Movie Review: “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (PG-13)
As a kid, few monsters were as important to me as Godzilla. He was simply my go-to guy. Suffice it to say that when Gareth Edwards signed on to Americanize my favorite monster back in 2014, I was positively ecstatic — anything to wash the taste of the abomination that was Roland Emmerich’s 1998 take out of my mouth. Alas, while hardly a bad movie, 2014’s “Godzilla” was a disappointing one, mostly because it was Godzilla movie with a surprising lack of Godzilla.
Well, a lack of Godzilla certainly isn’t an issue with Michael Doughtery’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” And even when Godzilla isn’t on screen, there’s a flurry of other massive creatures to marvel at, including Mothra, Rodan, the three-headed beastie that is Ghidorah, and — depending on your perception — Vera Farmiga’s Dr. Emma Russell.
In this follow-up to the Edwards film, Dougherty goes to a handful of the earlier Godzilla films for inspiration and treats the big guy as more of a heroic character in what could be best described as a sort of “Destroy All Monsters” for a new generation. And for what it’s worth, when the monsters are pummeling each other, that’s when “King of the Monsters” is at its best. When the human characters open their mouths, that’s when it’s not so much.
It could be argued that no one is coming into a Godzilla movie for rich characterizations but when you have wonderful actors like Farmiga (“The Departed”), Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”), Kyle Chandler (“Super 8”), Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”), Bradley Whitford (“Get Out”), and Ken Watanabe (“Inception”), why waste them? That’s a question you’ll have to ask Doughtery, because waste them he does. This terrific cast is asked to engage in wordplay and plot mechanics that flirt dangerously close to the depths of Emmerich’s film. This is a very silly script, even by monster movie standards.
The onslaught of visual effects here are mostly of the CG variety, and upon watching, one could start to wonder what a contemporary man-in-suit Godzilla movie might look like. That said, there are certainly spectacular monster sequences to speak of in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” but sadly, a lot of this stuff is a bit on the repetitious side. And furthermore, large chunks of this film are lacking in the kind of charm that make the majority of those old-school Godzilla movies such a treat.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of “King of the Monsters” is in the writing and the bloated nature of it all. It’s extra disheartening when taking into consideration that Dougherty showed so much promise with his earlier efforts, most notably the outstanding Halloween love letter “Trick R’ Treat” and to a slightly lesser degree the Christmas horror show “Krampus.” Both of those films were smaller in scale and considerably larger in the charm department. Again, Dougherty does get some things right, here. I’m still not a fan of the overall Godzilla design, but Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah are nifty winks at their earlier film counterparts, and watching them battle made the kid in me smile. It’s also quite a nostalgic kick when composer Bear McCreary pays homage to Godzilla’s original theme in his rousing score.
Ultimately, though, while bigger in scope and considerably more consistent in the monster-mashing department, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” is every bit as disappointing as Edwards’ 2014 film. In some ways, even more so. Here’s hoping that next year’s “Kong vs. Godzilla” from “You’re Next” director Adam Wingard can find a way to give us a story worthy of the monsters in it.
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