Godzilla: King Of The Monsters

This review may contain spoilers!

It's a pretty standard monster battle blockbuster, a stunning visual spectacular and a fairly run of the mill script. I would give Godzilla: King Of The Monsters a 7/10.

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is the sequel to 2014's Godzilla and focusses upon Monarch and Godzilla attempting to prevent an eco-terrorist group from using King Ghidorah to destroy the world. I quite enjoyed seeing the primal relationships between the massive Titans here; the rivalry between Ghidorah and Godzilla was great to watch unfold, likewise the symbiotic relationship between Godzilla and Mothra was a touching thing to see too. I also liked how this separated family had to struggle amongst all this monolithic battling to reach a point of understanding with one another. The Russell family was devastated by loss after the events of the first Godzilla film and seeing how such a massive event affected their relationships with one another and how the events of this film pushes them back together was probably one of the crowning narrative achievements of the feature. The cinematography for the film feels a bit at odds with itself at times due to the number of set up shots for visual effects; yet ultimately the way this feature is filmed is purposeful and captures the epic scale of the blockbuster at work. The special effects for this film are perhaps the stand out feature, each of the four main Titans (as well as several others) are done with incredible detail that the action sequences are exceptionally realistic to observe. The score is a full-blown display of power, there are some amazing themes designed for some of the specific Titans which actually helps present them as characters rather than just fighting beasts.

Kyle Chandler, who played Mark Russell, gives a great portrayal of the rational man in stormy waters; Chandler presents a role who is quick-thinking on his feet and desperate to save his family by any means. Millie Bobby Brown, who played Madison Russell, is one of the best up and coming young actresses out there at the moment; this role is so fascinating because you are constantly seeing her struggle with the conflict generated by her mother and father. Ken Watanabe, who played Dr Ishiro Serizawa, is this moral leader amongst the cast who is driven to protect all life on the planet; Watanabe's role has this deep respect for Godzilla that you really get to see him explore and develop strongly in this film. Thomas Middleditch, who played Sam Coleman, is a really fun role and a surpise standout performance; Middleditch has some nice one-liners throughout and you are entirely convinced he has the intellect to be a leading scientific expert on Tiatans with the way he handles exposition.

However, the best performance came from Bradley Whitford, who played Dr Rick Stanton. In amongst all these characters who are roles we've seen before or who spout enormous amounts of exposition it's nice to find some levity. Whitford for a long time has zeroed in on these rather laidback, witty roles who just wield the charisma to steal a scene. There's no denying that this is a character who has some of the most fun and entertaining dialogue of the film and he had me really going throughout. I enjoy the types of roles Whitford tends to play and find they often enhance a feature by bringing a spark to a scene that feels real and gives you a moment where you are grinning from ear to ear.

This film really achieves what it sets out to do, have a couple of CGI monsters duke it out amongst the ever-expanding ruins of a city. While I don't really have time for people who complain about that as a concept or a genre I do think there is merit in fleshing out the substance of such a film. Thankfully we have the Russell family storyline which holds our attention for most of the feature but outside of that there are some heavy moments of exposition packed on. We are constantly being explained to, given the pseudo-science behind how these monsters exist, function and what their origins are. When a main character constructs some elaborate plan to save the day we lose a lot of momentum as the plan is explained and repeated over and over until there is no mistaking the intent behind the moment. When you're watching a film that exceeds two hours but are constantly being explained to, you can't help but feel bored. There were also a large number of roles in this film who were given very generic parts to play for an action blockbuster so it doesn;t feel like this was a movie that ever put much effort into trying to break expectations.

Vera Farmiga, who played Dr Emma Russell, is the anchor on one of the strongest narrative aspects of the film: the Russell family; Farmiga never really plays convincingly to her character double-crossing the protagonists so you don't feel of a shock when she winds up pulling the triple-cross on the antagonists. Ziyi Zhang, who played Dr Ilene Chen, feels like one supporting character too many throughout the feature; Zhang provides no new dynamic to the cast and so she never makes all that much of an impression. Sally Hawkins, who played Dr Vivienne Graham, didn't really seem like she wanted to return to these Godzilla films all that much; she never had a character moment that was worth talking about and bowed out fairly quickly into the film. Charles Dance, who played Jonah Alan, has to be one of the most bland antagonists I've seen Dance play; this is a highly skilled performer going through the motions of a pretty generic military/mercenary henchman. Aisha Hinds, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Anthony Ramos and Elizabeth Ludlow, who played Colonel Diane Foster, Chief Warrant Officer Barnes, Staff Sergeant Martinez and First Lieutenant Griffin respectively, all embody your typical military roles of the film; this pack lopes around behind the main cast and get scattered into the background to fill a frame more often than they're given the opportunity to present a role.