Mini Film Review – Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle

I have just watched Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and it didn’t make any sense!
Set after the events of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters; City on the Edge is the second film in the Godzilla Anime Trilogy. The film inspires memories of Zoids: Chaotic Century, and is pretty much where the positivity ends. The final battle is pretty good and in itself features a style somewhat similar to that of Shin Godzilla‘s final battle, packed with a great soundtrack that feels like it has been lifted off the best and brightest films in the Studio Ghibli collection. The rest of the film however is very questionable. The previous film is somewhat forgetful and this one just feels lost in the idea of an Anime Godzilla series, rather than being its own standalone film. It’s like the film is just crying out to be transformed into an anime TV Series rather than a film, as it feels like it needs to be watched back to back in order to make the least bit of sense. It’s not an easy one to pick off from either as you forget who the characters are and are having to re-learn as it tries to keep going. The narrative just jumps from line to line trying to provide in-depth details, but systematically fails as the lack of character development doesn’t even begin until halfway through the film, and you just don’t care about any of them. Most of the time they just mumble on and talk at 50 mph and you don’t understand a word of it. The only time any of it was really clear wasn’t until the post credits scene. The myths and theories they speak as they plan out an attack on the strangely Muttley looking Godzilla make even less sense than the average battle in an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh to someone watching it for the first time. The artwork is good-looking, the final battle is terrific, and the soundtrack is pretty nice too; the rest of it though is tiring, draining and very disappointing.