Monsters: A 'Battel' Royal

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By Newsweek Editors

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There's a very select part of the English-speaking population that knows that kaiju is Japanese for "mysterious beast," and it's the same folks who know that Mothra is one of Godzilla's mortal enemies and not a new insect repellent. But even if you've never been turned on to the low-rent rococo style of Japanese monster movies (or pro wrestling, or "Mystery Science Theater 3000"), don't turn up your nose at "Kaiju Big Battel," a live spectacle of cartoonish mayhem set to the sounds of DJs. "Kaiju," the brainchild of a Boston art-school student, features a cast of about 30 monsters doing battle as part of a complicated interplanetary war. (A recent highlight: factory-worker-turned-soup-can Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle, a.k.a. Soup, offing archnemesis Club Sandwich with a toothpick, resulting in a mayo bloodbath.) With choreographed fights, ornate cardboard city-scapes that often end up shredded underfoot and elaborately costumed characters like Dr. Cube (a square-headed mad scientist), the Big Battels have become the hipster's way to delight in the orchestrated mayhem of the WWE. A recent New York show at the nightclub Roxy brought out talent scouts from MTV and at least one big-name director. Could Dr. Cube be going corporate?

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