Reign of fire

The second part of this CGI animated Godzilla trilogy continues where the first installment left off in the aftermath of the almighty Godzilla's attack leaving Haruo and the rest of the expedition scattered across the unknown vegetation of the Earth. Haruo awakens to discover he has been rescued by actual natives called the Houtua that have been living unchecked on the planet since humanity left the Earth years ago. After reuniting with his team, Haruo and company work with the natives and discover an abandoned city that evolved from the remains of the ruined Mechagodzilla construct from years before with plans to weaponize it to continue the original mission to bring down Godzilla. Where the first film established a new perspective on the infamous lizard and set aside political undertones to focus more on the story's pacing, City on the Edge of Battle feels a bit of a misstep as it tries too hard to be serious and tries to convey too much metaphysical themes of humanity's need to evolve. Granted, we get to see more of the infamous lizard this time around and the animation continues to be top-notch eye candy but the overwhelming and somewhat misplaced philosophical themes bog it down from being enjoyable. Hopefully, the film will pick up the slack as the trilogy heads towards its' inevitable conclusion and end on a high note or in the least a make up for this weak chapter.