Are you laughing yet? If so, you will like All Monsters Attack (which also goes by Godzilla's Revenge, though neither title has anything to do with the content of the film). The film begins with these very lyrics, sung to an even funnier tune by, presumably, the main character, a young boy named Ichiro. Aimed at children but enjoyable by anyone, this movie is nothing but innocent fun with some monsters thrown in.

Little Ichiro is always being bullied. When Shinpei, his toymaker neighbor, asks him why he doesn't fight back, he says it's because he's not strong enough. Basically, Ichiro gets bullied because he lets it happen to himself. Lucky for him, though, he has a very vivid imagination and excapes into daydream-land without hardly trying. He simply pulls out a pretend computer, tells it to take him to Monster Island, and before you know it everything turns red and purple, and he's on a plane to Monster Island. "But isn't Monster Island too dangerous for a little boy?" you may ask. Not when you have Godzilla's lovable son, Minilla, by your side, pulling you out of holes and chatting in muffled but fairly clear Japanese. See what I mean? Not one of the serious Godzilla films by any means.

The film is very much along the lines of Son of Godzilla and in fact recycles a bit of footage from that film, as well as several others. There is no destruction of buildings, and the monster battles are fairly innocuous, consisting of plenty of blows and throws but no blood and death. The most violent act, to illustrate, is when Gabara puts his hand on top of Minilla's head and electrocutes the little guy, only to have him stumble right off afterward. Even Ichiro's bullies aren't really bullies. They torture him with brutal taunts of "Eeeee!" and "Weeee!" and, worst of all, at one point they take from him a vacuum tube he found, subsequently yelling in unison, "I got it baby!" There is nothing harsh about this movie.

There is a parallel explicitly drawn between Ichiro and Minilla. On Monster Island, Minilla is the baby of all the monsters and thus gets bullied around by Gabara, which is also the name Ichiro gives to the leader of his own bullies. Minilla tells Ichiro that Godzilla tells him not to run away, that he has to fight back in order to toughen up and become independent. Eventually, with a little help from Ichiro, Minilla beats the bully. Ichiro uses this experience later. When being held hostage by a couple of thieves, he thinks back to how Minilla was able to overcome Gabara, uses the same techniques (if you can call them techniques) and gets away. He later does the same against the bullies in another innocuous fight scene that is all charm and no violence. The moral, of course, is to stand up for yourself, but it is also a defense of escapism. It is not truly Minilla, rather it is Ichiro's imagination that taught him to take a stand. Not deep by any means but perfect for the age range this film is aiming at.

At the same time, it is amusing for adults. Watching Ichiro imitate monster roars, wear an aviation headset for no reason other than the fact that he found it, and flee from bullies at even the slightest hint of ill intent is simply funny. So is watching Minilla try unsuccessfully to breathe radiation, rub his stomach in an apparent attempt to intensify said radiation, and randomly grow in size before battling Gabara. Also, though the giant monster fights are nothing spectacular, it is nice to see Godzilla fighting Ebirah, Kumonga, and (rather clumsily) Air Force jets. Gabara is also a bit ridiculous, sporting a horn-mohawk and roaring a sound remeniscent of the death sound in Donkey Kong.

All Monsters Attack will never compete with the Godzilla sequel greats like Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Final Wars, but it is certainly enjoyable on its own terms. Instead of brutal monster mashes and cities turned to rubble, we have silliness with a hint of cute. I'll choose the former nine days out of ten, but every once in a while it's nice to watch something lighter-hearted. Plus, it's the perfect way to introduce your little ones to the Godzilla franchise. They'll acquire a taste for giant monsters, and they might even gain a little courage.