English Dub Review: Godzilla Planet of the Monsters

I didn’t think I’d ever be bored by a Godzilla film, but here we are.

Planet of the Monsters is set in the future, where humanity is driven out by repeated kaiju attacks. In exile, humanity has managed to make a truce with the humanoid aliens that are also curious about Earth, and are looking for a new habitat. Unfortunately, most of the planets they find are uninhabitable, and with low supplies, they are forced to return to Earth and confront Godzilla again. Sadly, what ends up unfolding is basically a generic sci-fi post-apocalyptic story. Godzilla really could have been replaced with a random giant monster, and it would have been exactly the same film.

Honestly, the largest problem in the movie isn’t the pacing, the voice acting, or even the concept itself, but the fact that it was written by Gen Urobuchi. Urobuchi is known for screenwriting a lot of well-known series, such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Fate/Zero. He’s also incapable of writing anything happy. All of his works are rife with heavy-handed nihilism, which was evident within the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Urobuchi loves to talk about the dark side of humanity, futile struggles, and people losing their sense of self in light of a larger issue, and Planet of the Monsters is no exception. In the end, the works he creates are largely depressing and don’t leave the audience feeling hopeful. The Urobuchi writing style doesn’t allow for any sort of positivity, and so Planet of the Monsters misses out on one of the biggest parts of kaiju films— they’re supposed to be fun.

Godzilla is a series that’s thematically about nuclear anxiety and environmentalism, two very heavy subjects. While what’s mainly happening on screen is centered around giant monsters, its core messages are clear and are definitely not things to take lightly. However, the Japanese Godzilla films are still enjoyable. The older films can be very hit or miss, but they all manage to hold up on account of being plain fun to watch. For example, Son of Godzilla didn’t have a memorable enemy kaiju (does anyone really remember the Kamacuras or Kumonga?) or a particularly strong story, but it had clear symbolism (the dangers of tampering with nature), and we still got to see Godzilla beat up giant insects and play with his son. The most recent film, Shin-Godzilla, was extremely heavy thematically, but was still fast paced, interesting and left off on a sense of hope for the future. By contrast, Planet of Monsters did none of that.

There is no talk of environmentalism or nuclear anxiety, the two themes that drive the entire Godzilla franchise, and the focus instead remained on the drive of humanity. The entire movie is about Sakaki’s crew trying to settle on Earth while being mowed down by the hostile lifeforms that have made Earth their home. They manage to beat Godzilla— only to realize a few minutes later that what they fought was one of Godzilla’s descendants, not Godzilla himself. Most of the exploratory crew dies or is implied to have died, with Sakaki being the only confirmed survivor in the after-credits scene. Not much positivity there. It doesn’t help that most of the movie focuses on reconnaissance or politics, so there isn’t much focus on the kaiju. The scenes are strung along but don’t carry that much urgency since we’re not allowed to feel for the characters or get invested in their mission. After all, we all watch kaiju movies to see kaiju, not people discussing kaiju.

However, there were a few things I liked about the movie. The concept of humanity being cast out and returning to a kaiju-riddled Earth was a really nice idea. The aliens fully admitting to each other that they don’t care for humanity, only for Earth itself, is a nice call-back to the multitudes of hostile alien species across the Godzilla universe. The soundtrack sounds like it’s right out of the classics, especially during the disembarking sequence. While the action sequences didn’t do much for me, it was pretty well directed. Of course, a Godzilla twice the normal size is as great as ever.

Most importantly, Godzilla being cast as a cautionary figure was a good call. While Godzilla being constantly referred to as something not from this world when he’s, in fact, a result of humanity’s nuclear activity was off-putting, he is supposed to be a warning. Too much nuclear activity will disrupt nature, and unleash horrors upon the world. Considering that nuclear weapons are an entirely human invention, having Godzilla as a figure against humanity is an interesting one. This isn’t always the case, for Godzilla’s attitude towards humanity varies from film to film, but he is a warning regardless. He is an avatar of what could be, nuclear destruction in a single form, and this film reflects that pretty accurately. Unfortunately, the film shirks away from the fact that humanity is responsible for Godzilla’s awakening and instead treats it as if Godzilla just happened to surface as an anti-human being. This dulls the impact a lot, so hopefully, that will be rectified in the later installments.

Overall, Planet of the Monsters isn’t terrible, but it sure isn’t a Godzilla film. If you want to watch something that’s modern and stays true to the feeling of Godzilla, watch Shin-Godzilla instead.