Review of 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters'

Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) is researching communication with Titans when a group of commandos led by former British soldier Colonel Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) descend upon the Monarch facility taking her and her daughter Maddie (Millie Bobby Brown who you might recognize from “Stranger Things”) hostage along with the ORCA device. The terrorists are determined to free all of the Titans to restore the historic balance between them and the planet. Emma's husband Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) is recruited by Monarch to help recover the ORCA device and stop the terrorists. As more and more Titans are freed the humans put their trust in Godzilla to save the day…

Following on from the events of Godzilla “King of the Monsters” has far more massive monster action, so why does it suck? It is kind of hard to pinpoint but perhaps it is just the never ending massive battles that make them lose their importance and it becomes, well, a bit dull. Sure, the effects are great and the soundtrack is suitably large but otherwise it is all a bit dull. The characters are hard to really care for and the plot so thin it is not funny…fight bad guy, cheer on Godzilla as he beats up monster, run really fast away from nasty things going on. Er, that's it. It seems drawn out an hour more than necessary. Yet another city being demolished? Yawn. After the first 100 buildings it gets a bit same-y. They appear to be just following the numbers without any real sense of fun. Mindless fun is good but mindless without fun, not so good.

It is nice though to see some of the big name monsters on the screen including Monthra, Rodan, and the three-headed King Ghidorah. It is just a shame they have to share screen-time and dilute the impact they might have one or two at a time…

A huge disappointment after the original “Godzilla” film. Thank goodness that Godzilla vs Kong came around 2 years later to bring a bit more fun to the series.

Rating: “A bit better than average”

Review Date: 2021-08-02

Directed by: Michael Dougherty

Studio: Warner Bros.

Year: 2019

Length: 132 minutes

Genre: Science Fiction

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3741700/