Review: Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Directed by Michael Dougherty

Starring: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Ken Watanabe.

The plot follows Godzilla, as he tries to defeat King Ghidorah, who has awakened other Titans to destroy the world.

I grew up with Godzilla. I played the Godzilla games, I've seen the 90's Godzilla films (yes, including the 1998 American one), and I read a few of the Godzilla comic books. When the 2014 Godzilla film was released, I thought it was pretty disappointing. After seeing that Godzilla post credits scene in Kong: Skull Island, I was instantly hyped for the upcoming Godzilla film that hinted all the monsters I grew up to love. After seeing King of the Monsters, I can say it was a decent film, but it definitely could have been much better.

The plot is weak, but needed to help amplify it's monster battles. The human characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting. Their intentions and morals are unknown, especially Vera Farmiga's character who honestly was just annoying. The film had a great idea with it's plot and characters, but was terribly executed with it's weak screenplay. Ken Watanabe has the best performance, when it comes to the human characters in the film, but him alone cannot save the film when it comes to the human aspect of it. The main problem here, is the focus on the human aspect of the film rather than the monsters, which makes it some kind of lame family drama. I came here for the monster battles, and yes I don't mind humans in the film, but at least make them interesting and fleshed out. Now coming to the monster battles in the film, they were pretty fantastic, but that as well wasn't showcased much. Rodan felt underused and useless, and so was Mothra. It's a shame.

The cinematography is great for the most part. The visual effects are incredible, certainly the best aspect of this film. All the monster designs are great and the attention to detail is breathtaking. Seeing the monsters I grew up with, on the big screen, it was just glorious. Bear McCreary's soundtrack is nothing short of awesome! He uses the original Godzilla theme used in the Japanese films, and when I heard it, My jaw dropped in joy.

In conclusion, while the screenplay and human characters hold the film back, I heavily enjoyed the film with it's great visual effects, backed by it's goosebumps-inducing score by Bear McCreary. It's a shame, because as a Godzilla fan, I wanted to enjoy the film more. But I just can't.

My rating: 7.5/10

#FilmReview #2019