The Monster Mash

In the far and distant year of 2005, my friends and I saw Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong. The movie starred Kyle Chandler, and featured the legendary Kong as portrayed by the equally legendary motion capture actor, Andy Serkis. Little did I know that 14 years later, I would be seeing Kyle Chandler in another movie featuring an equally iconic monster. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the sequel to the 2014 movie, Godzilla, is the 35th movie appearance of Godzilla (the giant, nuclear radiation powered lizard), and the third Godzilla movie to be made by Hollywood. It’s also features the American movie debuts of Toho Company’s other monsters, Mothra (a giant moth), Rodan (a fiery pteranodon), and King Ghidorah (a three headed and two tailed dragon). That information dump aside, is the movie any good? Let’s find out together.

Set five years after the events of 2014s Godzilla, (which I didn’t bother to see, because Bryan Cranston was killed off in the first act, and Godzilla only appeared in the movie for a total of eight minutes), and we follow the Russell family, made up of animal behavior and communications specialist Mark (Chandler), this wife and paleontologist Emma (Vera Farmiga), and their daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown, aka, Eleven from Stranger Things). Mark and Emma lost their son, Andrew, during the events of the first movie, and both have been coping in their own ways. Mark took up nature photography, while Emma worked to improve ORCA, a device she and Mark co-created in an attempt to control “Titans” (the giant monsters) by using “bioacoustics on a sonar level” (sounds super scientific, right?). This device attracts the attention of a terrorist organization, who kidnaps Emma and Madison, and steal the ORCA in order to awaken more Titans, namely Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Rodan. Because of this, Godzilla is summoned by the cryptozoology organization, Monarch, in order to neutralize these threats, as only Godzilla can.

The film was directed by Michael Dougherty (his biggest directing credit prior to this movie was the horror-comedy Krampus), and he also co-wrote the screenplay with Zach Shields and Max Borenstein. Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, and David Strathairn all reprise their roles from 2014s Godzilla, which again, I didn’t know because I didn’t see that movie, besides Watanabe’s epic line of “Let them fight,” which has become an Internet meme since then. Ziyi Zhang also joins the cast as a pair of twins and mythologists who work with Monarch. First of all, it’s nice to see Zhang in a mainstream Hollywood movie again (no, “The Cloverfield Paradox” doesn’t count), but for the most part, she’s just a homage to the 1961 Mothra movie. I know this because that movie is the only one of the Toho kaiju movies that I have ever seen, and that’s only because John Leguizamo mentioned her in his one-man Broadway show, Freak. Needless to say, this movie has far superior visual effects compared to that old movie.

That makes for a great segue, because if you’re seeing this movie, it’s for one reason, and that’s the visual effects. Each of the monsters look larger than life and as realistic as possible. I’m a critic who usually champions practical effects over computer generated imagery, but the CGI in this movie blows away any stuntman in a rubber monster costume, that’s for sure. Each of the Titans is given their own color and Earth element, which helps to add to their characters. Godzilla is pale blue, representing his atomic breath, Ghidorah is yellow, representing his lightning breath, Rodan is orange, representing his fire based attacks, and Mothra is greenish-blue, representing the water that she’s linked to. This makes everything pretty to look at during all the major set pieces, which are obviously the reasons that you’re paying for your ticket. Each Titan is given a grand entrance whenever they appear on screen, as if you’re seeing a prize fighter making his or her way to the boxing ring or mixed martial arts cage, which certainly gets you hyped for the battle that’s about to take place. And speaking of music, the theme song that they play during the end credits is so catchy, you’ll be bopping your head around, as I was.

Sadly, once these action set pieces are done, the movie is lacking. If you’re expecting acting on par with Masterpiece Theater, or dialogue and character development on par with Shakespeare, oh boy, this is not the film for you. While the dialogue isn’t completely generic, as it is peppered with dad joke level one-liners, it’s otherwise forgettable, and even cringeworthy at times. There’s no standout performances among the cast, although Chandler and Watanabe are trying their damndest to elevate the material they are given to work with. While Millie Bobby Brown is great on Stranger Things, her role here is so underwritten, any teenage actress could have played her character. And the time between the monster fights is filled with the usual disaster movie scenes of scientists and military officers arguing about what to do next. The film plays fast and loose when it comes to how devastating explosions and radiation are to the surrounding areas, which can cause eye rolls at times. The motivation to some of the characters’ choices are highly questionable, and are clearly just meant to move the plot along. While the first act and most of the second act are fun, after a while, the movie starts becoming repetitive, to the point of being predictable. For example, there are multiple times when one monster was about to kill a main character, only to have another monster run in and make a save at the last second, to the point you could see it coming when the scenario was done yet again later on. Lastly, the movie just ends abruptly after the final set piece, and the post credits scene isn’t worth staying for. As I left the theater, I thought of how the film reminded me of the 1990s spectacles made by Roland Emmerich, which is ironic, considering he tried his hand at making a Godzilla movie, and it was universally hated by fans, critic, and the Toho Company alike!

Overall, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the perfect movie to see if you want to go out with your friends, turn off your brains, and have a good time as you stuff your face with your favorite theater food. Because of this, I give the movie a solid three out of five stars. It’s not a masterpiece by any standard, but it’s sure to have any and all Godzilla and Toho fans leaving happy. If you are such a fan, by all means, see it in theaters, but I recommend going during matinee prices. Otherwise, wait for physical disk rental or streaming, or even buy it for your home entertainment collection, as I’m sure it will look impressive on a 4K TV. That concludes this fanpicked review. And remember, when it comes to the media that you consume, be like Indiana Jones, and choose wisely.

Short Version

Pros:

Jaw droopingly good CGI and fun soundtrack.

Cons:

Story, characters, and dialogue are all underwhelming.

Verdict: *** (three out of five stars).