Planet of the Monsters first impressions: Multiple Godzillas, symbolism and more

Chris

So, I finally got some time to sit down and watch Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters on Netflix and after my initial viewing, I am left with some questions.

No, this is not a review, although I did enjoy the entire film, no this topic is more so concerning the new Godzilla lore established by this anime. Please correct me if I misunderstood anything:

So, first off Godzilla's atomic breath was changed again and Godzilla now possesses the ability to generate some kind of atomic shield? This shield is also generated by resonating sounds from within Godzilla which vibrate to a specific frequency. This frequency, when interrupted can be adjusted as well it seemed by Godzilla to adapt and generate a new shield around his body.

I didn't quite understand the concept but hey it's anime so I could suspend logic for an hour and enjoy the film.

Secondly, the original Godzilla somehow laid dormant under the Earth's crust for 20,000 years, growing continuously for that entire length of time - making Godzilla over 300 meters tall and weighing over 25,000 tons I believe? So - this also means there were more than one Godzilla and that when at a smaller size, Godzilla CAN be killed. But once he reaches the mass he did, he is no longer vulnurable?

I didn't quite understand how and why the OG Gojira was awoken upon the smaller Godzilla being destroyed. I also didn't understand how the OG happened to surface exactly where the previous Godzilla died.

What I took away from the ending of Planet of the Monsters was that Godzilla represented the natural force of destruction and that no Human interference can stop Godzilla from existing and doing what he does best - which is to destroy. 

It seemed to me like all hope was really lost for the Human race and that Godzilla was put in place by nature to eradicate Mankind following its poor treatment of planet Earth.

It's a pretty summed up notion but do you guys agree with my interpretation? Or is there some deeper meaning I missed on my first viewing? Let me know in the replies below! I plan on re-watching it at least 2 more times to see what else I missed.

EmptyH

If you can, I would mark this topic with SPOILER.

I am also going to talk SPOILERS!

I am almost positive the shield thing wasn't a reference to The Giant Claw, but that film had a very similar thing and I found that neat.

It also gave something for the humans and aliens to work together on to defeat, which is always good for a story.

I also like how they left things undefined in the end. That way we can all come up with some interesting things. A simple idea could be that the planet is now basically a production plant (pun intended) of world destroying monsters. It has enough biological material on the planet and atmosphere to make a new destroyer (a Godzilla) if one is ever destroyed. 

TheGMan123

Something of note is that Godzilla is an anomaly even among the other giant monsters that appeared.

Almost all others were either mutations of known organism families or displayed relatively simple biological quirks that could be cir***vented with enough force.

Godzilla was different. Everything about him, from his method of reproduction to his various strange abilities, was completely different, which was reflected in how he destroyed EVERYTHING. Humans AND other monsters. His abilities seem tailored toward being as unbeatable as possible by any conventional means. For example, the shield he produces absorbs massive amounts of damage, and he can regenerate tissue instantly even with the shield down, effectively meaning no conventional weapon can harm him.

He is the apex of evolution, showing just how little Humanity matters in the grand scheme of things. This is compounded by the fact that the Exif, Metphies specifically, have noted that similar creatures have destroyed civilizations across the universe, and how his wrath is very much representative of their God's wrath.

dk

Got it- thanks for the reminder!

riggzamortis86

Maybe the smaller Godzilla was heading towards the OG in order to become part of OG's herd or something. I know they mentioned that Godzilla doesn't travel around in herds but they knew very little of Godzilla and his characteristics. Im not surethe OG was dormant for all of the 20,000 years, but im sure he laid dormant for several of them as the film suggests.

This is a survival story for humanity. yes everything the survivors worked for basically was cut down, but there are still about 3400 more humans floating around in the space wondering what is going on earth. Plus who knows how many "Natives" on Earth there are and how intelligent they are in relation with Godzilla. Are they part Godzilla in some way? like the servum?

TheGMan123

Something someone on another forum site pointed out, but if you look closely, that tribal-looking girl's hair over her forehead is styled almost like antennae...... like that of a moth. As well, her body paint pattern is similar to that of the natives of Birth Island in various Mothra continuities.

It's a stretch, but it's possible that Mothra might become involved in the trilogy in some capacity.

godzilla3580

I understood the shield concept well enough, I just thought it was maybe a little too convenient the way it worked. All they had to do was disrupt the shield, and then they could blow him up. It wasn't a problem for me, it just kinda reminded me of humans trying to blow up an alien spaceship. I do love the concept though, as opposed to Godzilla's skin just being super duper strong.

Also, I think we're meant to imply that the OG Godzilla wasn't dormant the entire 20,000 years, but went through cycles of dormancy. I don't think the OG is INvulnerable, just that the humans had such a hard time with the smaller Godzilla and have already lost a ton of equipment and stuff, so taking down the OG seems impossible.

As for the OG laying dormant right where the small one died and waking up, they did say that Godzilla was known to frequent that area, so I guess he never went very far. The explosion of the smaller Godzilla seemed to me a big enough disturbance to wake the OG.

TheGMan123

Thing was that the shield doesn't collapse under normal cir***stances, and they had to attune their tactics to take advantage of the breaks.

They also needed to damage the amplifying organ and then implant E.M.P. devices before it could fully regenerate to basically make his electromagnetic field implode on itself and take him out.

Much like in Shin Godzilla, this Godzilla, known as "Godzilla Filius" required careful planning, tactics, research, and a bit of improvisation. "Godzilla Earth", the original, seems to have demonstrated a wider array of powers that have been amped up from before when he was only 50 meters tall.