A couple of months ago I nearly dropped my phone out of shock. I had received an email from Netflix announcing a handful of Netflix exclusive future releases and while that’s not noteworthy, the fact that there was going to be a Godzilla anime movie was. Yup, Godzilla. Hold on a second while I get this rubber monster suit on…
I love Godzilla!
I’ve seen every Godzilla movie there is, as well as every spin-off movie that Toho has released. Ahem. Toho is the studio that makes all of the Japanese monster flicks like Rodan and Mothra. Hey, don’t say you don’t learn anything by visiting our site. Anyways, back to my confession of my love for cheesy sci fi monster movies. I have a region free DVD and Blu Ray player just so I can watch the Japanese imports, yeah, ok, maybe that’s not the only reason, the wife does likes to watch foreign thrillers, but to her I say this: is there anything more foreign than a Japanese guy in a rubber Godzilla suit beating the bajeezus out of another guy dressed in a rubber monster suit with 3 heads ( King Ghidorah, A.K.A Monster X, the lessons keep coming guys, try to keep up)? I say thee nay! Little Thor talk for my comic nerds out there.
So needless to say, I almost soiled my pants on the spot. I sniffed out a trailer for it online, told my boss I’d get the budget reports to him when I was done watching godamn Godzilla, and hit play. I was blown away by the art immediately and grew excited, this was the real deal! Although a short trailer, it looked amazing.
Fast forward to last weekend. Netflix finally released Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters Part 1 (of 3). I grabbed a beer and some snacks and plopped down on the couch ready to be transported to a world of monster magic. I was a little disappointed knowing that I was going to have to wait for the other 2 parts since this surely was going to be amazing. The movie started and right away the animation grabs you. It’s really, really, good guys. Probably some of the best anime work I’ve seen. Interesting tidbit for you: this was animated by the same studio who animated Street Fighter V.
The story goes like this: Godzilla as well as other monsters , graduate from just stomping Tokyo to taking over the entire friggin’ planet. The last group of humans left are forced to leave the planet on a spacecraft and travel through space looking for a new planet capable of sustaining life. Unfortunately, this doesn’t pan out and they are forced to go back to Earth but it’s 20,000 years later. It must be safe by now? Right? Right?! Uh no, not by a long shot. They send an expeditionary group to the planet to see what’s left and discover that the Big G is still around. FYI these are not spoilers, did you really think Godzilla wouldn’t be on the planet in a movie called Godzilla: Planet of Monsters?
Where this movie separates itself from all of the other Godzilla movies, besides being an anime, is that Godzilla isn’t the aggressor here, the humans try to hatch up a plan to take him out and he just defends himself. It’s a very interesting plot point and essentially the main focus of part 1. I was disappointed when it ended because it really felt like the story had just started to hit its stride and the end was surprising to say the least.
Final verdict:
As with my comic book and game reviews, I will be rating this on the trusty 0-10 scale. With 0 being the absolute worst (Godzilla 1998), to 10 being the best (Godzilla: Final Wars). The voice acting on this movie was spot on and as I’ve gushed about a couple of times now, the art is really well done. They used a cool CG technique on Godzilla that translates nicely on the screen and the images of a barren Earth are creepy. The story did lag in parts but as I mentioned found its pacing towards the end. That said, I give this movie a 7/10.