by Benjamin Haines » Thu Jan 10, 2019 3:45 am
Godzilla: The Planet Eater is a beautiful, chilling and riveting conclusion to this trilogy of anime features.
(Spoilers ahead, for this is a spoiler thread.)
I was surprised by the true nature of Metphies and the Exif. At first I thought they might have secretly been responsible for Earth's monster outbreak with the goal of conquering the planet, like the Xilians in Final Wars. The second movie instead made me think that the Exif were similar to the Silver Surfer heralding Galactus, that they escaped the destruction of their home planet with a pledge to serve Ghidorah by summoning him to other consumable worlds. I thought that the Exif were hoping that Godzilla would defeat the monster that destroyed their homeworld and set them free. Where they ended up going with it was so much darker and more haunting. The Exif were an ancient civilization whose technology advanced to the point that they were able to calculate the inevitable end of existence. Their science became the basis of their faith in a higher being and they lost touch with what it means to live. Life is fleeting to the Exif in service of Ghidorah and they actually welcomed his destruction of their home planet.
A recurring theme through this trilogy is that civilizations will ultimately manifest themselves in the form of monsters. Humanity prospered as the dominant species on Earth until the atomic age led to the age of monsters and finally produced Godzilla. The Bilusaludo likewise produced Mechagodzilla and their idea of securing their own existence was to become one with their monster and overtake this planet as their new home. Taking that concept even further, The Planet Eater reveals that just as these various primate races have a similar hominid appearance across different worlds, there have been many other worlds before Earth whose civilizations ultimately produced a Godzilla. This is far from the first time that the Exif have made an offering of a Godzilla and its accompanying planet to Ghidorah. That brings a huge level of tension to this showdown.
This take on Ghidorah is just nightmarish. His classic traits are reinterpreted in a way that's wildly fresh and still true to the root of the character. More than just arriving from beyond Earth, Ghidorah comes from the void outside this universe. He is a being antithetical to life as we know it, capable of distorting the fabric of space and time. While he retains the traditional golden color and three serpentine necks, his gravity beams are reimagined as the ability to generate gravitational singularities. The way Ghidorah emerges into our universe above Earth from these singularities is a sight to behold.
The dramatic stakes are orchestrated powerfully with Ghidorah's ability to defy our universe's laws hinging on his connection to Metphies, tying the battle to Haruo's emotional conflict. Thanks to Maina and a cameoing Mothra, Haruo succeeds in holding on to his humanity and making it possible for Godzilla to fight back against Ghidorah. Haruo comes to accept that Earth can only exist with Godzilla at this point, which isn't the worst thing compared to total annihilation of the planet and everyone on it. As Lazzari demonstrates to him, though, even after finding a peaceful life with the Houtua, humanity is still prone to revert to its old ways, the same unchecked embrace of the potentials of technology and science that produced Godzilla in the first place and led Ghidorah to the planet. Haruo recognizes the innocence of the Houtua in the way they don't have a word for hate. He knows that it would be better for him not to influence them, so that Maina could continue to not understand how his fear of Godzilla turned into hate. He thus removes himself from the equation along with his people's option to resurrect the mistakes of humanity's past, and he does it with Yuko by his side, freeing her from the permanent nanometal coma in the process. The post-credits scene shows how the Houtua go about reconciling their fears, but even after the assistance that Mothra provided against Ghidorah, the image of the Houtua worshiping in front of a huge likeness of Mothra recalls the theme of civilizations ultimately manifesting as monsters. After all, Mothra did seem to be another interdimensional being like Ghidorah, one with which the Houtua communicate. As their civilization continues to advance over time, who knows what might become of Earth?
I loved it. I'm a fan of this whole anime trilogy. Each entry keeps improving and The Planet Eater actually makes the previous two better by sticking the landing so effectively. I'm glad that Toho took such a bold chance with this trilogy. It's thought-provoking, visually striking and totally unlike anything that Toho or Hollywood would ever attempt as live-action Godzilla movies. What a time to be a Godzilla fan!