Ohhh no! There goes
The Planet?
Well, here we are. Hollywood has tried its hand at a third Godzilla movie. And, I didn't care for the first two, as I mentioned in my review of the 2014 Godzilla movie. I watched the trailer for Godzilla: King of Monsters, and it looked not just good, it looked REALLY good. So, I went and saw the movie. What did I think of it? Keep reading.
Some spoilers
The movie starts off several years after the previous movie, and politicians are doing what they do best, and politicizing the fact that these monsters or Titans exist. You of course have one side wanting to weaponize them, and another wanting to eradicate them, Then, you have a group of people who want to use them to exterminate half of humanity because we are overpopulated and destroying the planet.
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| Amateurs! Amateurs, I tell you! |
My issues with the previous movie were addressed, as the monsters looked great, detailed, and there were plenty of them. King Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan, have prominent appearances, while others are just there wreaking havoc all over the world. Why? Because the activists woke them all up from their slumbers to reboot the planet. However, Ghidorah, like in his appearances in the Toho films isn't from Earth. He's alien, and therefore able to control the other monsters...except for Godzilla. So, he is our only hope to defeat Ghidorah, but the military in their infinite wisdom find a way to kill or at least maim the Earth Titans. And, as Godzilla and Ghidorah are doing battle, they use it on both of them. It kills Godzilla, and doesn't even scratch Ghidorah. But luckily, since radiation made Godzilla, it was also able to resuscitate him. He comes back, and an epic battle scene follows, and Godzilla emerges victorious, and takes his place as the King of Monsters.
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| Ghidorah on a volcano. An iconic scene in the movie |
So, as a Toho fan with not much faith in Hollywood's ability to make a good Godzilla movie, what did I think of this one? They got it right. In a HUGE way. The storyline is relevant to the movie, and the characters are conflicted enough to make them interesting. The acting is good, and of course, there are hints about the next film, and how it ties into this storyline rather than being a 'just because' movie.
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| This was my only gripe. WTH is he standing on? |
But, what made this movie great? It was what was seriously lacking in the previous movie. It was the MONSTERS!!! They all looked great, and were featured with LOTS of screen time. Detailed and up close action that Michael Bay could only dream about for a Transformers movie. Godzilla looks much better than he did in the 2014 movie, and also much better than he did in the 2016 Toho film, Shin Godzilla, which is one of my least favorite Godzilla designs. Rodan looked great as the fire demon, Mothra looked updated, but while they all looked great, King Ghidorah stood out. He and Godzilla looked by far the best.
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| Do I HAVE to get my ass kicked in EVERY Godzilla movie?? |
So, all that being said, I have to admit that Hollywood did Godzilla right this time. A badass movie that belongs in the conversation with some of the all time greatest Godzilla films like Godzilla 1985, Final Wars, etc, etc, etc. Do yourself a favor and see this in the theater, Hopefully, they do as good a job with the next film. My only question is what will Toho's answer be? Their answer to the Iguana movie with Matthew Broderick was one of the best Godzilla films of all time, Godzilla 2000. However, their answer to the 2014 film was the less than impressive Shin Godzilla. So in closing, Good job, Legendary! I look forward to the next one!
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| Millie approves, and so do I |
PS, I still say someone needs to use Racer X's Godzilla cover in a Godzilla movie soundtrack
