Some stuff gets spoiled below.
I just got home from seeing Godzilla: Planet Eater, and at this point, I've really run out of things to say. You've heard it all before, I've said it all before, so what's left to say?
Well, there are a few things. To my eye, the animation in this installment was the best of the three. Having said that, I should point out that I saw The Planet Eater on a much smaller screen than the first two films, so perhaps that has something to do with it. In any event, the little imperfections I've noticed in the past were absent here, and the animation seemed to flow a bit more smoothly.
There is also more monster action than in the previous two entries. In fact, I'd say The Planet Eater comes the closest to being what any Godzilla fan would have reasonably expected from these animated films. However, that's still not saying a whole lot. Ghidorah (minus the "King") leaves a lot to be desired, and its updated designed is a bit of a head-scratcher. Ghidorah is essentially three golden Mandas that work in tandem. What's more, its battle with Godzilla is hardly a battle of any kind.
See that poster at the top of the blog post? Well, picture that scene stretched out over (what felt like) 30 minutes, and there's your epic showdown. In the film, the three Ghidorah heads clamp down on Godzilla's flesh, and, well, that's it. After an eternity, Godzilla eventually breaks free and summarily destroys each Ghidorah head. In any other kaiju movie, the audience would have felt cheated. But in this trilogy? It's interesting enough to keep you from checking your watch. (The bar is quite low here.)
If I had to rank the three films, I'd put The Planet Eater at the top, Planet of the Monsters at #2, and City on the Edge of Battle at the bottom. Planet of the Monsters had a couple of interesting scenes, which elevates it to the middle of the bunch. I literally can't recommend anything about City on the Edge of Battle, which is why it brings up the rear.
Even though The Planet Eater is the best of three, I can't really recommend it on its own merits, either. It's more of the same, just done a bit better this time. Furthermore, the first act is just as boring as anything in the other two flicks. The only way I could recommend it is if you haven't seen either of the previous animated Godzilla movies and just want to see what they're like. In that case, you might as well go with the best one. Otherwise, you're better off picking something else to Netflix and chill with.
