Not a whole lot to say about this.
It was apparently one of Ishiro Honda’s favorites of the films he did. Honestly, I can see why. I talked last time about Honda’s frustration with only directing science fiction and horror films, and not the dramas that he originally started out on. This seems like an attempt to balance the two approaches. A kaiju movie with a relatively grounded story about a kid named Ichiro (Tomonori Yazaki) who finds trouble standing up for himself, and finds himself fantasizing about befriending Minilla, who is also struggling with that problem.
The best parts of the film are when both Ichiro and Minilla learn to stand up to the bullies (both named Gabara, one a monster, another a kid Ichiro’s age). The monster fight between Gabara and Godzilla and Son. is another highlight, especially with Honda’s talent for directing interesting fight scenes. And Ichiro paralleling the moves of Minilla is done very well.
I also like the calmer, atmospheric parts of the film. The brisk depictions of Japan in the late 60’s, increasingly industrialized, pollution becoming a problem, modernity enveloping it. But there’s still the innocence of childhood represented by Ichiro. Despite being set in the present that it was filmed, there’s a kind of nostalgic quality to the film, a rumination on the innocence of childhood, in the Hayao Miyazaki way.
Hideyo Amamoto, apparently known as a villain in the original Kamen Rider, has a good side role as a kindly toymaker.
