Godzilla 3: Hoshi wo Kuu Mono

Unable to destroy Godzilla through the use of conventional anime tropes, the constipated crew from the previous film decided to turn toward religion to summon Shenron to grant their wish of eliminating “The King of Monsters.” But they forgot one important detail: they didn’t collect the seven dragon balls beforehand. Enraged by their insolence, Shenron (i.e. Ghidorah) destroyed his believers to clear the way for his cataclysmic, multiverse bout with the reigning world champion. In a rare turn of events, Stone Cold Steve Austin decided to step in as the guest referee. Proving, once again, that unapologetic alcoholism will lead to ... some “golden” opportunities.

Story: Gahhhhhh

They basically reused the same talkity-talk-talk, time to fight now formula they used in the second film. Nothing interesting takes place during the build up to Godzilla’s “final" battle. The fight between Godzilla and Ghidorah is extremely bland. And Godzilla’s heel-face turn was much expected. The humans involved don’t even seem to learn any significant lessons from their ordeal, and seem quite ignorant about their own blunders in creating the fearsome “monster.”

Characters: Blaahhhhh

The character’s are as poorly written as they are animated. None of them convey more than two emotions, nor do they come off as “real” or relatable. The ending scene where Harou decided to “crash” his spacecraft into Godzilla was as perplexing as it was stupid. The writers of this abomination, clearly, did not put much thought into developing their cast of characters in any meaningful manner.

Animation: Ooooffff

You would think that 2018 level animation would be better than this; unfortunately, you’d be sadly mistaken. The characters basic motions — like walking — look incredibly awkward (mechanical, if you will). Godzilla and Ghidorah’s battle looked herky-jerky, at best. In addition, the scenery had a lifeless texture, that expunged any element of vitality or realism.

Enjoyment: Meeehhhh

If you are simply watching this film for the “epic” battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah, then I have bad news for you: the battle was dreadful. The writers attempted to amp the viewer’s expectations by postponing the “momentous” exchanges between the two monsters until the very end. But it felt like they were extending the eventual payoff for the sake of stretching out the movie to qualify as such.

Not much else to say. The movie, much like its predecessors, is incredibly prosaic, with a paucity in excitement and originality.

There are much better ways to tackle a nihilistic existential crisis. EVA, Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou, Ergo Proxy all do it effortlessly, this, just doesn't make sense.

To get the objective assessment out of the way, the film scores well in technical aspects, cell-shaded 3D isn't that comical (bar's pretty low anyway), action sequences pack satisfying punches, sound and atmosphere befitting a major production.

But the frigging screenplay...... (spoilers)

The creator of Psycho-Pass focuses on one aspect of humanity in this trilogy - an insatiable desire to own, and control, be it oneself or the planet. The first film sets up like a shonen manga, hailing the main character's ... drive to retake Earth from Godzilla as an heroic battle against adversity. The second film reaches the pinnacle of the series by showing revenge in itself is an uncontrollable beast, and saving humanity by all means necessary would ironically destroy the very thing it proclaims to preserve.

So what's the message of the finale? A suicidal cult which the protagonist destroys, who then... chooses to commit suicide anyway???

WTH???

So the protagonist cannot let go of his hatred against Godzilla, but neither is he willing to use nanometal at the risk of turning humans into destructive machines. What's his solution? Robbing other survivors' chance to choose by kamikazeing into Godzilla. Where went his shonen boiling blood to fight against adversity? His last act is the ultimate cop-out, against everything he stood for in the first two films, against what he just did a few minutes earlier! If he's going to choose death regardless, why not let Ghidorah get on with it? As to destroying the nanometal, its rediscovery is inevitable, this is the equivalent of leaving your homework for tomorrow - what's, the, point???

If the films wanted to leave on an ambiguous note, they could've left on a high note and stopped at film two. The third one is filled with nonsensical contradictions that turned the protagonist from a principled paragon into an indecisive joke.

