So, this part of the Godzilla franchise has some of the worst reviews ever. Perhaps because it is basically a children's movie and the monster antics are confided to the protagonist's mind. There are 2 main plots; one involving some bungling bank robbers and one involving a little boy being bullied at school and left alone a lot by 2 overworked parents, thus retreating into a dream world involving the always fun "Monster Island." My day-dreams usually don't involve fire-breathing monsters, but I'm not a lonely Japanese boy from the 60s, so what do I know.
It has the trippiest music ever, and I am grading on a curve here due to its release date of 1969. Godzilla has a child in this one; a rather alarming dinosaur-like fellow named Minya that speaks English and is bullied by the less verbally advanced monsters. Our oldest said that he looked and sounded exactly like Barney the Purple Dinosaur. Henry says that Godzilla's son sounds more like Don Knotts. The bad reviews are starting to make sense now, eh?
All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend an hour and a half. The children were entertained and remained on the couch the whole time, instead of their usual bored move of wandering in and out with various toys. Anything that can keep their attention that long can't be all bad.
Henry likes that "they are telling multiple stories" and doesn't like that "both stories move incredibly slowly and seem rather pointless." He also isn't sure what the message is exactly; "is it that to deal with bullies you should become angry and aggressive like Godzilla? Or is it that you should retreat into a dream-world where you get chased by scary monsters and hang with a reptilian Don Knotts? Or is it that you should rob banks?" So many questions.
Our 4-year-old says he "kinda likes it" and "monster fighting is always fun."
Our 6-year-old says "it's good. Who doesn't like Godzilla movies?"
Our 3-year-old slept through the whole thing, after declaring that she was stronger than Godzilla and was going to her room to playing with some ponies.
And our baby couldn't believe his luck when the 4-year-old knocked a whole bowl of popcorn on his head during a particularly intense battle.
