Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle

This second part of the Netflix GODZILLA anime trilogy improved on many aspects of the first film while still keeping the elements of that film which appealed to me. Haruo is given some great character growth particularly in his budding relationship with childhood friend Yuko. What started as a typical cold angry guy and wide eyed innocent girl gets some much needed development. We see new aspects to their personality, all shaped around the deconstruction of dedication.

GODZILLA CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE is a more traditional "Moby Dick" story of how dedication to their mission slowly but surely turns the protagonists into something worse than the creature they are hunting. The callback is rather blatant, right down to the survivors wanting to use a sort of "harpoon" to take down Godzilla (it makes sense in context).

Like captain Ahab of the classic tale, we are presented with the fine line between dedication and obsession. When does one become another? Does one truly have to become a monster to kill a monster? How far will someone go to uphold their dedication to a fleeting ideal? In typical anime style, this theme is fleshed out in both a symbolic and literal level, with parallel thematic developments for our protagonist Haruo, Yuko, and humanity's allies from the stars, the Bilusaludo.

With all these great elements, the anime only suffers if the audience does not accept it's often deconstructive execution of the plot. Expectations are cleverly subverted, underlying themes switch between literal and symbolic, even the monsters are referred to in both an actual and a figurative sense. This might come across as a little confusing for those who do not take the time to think through the story and read between the lines.

Visuals-wise, GODZILLA: CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE retains the cel shaded CGI look of the first film and many of Polygon Studio's work. The animation, which beautifully mimics that of traditional 2D animation right down to the reduced frame rate, is really an acquired taste that may not be for everyone. It is calling back to something old, using something new. Small improvements have been made particularly in the drab mono coloured creatures that populate far future earth. Godzilla himself gets a harsher shading and contrast in lighting which makes him distinct from the already dull grey background.

These little improvements make me hopeful for the upcoming finale to this trilogy. It is not perfect and the improvements may come too slowly for more cynical viewers. Like the animation style, the movies so far are truly an acquired taste that boils down to personal preference. Complex or confusing? Subverting expectations or failing to deliver on its publicity? Perhaps the greater battle is not within Haruo himself, or between monsters, or even between the various factions and Godzilla. Perhaps it is between the fans.

I am not sure about these negative reviews. The movie set has some great philosophical points. I have loved both on netflix so far. I referred a few friends to watch, they also felt the same. I don't usually watch anime, so maybe that is the difference. As a story, the writing is solid.

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.

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.

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.