Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a sequel to Godzilla (2014) and Kong: Skull Island, which I never saw because I did not know that they were part of the Legendary’s MonsterVerse until I saw this movie. I had quite enough of King Kong after attempting ages ago to watch Peter Jackson’s version and abandoned it abruptly. Sorry Legendary Entertainment, but until Godzilla: King of the Monsters, your marketing was officially worse than Universal’s Dark Universe franchise, which started with Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, and it felt as if no one except me came to that party. I watched Godzilla (2014), was completely unaffected by all the marketing for Kong: Skull Island in spite of being completely aware of their existence, but ignorant of their relationship to each other. I’m pretty certain that I’m your audience, and you left money lying on the floor.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters does not disguise the fact that it is a sequel, but they are wisely aware that the first underwhelming installment was more likely to repel, not attract, audiences for having more focus on the humans than the titular star so the previews emphasized a dystopian world filled with monsters, which got me running to the theaters during its first week. It feels as if the filmmakers mostly learned from the mistakes of the first movie, but still has room to grow. It borrowed numerous elements from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which I enjoyed.
If you don’t want monster spoilers of which titans are featured in the film, then I suggest that you stop reading. Even though there are plenty of titans referenced, the major players are Godzilla, Mothra, Monster Zero or Ghidorah, and Rodan. Basically Godzilla has been staying out of the limelight until he realized that an old enemy is back, but the spirit is willing, and the flesh is weak. He soon learns the value of teamwork in order to save Earth, and that human beings maybe aren’t such useless distractions and deserve some attention. There is a heavily gender normative romantic subplot for the monsters as we get the tea on Godzilla’s love interest, a brave and beautiful fighter who fights smart.
I’m just going to say it. Are we sure that Godzilla is King of the Monsters because he got his ass whooped throughout the movie? To be fair, he was technically fighting three people in one. Does it count if he gets (unconsensually) drugged up to win? I think that we’re putting too much pressure on the big guy, and maybe Mothra needs to tell him to retire, take it easy and don’t come to every battle that you’re invited to. I know that it is a primal instinct, but I think that he can be reasoned with now that he is back with his old crew. Maybe delegate. I just don’t think that this is who he is anymore.
Monster Zero made a terrific debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Ghidorah knew all her angles, was the most interesting and nuanced character and really stole the show. There is a great plot twist regarding her identity that added to the sci fi goodness. It turned out that we are watching an alien invasion movie! What?!? Yes! I also appreciated Ghidorah’s attention to detail and leadership skills. Ghidorah, a three-headed dragon like figure, is really three people in one body, and I appreciated how they clearly had problems, but could always communicate and come together. Also Monster Zero was petty AF and would take time out to kill anyone no matter how small. Unlike Godzilla, she wasn’t ignoring anyone. Dracarys!
I heard a rumor that behind the scenes, Mothra was disappointed that she didn’t get to do more on screen after all that buildup and did not understand why humans were projecting their standards of feminine beauty on her and substituting it as character development. She was dissatisfied that her character was primarily defined by her romantic relationships, but she felt that she would be blacklisted and barred from future projects if she said anything so she went along with it. Initially her fight scene was going to be more truncated, but a source close to Mothra revealed that she was able to contribute a little something to her storyline, “When she realized that she was going to just be ineffectively scratching her opponents, Mothra spoke up and said, ‘Guys, women are kicking ass in movies. I can’t bring this weak shit. At least let me show my knife skills! What is the point of hiring a martial artist if I don’t bring it.” In the end, she went along with the studios request that she take burlesque classes to prepare for her first onscreen appearance in decades, which on the record, she has actually appreciated and plans to incorporate it into her fighting style.
Rodan seemed to have nine lives. I swear that he died on screen two to three times, but he kept appearing or maybe I missed a subplot of a family that he does not know about because they were separated at birth and they all resemble each other. Rodan is definitely experiencing the largest culture shock in his transition to American cinema. Rodan revealed, “Usually I grab something flying, it is all chewy goodness, but now there is all this stuff that I wasn’t expecting. Should I be eating it? There needs to be more transparency and labeling of ingredients because I want to know that I’m putting healthy stuff in my body. It tastes good though.” Of all the characters, Rodan seems to have stayed in shape long before production started, and behind the scenes, he apparently was a favorite of all the monsters, which explains why his scenes were longer than initially expected, but the real problem could be the editor. Rodan revealed, “Editors are easily distracted. They actually cut my biggest fight scene to show the humans screaming. I’m glad that they’ve worked on this problem since the first movie, but implicit species bias is a thing that we have to remain vigilant against. We all have it, but when it affects the work, then it is a problem.”
Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ human storyline distinguished itself from its initial predecessor and all disaster movies by constantly subverting the reuniting the family trope and including a few unexpected plot twists, which you may have suspected if you saw Captive State. The human cast was overflowing with excellent actors who all clearly have mortgages and kids that need help getting into college and some up and coming standouts who could be future legends specifically O’Shea Jackson, Anthony Ramos and Aisha Hinds. Daddy Lannister was underutilized, but why at the midpoint of the movie would you give me Daddy Pope, the man behind Judgment Day, Joe motherf, shut your mouth, Morton to do nothing with him!?! NOTHING! Also twins are not innately special so I’m not sure why the movie was so excited about that aspect of the reveal. If I had to play favorites, Ken Watanable has my heart; Ziyi Zhang as mythological exposition expert has my mind and Bradley Whitford pandering as comedy relief had my soul. The kid annoyed me.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is like all movies that give lip service to the environmental crisis. They put the words in the mouth of the villain so we can discount it and keep it pushing. In the real world, are eco-terrorists really such a scourge on society? In movies, eco-terrorists are wreaking havoc and giving ISIS a run for its money. It is best not to look too closely at the human plot, which is aggressively regressive and pro-establishment. Shouldn’t every human being be dying from radiation exposure? Even though I came for the destruction of Boston (hurrah, Manhattan got a break), the Isla de Mara sequence is quite delicious.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters should have been shorter. Stay for the end credits. Eat popcorn. It is a fun summer flick that is a must see if you want to see monsters fight otherwise skip it. It is much improved, but still could use a little tightening.