Godzilla: King of the Monsters Review

I’ve been a fan of the jolly green giant, AKA Godzilla, ever since I was ten years old.

I have watched a ton of the movies and played many of the games that he's been featured in. So, when I had first heard of his second coming to America in 2014, I was incredibly excited.

The sequel to Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters, premiered in theaters on May 31.

When I exited the theater with my friends that afternoon after watching Godzilla (2014), I proudly proclaimed it to be one of the best movies I had ever seen.

Godzilla (2014) starred Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bryan Cranston.

Upon a more critical reflection, I find the film to be not as good as I remembered it in my youth. I still very much enjoy it, but the flaws stated by many others have become more glaring: the monsters don’t have enough screen-time, the humans are boring, and it keeps cutting away from the awesome fights. Had I reviewed that film today, I would’ve given it a 6/10. However, the film’s sequel, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, is thankfully a much better film in that regard.

King of the Monsters follows two scientists, Mark (Kyle Chandler) and Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), and their daughter, Madison (Millie Bobby Brown). The Russels are involved in the study of giant monsters, or Titans as they are referred to, such as Godzilla. But, when an ancient nemesis of Godzilla, the golden, three-headed dragon Ghidorah, is released, these two Titans and other monsters will battle each other for supremacy, while the fate of humanity and the world hang in the balance.

Right off the bat, the reason that everyone would want to see this movie -- the giant monster battles -- are absolutely fantastic. While I understand the previous film’s intention of continuously cutting away from the fights until the end was to build excitement for the finale, it was mostly frustrating and hardly made the final fight any more spectacular.

That being said, KOTM has a healthier balance between monster action and human drama. The fights have a great sense of scale that makes the monsters feel enormous, and the combat is visceral and satisfying with just the right amount of length to them. When one of the fights ended, I did wish it would continue but I still felt quite satisfied with the experience.

Godzilla's design is a wonderful interpretation of the original.

The monsters themselves look amazing as well. While Godzilla’s look was already a wonderful interpretation of the iconic original design, the three new monsters are also well designed because while different, they still look enough like their original iterations.

The aforementioned Ghidorah has always had a brilliant design of being a gold, three-headed dragon which remains here, but now he has a more reptilian pattern to his physique and movements, much like Smaug of the Hobbit trilogy or the dragons of Game of Thrones.

Ghidorah: *not* the king of the monsters.

Rodan, a colossal pterodactyl, has had the least change. The biggest difference is that now, as a legendary creature of fire instead of just a giant dinosaur, he has the evocative aesthetics of seemingly being made of lava and fire.

The most drastic changes were given to Mothra, the giant butterfly that is worshiped as a god. In her original designs, her features were rounder and smaller, giving her the air of a fairer, angelic creature. In this film, while still maintaining more benevolent features, she is now more stream-lined, and actually seems capable of combat.

But alas, a film about giant monsters cannot be solely about said giant monsters. There must be people. Thankfully, I liked the people well enough. There is a lack of especially deep characters in this film but none of them are egregious or unbearable to watch on-screen. They are much like the previous film’s characters -- not amazing, not horrible, but perfectly acceptable. Though I will admit, I would have liked them to be a bit more interesting.

Millie Bobby Brown and Vera Farmiga as Madison and Emma Russel in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

The monster fights and human drama are much more equal in KOTM compared to the first movie, so whenever I started feeling bored with the humans, there was often a monster fight right then. The only other noteworthy flaw is the aesthetics of the fights. Most either take place in the dark or in dimmer locales. While it is thankfully not impossible to make out what is happening, I would have liked to see a bit more light and color.

King of the Monsters is a simple, fun film experience that I very much enjoyed. It's great summer blockbuster that, like most of the commercials said, should absolutely be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is great, and I give it an 8/10.

8/10