As far as frustrating protagonists and endings go, this is Earthsea-level bad, yes, THAT BAD.

for crying out loud, what a way to derail the plot, such a fucking joke
that pathetic ending makes me feel the urge to bleach my brain

MC gets the stupid, goes all ptsd because of nanomachines and takes it upon himself to doom humanity to pretechnology, if he wanted to off himself so badly whys he gotta bring everyone else down with him, you were the one who inspired humans to challenge godzilla, killing yourself is just a cheap way to escape that responsibility, you've already reduced humanity this extent and now you wanna skip out on being held to account, skip out on life, kill ... some innocent bystander, make things worse, reduce humanity even further, when did you suddenly become a total utter piece of shit

not only is it a waste of life, time, effort, resources, everything, but humans will simply rebuild their technology anew, so instead of solve anything, you've just ruined things for whoevers left behind, and made humanity toil yet some more over a dull slave like existence

the plot even went so far as to delete all the aliens too, as if reality is ever so cleanly tied up in a bow like that

ffs, only a four year old wouldn't question that garbage ending

what am a supposed to feel but disdain?

wow i just realized! even the nanobots are gone, soon humans may even go extinct without the nanoblades to defend themselves with, hahahahahah, wtf!?

(This review is valid for the entire Godzilla trilogy, with some slight changes at the end of each one, for each respective film)
So much potential played out through the window, the premise of a Godzilla movie / anime does not have to be complex to be good, after all, what we want to see are giant monsters fighting, that's a nice thing, remembering, It's GODZILLA, do not confuse like reflective works like Monster, Shigatsu, Code Geas, right then. To summarize the story revolves around our planet earth having been dominated by Godzilla, causing humans to be forced to flee into space, and accompanying the attempt ... to retake the planet through the destruction of Gozilla, are also shown some other races, which are basically human who have evolved in other ways, films also deal with religious beliefs and fanaticism, in a slightly generic and weak way, but treat, the central protagonist is very simple, those protagonists who are decisive, optimistic and with a sense of justice and huge duty, the rest of cast characters do not have much muuuuita, of course, they have mainly the blond / white guy Metphies, and the twin sisters who actually live on the ground, well, at least he has good soundtracks, some I just hope that being a CGI anime would have more action scenes, after all, it's the studio that made Knights of Sydonia, but that's not what happened, infel izmente. My real problem here is: The planet, seriously, as soon as they arrive all the fauna and flora has changed, everything is new and harmful, from animals (like dragons) to the environment (water attacks the characters) and all this is derived from Godzilla, and yet there were people living there (or at least one kind of mutation). Single part for "Godzilla 3: Hoshi wo Kuu Mono", "Hmm, we can not kill Gdozilla, so why do not we invoke a being who, in theory, is superior to Godzilla?" Forgive the joke, but seriously, it had already become clear that the secondary characters were "idiots", but not that point, calling such a powerful being hoping that he would just beat Godzilla and leave, was very stupid, and the movie was able to get a lot to that conclusion, starting with some inspirations in Evangelion, yes, Evangelion, more precisely in the last two episodes of the anime, in which the protagonist relives memories of the past, to be persuaded to believe in the values ​​of the "villain", rolled too this part in the film, it seemed more that they had no idea to complement and extended the scenes made, an example of this is the scene (spoiler following) of the exploding ship, the Guidorah is circalnd the ship and the passengers of her are only talking numbers and more numbers, as if they had relevance for us spectators or for them in that situation, then finally comes the moment of the struggle between the two Kaijus, and it is DECEIVING, oh my god, by Guidorah "to exist in another time" he can not be directly touched by Godzilla, so he simply bites the Kaiju and ready, stands there, biting, causing damage, that vibrant soundtrack behind a scene almost static, It was horrible. To take the protagonist of the hypnosis imposed by the "villain", one of the twin sisters, with the help of another character invokes Mothram, but to our disappointment, she only appears mentally, and for the protagonist. The only thing I can praise here is the theory that one of the characters proposed, that Godzilla would be supreme species, we humans are cataloged as the last beings to tread on the earth, so on this one, Godzilla would be the definitive species, something that the planet itself has created (which is far better than "creations by nuclear experience.") The ending is a bit forced, as well as being bad, since the protagonist thinks his existence will make humans progress again generating another cycle, with Godzillas and everything else, he kills himself along with the body of the woman he loved, going straight against Godzilla (which is too much of an acumen, for humans will evolve anyway), ah, he ends up having a child with one of the sisters, but that has no relevance, and Godzilla is still alive. (I apologize for my spelling mistakes)

