It is the future. A rampaging Godzilla has pretty much destroyed Earth, making the planet so hostile and uninhabitable that the only hope for humanity is to find another planet to colonize. Captain Haruo Sakaki (voiced by Mamoru Miyano) doesn't think that will happen though, and he's unhappy with the plan to send the elderly ahead as scouts on the planet that has been picked as their potential new home. Convincing people that Godzilla does actually have weak points, a plan to return home and kill the beast is hatched. If it is still alive by the time that they return. Godzilla IS still alive, as are many other creatures that now thrive in the radically altered ecosystem of Earth.
Co-directed by Hiroyuki Seshita and Kôbun Shizuno, and written by Gen Urobuchi, this is a strange feature for many Godzilla fans. On the one hand, it's always good to see the big monster used in ways that keep it in the public consciousness. On the other hand, it's a bit odd to suddenly be served up some animated Godzilla that isn't a return to the late '70s cartoon that had such a great theme tune, and the cuteness of Godzooky. Setting up an animated trilogy, and I'll be getting to those next two instalments in due course, Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters feels like something that should have been a short prequel to the main adventure. Unfortunately, it has been stretched out to 88 minutes.
The voice cast are all perfectly fine, but they're portraying characters who aren't all that interesting. Nobody stands out here, aside from Sakaki, which makes the work feel much harder to appreciate. Still, it's worth mentioning Takahiro Sakurai, Kana Hanazawa, Tomokazu Sugita, and Yûki Kaji, alongside Miyano. Of course, many (most? all?) Godzilla films take more care with the monsters than with the human characters, so having a cast of people we don't ever really care about isn't exactly a reinvention of the formula. It's just a shame that the rest of the film doesn't deliver enough spectacle to make up for the weak characters.
It's all just a bit lacking in actual kaiju action, and the plotting doesn't let the one or two main points make the impact that they should. The animation is mostly
nice and smooth though, and the third act is more enjoyable when we finally see some proper action. I am
hoping the next instalment is better though. This sits quite near the bottom of the rankings when compared to all other Godzilla movies, but I might feel a bit different about it if everything has been put in place for an epic story that needs three features to do it justice.
4/10
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Sending the elderly ahead as scouts seems odd. Wouldn't it make more sense to send ahead younger, spryer people who could handle physical challenges better?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of "Attack on Titan" with something similar only a familiar IP.
That is mentioned as a main plot point. The main character believes it is sending them on a dangerous scouting mission because they are seen as more disposable.
DeleteIt makes me think of a Canadian sci-fi book called "Expendable" where the parody Starfleet organization sends the deformed and handicapped to explore new planets because they figure no one will care if those people get killed.
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