Godzilla: King of the Monsters Review

The new kaiju film Godzilla: King of the Monsters is one of the most ambitious films to ever feature the famous skyscraper-sized lizard. The collective return of iconic on-screen monsters like Rodon, Mothra and Ghidorah is no doubt the biggest attraction for viewers both familiar and new to Godzilla’s expansive lore. King of the Monsters is a fantastic technical achievement in both special effects and sound design, the triumphant return of each titan and the fights that follow are brought to life through intimidating visuals with immersive crashes, roars and blasts. Unfortunately, the engaging and entertaining battles between monsters becomes unforgivably downplayed by the films terrible character driven conflicts that are powered by a lazy narrative and atrocious dialogue.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters takes place 5 years after the events of 2014’s Godzilla and follows Emma Russell, a paleobiologist for Monarch, an organization that tracks down and studies titans, giant creatures like Godzilla whom once dominated the Earth. While witnessing the birth of a new titan with her daughter Madison, the two are kidnapped by an eco-terrorist group lead by a man named Alan Jonah. In need of Emma, Monarch doctors Ishirō Serizawa and Vivienne Graham ask Emma’s ex-husband Mark to help find them. The situation becomes dire when the three-headed titan Ghidorah arises, leaving the fate of humanity in great danger.

A frustrating lack of solid writing results in unlikable characters and scenes that are full of unnecessary exposition or poor humour. The acting performances are terribly inconsistent as well, Vera Farmiga and Ken Watanabe try their best to work with what was given, but it’s the horribly one dimensional acting from Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown and the often fantastic Bradley Whitford that make many of their scenes a struggle to get through. While other notably billed cast members like Sally Hawkins and Charles Dance feel underutilized and completely forgettable.

The film only succeeds when the monsters are the focus. Godzilla’s silhouette staring back in the depths of the ocean, the three heads of Ghidorah emerging through smoke and lightning, Rodon standing exultantly on a volcano overlooking a terrified village, these moments are framed beautifully and create menacing visuals. It’s the decision to interlace these moments with vastly less interesting set pieces that makes King of the Monsters such an unenjoyably erratic film.

The narrative balance between human and monster conflict is still a ratio that the creative team behind the success of this universe needs to tweak. The giant monster films that Legendary Pictures are creating are set to continue in 2020 with the anticipated crossover Godzilla vs Kong, while it’s sure to be a visual marvel, King of the Monsters shows that there are still a lot of improvements to make.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a technically wonderful film that is bogged down by an uninteresting story and poor acting, never harnessing the full potential of its elements.

Produced By: Legendary Pictures
Runtime: 132 minutes
Rating: PG-13