Review:
*Originally written June 2nd, 2019*
We're only three films into this "Monster-verse" and it seems to be dropping in quality just a little bit with each one. Gareth Edwards Godzilla back in 2014 was a breath of fresh air, a monster film that felt more Spielbergian in its execution than a normal smash-em-up. For better or worse, its slow-burn, apocalyptic approach made for far more interesting viewing than the following two films. Not to say they were bad, Kong: Skull Island is a really fun piece of stupidity.
Many criticisms were levelled against Edwards Godzilla film, mostly the lack of actual Godzilla and monster action, despite an incredible third act that features some of the best use of Godzilla I've seen in the series. They clearly listened to these complaints, as King of the Monsters features Godzilla much more prominently and has an insane amount of monster action. Which, in all honesty, is a good thing.
Everything to do with Godzilla fighting King Ghidora and Rodan is spectacular. Honest to god, some of the best looking big-budget monster action brought to life in film. I was genuinely amazed at how good this looked cinematography wise, Mothra in particular some beautiful shots that had me in awe at times. It's so rare that a big budget Hollywood monster film can look this good.
It's all helped by some fantastic creature designs. I've seen these monsters before in footage from the older films where it's just people wearing costumes, but seeing them this realised in this gigantic form is a sight to behold. King Ghidora is an incredible piece of creation, making use of his three-headed dragon design and terrifying look, while Rodan's extremely powerful flight made for some visually interesting moments. It is a far cry away from the incredibly bland looking generic monsters from the previous film. It has made me wonder, the Godzilla franchise has a ton of iconic creatures to choose from, so why did they decide on two creatures that looked so generic in the 2014 film?
I was very surprised by the use of Mothra, who in itself is a beautiful design that makes use of its blue, luminous glow that made for some of the best scenes of the film. Despite my strange fear of moths, I was surprised at how cute I found Mothra, which is helped with some animalistic sound effects that really made for an interesting take on this creature. I'd always had it in my head that Mothra was just another creature Godzilla fights, but what they do here is far more creative and compelling and probably for the best, as 2 monsters for Godzilla to fight would have only overstuffed things.
Godzilla himself is still the hulking thicc boy from the 2014 film. An absolute tank of a creation, I love the way acts more like an actual creature than a big dumb monster in these films, while his iconic roar is still just music to my ears to me. Although, it might have just been my theatre, but his roar felt oddly toned down and quieter this time around. Either way, he's still a creature I just love seeing on screen and I can never get enough of him.
I sound hugely enthusiastic about this so far, but in all honesty, everything outside of the monsters falls flat. which would be fine, but they dedicate so much time on these human characters that I just felt nothing towards. I was far more compelled by Bryan Cranston in the previous film, despite his short role. It's a shame too, as this wastes a very talented cast of Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Ken Wantabe and Charles Dance.
The opening scene sets up a potentially intriguing set-up for the family dynamic for these characters, in a prologue that strangely echoes the opening scene of Batman v Superman. Take from that what you will. It sadly peaks there though, as there is so little reason to care about this people stuck in the middle of Godzilla's quest to be King of the Monsters. Characters motivations are flimsy at best and their development is next to non existent.
A fairly prominent character even dies early on and it'd be hard to realise it happened, as it is done in such a poor way to the point they had to point it out with a big picture of the characters face and "Deceased" written on it in next scene just so you know who had died. Then there's a laughably bad character sacrifice towards the end that tries to tug at your heart strings, but you know so little about this character that it was impossible to feel a thing when the character died. It was kinda amazing to me how preciously the film treated this character.
It seems we'll see more from him in this franchise, but Charles Dance is pretty wasted as the villain, he certainly carries menace and presence, but it all falls a little flat as his character really has no arc or any reason to be compelling outside of "Hey, it's Charles Dance", I'd even argue he has more to do in the Ali G Movie.
Seeing as this is the last stop before next year's Kong Vs Godzilla, I was surprised at how they didn't try and shoehorn in a bunch of set-up to that film. This is very much its own thing and all the more better for it. Sure, there's a few references to King Kong himself, but I was kind of expecting a sequel bait ending where he appeared, but instead the final shot of the film is something quite glorious and ends of the film on a very high note.
So yeah, Godzilla: King of the Monsters definitely has more monster action than the previous films and that is when this shines brightest, a genuinely gorgeous spectacle of a film that is sadly let down by its storytelling and human elements which make it more of a drag than it needs to be. Still though, long live the king. Can't wait to see Godzilla again.
6/10 Dans
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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