'Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle' Lacks the Necessary Oomph

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle is the second entry in the Godzilla anime film trilogy by Netflix.  Following the events of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Captain Haruo Sakaki and the surviving members of his team are picked up by a telepathic aboriginal tribe called the Houtua, who are probably the descendants of the humans left behind in Earth 20,000 years ago.  With two of the Houtua – twin sisters Miana and Maina – serving as guides, Haruo’s team reaches a large mechanical city that has been built due to the nanotech from the destroyed Mechagodzilla self-replicating and expanding itself for the past millennia.  Dubbed “Mechagodzilla City”, it could finally be the answer that humanity and their alien allies need in order to defeat Godzilla once and for all.

Because Mechagodzilla was quickly annihilated by Godzilla before it could become operational in the opening of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, I thought it was simply meant as an Easter egg and wouldn’t have any future part to play in the overarching story.  So I never expected that it would be a plot device in the second movie.  However, I was somewhat disappointed that the actual Mechagodzilla didn’t have an actual participation in it.  Surely, “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla” is much more thrilling than “Godzilla vs. a weaponized city.” 

On the other hand, nanometal – the material which Mechagodzilla was made of – is a source of initial intrigue for the narrative.  There’s fascination to be had from how intelligent and versatile it is, particularly on how it can create or re-engineer just about any tech-related object and how it can continue to adapt and build even without supervision – as shown by its automated construction of Mechagodzilla City (which reminded me of how the Builders perpetually worked on the City in Blame!; incidentally, the studio behind the Blame! anime film is the same one behind this Godzilla anime trilogy).  It’s even used to assemble three quick-flying mecha suits which see action against Godzilla – one of the exciting moments in this movie.  Unfortunately, the appeal of nanometal fades too soon.

Moreover, the script is shallow, and whatever amount of amazing sci-fi technology and action-packed set pieces the movie has are just not enough to compensate for it.

Captain Haruo Sakaki is not written well enough to be a sympathetic main protagonist worth getting invested on.  Sometimes, he even comes off as whiny – something that I actually also noticed in the previous movie but never truly minded then.  Hence, I couldn’t care less for his predicaments and objectives.  If Godzilla wiped him and his team out, no emotion was going to be elicited from me.

There’s also this persistent sense of randomness and hokeyness with its futuristic premise.  In the previous movie, I found the different formula refreshing.  But this time around, with nothing of real substance really stemming off of it, I began missing the simple yet suspenseful “Godzilla causing urban mayhem” storyline.

All in all, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle is mediocre.  It can be an entertaining watch for sure.  But it fails to deliver the “force of nature” oomph that Godzilla is most known for.

I’m still going to see the third movie though, as a Godzilla-Ghidorah battle is teased.  That is potentially epic.  Also, the obsessive completionist in me requires that it should be watched.