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Plot Summary: The crypto-zoological agency Monarch faces off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah.

Director: Michael Dougherty

Writers: Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields

Runtime: 2 h 11 min

Main Cast:

• Kyle Chandler as Mark Russell
• Vera Farmiga as Dr. Emma R ussell
• Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell
• Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
• Ziyi Zhang as Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling
• Bradley Whitford as Dr. Rick Stanton

Review by: Mia

While the last few remakes of the Godzilla myth have been great additions to the Godzilla world, the most interesting thing to anticipate for Godzilla: King of Monsters was a telling of the story that contained an amazing cast as well as more than a dozen famous monsters made famous by their duels against Godzilla. The trailer doesn’t give much to connect this sequel to previous Godzilla movies. We confirm that the Godzilla has survived his awakening in a technology driven human world and is one of more than a dozen Titans discovered and monitored across the world. Godzilla is one of the more powerful monsters found, an Alpha, who ends up being humanity’s only hope against Rodan, another Titan Alpha.

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When the story begins, the world is learning to accept that Titans exist. Godzilla has destroyed cities such as San Francisco just by being large and upset (in the previous film) and one particular family, the Russells are still reeling from the destruction. Madison Russell and her parents – Emma and Mark – lost her older brother in the tragedy of San Francisco and never recover. Mark becomes an alcoholic, leaves his marriage behind, and continues his career as some sort of animal expert studying animal communication and acoustics. Emma, who has a similar expertise combined with advanced engineering and Titan knowledge, continues on as a member of Monarch, the research entity responsible for containing Titans in their dormant states and surveying released ones (such as Godzilla) to better understand their presence on Earth. There are 17 Titans discovered, all safely contained by Monarch with the exception of Godzilla, and all studied by Monarch. Mythology from all of Earth’s civilizations dating back to the dawn of man lend insight into the presence of Titans on Earth. They are “the first Gods” and a vital part of the life cycle of Earth. Like Godzilla, all Titans feed off of nuclear radiation and energy and their presence on the planet seems to revitalize wildlife and plant life and reverse the effects of pollution wherever they travel. Knowing this, eco-terrorists plot to release the Titans, allow the destruction that would inevitably follow, and hopefully right the balance of life on Earth that humans have destabilized.

Unfortunately, the eco-terrorists are unaware of the dangers of releasing Rodan, Godzilla’s greatest rival. He is the first Titan released and immediately begins his fight against Godzilla and his demolition of different regions of the planet. Humans, desperate to stop both Titans, do their best to kill both and only propel Rodan’s rise to Alpha status when the other Titans are released as well. It is up to Godzilla to not only save humanity, but the entire Earth from Rodan. Monarch and the United States government band together to help Godzilla to victory. The Russell family plays a huge part in every step of the struggle from the beginning to the end of the movie.

What I Liked:

This film does an amazing job of bringing the Titans to life and attempting to tie them into existing human myths. We have a diverse cast and each person contributes to the plot and the rising conflict by providing information or action as we witness Titans battle and cities fall. As expected, Millie Bobby Brown keeps you invested in her character and the fate of her family. Her father plays the insightful and intuitive expert, much like that one vital character in every Jurassic Park film, who makes it possible for humans to put up a fight in a struggle that should be outside of human means to address. The film is one of the best to release this year as far as special effects and action and promises compelling fight scenes on a massive scale (pun intended).

What I Didn’t Like:

While the events of this film flow naturally and the characters thoroughly plug in information and conflict as problems develop, no characters feel genuinely developed. Everyone comes off as a plot device present to get us from one fight scene between Titans to another. Further, most of the characters are scientists, anthropologists, or some other expert vital to Monarch activities yet no one can explain how these Titans are able to withstand nuclear radiation, explosions, and thermobaric environments but not less powerful weapons used on them by the government. The science behind Godzilla is weak and inconsistent, albeit interesting and glamorous. This is true for one of the most vital scenes in the movie, where a scientists visits Godzilla in his natural habitat and survives in conditions that should essentially melt the skin off of any human who enters. The Russell family is also a conundrum that required far more character development than was supplied by the film. We are supposed to invest in the inner turmoil of all three of the family members without any real connection to their motives and emotions.

Images Courtesy of IMDB