Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters

Godzilla, is one of the most well-known monsters or kaijus, with his first appearance in Gojira on November 3, 1954. Sixty-three years later, Godzilla Part 1: Planet of the Monsters becomes the first Godzilla movie to be animated by ToHo Animations. The movie was produced by ToHo Company Ltd. and Polygon Pictures and is the 32nd film in the Godzilla franchise.
It was released to Japanese theaters on November 17, 2017, and was released on Netflix worldwide on January 17, 2018. The film was directed by Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, with the screenplay written by Gen Urobuchi. Production started January 19, 2017, with six members of the cast being revealed to the public, along with a piece of concept art. On February 24, 2017, more concept art was released with a vehicle that resembled Super X from the Heisei era of Godzilla movies.
The movie begins far in the future with Godzilla and other kaijus wreaking havoc across the world, with human resistance crumbling to the creatures. During this time, two alien species; Exif and the Bilusaludo, come to Earth aiding the humans in combat, however, the Bilusaludo failed when building Mechagodzilla which is then destroyed by Godzilla. With Godzilla being the last kaijus, Godzilla begins purging humans from the Earth. With little time, the humans evacuate all space transports. At this time we meet our first main character, Haruo Sakikia, who grows a hatred for Godzilla when he sees his parents die to Godzilla.
The movie then fast forwards around 20 Earth years and 20,000 space years, where we meet Hauro again. At this point, he is threatening the Committee, saying that he will blow up a transport destroying the hangar bay, saying that the Earth’s gravity has changed, and is not safe for scouting. However, he is incarcerated, where he sees a scout transport be destroyed by Earth’s gravitational field. Hauro is then visited by Metphies, who spreads Hauro’s Godzilla book anonymously throughout the ship. The Committee then summons Metphies and Hauro to debate Godzilla’s fate and returning to Earth.
It is decided that three battalions; Company A, Company C and Company D, will be sent to scout Earth’s surface. After the descent, Company C is attacked by wing creatures called servums. After losing all but three transports to the servums, Hauro and the survivors decide to meet up with Company D. They then make a shocking discovery. Godzilla is still alive after 20,000 years. The survivors open fire, however, Godzilla’s shield deflects the small arms fire. Commander Leland then sacrifices his life for the survivors and new information on Godzilla’s shield organ.
After regrouping with the other two companies, they launched an assault on Godzilla, and after a massive air attack, ground forces opened fire, taking out Godzilla’s shield. Hauro then places an EMP bomb inside Godzilla’s dorsal fin. Godzilla is then enveloped in fire after he recharged his shield activating the EMP. However, after celebrating, a loud roar is heard and the earth shakes. The original Godzilla appears from the earth and takes out most of the ground forces and air forces. Hauro is then trapped beneath the rubble, with Hauro cursing Godzilla and ending the movie.
Like other Godzilla movies, the story of this movie does not affect the Heisei era timeline, but unlike other Godzilla films, viewers are unable to connect with the characters. The main character, Hauro Sakikia, is the one character that creates the most criticism for the movie, with many viewers complaining that Planet of the Monsters characters are worse than the characters in Shin Godzilla.
The quality of the movie is the one thing keeping this movie afloat from the criticism. The new Godzilla design is partly based on the American 2014 Godzilla having more of a bulky look. The sound effects are amazing with the sound not falling behind the characters’ speech. The movie also holds viewers’ attention with the exploration teams coming across new species and unexpected turns on Earth.
The strong point of the movie is where Hauro leads the survivors of Company C into Godzilla’s territory, and becomes more human towards Godzilla. The main weakness of the movie besides the characters is that part of the movie would transition between the survivors on Earth and the crew aboard the Aratrum, discussing nothing that had to do with Godzilla. I would recommend this movie to Godzilla and anime fans, and I would rate this movie a four out of five stars.