18 May Godzilla: City On The Edge Of Battle Review

GODZILLA: CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE

This is part of my ‘Re-Review’ series, where I revisit a movie that I haven’t seen in awhile to evaluate if my opinion has changed with time.

With the release of the first full trailer for Godzilla vs. Kong, I decided to re-watch six of my favorite Godzilla-centric movies, including the precursors to the new film.

Old Opinion: An exciting sequel that embraces some anime tropes in a solid, accessible way

New Opinion: An exciting sequel that ramps up the action and stakes

If you are reading this, I’m writing on the premise that you read the previous review for the first entry in the Toho/Netflix anime trilogy that started with Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters. If you haven’t, this will probably be confusing.

Planet introduces Haruo as the main hero of the trilogy and featured his working alliance with the two alien species that helped humanity escape Earth when Godzilla emerged to inflict punishment on humans for destroying the planet. Planet ended with the original Godzilla emerged after sensing that his “kid” had been killed by the humans, and Haruo disappeared, though a post-credits scene showed that he had been rescued by a native Earth dweller.

City starts immediately after and focuses on Haruo rejoining his landing party to investigate the native survivors they have all encountered. It is quickly discovered that these survivors live in harmony with Godzilla because they eschew modern technology and live much like indigenous natives of various cultures. The natives demonstrate a mastery over the newly evolved life-forms that the heroes can barely comprehend; many creatures and plants are made of metal.

As it turns out, an old human weapon for fighting Godzilla is buried in the region: Mechagodzilla, made of nanoparticles and advanced AI that Godzilla handily defeated. But the AI and nanoparticles survived, even if the original form was destroyed. The technologically inclined alien species, the Bilusaludo, discover that the AI has built an entire city made of the particles, and immediately develop a plan to weaponize the city to fight Godzilla. The other alien species, the Exif, seem to provide support to Haruo and the humans, who are sidelined as the Bilusaludo become obsessed with the technical miracle of the nanoparticles and advanced AI that has evolved.

Although the plan to defeat Godzilla seems full-proof, with some advanced anime-looking flying weapons quickly developed and deployed, it becomes apparent that the Bilusaludo are accomplishing this through means that the humans and Exif find morally reprehensible: they allow their minds to be assimilated into the AI, killing their bodies. In the end, the plan to kill Godzilla fails spectacularly, as he shows unusual resilience to the technique that killed his younger relative, and the survivors finally begins to understand that Godzilla’s hostility towards technology is probably well-founded.

As sequels go, this one is a terrific evolution from the first movie, building on a solid foundation while introducing new elements of the relationship between humans, Exif, and Bilusaludo that begin to justify Godzilla’s seemingly unstoppable hatred for all of them.

City is a better movie than Planet, though the same breathy voice-acting is present here. There is more Godzilla, more “classically anime” tech, and some greater character depth introduced in the human/alien alliance. Overall, a surprisingly strong middle entry for any trilogy.

Pros:

• More complex character interactions, with the dynamic between races becoming a central narrative focus
• Same great animation, especially with Mechagodzilla City and its anime tech
• A lot more Godzilla than Planet, and you can never have too much Godzilla

Cons:

• English-language voice acting of one character is still…not great, but better than Planet
• Not enough Godzilla, I suppose? But is there ever enough?!

Rating: 4/5
Same score as the first movie, since this feels like the second chapter of the same movie. Though slightly better…

Review by Jim Washburn