Godzilla: Planet of Monsters

[Drunk Monk]

I was skeptical because as I've often said, I miss the man-in-a-rubber-suit version of Godzilla.  An anime?  That's worse than the recent CGI versions, right?  Wrong.  This is gorgeous HD anime, visually stunning, and Godzilla has never been so bad ass.  Earth is a wasteland because of him, and all the earthlings had to flee on a giant Battlestar-Galactica/Spaceship-Yamato in hopes of discovering a new home.  But after years of wandering desolate space, they decide to return back to earth, only to find that Godzilla is still there, ruling the wastelands, causing havoc worldwide.  

I haven't quite kept up with the state of anime. I watched some TV shows: Fairy Tale & Sword Art Online because Tara was into those, and Attack on Titan because of all the buzz.  FT & SAO were too distracting because of all the insanely buxom anime chicks (there's even a term for anime jiggle in Japanese but I can't remember it right now).  I called Tara out on it but she just blew it off as most teenage daughters do with their dads.  AoT was just too gruesome so I didn't see the point of it all, skinned giants munching on people like burritos - not my thing. Give me Sailor Moon any day, even the new Sailor Moon Crystal.  That being said, none of those animes impressed me with their artistic vision. Planet of Monsters made me rethink anime.  It's got a CGI foundation, which makes the spaceships look really good.  Godzilla is gnarly ropey muscle, and his radioactive breath is a level up from previous incarnations.  The explosions, the stark lighting, the detail in the dinginess, just a feast for the eyes.  The downside is that it plays out about half way through.  Once they engage Godzilla, it's a lot of violence that leads nowhere.  It doesn't quite end.  This is part one of a trilogy.  It leaves us hanging.

It was released in the theaters in Japan and might have even held up on the big screen.  It was released here via Netflix and it was just right for my big TV screen.  Not quite sure if I give this one the DOOM recommendation but if you're a Godzilla fan like me, it's a must see.  It takes the franchise into bold new territory.

Here's a taste:

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

That's good to know. I was giving it the side-eye on Netflix, but now I'll give it both eyes.

[Drunk Monk]

 Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle 
Hitting Netflix on July 18

[Drunk Monk]

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle
The next installment of this gargantuan anime.  It's hard to jump in on ep 2 - each installment is a full length movie and there's a lot of set up that needs some explanation to follow this one.  That being said, there's a lot of nonsense about nanometal and the corpse of Mechagodzilla and what is clearly a tease for Mothra (twin hotties and natives who talk about the 'egg').  There's the vultures - flying mech-suits - and Godzilla is even bigger and badder, but the plot gets silly so it's one of those sit-back-and-enjoy-the-visuals sort of flicks.  A bit heavy on the talky bits - maybe it makes more sense in Japanese (which is how I watched it) - all the technobabble didn't really cover WTH was going on with the story.  But there was a good, somewhat predictable twist and a cliffhanger set up for ep 3.  I really enjoyed all the Godzilla scenes.  I'd love to see this edited down to just that, and set to a dubstep remix of BOC's Godzilla song.  

Not really recommended unless you're a serious Kaijunkie or animaniac.  I wouldn't really say that I'm either myself, but yeah, I'll probably watch ep 3.

[Drunk Monk]

Godzilla 3: The Planet Eater
My fav line in the is ‘cut...the...crap’. There’s a lot of talking. Everyone is constantly talking, ruminating about god, saying obvious stuff, and making some poignant atomic bomb comments that are spot on. But being subtitled, it’s distracting. Too much talk. And I was pretty lost trying to remember all the talk in ep 2.  

But Godzilla still rocks. He doesn’t appear until almost halfway through, and my fav titan comes into play, Ghidorah. The Godzilla vs Ghidorah battle is fairly satisfying. Mothra makes a cameo too, but it didn’t really make sense, neither did the end of credits scene so I couldn’t tell if this was the finale. Two things to keep in kindness if you watch this: 1. Exif is a play on Planet X. 2. Haruo means ‘spring’ and it’s also the name of the guy in the Godzilla rubber suit. There’s still some truly gorgeous anime art in this, but I’m sticking to my fast forward to the fight scenes and replace the sound with dubstep idea.

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