Godzilla: King of the Monsters Movie Review
Giant monsters—some evil, some not—are unleashed and do battle around the world. That is the part of this story that attracts fans of the genre, so really, not much else is needed, but we do get much more in this 2019 big screen blockbuster. The plot revolves around the idea of a group of radicals wanting to unleash all the giants monsters that have been hiding out underground so they can eliminate humanity and take the planet back. Of course, we have the good guys fighting this idea, and they enlist the help of Godzilla to stop the other monsters (or Titans, as they are called here), namely King Ghidorah (aka Monster Zero), the three headed terror we all know and love. If that level of awesomeness isn’t enough, we also have Mothra and Rodan in this one, rounding out the fearsome foursome from the original Toho films.
Rodan
Mothra
Ghidorah
Godzilla
This being an American film in the year 2019, we know the monsters will not be guys in rubber suits anymore, which kind of makes me sad—I am not a fan of CGI at all, but I have to admit, they did an incredible job with the monsters here. They are all terrifying, and all hold true to the originals while adding some extra coolness. I was a bit apprehensive about how they would look, but I was truly impressed by all of them. Literally the only change I would have made about any of them would have been giving Godzilla a longer neck to look more like the traditional monster, but otherwise, they all look amazing. There were times during this movie--especially when some of the monsters were first revealed--that I was so happy and excited I almost jumped out of my seat. I wondered if we would see the Shobijin, Mothra's twin fairies-- we don't, but the small beauties are at least hinted at--Dr. Chen (Ziyi Zhang) tells the story of Mothra and shows a photo of twins from a picture titled "Infant Island, 1961"--I had told myself that Chen was as close to the twins as we would get in this film, but I really smiled when Zhang appears again as Dr. Ling, seriously hinting at Ling being Chen's twin sister. Speaking of the acting, it is actually, for the most part, pretty good in this movie, and you will recognize several people--Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring, Orphan) and Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) play mother and daughter Russell and both turn in the performances you would expect from them. Ken Watanabe (Inception) and Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) return from Godzilla, and Bradley Whitford (The Cabin In The Woods) and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) are added, so there is no lack of good acting in this movie; on the flip side, Kyle Chandler as Mark, the father/husband in the Russell family, is awful. A performance such as the one he turned in is bad enough on its own, but it really sticks out when surrounded by so much better acting. This can, however, be overlooked, as we don't really watch these movies for the acting--when it is good, it's just an added bonus. Adding another layer to this film is the plot itself--it calls into question who should be the dominant force on this planet, and if humans are the worst thing to happen to Earth--I know where my vote lies.
I'd snap at least twice
I cannot say enough how much I loved this movie. As I mentioned, I did see this in the theatre, so if it's still playing as you're reading this, I recommend watching it on the big screen--it's worth the extra money to do so. I was excited when I read fellow Columbus, Ohio native Michael Dougherty (Trick 'r Treat) was writing and directing this film, and the excitement was well founded. Dougherty pulled off something that is not easy to do when tampering with old favorites--he stayed true to the original films and brought elements of what we loved from them while adding new wrinkles to the story, combining everything perfectly. Godzilla: King of the Monsters could have used a better actor in the role of Mark, and I would have loved to have seen more cities destroyed, but just about everything else about this film is spectacular. In case you're wondering, yes, King Kong and Skull Island are both mentioned in this movie, and the post-credits scene hints at what we may see in next year's Godzilla vs. Kong--I can't wait.
On A Scale Of One To Ten: 9
Godzilla: King of the Monsters Movie Trailer
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