(PT-Br) (Essa review vale para toda a trilogia de Godzilla, com algumas leves mudanças no fim de cada uma, para cada respectivo filme)
Tanto potencial jogado fora, pela janela, a premissa de um filme/anime de Godzilla não precisa ser complexa para ser boa, afinal, o que queremos ver são monstros gigantes lutando, isso sim é algo legal, lembrando, É GODZILLA, não confunda como obras com cunho reflexivo como Monster, Shigatsu, Code Geas, certo então. Para resumir a história gira sobre nosso planeta terra ter sido dominado pelo Godzilla, fazendo com que os humanos fossem obrigados a fugir para o espaço, e acompanhos a tentativa de retomada do planeta através da destruição do Gozilla, também são mostrados algumas outras raças, que são basicamente humanos que evoluíram de outras formas, os filmes também tratam sobre crenças e fanatismo religioso, de uma forma levemente genérica e fraca, mas tratam, a protagonista central é bem simples, daquelas protagonistas que são decididas, otimistas e com um senso de justiça e dever enormes, o resto do cast de personagens não tem muuuuita relevância, claro, eles tem, principalmente, o cara loiro/branco Metphies, e as irmãs gêmeas que vivem de fato na terra, bom, pelo menos ele tem boas soundtracks, algumas te passam tensão, só esperava que por ser um anime em CGI teriam mais cenas de ação, afinal, é o estúdio que fez Knights of Sydonia, mas não foi o que aconteceu, infelizmente. O meu real problema aqui é: O planeta, sério, logo quando eles chegam toda a fauna e flora mudou, tudo é novo e nocivo, desde animais (como dragões) ao ambiente (a água ataca as personagens) e tudo isso se derivou do Godzilla, e ainda assim haviam pessoas vivendo lá (ou pelo menos um tipo de mutação). Parte única para "Godzilla 3: Hoshi wo Kuu Mono", "Humm, não conseguimos matar o Gdozilla, então por que não invocamos um ser que, em tese, é superior ao Godzilla?". Perdoe a piada, mas falando sério, já tinha ficado bem claro que as personagens secundárias eram "idiotas", mas não aquele ponto, chamar um ser tão poderoso esperando que ele simplesmente vencesse o Godzilla e fosse embora, foi muito idiota, e o filme conseguiu enrolar muito para essa conclusão, começando com algumas inspirações em Evangelion, sim, Evangelion, mais precisamente nos dois últimos episódios do anime, em que a protagonista revive memórias do passado, para ser persuadida a acreditar nos valores do "vilão", enrolaram demais essa parte no filme, parecia mais que eles ficaram sem ideia para complementar e extenderam as cenas feitas, um exemplo disso é a cena (spoiler a seguir) da nave explodindo, o Guidorah fica circualndo a nave e os passageiros dela só ficam falando números e mais números, como se tivessem relevância para nós espectadores ou para eles naquela situação, então chega finalmente o momento da luta entre os dois Kaijus, e é DECEPCIONANTE, oh my god, por Guidorah "existir em outro tempo" ele não pode ser diretamente tocado por Godzilla, então ele simplesmente morde o Kaiju e pronto, fica lá, mordendo, causando dano, aquela trilha sonora vibrante por trás de uma cena quase que estática, ficou horrível. Para tirar a protagonista da hipnose imposta pelo "vilão", uma das irmãs gêmeas, com ajuda de um outro personagem invoca Mothram, mas para nossa decepção, ela só aparece mentalmente, e para a protagonista. A única coisa que eu posso elogiar aqui fora a teoria que um dos personagens propôs, de que o Godzilla seria espécie suprema, nós humanos somos catalogados como os últimos seres a pisar na terra, logo, nesse unverso, o Godzilla seria a espécie definitiva, algo que o próprio planeta criou (o que é muito melhor do que "criações por experiência nuclear). O final é um pouco forçado, além de ser ruim, já que a protagonista acha que a existência dele vai fazer com os humanos voltem a progredir gerando um outro ciclo, com Godzillas e tudo mais, ele se mata junto com o corpo da mulher que ele amava, indo direto contra o Godzilla (o que é muito achismo, pois os seres humanos vão evoluir de qualquer forma), ah, ele acaba tendo um filho com uma das irmãs, mas isso não tem relevância, e o Godzilla continua vivo. Decepcionante.

