When it comes to trilogies, more of the than not it is the second installment that has the hardest job of proving it can stand out amongst the other two

films. The Two Towers and The Empire Strikes Back did so by proving to being better than the films that came before them. The Last Jedi did so by being utterly pretentious to the point where the movie just stops being enjoyable, and ultimately causing film twitter to praise it like the second coming of Jesus, but I digress.

Rebirth of Mothra 2 sadly stands out by being a step down from the first film, although it does fix some of the issues I had with it. So while it is a step down, it’s not all bad.

The story this time is about Belvera, the evil Shobijin (I am aware they are called the Elias in film, but I call them Shobijin because that is the name I am the most familiar with), attempting to gain access to an ancient city buried beneath the ocean, and using its power to help Daghara, a monstrous dragon like creature, as he floods the oceans with his deadly spawn, while Leo must stop him, and a group of kids help a strange furry thing get back to said city for its treasure. To start off with the negatives, the human characters aren’t very good, with the kids being annoying, and the two treasure hunters having some funny moments, but also being quite inconsistent. Thankfully, Moll, Lora, and Belvera are still good characters, and make up for the weak ones. Also, the visual effects aren’t quite as good as the first, and the story while having an environmental message like the first one, is weak in comparison. That being said, the visuals of seeing the ocean having trash in it is sadly something that is still around today, and thus the message of keeping the ocean clean is one that needs to be said. It doesn’t help that it has several moments of crude humor, which was not executed well.

As for the positives, Mothra Leo is still my favorite character, as his bravery and kindness still shine through as he battles Daghara to save the Earth. And in this film, he gets a new form that allows him to battle underwater, thus making him a very badass and capable Kaiju. Daghara himself addresses several problems I had with Desghidorah, in that he has a clear personality and motivations, and he proves to be a big threat to Leo. Something I forgot to point out in my review of the first one was that I felt Desghidorah was beaten way too easily, while in here, it takes a lot for Leo to beat Daghara. Also, Daghara actually doesn’t stick with attacking the ocean, and even attacks a city at one point, showing how he is not such a mindless beast like Desghidorah came off as being. The action scenes themselves are still exciting to see, and well worth watching the film for.

Overall, Rebirth of Mothra 2 may be a weak film, but it’s still entertaining enough to watch at least once. But if I had to choose between this and Rebirth of Mothra, I’d choose the latter with its stronger story and emotional moments.

After this film came Rebirth of Mothra 3, and how did it fair?

Find out next time.