top of page

Godzilla: Monster Planet The animated trilogy

I’ve never had a real July 4th tradition, some years my family would stay home and spend it with my dad’s family. Setting off fireworks in the back field, other years we would travel to “southwest” Virginia and spend it with my mom’s side. One year we had “Christmas in July” and I got a cool Bionicle, several years I was at camp working or traveling.

But one year, I watched a Marathon of Godzilla films. Ever since then, I’ve always tried to watch films during the week of the 4th. I’ve watched a lot this week, but I want to do a slight review of the animated trilogy, Godzilla: Planet of Monsters. I might do more films, depending on how people feel about this one.

This isn’t your standard Godzilla film, while most films focus on Kaiju battles and the original and reboot being more of disaster films (54,98,16) these animated films fit better in the Sci-fi genera. This series has some fascinating ideas but isn’t willing to do anything with them. If you came Kaiju battles, head somewhere else. But if you’re here for technobabble and philosophical debates, then you might want to set your expectations lower before watching, but its still a fun watch.

Godzilla: Planet of Monsters

The first film in the trilogy sees humans who fled earth due to monsters taking over the planet with the assistance of two alien races. After years of hunting for a new home, they return to earth, only to discover it has evolved into an inhospitable world. Godzilla has taken over, the planet has evolved around him.

A really interesting start, but leaves much to be desired. The concept of a planet ruled by Kaiju where humans use mechs to battle them is one I am very down for. However the battles vs Godzilla don’t last long and with him being the only monster, it quickly becomes a character-driven story with weak characters and an uninteresting plot.

While I like a lot of the character motivations, it’s hard to tell what exactly everyone wants. With a huge cast of characters and only a few standing out, it’s easy to lose track of everyone. And if you’re not used to Anime tropes, the protagonist might get on your nerves. Haruo is likable enough, but can easily feel less of a character and more of an annoyance.

[Artist Rendition of Mechagodzilla, it looks sweet, check out their deviantart for more Monsters]

Godzilla: City on the edge of Battle

While the first film was filled with interesting ideas but had nothing to do with them, the second film elevates the ideas into full concepts, though it may not know what to do with them. With the dead of baby Godzilla and birth of a much larger original Godzilla, the team discovers an ancient weapon, Mechagodzilla, that has used it’s Nano-metal to turn itself into an entire city. Using the alien Bilusaludo’s technology to turn the city into a weapon to battle Godzilla.

This has the most interesting battle of the Godzilla films and is honestly worth its own series. A self-replicating city vs a 300m lizard is amazing. This version of Mechagodzilla might be my favorite, though I wish we saw more of a standard Kaiju battle. It sucks its only one battle, however, this is the longest battle in the trilogy and it’s well worth it.

While the character’s motivations feel the clearest here, there are still times where it’s a bit messy. You know what everyone wants. The protagonist grows a lot since the last film. Haruo feels much less like a child raging out, and more like a skilled tactician trying to save his home world.

[An artist's rendition of King Ghidorah on pixiv]

Godzilla: Planet Eater

Planet eater is the closest you’ll get to a Kaiju battle, and it’s very interesting. Throughout the whole series, the Exif talk about their god and with nothing else to turn to, the humans to it, and the God is fascinating. Bringing in King Ghidorah as a god is a really interesting take on the character. While I prefer physical battles, making Ghidorah a Lovecraftian elder god makes perfect sense.

Narratively, this movie has the most “thinking” of all of the films. Lots of just talking and debating ideas, very little doing. Even the Kaiju battles are weak. Ghidorah doesn’t have a physical body, so there isn’t anything to fight. Since all the mechs were destroyed, no epic battles happen.

The characters are their most interesting here, however, they still fall flat. There are interesting debates and discussions, but it feels more like a Youtube podcast. Many of the imagines are pointless and meandering. A lot of the character arc’s from the first and second film feel forgotten or discussed briefly then ignored. I’m not going to discuss the ending, but it feels disappointing. Maybe because they want to lead up with more films after this. It's bittersweet, without giving a real conclusion to the series.


Featured Posts
Recent Posts
Archive
Search By Tags
No tags yet.
bottom of page