Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle

The second part of trilogy does not offer anything new or exciting. So, after the discovery of this gigantic, 300 meters tall Godzilla. TRUE, super Godzilla, if you will, the entire human team and their alien allies are retreated to make a new strategy, since this new Godzilla is more than just unstoppable. Actually, that's the original Godzilla, which grew to the immense size. And he is still a big threat.

So, basically, the story is still generic, human looking for a solution on how to defeat this Godzilla. They also discover a tribe of humans... who speaks Japanese well. And, they only serve as observers in this story. Nothing more. And, again characters babbling, talking and bickering for hours on what to do, what kind of alternatives they have. The two twin sisters of that tribe are, in my opinion a tad bit reminiscent of two twin fairies who can summon Mothra. Only, of course, minus wings. And of course, these two twins don't do much. They are all useless. So, the humans discover a nanotechnology which is more than 20,000 years old! Huh? The same technology was used in creating a metal armor and weapons of Mechagodzilla.

OK, so, I was lost at this moment and just decided to turn off my brain and watch the rest of the film. And it went in this boring, non-interesting way. I swear, I fell asleep dozens of times trying to finish this film. But, it was so repelling. I don't hate this film, I really don't. It's not the worst film, but it is so dull and boring and stretched with the battle at the end without any climax or excitement. It is supposed to be a Godzilla film! Give me an exciting climax at the end! But, again since this is a trilogy, we have to watch the last film. I still think that this might have work better if it was a TV show. I really, really don't recommend this film to anyone. We'll see what the final film has in store for us.

(First ever review so bear with me)

I decided to write this review as I felt the 2 user reviews up at the moment were either a bit lacking, or just downright pointless.

I personally enjoyed it enough to give it a 6, but it's a soft 6 for me as there are plenty of "down" periods that felt a bit dragged out for me. I also think that the story was a bit lacking in places as well as some characters that felt underutilized. (The pacing may be redeemed once I've seen all 3 and then be able to judge it as a whole, but for now, it's a gripe I have with it as a stand-alone film)

The animation is still stellar and I really enjoy the whole mythos of man/humanoid vs giant world ending monster(s), I just wish this particular movie had either some more action to it, or that we got to explore the Houtua (the aboriginals Haruo met in the first film) a lot more, but maybe that's saved for the 3rd film.

At the end of the day, I feel like it's worth seeing if you like monster movies, and I'm looking forward to the conclusion in the 3rd film.

I hope I succeeded in giving people a bit more nuance to determine if they should give it a go, as I do feel there are redeemable qualities to the contained story of this trilogy.

What people need to remember walking into any Godzilla movie is that the first 45-60 minutes involves talking. The last 30+ are solely dedicated to utterly amazing, feet-flailing excitement. If you consider this, the movie is fantastic: Here's my breakdown.

The art of storytelling is not lost in Japan. They understand the need to lay sufficient groundwork to build your story on. They also understand that conflict drives a story. While it may seem like the story lags, even I had a moment where I had to be reminded of this, it serves a purpose. They could have easily have just presented things to you without offering explanations, but that's a half-hearted story. In Horizon: Zero Dawn, they give you explanations to everything you're witnessing despite its seemingly insane scenario.

The tensions within the first one bubble over now in the second iteration of this three part series. The ideals of each group now reach their critical mass as they begin to question what exactly it is they're willing to sacrifice in order to defeat Godzilla. Not only that, but what it is that they're fighting; the monster, or the idea of it. If it is conflict that drives stories then this truly is a story. Seemingly each scene grasps this concept and seeks to convey it to us.

I'll probably come back and edit this later but this is the best I can offer after just watching it today and without any spoilers. I can say with surety that the efforts of the writers to give us a well-rounded story were felt. If you rate this a 4, I can see that. Much below that and I might call it unfair, even if you don't like the genre. One thing that bothers me is when people toss up a 2* rating with a review that basically says they don't like Godzilla, monster movies, or action in general. If you accept that it is a Godzilla film when you walk into it, at the very least, it won't be a waste of your time.

I watched Godzilla 1985 when i was 5 years old, i have been a BIG G fan ever since, i am 36 now. i even forced myself through the 1998 american dung heap. and i am american. i have watched both animated Godzilla movies so far. both are far better then they should have been. in many ways, far better in story then any Godzilla movie ever made. i normally hate it when Godzilla is the bad guy. but not in these, it is done so well. i wonder what the people were expecting who have written the negative reviews... just a mash up of monsters? it has good stories, logical flow, drama, action, charter development. i cant wait for the third, excellent way to fill the gap for the new live action. i hope they do many more.

The 2nd chapter of the Godzilla anime trilogy, "City on the Edge of Battle", has finally arrived. Last time on "Monster Planet", humanity lost against the kaiju and escaped into space with 2 alien races. Failing to colonize another world, they return to reclaim Earth only to find that it has changed in their absence and Godzilla is still king. Picking up where Part 1 left off, our heroes hide with a surviving human remnant, the Houtua tribe, after suffering a crushing defeat. After more exploration, they soon stumble upon a mechanized city, created by what's left of Mechagodzilla via advanced alien nanometal. The human-alien forces plan to use it to kill Big G once and for all, but things are not as clear cut they seem.

While the first film had lots of set-up time and had both a dull color scheme and a static cast, here the drama is more engaging and a greater variety of color is used. Characters have greater emotional range and are a bit fleshed out more, especially protagonist Haruo who is just starting to undergo a change beyond his "We must kill Godzilla" mentality that frankly made him stale first time around. More world-building is brought in and it's pretty interesting, particularly the Houtua culture and the further look into the aliens' views and backstories. There's also a conflict that happens between the characters that shifts the dynamic of their campaign, which I found engaging. There are fascinating themes at play with elements of evolution, religion, individualism, nature vs technology, and what truly separates man from monster. As for Godzilla, whenever he's on-screen, he is still both powerful and intimidating, not to mention pulls a couple of unexpected moves.

Sadly, weighty flaws hurt Part 2. First off, the film repeats the same basic story beats of Part 1 down to a similar climax. Like before, Godzilla doesn't come around until the climax, so waiting is in order. There's also misleading marketing in that Mechagodzilla, despite all the advertising, plays no active role; in fact, he's barely seen (the prequel novels seem to have more going on in them). This is due to the low budget and strict limitations Toho gave the staff. Characters tend to repeat things over and over and most (Haruo aside) don't change much from their starting roles and personalities. Moreover, there's a romantic subplot that I felt could've been done better.

"Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle" is something of an improvement over the past entry. The new stuff is mostly good, the action is entertaining enough, and there's more going on thematically and drama-wise, but the film's reluctance to go further and instead repeat what was done before, coupled with the absence of substantial side character progression, held it back. The after-credit scene promises the arrival of a classic Godzilla foe, putting pressure in the final entry of this trilogy to really deliver, which I hope it does.