Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (spoilers)

[lhb412]

Movie #2 drops tonight/tomorrow. Stay up late, get up earlier or... just watch it tomorrow evening!

[DannyBeane]

I actually had fun watching this one. I didn't like the first one however this one, while having a similar story structure was much better paced and actually did things fightwise/storywise that I thought were better suited for anime. I'd give it a 5.5/10 where as the first film was a solid 3/10.

[klen7]

i agree that this was a big improvement

I didn't mind MG not showing up, but they should have dropped his name and the merch because the vultures and nano city is pretty cool on its own.

I do hate that it seriously features a scene in which the female character gets attacked by tentacles, pulling her legs apart while phallic worms menacingly approach - not only is this awful, this is what people mock anime for.

Overall it's much more enjoyable and actually has quite a bit more intensity in the climax. It does not vindicate the first entry, especially since both of them spend a good amount of their runtime setting up, executing and failing the same plan to kill Godzilla. I'm looking forward to part 3 more than i was looking part 2

[Dai]

I found the first hour rather dull, but it definitely kicked into gear for the climax. For me, the main thing movie 2 had to offer is that it finally brought the trilogy's dramatic question into focus, namely: what shape will humanity have to take to deal with Godzilla? In movie 1 we saw humanity avoid the question by running away. In movie 2, we see two possible answers. The tribe set aside technology and chose to hide underground, but even then its unclear how much change they underwent as the price for living in Godzilla's shadow, whether they're humans who became part insect or insects that took on human form. The Bilusaludo chose to face Godzilla head-on, and thought nothing of casting aside their individuality to do so. Even the Earth reshaped itself in the face of Godzilla's power. This conflict was perfectly crystalised when the Bilusaludo told Haruo the inevitable conclusion of the path his anger had set him on, and it was great to see this one-note protagonist finally face a problem that made him stop and reassess his outlook.

It did annoy me that we never saw anything resembling a real Mechagodzilla, especially after both movies spent so much time name-dropping it.

[tbeasley]

Oh boy, if you didn't like Part 1, you're really gonna hate Part 2.

I didn't think it was terrible, but it is underwhelming. It's essentially the same story as Part 1, just told on a slightly larger scale - this time with a larger, more powerful Godzilla, a Mechagodzilla city, nanometal, etc. But there's no traditional Mechagodzilla (Mothra is hinted at, Ghidorah named dropped at the very end) and the characters resort to the same plan that destroyed the smaller Godzilla in Part 1, albeit with cooler toys. There is some focus on the ulterior motives of the Black Hole inspired aliens, but it's not enough to feel like a satisfying standalone experience, something I felt Part 1 was able to do for the most part.

Lack of cooperation among the various races (human and alien) seems to be a theme, leading to the film's downer of an ending - another thing it has in common with Part 1. They're all back to square one again, and Godzilla is seemingly more powerful than ever.

Whether you liked Part 1 or not, a common feeling was that with all the world building out of way, Part 2 would push things forward and deliver the goods, but I don't feel that's the case here. Part 3 REALLY needs to pay off a lot of the build up in 1 and 2 (Mothra, Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, the ultimate goals of the aliens, etc.) for this trilogy to be worthwhile.

[Psycho Soldier]

In some ways, this is an improvement. It has a broader colour palette, the characters face more interesting dilemmas, and the pacing feels more even than in Part 1. It poses some interesting philosophical questions along the way, most notably the prospect of Mechagodzilla City essentially becoming a substitute Godzilla.

At the same time, it suffers some of the same problems as Part 1. The characters aren't developed much further, though Haruo does have a moment of growth near the end. If they're more fun to watch, it's because of their debates, not their specific personalities. Also, I still felt a little overwhelmed by the science fiction jargon and technical details.

And, yes, I was hoping Mechagodzilla City would transform into or create a traditional MG form. The earliest spoilers for Part 2 revealed this wouldn't be the case, unfortunately. I don't know if there's hope for it in Part 3.

Overall, it's a 6/10 -- half a point superior to Part 1. Not as sleep-inducing, but still lacking in key respects.

[tbeasley]

See, if the film ended with something like this, a grand reveal for Mechagodzilla much like Godzilla Earth in Part 1, I might feel differently but right now I'm pretty lukewarm about it

[klen7]

I feel like that would have been another tease and even less satisfying than part 1. They just needed to drop the Mechagodzilla pretext completely because it did set expectations for a showdown

As a side note, the size of Godzilla is meaningless when there isn't any sort of point of reference. like did the explosions suddenly get a lot bigger because they cover a quarter of his body at times

[jellydonut25]

This is the worst thing this franchise has ever produced.

[lhb412]

... I liked it! It was essentially a bigger, better version of the first one. Better animation, livelier music, more interesting environments (big negative on that first movie was just the sameyness if the color), Haruo becomes a more reflective and likeable protagonist, the intrigue between and about the different races (including a new one) ratchets up, and even Godzilla looks cooler with his more craggy appearence.

