Godzilla: King of the Monsters *review*

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a high action, high risk kaiju extravaganza that’s sure to please new and old fans alike, which is why it’s such a surprise that public opinion of the film is so divided.  While I never expected across the board praise, since despite much attention they have received recently, kaiju are still a rather niche genera, I certainly did not expect such backlash of what is otherwise a perfectly acceptable and entertaining entry in Godzilla’s long history.

So, what caused such diametrically opposed opinions?  To answer this lets analyze King of the Monsters in depth to find what elements worked and which ones less then desirable.  First let’s look at the overall tone of the film. As a rabid G-fan I appreciated the daunting task of recreating the Showa era Godzilla movies in a modern-day setting. Its no easy task to create the goofy, nonsensical, adventure feel of the Showa era in our more no nonsense and fear ridden culture.  Everyone these days want things to be more grounded more “relatable” so much that many of us have lost that sense of wonder and imagination that used to be so prevalent on the silver screen.  Theatrics are a dead art and trying to keep everything as “real” as possible is what sells tickets these days so it was really refreshing to see Dougherty combine the two elements in a way that should appeal to anyone who just want to have a good time. 

But a Godzilla film is only as good as its monsters right? So how do Godzilla and co.  stand up?  Amazingly well actually.  Each of the monsters have their own unique look, color scheme and personality adding a lot more flavor to the film as these inhuman creatures brought plenty of human characteristics to their interactions and conflicts while still retaining that animal like quality that the film emphasized so much.  Mothra’s gentler nature has never been better displayed in contrast to Godzillas more violent one, not to mention the character work in showing Rodan’s arrogance as he easily destroys the human forces only to brought low by Ghidorah, however if there is one monster worth spotlighting it is King Ghidorah. Ghidorah is the one monster I have always wanted to see in CGI so that this magnificent and complicatedly designed creature could really shine without all the limiters placed on a suit actor and King of the Monsters does not disappoint.   The tech wizards on this movie really earned their pay check as King Ghidorahs trio of head have never looked more alive always writhing and each displaying their own distinct personality interacting with each other as much as the other monsters around them. The only real downside to the monsters was that I did feel a little cheated by the lack of emphasis on Mothra and Rodan as the promotional material made is seem that both monsters were going to be as prominent as King Ghidorah and possibly lead to a major battle royal among all four monsters, in fact neither Mothra or Rodan actually fight with Godzilla, but even though the two monsters had smaller roles it did nothing to detract from the flow of the story or the excitement of the conflict.

So the Monsters are great and the action is great what is actually the major complaint the dissenters have with the film?  Well that would be the “human plot” which has been described as stupid, nonsensical and silly.  But if you have ever watched a Godzilla film you would now that I just described about 75% of the human stories in Godzilla films.  I fully admit that the Eco terrorist plot line was a bit ham-fisted and logically character motivations fell apart left and right not mention how many characters were so much characters as quip machines. This was all to be expected from the trailers and understandably alienated some film watchers however that said the human plot worked a lot better then I was expecting and the characters far more entertaining then originally theorized.  The humans are still the weakest part of the film but they hardly overpower the rest of the film.

If anything the visual feast that is Godzilla King of the Monsters more then makes up for any shortcomings in the film. The film was shot beautifully with an excellent usage of color and music to make each of the scenes pop with a magical aura to them.  Sequences like Mothra’s emergence from the cocoon were absolutely breathtaking rivaling GMK* for her best transformation sequence.   The film is loaded with imagery like this from King Ghidorah’s advent into DC to the Ancient lost city of Godzilla worshipers. Let’s not forget the phenomenal score by Bear McCreary who’s remixed

overtures for each monster are enough to give any fan goosebumps.

Godzilla King of the Monsters is a fun, wild entry to the annuals of Godzilla history and if you came to see giant monsters your going to get plenty of giant monsters and there really is no reason to come out of the film disappointed unless giant monsters aren’t your cup of tea, but then I don’t really understand why you went to see this film in  the first place.  So go get your popcorn and soda and just enjoy the spectacle that is King of the Monsters because it gives you exactly what you expect.

Final Thoughts:

. Rodan being Ghidorahs little **** is pretty hilarious.

.The Argo is a great nod to the old Sci-fi vehicles of the franchise like the super X or griffin.

. "Mothra Queen of the monsters"  well, there's goes my drink.

. Ok, so Godzilla gets a military escort in this one too but it’s the air force that gets the honors this time.

.  not sure how I feel about this symbiosis thing I always like it better when Godzilla and Mothra are at odds and actively trying to kill each other.. I wonder what the internet has to say about....*closes laptop lid*  that's enough internet for today.

. Loved all the metaphors to royalty, the false king bit had me rolling.

. On that note A+ to director for keeping Ghidorahs extraterrestrial origins.

. When Doughtry said be modeled King Ghidorah after his three dogs I was really curious to see what he had in store and the antics the three heads get into do not disappoint.

. missed opportunity to not play blue oyster cults Godzilla during the final fight.

. this movies basically confirms what I've always said that if we are comparing kaiju to superheros Godzilla is superman's power set with batman's personality. 

.The movie is not perfect but lets all be honest here if we are going to trash King of Monsters for corny plots, lackluster character motivations and cheesy acting then we need to rethink our evaluation of the Marvel movies because Godzilla is the same quality as most of those films .... if not better then a some of them.  Yeah that's right I went there,  gauntlet thrown.

*Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: All Monsters Attack