Son of Godzilla (1967)

Originally reviewed on 8/27/23, last edited 9/7/23.

Poster of Godzilla breathing atomic breath while his son Minilla breathes atomic smoke rings. There's a dead spider kaiju in the front and a menacing mantis kaiju in the background.

This... Was actually... Fun?

I thought this would be more garbage. It didn't start promising. It was so kid-oriented. It IS super kid-oriented.

Previous films could be watched and enjoyed by children, sure. But this is made FOR children. The set is bright and colorful, the human plot is simple and the characters act juvenile, and a narrator explains the more complex plot developments to the audience.

Minilla and various characters do things that would inspire kids to play. The humans gotta go pick random plants and scoop up red water to make food and medicine! Minilla practices atomic breath and wanders the island and tries to fight off bully mantids! He even likes to eat fruit!

I would show the dub to my kid, but first I'd have to explain to them that sometimes movies are wrong and, for example, deforestation is bad actually.

Now, do you suppose Minilla isn't... Supposed to look like that? I think the radiation storm and then being hatched early is why he's so... Like that. That's why Godzilla Jr is cute, he was born typically, while Minilla is a premature half-baked fetus.

I watched this at 3 a.m. and was falling asleep by the end and thankfully it did not give me the horrific nightmares I feared.

★★★★☆