporter Ichiro Sakai; Yu Fujiki as reporter Jiro Nakamura; Jun Tazaki as editor-in-chief Marata; Yoshifumi Tajima as the Denham-seque Kumayama of Happy Enterprises; and Kenji Shara as the unscrupulous Jiro Torahata.
Hajimi Koizumi's cinematography is the most striking of any Toho production; and Akira Ifukube's iconic score complements Honda's direction to a tee, particularly during the film's ferocious, final frames, when Mothra's incensed children back the big, green one into a sticky situation (to say the least).
The film has never waned in popularity and was remade in '92 to huge fanfare. Even so, for sentimental reasons, the original remains favored and clinched a long line of Toho crossovers, which marched in respectful step to Universal's monster rallies.
Even if one doesn't consider "Godzilla vs the Thing" a classic (though how could one not?), there's no denying the epic's refreshing, rock 'em, sock 'em execution.
They sure as hell don't make 'em like this anymore; so toss that PC junk out the door, and let old-school, fight-to-the-death Godzilla and Mothra show ya how it's done.
