The very first Godzilla film was released in Japan in 1954. It was more or less a severe drama about Post-WW2 Japan after the atomic bombs had dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Godzilla, at the time, was the antagonist of the movie functioning as an allegory for the horrors of the atomic age and nuclear fallout. Then, at some point, Godzilla evolved from being a severe metaphor for fear, paranoia, and senseless destruction, to the cinematic equivalent of a beloved wrestler in the WWE fighting evil to maintain his title of King with a new challenger (i.e. new movie with a different monster to fight) seemingly on a regular basis. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, just kind of unexpected.
Since then, Godzilla has become something of an icon. While I may not be a member of the Godzilla fan community, I do appreciate the movies as well as the various other iterations for their silliness and enjoyment of awesome monster brawls. There was a kind of reboot movie back in 2014 directed by Gareth Edwards which attempted to recapture the same sort of severe dramatic quality of the first Godzilla film but sadly failed to do so for several reasons. Chief among them being forgetting to properly balance out the drama with compelling action. Even so, the follow-up movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, does a better job and balancing the two extremes, despite this one leaning more towards massive action.
Taking place a few years after the events of the previous film the story follows a scientist named Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) working together to find and learn about the many different monsters, referred to as Titans, all over the Planet. The theory is that these Titans were among the original forms of life on Earth who had laid dormant only emerging when nature deemed necessary for re-balancing the Planets ecosystem. Dr. Madison has devised a unique device which can communicate with the Titans, allowing humans and Titans to better coexist. Things go awry when a group of environmental terrorists kidnap Dr. Madison and her daughter and take the device with them to awaken all the Titans they have found. The terrorists are under the impression that humanity has caused too much destruction with pollution and overpopulation. So to save humanity from themselves, the terrorists will awaken all the Titans effectively hitting the reset button on the Planet, forcing humanity to begin anew. Their plan works too well as they stimulate all the Titans who have started wreaking havoc and are on the brink of annihilating all life on Earth. All hope seems lost until the good guys, a secret organization called Monarch lead by a Titan expert named Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), realize that all the Titans respond to an Alpha, and the only way to prevent total destruction is to awaken the true King of the Monsters, and possibly the last hope for humanity, Godzilla.
I know this summery sounds like I'm skipping a lot of stuff, but the plot and story of this movie are so unnecessarily complicated that it would take me another two paragraphs to explain everything and I would rather just discuss the film proper as a whole.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters can best be described as loud, flashy, a little pretentious, and ridiculously fun. It's one of those movies where you don't really need to put too much brain power into it and can just relax and enjoy the crazy action on screen. I know there are people out there who only watch action movies for the fantastic set pieces and substance be danmed, but I am not one of those people. I prefer that my action movies have some kind of texture outside of the gunfights and explosions to make it all feel more worthy of my emotional investment. Films like Aliens and Ronin are precisely the kind of action fair I love best because they have texture to themselves outside of the action. While Godzilla: King of the Monsters does have some of that, it doesn't have quite as much as I might have preferred.
The one thing I can say I loved the best about this film is that it makes fantastic use of the legendary Japanese actor Ken Watanabe. Back in the early 2000s he was just about everywhere playing great characters and establishing a name for himself here in the West. In recent years he's mostly been making glorified cameos and only getting minor supporting roles that don't have much texture to them, which has always annoyed me. Ken Watanabe is an incredible presence on screen who outshines everyone else. Even in his more famous film, The Last Samurai, where he starred opposite Tom Cruise, arguably the biggest box-office draw in the world, Ken was such an incredible performer, that not only did he force Tom Cruise to up his game (which he seriously did), but Ken was also nominated for an Oscar for best-supporting actor in the movie. Say what you will about The Last Samurai as a whole, and trust me there is a lot to say, it still showcased Ken Watenabe as a strong talent on film. I hope we see more of him in the future.
Another thing I can say in this movie's favor is how much I appreciated one specific scene. Minor spoiler warnings ahead. At one point, the good guys are discussing various legends that were likely inspired by some of the Titans. The two characters, an American and Chinnese scientist, start talking about the Western and Eastern interpretations of the most legendary creature of all, Dragons. Which, as I may have mentioned in my review for How to Train Your Dragon 3, is a legend I am absolutely fascinated with. I have always favored the Eastern interpretation of Dragons and this movie goes into detail as to why that is. It's something that we don't see very often in Western produced movies and I very much appreciated its presents in this film.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a movie that those who are bigger fans of the franchise than I am will totally have a blast with. While casual admirers, such as myself, will probably have a decent amount of entertainment value from the action and incredibly well-done special effects. It's not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but it is a decent and satisfying waste of time. If there's nothing else you're interested in seeing, then give this one a try.
Is this movie worth seeing?
Maybe.
Is it worth seeing in Theaters?
Yes.
Why?
It's enough of a decent spectacle to be most enjoyed on the big screen. Just be sure to bring some earplugs with you. They might come in handy.
Ladies and gentelmen, I am TheNorm, thank you very much for reading.
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