Review by Jonathan Godfrey for Mr. Will Wong
Godzilla is the King of Kaiju Cinema. Since 1954, the radioactive reptile has been captivating fans on both sides of the Pacific. This latest Film seeks to reflect on his origins while pairing him up agai kinst classic foes like: Rodan (Godzilla’s flying frenemy) and King Ghidorah (Godzilla’s ultimate alien threat). However, the Film is only a pseudo-sequel to Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, as King of the Monsters moves its focus from the Brodys to the Russells.
As patriarch of the Russells, Mark (Kyle Chandler) has gone into exile in the wake of Godzilla’s battle in San Francisco. While his wife Emma (Vera Farmiga) and daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) have taken their talents to the Kaiju containment force, Monarch. Emma and Mark disagree strongly about Godzilla, and their tension is the fuel for the fire that ignites a war of monsters. The alien Ghidorah awakes and rallies terrestrial terrors from their slumber to help him take down Godzilla. All the while,w follow along with the Russells and Monarch as humanity seeks refuge from the havoc.
That said, this story is hard to follow as the Film is incredibly fast-paced. Monarch includes much more than Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) from the first Film. There are an extent amount of military and non-military personnel that join him in Monarch’s flying fortress. As they fly from mission to mission to halt the pandemonium, it’s hard to keep-up with who is who and why we should care about them.
Be that as it may, the most glaring issue with King of Monsters is the monsters screen time and presentation. Not all Japanese Godzilla films indulge his destructive antics, the recent Shin Godzilla focused a lot on the human drama, and is still a great Kaiju film. That said, the Film du jour does not offer enough interest via its human heroes. So it’s sad that we don’t see enough smash and slash via the big brooding beas okts. Furthermore, like that infamous Game of Thrones episode, the monster scenes are hard to see. The desaturation and extent environmental effects make it difficult to enjoy the visuals of two King Kaiju tearing into each other. That said, there are a few good frames, but sadly they don’t offer enough of a reason to consider this a win for Godzilla.
Be that as it may, long-time fans will likely love seeing their favorite monsters get any screen time at all, and there is a lot of reverence for the source material and current comics inspired by Legendary Pictures. After all, Thomas Tull built the company with a personal passion for bringing Godzilla back to the West. So it’s too bad his hard work has fizzled instead of flamed.
Warner Bros. Canada release GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS Friday, May 31, 2019.
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