By Cat
I had a hankering to watch an anime to share with you all,
and so the 2nd installment of the Netflix Godzilla anime trilogy felt
like a natural fit. I’d given the first movie the Foreign Film Friday spot back
in February of this year. Godzilla:
Planet of Monsters (2017) set
the stage well for the story to continue.
The way this trilogy is shaping up reminds me of the way The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003)
trilogy was released. These movies fit together as a single story broken up
into three segments. Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not necessarily comparing the
two movie franchises. That’s like comparing apples to watermelons. Each of the
first two Godzilla anime films set
the stage for the next chapter in after-credits scenes. I am super excited to
see where this story goes from here.
Now, we here at Trust the Dice don’t like giving spoilers.
Though, if you’re interested in this movie; you really want to watch the first
movie before you start this one. This is mostly due to the reason I just
mentioned. This story picks up where the last film left off. In discussing this
movie, however, it may reveal some spoilers from the prior one so consider this
your warning. All the same, I’ll do my best not to let any cats out of the bag.
I’ve seen where a lot of prominent geek and gamer culture
sites have generally panned this film – but they weren’t exactly fans of the
first one, either. I have entirely the opposite reaction to these films. I
absolutely adore them. Not only is the animation quality exquisite and
breathtaking, I’ve also enjoyed the story.
The team sent to deal with Godzilla on Earth encountered
some issues – namely the 300 meter tall Godzilla. This film picks up with what
happens next to the stranded battle teams. They face mysteries and surprising
revelations which were both engrossing and head-scratch worthy. I won’t say
that the plot is without flaws. There are some holes in the story which I haven’t
wrapped my head around – but I am willing to believe that there were
explanations in the first movie that I’ve simply forgotten. It’s really no
matter in comparison to the rest.
This installment of the story is partially a think-piece
where the question of the price of victory and what it means to be human come
into play. When you put that together with the existing emotional baggage
carried along from the first film, this movie gets into some dark and heavy
stuff if you look past the visuals and the giant lizard’s heat ray.
Mecha-Godzilla does play a role in the film, but not quite
in the manner I expected. It was still rather interesting and does lead into
the use of an anime staple. The mechs used are very apt in their naming and
there’s some rather powerful imagery when you connect those dots.
As with the first movie in this trilogy, there wasn’t any
flashy or cutesy intro song or recurring tune within the body of the soundtrack
as quite a lot of anime films and series employ. Instead, there’s another
excellent song from the band Xai during the credits. It’s an epic way to pass
the time until that final teaser scene at the end. I’ve linked the video for you
below.
As I said before, I can’t wait to find out what happens next
– and you can believe that I’ll share with you what I think when this trilogy
comes to a close. The next film’s title is shown as Godzilla: The Planet Eater.
I’ve seen some translations as “star eater” as well. Movie #3 has been teased
for release in Japan in November 2018. We can likely expect a 3 or 4 month time
difference for when it hits Netflix, if it follows this most recent installment’s
pattern.
