Produced by Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni,
Brian Rogers, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia
Screenplay by Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields
Story by Max Borenstein,
Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields
Based on Godzilla, King Ghidorah,
Mothra, Rodan by Toho
Directed by Michael Dougherty
Starring Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga,
Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford,
Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Aisha Hinds,
Thomas Middleditch, O’Shea Jackson Jr.,
David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, Zhang Ziyi
“Hail to the King, baby”
Everyone’s favorite Kaiju is back in Godzilla, King of Monsters, as Godzilla raids again.
This time he has some “friends” with him and things are about to go off the rails.
The new follow up film to Gareth Edward’s 2014’s Godzilla film is a treat and will make anyone who loves watching giant monsters beat the ever living snot out of one another ecstatic with childhood glee.
Set a few years after the events of Godzilla, the world is still reeling from the knowledge that giant monsters exist on Earth. Meanwhile the shadow organization known as Monarch has been slowly uncovering and keeping secret the existence of dozens and dozens more of these leviathans. Held in stasis, the members of Monarch, debate the big questions.
Do we try to control these creatures or should we destroy all monsters?
Godzilla has gone dormant and has not been seen since he defeated the MUTO’s in 2014. The world has been rebuilding slowly in a tentative solace that the worst is over… or so they hope. Enter scientist Dr. Emma Russell, who lost her son in the battle of San Francisco, she has discovered a way to control these creatures using a device she created and with the help of some mercenaries led by Ex-SAS man, Jonah Alan, played perfectly by Charles Dance, decides to “release the Kraken” or should we say Krakens to prove her theory and hopefully restore a balance that we humans have thrown out of whack with out raveging of the the planet. It is up to Godzilla and the members of Monarch to defeat the tidal wave of monstrosities set loose and stop the insane paths of destruction they are all on before all life is wiped out on Earth.
Godzilla: King of The Monsters, is a blast. It is chock full of monster fights, monster destruction and the ridiculous science fiction, rule breaking physics one should expect from a Godzilla film. If you are going into this movie expecting any semblance of logic and or scientific facts then you will be highly disappointed. If you are heading into this movie wanting to see Rodan explode out of a volcano and kick the crap out of Mothra or see Monster Zero a.k.a. King Ghidorah and Godzilla kick the crap out of each other and lay waste to home of Dunkin’ Donuts, then this is your film.
Equally, if you are looking for a solid human interest piece with lots of well rounded character development then you may have walked into the wrong movie. The studio, along with director and co-writer, Michael Dougherty, clearly listened to the audience in 2014 when the biggest complaint about that Godzilla film was that there was too much time spent with the humans and not enough time spent on Godzilla trashing stuff and punching monsters because Godzilla: King of The Monsters is a whole heck of a lot of monsters fighting and destruction. The people are almost afterthoughts and only catalysts to move the story along from point A to point B, and that is fine with me.
This is all I could ever want from a modern monster movie; a no holds-barred all monsters attack kinda of film with both oldies but goodies of the Kaiju world and new big boys and girls to join in the monster party. Long time fans of the original Toho Monsters be happy with the Easter Egg filled throwbacks sprinkled throughout the film as this film pays homage to where it came from.
I am particularly pleased, as a Bostonian, to see my hometown finally used as the set piece of the final battle. It is rare, almost unheard of to have a film not originally set in Boston, to have the final sequence of mayhem and destruction take place in Boston. It was great seeing landmarks I have grown up with be wiped out. I found it hilarious, as one of the characters says near the end of the movie “It is a bad day to be a Red Sox Fan.”
I for one loved Godzilla: King of The Monsters and will be back for a second viewing. And of course, stay for the the after credits sequence. I can’t wait for the “Rumble in the Jungle”
