Funny, but the 1961 "Mothra" movie is actually better than this 1996, despite the fact that they at least had better special effects here.

Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. I was given the chance here in 2019 to sit down and watch the 1996 "Mosura" (aka "Rebirth of Mothra") movie. I hadn't even heard about it prior to this year. But it being a Japanese Kaiju movie, and it being Mothra, of course I took the chance to sit down and watch it.

The storyline was pretty straight forward, albeit a bit too generic for my liking. It was like they just looked at other Kaiju movies and made a clone of each and every one of them. So, don't go expecting any grand innovation or anything from the 1996 "Rebirth of Mothra" movie.

The acting in the movie was adequate, taking into consideration the genre and the limitations of a generic script and storyline. The girl child actress wasn't particularly convincing in her performance, however. Especially not when put up against the boy child actor.

As for the special effects in the 1996 "Rebirth of Mothra" movie. Well in comparison to the 1961 "Mothra" movie, of course they had moved miles and miles. But still, it wasn't particularly convincing, and it was still painstakingly obvious that they were using puppets. But hey, isn't that part of the old school Kaiju genre?

All in all, "Rebirth of Mothra" definitely is watchable, but sadly it only made for a mediocre enjoyable movie experience. Will I watch the other "Rebirth of Mothra" movies? Certainly. The 1996 "Rebirth of Mothra" movie is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing.

This film has many colorful and beautiful sceneries, especially the forest scenes. Mothra begins a new solo adventure, battling Desghidorah to save Earth's green landscape. She hatches an egg and out comes her son MothraLeo. To pick up where his mother left off, MothraLeo battles Desghidorah to the finish.

There are amusing battle scenes and great special effects by Koichi Kawakita. And, there is a fine score by Toshiyuki Watanabe.

This movie is a big change from the concepts of the original Mothra of the 1960s. The two tiny priestesses are not twins like the original one who were portrayed by The Peanuts, and each one in this movie is actually given a name: Mona and Lora (the "Elias"). They have an evil sister named Belvera who favors Desghidorah's mission to turn Earth into a barren landscape. The central character in this movie is a kid who helps Mona and Lora battle their evil sister. The scene where the Elias and Belvera riding on their "Mothra" pets and shooting rays at each other at the kid's home is too childish and took away to much time in the movie. The scene is more associated with kids' shows or cartoons. And, MothraLeo's powers are very excessive. Its releasing of rays and beams make MothraLeo act more like a robotic creature. Though all the creatures in this movie are worked out well, there are limited emphasis to the human characters and overall, the movie is more kid-oriented. The Mothras in this movie are not treated like the Sacred Goddess in the Mothra films from the 1960s, but more like superheros ready to defend Earth. And, there are no natives worshiping Mothra in this film as in the 1960s Mothra films, making Mothra seem less sacred, as it was suppose to be according to the original concept. But, the ever-so-popular "Mothra's Song" (sung in Malaysian as always) returns and is performed by the Elias. Some new songs are introduced also. A serviceable movie, otherwise, to spend 106 minutes on a boring day.

Grade C

Japan's favourite giant flying kaiju Mothra is reborn and revitalised for REBIRTH OF MOTHRA, the first in a trilogy of children's films in which the furry insect is reinvented as an environmentally protector of the planet. It's an unsurprising special effects extravaganza, full of destruction, mayhem, cool creature designs, miniature effects and...glitter. So much glitter. More glitter than I thought it would ever be possible to see in a movie. It's a film that's a lot more child-friendly than other kaiju flicks I've seen but it has the same sense of wild escapism and lengthy battle sequences that the genre is known for. A lot of fun, in other words, if you can handle a bit of soppiness and sentimentality along the way.