“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” brings back the big green lizard that has stomped around the cinematic world for decades now. Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields co-wrote this script which was realized by Dougherty as director. Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Ken Watanabe, and David Straithairn are part of the cast. Also, the great Charles Dance is there to cause trouble in his usual villainous manner. The monster gang is here with Mothra, Rodan, and of course the three-headed King Ghidorah along with several other giant Titans thundering about the place.
There is some family drama at the center of this just to make it a bit more incoherent. Farmiga’s character has created a device that can calm the Titans down a bit. Secrets are revealed about the past of these beasts throughout the movie. There is a group that think that Titans can clear the Earth of some the more destructive tendencies of the human race and every can live in a much cleaner planet with these giant beasts roaming around.
It’s destruction galore! I thought the visual effects were quite stunning. Some of the action sequences were a little hard to follow due to the abundance of close shots and cutaways.
I sort of liked the daughter played by Millie Bobby Brown in this. The precocious kid who looked a little older than twelve years-old was pretty well played. Of course, her ingenuity and spunk required an enormous suspension of disbelief. Brown is a pretty convincing performer in spite of some of the absurd requirements of the script.
It was a good cast. Bradley Whitford was on hand as well, and he usually is an interesting addition to the many supporting roles he been handed over the years. There were lots of gorgeous Asian folks around which is appropriate for this franchise, and they all worked well unsurprisingly.
The movie is rather ridiculous at times, but I ended up enjoying it more than it deserved. I read that the reviews were very mixed, and I can understand why it was not universally loved, however I sure had fun with it, especially when all of the monsters started emerging from their various habitats. The first half does take a little bit of patience, but it gets much more engaging when the craziness kicks off.
The movie works just fine for this genre. It’s loud and fun to watch. I would just advise to not examine the plot or dialogue too closely and just kick back and enjoy the mayhem.
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