Film Review: "Godzilla: The Planet Eater" ("ゴジラ: 星を喰う者") (2019).

"This <Gold> will burn even <Despair>" This is Godzilla: The Planet Eater. This Japanese computer-animated science fiction kaiju film co-directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, written by Gen Urobuchi, and produced by Toho Animation and animated by Polygon Pictures. This is the 34th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 32nd Godzilla film produced by Toho, and the third and final entry in the anime trilogy. It is a sequel to Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle. With the earth alliance weakened, Haruo weighs siding with the Exif, whose death cult is summoning a monster that can destroy the world.

In May 2018, after the Japanese release of Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, a teaser poster revealed the film's title, release date, and potential appearance of King Ghidorah. This film features a radical new re-imagining of King Ghidorah, a three-headed golden dragon widely considered to be Godzilla's arch-enemy and one of his most popular monster co-stars. King Ghidorah made his debut in Monster of Monsters: Ghidorah (1964) and most recently appeared (ironically in a heroic role) in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001). The character is also set to appear in the upcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), the sequel to Godzilla (2014). Like the previous instalments, composer Takayuki Hattori returned to create the score, marking it his fifth Godzilla film score. XAI also returned to perform the film's theme song Live and Die. In July, the film's first teaser trailer was released. In September, the film's theatrical poster was released. In October, the full trailer was released. On November 3, 2018, the film premiered as the closing film at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and was given a theatrical release in Japan on November 9.

With its impressive 3-D animation and action sequences, Planet of the Monsters, City on the Edge of Battle, and, ultimately, The Planet Eater has the makings of something interesting. It is a thrilling film [trilogy] that lives up to the reputation of the franchise and delivers on its science fiction premise. The film is just so damn gorgeous to look at, and such a complete departure from what you usually expect from this world, that you should just take it all in and enjoy the surprises, but the writing is sadly not strong enough to even work on its own terms. With a more polished script, the film and its predecessors, might've been something of a modern classic. Suffice it to say that it definitely has me interested in the films but I really hope that this new world will be explored further in future entries. It’s not a perfect picture, neither were the first two, but it was a powerful proof of concept: Godzilla works as an anime. Even skeptics will admit the 3-D version of the king of the monsters looks pretty darn cool. Which is an anime version of Godzilla is surprisingly effective and frightening. This is possibly an easy film to recommend to either casual fans or to battle-hardened kaiju otaku.

Simon says Godzilla: The Planet Eater (ゴジラ: 星を喰う者) receives:

Also, see my review for Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (ゴジラ: 決戦機動増殖都市).