Movie Info
Movie Name: Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Studio: Legendary Pictures
Genre(s): Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Release Date(s): May 13, 2019 (Premiere)/May 31, 2019 (US)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Despite no action from Godzilla, Monarch is continuing their research into the Titans. When Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) reveal a new tool called Orca that could control the Titans, eco-terrorist led by Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) take the Orca and kidnap Emma and Madison. Emma’s estranged husband Dr. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) is forced back into the fold to track down Alan and stop the use of Orca before it is too late. Unfortunately under the Antarctica ice, a new danger is lurking and Monster Zero could be even more powerful than Godzilla!
Directed by Michael Dougherty (who helped wright the screenplay with Zach Shields), Godzilla: King of the Monsters is an action-fantasy adventure film. It is the thirty-fifth Godzilla film and a direct sequel to 2014’s Godzilla. It is the third film of Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse following Kong: Skull Island in 2017. The film was met with mixed to negative reviews, but it was a box-office success with a strong international return. The film received a Razzie nomination for Worst Sequel, Rip-Off, or Remake.
I will always give Godzilla a chance. I grew up with big green lizard and watched Godzilla movies whenever they were on. I played with the Godzilla Shogun Warriors toy and liked the Saturday morning Godzilla cartoon…I just like big monsters. I was pretty leery going into Godzilla: King of Monsters due to a lot of negative reviews I saw from people who generally like these types of movies, but instead of being a horrible movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was pretty much what you’d expect from a Godzilla movie…plus, you get a lot of “Titan” action.
One of the big draws of this picture was the expanding MonsterVerse. The movie drops lots of references to King Kong and introduced the popular characters Mothra and Rodan in addition to King Ghidorah (aka Monster Zero). With Titans popping up all over the planet, I wish that more of the classic Godzilla villains would have appeared though I did enjoy seeing some of the other new creatures that Godzilla potentially could be fighting at some point.
The plot for the movie is kind of problematic, but many Godzilla pictures are. The story has to be about something instead of just big monsters fighting and in the new Godzilla movies, all-star casts help try to drive the story. Kyle Chandler gets his chance at a big action movie while Vera Farmiga continues to prove herself solid as an actress. Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger Things is the daughter caught in the middle and Charles Dance continues his reign as an evil villainous man. Ken Watanabe appears with Zhang Ziyi (who gets to essentially be the classic Shobijin twins of Mothra…but unfortunately no Mothra song). O’Shea Jackson Jr., Aisha Hinds, Bradley Whitford, and David Strathaim have smaller roles, but unfortunately Sally Hawkins kind of goes out like a chump.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters isn’t a great film, but it didn’t deserve much hate either. If anything that is the problem with the movie is that it doesn’t do anything new and it isn’t “so bad it is good”. It is just there. I really do think if you like Godzilla, you will probably enjoy this movie, but it probably will not win any new older fans (kids still might enjoy it…big, fighting monsters is always cool). It still better than Matthew Broderick chasing “Zilla” around NYC. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is followed by Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021.
Related Links: