Godzilla: King of the Monsters

When I saw Gareth Edwards’s 2014 Godzilla, I was a little disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not necessarily a bad film, but as many film critics have pointed out, it tried to capture the buildup suspense of Jaws without giving the audience interesting characters – aside from Bryan Cranston – to tide them over while waiting for the big bad monster. Yes, the final fight scene between Godzilla and the MUTOs was awesome stuff, but it didn’t make up for the sheer boredom that was the previous two acts. This is why I was so excited when I saw the trailers for the sequel Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which looked like just a fun mishmash of different monsters from Godzilla to Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah.

And…that’s pretty much what we get, folks! Godzilla: King of the Monsters is basically a feature-length Saturday morning Godzilla cartoon. The human characters are simple to the point of cartoonish-ness, the plot is almost entirely superfluous and inconsequential…and it kind of works! Obviously, your mileage may vary, but as far as I’m concerned, this is pretty much the appropriate direction for a Godzilla film. I don’t know if it makes for a great film, necessarily, but it sure makes for a fun one that kids of all ages and adult fans will definitely enjoy.

In fact, I almost feel that it’s unnecessary to discuss the plot because the audience is only really here to see Godzilla and the other monsters smash things up. But, for the review’s sake, I’ll give it a go. So, in the aftermath of the 2014 San Francisco battle between Godzilla and the MUTOs, scientist Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) – who lost her son in the Frisco battle – has been working with Monarch – hey, remember them from Kong: Skull Island? – to develop a device capable of communicating with a larva known as Mothra. However, she and her daughter Madison (Stranger Things’s Millie Bobby Brown) are kidnapped by ecoterrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) to help them reawaken another monster. Meanwhile, Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and his fellow scientists enlist the aid of Emma’s ex-husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) to track her and Madison down. Through a complicated turn of events, the other monster – Ghidorah – is awakened, along with Rodan, who can only be stopped by Godzilla.

I gotta admit, folks, it was sorta difficult to summarize that plot because, like I said before, it doesn’t really matter all that much. And I don’t mean that in a derogatory way but more in the way that the film doesn’t seem to care much about the plot either. It only really exists for structure’s sake so it can indulge in what the audience was wanting to see in the first film – Godzilla and other monsters fighting. And boy, does the movie deliver there! The fights are a lot of fun to watch, and I don’t believe words can even do them justice. But what really helps the epicness come across is Bear McCreary’s incredible score, which makes use of a Japanese choir, and taiko chanting and drumming to bring the film back to its Japanese roots.

The only complaint I do have is that it sometimes goes on a little bit long, particularly in the climax. Sure, watching Godzilla fight the monsters in the first few minutes is cool, but once you’ve seen it, you’ve seen it, and I think the film really could have benefited from a good trimming down. But that ending makes it all worth it!

And, yeah, that’s all I have to say about this Godzilla film, folks. I don’t know if it’s a good movie by any objective filmmaking measure, but to the degree that “good” means delivering on what it sets out to be – i.e. a big clash of cryptozoological titans – well, then yeah, it’s awesome! Go and see it!