The natives look so much cooler than the other races, and did I just imagine it or was there more visual differentiation among the human beings?

Honestly, Toho's insistence on making this three movies spaced six months apart instead of the series it was originally appearance be is the big problem here. The movie even begins with a 'Netflix Original Series' stamp! This was meant to be binged in a few days, not spaced out this way. The things a traditional Godzilla fan would want, the big monster battles and showdowns, are positioned for the final installment, which can be seen as excruciating in this format but would've been digestible in the last few episodes of a ten episode show realeased all on one day. As it is, these aren't movies, they're episodes of a miniseries.



Loved the electro dance music theme for Mechagodzilla City, and thought the twins were really great. Like the subtle difference in their expressions differentiating them.

[Psycho Soldier]

[UltraDada72]

I was surprised at the fact that I actually enjoyed this one. I did not like the first one at all. I felt this one improved on all the things about the first I didn't like (annoying main character, bland background characters, dull story, a bunch of dull tech talk, uninteresting monster action). However, I think the PR team didn't do the fans any favors by showing a bunch of poster art showing Mechagodzilla, when he doesn't even appear in this film, setting up everyone's expectation and then failing them. At this point I really don't expect King Ghidorah to appear in the 3rd film, despite him being mentioned at the end of this. Did I think it was a great film? No. But I disliked the 1st one so much that this one didn't have to try very hard for me to feel it was an improvement.

[tbeasley]

[O.Supreme]

[jellydonut25]

[jellydonut25]

[Henry88]

[mbozzo]

Godzilla 1998 is the worse movie that the Godzilla franchise has came up with.

[jellydonut25]

[GFan]

This was... disappointing.

All of the endless possibilities of the anime format, and we're still stuck with Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla (whom we don't even see in this installment?!). I thought this series would be the perfect chance to go crazy with new opponents... or even alien designs (seriously kept forgetting there was a 2nd alien race because everyone looks like a normal human).

Blah, just blah.

I like when Godzilla's doing his thing and being an indestructible bad-ass.. but he lacks personality. Shin may have not been terribly expressive, but he made up for it in presence.

I really hope the third entry doesn't make us wait until the last 10 minutes to give us a payoff.

[klen7]

[RaptorG]

Pretty much my view of the movie:

[Gentleman]

For what it's worth, it was an improvement over the first one. Mothra's subjects were an interesting addition, and the finale held my attention. I share GFan's opinion, though. With the whole of Toho's library of characters to draw from, they give us Mothra, Mechagodzilla and Ghidorah for the umpteenth time. That might be the most disappointing thing of all.

[Benjamin Haines]

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle is fascinating and intense.

The level of world-building provides so much to mentally chew on. Both of the anime movies have really delivered on this front. Here we get to see what becomes of humanity after 20,000 years of Godzilla ruling the planet. Much like Haruo and the other space-traveling humans, the Houtua are at once a testament to humanity's enduring resilience and a generation that has to live with the consequences wrought upon humanity by Godzilla. The Houtua have managed to survive even though there are two monsters vying for the planet.

I did not see that Mechagodzilla twist coming. I'd read the brief plot synopsis so I knew that MG was made of nanometal. I thought that was just going to be a narrative loophole to eventually make MG grow as tall as Godzilla for an old-fashioned rumble but where they went with it instead was so much more original and interesting and I really dug it. It's a complete reinterpretation of the concept of Mechagodzilla that fits this narrative. Just as Godzilla is a monster brought about by humanity, Mechagodzilla is the ultimate manifestation of the Bilusaludo's collective faults as a species. While Godzilla dominated the planet for 20,000 years, propagating more of his kind and forcing the animal and plant life to adapt to his characteristics or go extinct, Mechagodzilla spent that time growing itself and making its own mark on the planet. Mechagodzilla is simultaneously expanded into a sprawling city and distilled into an ominous liquid nanometal. That is so freaking cool and it all comes to a head when Galu-gu and Belu-be reveal their true colors, which was also a surprise. The first movie seemed to imply that Metphies and the Exif might have sinister intentions while Galu-gu and the Bilusaludo might be more on the same page as humanity. Haruo has to confront the fact that the Bilusaludo are so committed to taking the planet from Godzilla that they represent the logical endpoint of his own obsession, leading to a spectacular and gripping final action sequence.

Planet of the Monsters is good, City on the Edge of Battle is even better, and I'm excited to see how this anime trilogy ends in six months.

[Gwangi]

Finally had a chance to see. This was definitely better than the first, but like the "Monster Planet, it had its share of slow moving parts. The Mechagodzilla scenario was a plot twist I did not see coming, when many were wondering how the hell a small MG would to battle with that humongous G?

I am somewhere in the middle with this series. I don't dislike it like some others, but I don't find them as the most engaging features either. We shall see how this all comes to an end.