Godzilla: City On The Edge of Battle (2018) CGI Anime movie

Overall verdict: 7/10

Ahab and his whale. A sci-fi Moby Dick story.

The Good: 

improves on previous movie's cel shaded animation, excellent voice acting, intricate artwork,  takes a more subversive approach to a typical Godzilla story, explores Nietzschean themes of vengeance and obsession.  

The Bad: 

Creature designs remain uninspired, Godzilla comes across as an afterthought, cliched revenge plot, weaker action than first movie

***********Review***********

Previously on Godzilla! A desperate plan to retake earth from strange creatures led by the king of monsters himself! A shocking revelation that the true Godzilla has evolved into a towering behemoth 300 meters tall with the local ecology shaped around his unique biology! Haruou, left for dead, has instead been rescued by a mysterious native girl. Looming large in the future is an ominous mechanical city with ties to a fearsome alien weapon! What adventures lie ahead on this Planet of Monsters?

A thrilling one apparently. Before the war, the cold, logic guided aliens known as the  Bilusaludo came with a promise to defeat the rampaging Godzilla in exchange for allowing their race to settle on earth. They used an advanced nanotechnology to create Mechagodzilla but their creation was destroyed before it could be deployed. In present day, the first mission to retake earth from Godzilla has ended in failure. The survivors are captured by a tribe of local humanoids who seem to have evolved from the remnants of humanity left behind on earth.

But twist reveal! They aren’t completely human, instead combining traits of the ancient Kaiju Mothra who died fighting Godzilla. Meanwhile, the Bilusaludo discover a familiar signal; mechagodzilla’s signal emanating from a mysterious technologically advanced city . They, along with the humans, begin a single minded quest to unearth the secrets of the mechanised city that has sprung up around the wreckage of the alien weapon, and possibly turn it against Godzilla. But twist reveal! Mechagodzilla didn’t just build the city. It IS the city! And so the stage is set for a clash of the titans, Godzilla and mechagodzilla, each taken to their logical final evolutionary step. One the embodiment of a world’s entire ecosystem and the other an intelligent nanotech creature able to form anything it so desires.

This second part of the Netflix GODZILLA anime trilogy improved on many aspects of the first film while still keeping the elements of that film which appealed to me. Haruo is given some great character growth particularly in his budding relationship with childhood friend Yuko. What started as a typical cold angry guy and wide eyed innocent girl gets some much needed development. We see new aspects to their personality, all shaped around the deconstruction of dedication.

GODZILLA CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE is a more traditional “Moby Dick” story of how dedication to their mission slowly but surely turns the protagonists into something worse than the creature they are hunting. The callback is rather blatant, right down to the survivors wanting to use a sort of “harpoon” to take down Godzilla (it makes sense in context).

Like captain Ahab of the classic tale, we are presented with the fine line between dedication and obsession. When does one become another? Does one truly have to become a monster to kill a monster? How far will someone go to uphold their dedication to a fleeting ideal? In typical anime style, this theme is fleshed out in both a symbolic and literal level, with parallel thematic developments for our protagonist Haruo, Yuko, and humanity’s allies from the stars, the Bilusaludo.

With all these great elements, the anime only suffers if the audience does not accept it’s often deconstructive execution of the plot. Expectations are cleverly subverted, underlying themes switch between literal and symbolic, even the monsters are referred to in both an actual and a figurative sense. This might come across as a little confusing for those who do not take the time to think through the story and read between the lines.

Visuals-wise, GODZILLA: CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE retains the cel shaded CGI look of the first film and many of Polygon Studio’s work. The animation, which beautifully mimics that of traditional 2D animation right down to the reduced frame rate, is really an acquired taste that may not be for everyone. It is calling back to something old, using something new. Small improvements have been made particularly in the drab mono coloured creatures that populate far future earth. Godzilla himself gets a harsher shading and contrast in lighting which makes him distinct from the already dull grey background.

These little improvements make me hopeful for the upcoming finale to this trilogy. It is not perfect and the improvements may come too slowly for more cynical viewers. Like the animation style, the movies so far are truly an acquired taste that boils down to personal preference. Complex or confusing? Subverting expectations or failing to deliver on its publicity? Perhaps the greater battle is not within Haruo himself, or between monsters, or even between the various factions and Godzilla. Perhaps it is between the fans.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B+
Art: B+
Animation: A-

Story: B-
Voice Acting (English): A-

Voice Acting (Japanese): A
Characters: B

Music: C-

Replay value: B+
"Brains": B