Review: Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2019)

Five years after Godzilla was last seen, mysterious organisation Monarch has been seeking out other creatures or Titans. However, an eco-terrorist plans to unleash them all to save the world, leading to a battle between Ghidorah and a returning Godzilla, with Mothra and Rodan also involved...

Of all the criticism of the 2014 Godzilla film, the one that most agree on was a lack of seeing Godzilla himself as well as a lack of monster's fighting and of course, the destruction. Well, that's certainly one thing you can't accuse this film of lacking. Godzilla: King Of The Monsters has a hoard of creatures along with destruction on a massive scale.

Which it has to be said is a good thing, as the story and it has to be said the dialogue is a bit of a let down. Written by Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields (from a story by Dougherty, Shields and Max Borenstein, who wrote the 2014 and also Kong: Skull Island). While the film has some things to say about the damage the humans have done to the planet, the idea that unleashing the Titans onto the world and killing billions does seem a bit extreme, to say the least. As for the script, it does have characters, especially the main one, in one scene wanting Godzilla dead (after events in the previous film), then changing his mind a moment later. It is a bit inconsistent in that aspect, certainly.

That said, the film has a superb cast. Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins and David Strathairn return from the previous film. The new cast includes Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Ziyi Zhang, Bradley Whitford, Aisha Hinds and Charles Dance. All of them are good actors and they deliver good, earnest performances.

Dougherty also directs the film. He keeps the pace moving briskly, perhaps so the audience doesn't have a chance to really think about the story playing out. But even among the stunning carnage onscreen, thanks to his cast, does manage to get some important character beats in there too. You may not fully care about the characters, but you at least get an understanding of them.

But in truth we aren't here for the humans. We are here for the monsters. And Dougherty, along with his cinematographer Lawrence Shear and his visual effects team have pulled of some truly stunning work. The carnage is suitably epic, but there are some truly incredible shots that frankly are works of art. The score from Bear McCreary, which incorporates some themes from the Japanese Godzilla film series into it, is terrific. The design of the film is good too.

There are some issues though. As I said, the story and script did have problems for me and I do think, impressive though it is, the fight scenes, perhaps go on too long at times. I'd perhaps say the film does maybe go on too long as a whole.

But these are minor issues. I really enjoyed the hell out of the film. Yes, there is CGI overload in the film, but when it looks this glorious you can't help but smile and be impressed. Yes, the (puny) humans might be left behind, but who cares? We are here for the monsters.

And on that score, Godzilla: King Of The Monsters shows just who the King really is.

It's big, it's loud, it's ridiculous and I loved it.

Rating: 4/5