"People trust you, they let their guards down so you can peer into their hearts."

If I could sum up this trilogy with a few words, it would come down to 'wasted potential'. It tries to convey a more spiritual meaning to Godzilla and why people act in such an aggressive way whenever they hear his name. Unfortunately it never fully delivered on those concepts and ultimately just went for shock and angst.

Following the destruction of Mechagodzilla City, the remaining Bilusaludo on the Aratrum demand justice for Haruo destroying what they saw as necessary to defeat Godzilla. The humans disagree, believing Haruo exposed the Bilusaludo's true ... intentions of assimilating Earth. The Bilusaludo revolt and shut down the ship's engine room, forcing the ship to run on secondary batteries for the next two days. On Earth, Haruo learns from Dr Martin that Yuko is rendered brain-dead with the nanometal in her body keeping her alive. He also learns that those treated by the Houtua survived the nanometal's attempt to absorb them, with Methphies deceiving the survivors into believing their survival was divine intervention. When confronted by Haruo about converting the remaining humans, Methphies reveals his plan to bring the Exifs' god to Earth and needs Haruo's help to make it possible. Dr Martin advises Haruo to hide until tensions ease... however, Metphies has other plans to try and bring chaos to the otherwise unshaken peace with the arrival of an old god.

The direction is a little better than City on the Edge of Battle but nothing for the most part happens. Takayuki Hattori's score is at it's weakest here lacking a lot of the punch that his previous two had. The actual story is a little bit more interesting showcasing Metphies having groomed Haruo into the perfect follower but not accounting for the death of his closest friend and love. He attempts to corrupt him in order for Ghidorah to rule the universe. That itself is quite interesting but fails at the final hurdle of actually delivering.

Overall, the Godzilla anime trilogy is really not worth wasting your time, a huge missed opportunity with unlikable characters yet some stunning animation and decent music.

"However, unlike the soup, we have free will and as such can choose to who we can devote ourselves too."

Short review: (heavy spoilers)

It's a piece of chocolate-covered dung. Yikes! The more you think about it, the more the taste of dung sinks into you nerves.

Not saying the story has nothing to say about real-world issues, but the writers' stunted take on religion and eschatology are really not as deep as they want the audience to believe. Like the first 2 movies, this one showcases some great production values and some truly horrifying visuals/sequences. Had the movie ended without the final twist, I would have given it 6 out of 10.

Then the ending happened, and MC took all the goodwill the series built ... with the audience, and went into the atomic breath of Godzilla. Wow, just wow. Whoever wrote this movie, I wish the nanometal in this movie went up yours too.

I'm now convinced that those 3 movies were a metaphor:
In the movie, something great like scientific progress and civilization leads to the kaiju; and similarly, someone behind some of the best anime ever (Fate zero, Madoka, psycho pass,...) gave birth to that monster of a trilogy.
What a powerful metaphor, and a beautiful way to get the message across.

Well, jokes aside, what a waste of time.
First, it's ugly, every movie in that trilogy was and this one isn't particularly better or worst. To be fair it's not even that bad and if the story was better or just mediocre (like the first movie), it would ... have been okay.
But the story is, with the characters, the worst aspect of the movie it's full of plot holes, the characters are infuriatingly stupid and I feel like the creators had a list of clichés and made that story by slowly making sure to include each one of them.

Conclusion: What a fucking waste of time. Honestly, I decided to watch those movies because of the hype/hate train on the GodzillaVSKong trailer, which also made me watch the 2 American movies, and they were way better. Even the second one, where the story is about as bad as in that trilogy, at least the fights were pretty impressive, something you definitely can't say about those.