The anime “Godzilla” trilogy concludes with “The Planet Eater”. It’s such a shame that these films don’t work because I think that there are some good ideas in them but they just don’t work as “Godzilla” films. This one in particular is filled with lots of philosophical talk about reality, faith, science and destiny. It’s like it’s trying to be “2001: A Space Odyssey” but forcing itself into the “Godzilla” framework. It would be like doing “Citizen Kane” as a “Terminator” movie.

The humans and their aliens allies put their faith in an extraordinary entity as the summon King Ghidorah to destroy Godzilla. The King of the Monsters appears powerless against this unstoppable creature from another dimension. However, is Ghidorah perhaps an even greater threat to humanity and Earth than Godzilla?

There is just so much talking in this movie that you forget it’s even meant to be a giant monster movie. Godzilla only briefly appears. King Ghidorah looks completely different and I’m not a fan of the redesign at all. The two eventually fight and it’s the worst fight in any “Godzilla” movie I’ve ever seen. The two giant monsters move so little during the fight that you almost don’t even feel like you’re watching a movie, it’s more like a slideshow.

“The Planet Eater” really does delve into some interesting sci-fi concepts but it does all this at the expense of any and all excitement. Everything and nothing seem to happen in these films as we see humanity try to reclaim an Earth lost to the monsters it created but we’re constantly stopping for endless dialog about ideas such as the nature of linear time. Maybe it would have been better if we had a single two-hour movie rather than a trilogy. However, I still think it would have been better if they had dropped Godzilla from these movies altogether and just done something truly original.