Today’s quick review: Godzilla: The Planet Eater. In the wake of Captain Haruo Sakaki’s (Mamoru Miyano) decision to spare Godzilla rather than become a monster himself, humanity’s survivors are at a loss for what to do next. Metphies (Takahiro Sakurai), an alien priest, steps into the void. He converts many of the survivors to his religion and convinces them to pray to Ghidorah, a monster capable of destroying Godzilla, for salvation.
Godzilla: The Planet Eater is a Japanese animated sci-fi movie that concludes the trilogy begun with Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters. The movie deals with the failure of humanity’s best chance of using technology against Godzilla and their turn to an even more terrifying being as a last resort. The Planet Eater has roughly the same strengths and weaknesses as the previous two films, but with an emphasis on plot over action.
The Planet Eater is where the series’ story finally comes into its own. The conflicts seeded in the prior films begin to blossom, and the far-future setting begins to feel consequential, rather than just a bleak backdrop. The series’ philosophical themes take center stage as Haruo wrestles with the consequences of his actions and the choice offered by Metphies. The payoff is imperfect, but the story does have more substance than before.
The tradeoff for the move substantial story is a relative lack of action. Godzilla plays even more of a passive role in this film, barely moving at all, and the action is limited to a highly static fight between him and Ghidorah. The Planet Eater also suffers from the same problems as the previous films: stiff animation, characters that are hard to relate to, and a story that’s more outlandish sci-fi speculation than monster movie.
Godzilla: The Planet Eater is worth a watch for anyone who enjoyed the first two films in the trilogy. Newcomers will want to begin with Planet of the Monsters for the series to make any sort of sense, and those hoping for a straight adaptation of the classic Godzilla storyline will want to steer clear altogether. The Planet Eater’s interseting ideas will appeal to sci-fi fans, but its action and personal drama leave something to be desired.
4.9 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for an interesting, if somewhat weird, story without the action or dynamism to back it up.