by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea with Animation Celebration is to take a look at some underseen gems — so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
With the next Godzilla/King Kong crossover arriving in the form of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and the film community still basking in the glow of Godzilla: Minus One capping off its Cinderella run with an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, it seemed like a fitting time to take a look at the first of Netflix’s anime trilogy, released back in 2017: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters.
I’ll be totally honest; I’ve seen fewer Godzilla films than your average moviegoer. The only ones I’ve seen are the 2014 American film and Minus One. While I respect the franchise and what it does, it’s just never been something that’s particularly grabbed my attention. Given how campy I know entries can be, it’s just really not my bag — particularly when I generally need nostalgia-colored glasses if I’m going to enjoy a camp fest. I’ve sung Netflix animation’s praises in the past as an aspect of the streamer I think is underrated, but my relationship with anime (both as a genre as a whole and Netflix’s contributions) is much more mixed. As an official Toho release, this project marries the two — as a partnership between the production company behind the Godzilla franchise and Netflix.
Suffice to say, I was interested in how I’d come out feeling about this one, particularly since Toho had never produced an animated Godzilla feature before this, but has a good track record in animation. The studio has helped produce multiple Studio Ghibli films, Pokémon: The First Movie, and Your Name. For this film they teamed up with Polygon Pictures, who’s produced project like Ajin (a Netflix anime I did happen to enjoy), among other franchise projects in universes like Transformers, Resident Evil, and Pokémon.
This particular Godzilla film takes place in a future where humans have been defeated by kaijus, led by Godzilla, who now control the planet. This leaves humanity two options: find a new planet to call home, or take back their planet from the King of the Monsters. (You get one guess what they chose.) While the futuristic setting was intriguing, given the premise, I was struck by the tone. Godzilla films always have their fair share of death and destruction, but I found this particular entry interesting because of the dark, hopeless tone it takes from the start, to hammer home how beaten down humanity is by the seeming bleakness of their situation. To say the intergalactic travel is not going well would be an understatement, and it really helps sell why those aboard would take the risk of trying to take the planet back. They are also not limited to human beings, which was a sci-fi twist I was not expecting, but did not find to be unwelcome. However, with a title like Planet of the Monsters, I’m not sure the film delivers on that premise. It’s a lot of setup and not much variety when it comes to the monsters. There are a lot of cool ideas to keep me interested and intrigued, though the film doesn’t maximize the potential that this cool mix of ideas presented.
Generally, the idea of making a Godzilla film animated was an intriguing one. With the amount of destruction and spectacle, the costs of putting the necessary visual effects in place is mitigated through animation. Planet of the Monsters takes advantage of the medium through the use of color. I’m glad I had previous experience with this animation house, because I picked up on some similarities in how they animate thanks to my experience with Ajin — they seem to love the use of particle animation, and I do like their style of cel shaded animation. Even with the scale of destruction, it’s not quite as violent (given the lack of blood). However, when it comes to the final confrontation — which covers the last third of the 90-minute runtime as the soldiers land on earth to search out and destroy their foe — the action lacks the weight of what I’ve witnessed in the other two live action films I’ve consumed. I don’t know if it’s the fact that it’s animated that’s to blame. On the surface, it offers decent enough visuals, and the idea of a technologically advanced human race fighting to get a planet that has long been one overtaken by kaijus and nature back is cool and makes for some fun spectacle, but there is oomph missing from it.
Overall, what the film attempts doesn’t always work, but I appreciate the swings it takes. If nothing else, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters’ role as the first animated Godzilla feature makes it unique and a curiosity worth at least exploring, particularly for fans of the franchise in all its different forms.
I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. For next month, nothing’s set in stone. We’ll have to see what catches my fancy.
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd