Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the long awaited sequel to 2014’s Godzilla, certainly sends a message to those who complained the last film was lacking in monster mayhem. The film is the polar opposite of its predecessor in this sense – delivering mountains of creature carnage to the screen and introducing several famous monsters from the expansive Godzilla history to boot. The action is nothing short of amazing; epic in scope with flawless visual effects and excellent camera direction giving you a front seat to these enormous battles for supremacy over our planet. Where the sequel falls apart, however, is in its ridiculous, unnecessarily convoluted story which attempts to juggle far too many characters and plot-lines at once for the audience to really care about any one in particular. Whilst this aspect of the film is disappointing for sure, the human story is not what most viewers come to these movies for, and the spectacle of the monsters is more than enough to keep most audiences satisfied.
Let’s get right into that story which, similarly to the 2014 film, centres around a family. The Russell family suffered a tremendous loss during Godzilla’s first foray onto land in San Francisco and in the 5 years following have drifted apart. Mother Emma (Vera Farmiga) has pledged herself to studying these incredibly large creatures, known as Titans – who have begun turning up in a variety of locations around the globe – for the now not-so-secret monster research group Monarch, with daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown) in tow. Meanwhile Mark (Kyle Chandler), the Russell patriarch, has been struggling to cope with the events of San Fransisco and has isolated himself in quiet mountain territory as he recovers from a battle with alcoholism. When Emma and Madison’s latest encounter with a Titan is interrupted by a group of eco-terrorists, led by mercenary Jonah Alan (Charles Dance), Mark must unite with Emma’s Monarch co-workers (Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Thomas Middleditch) to locate his daughter, ex-wife and her latest creation: a device capable of communicating with the Titans. This becomes a race against time before it falls into the wrong hands and the Titans are unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. This is a lot to unpack; with numerous characters and plot-lines in play and we haven’t even got into how Godzilla factors into all of this.
It’s clear that director Mike Dougherty has a deep appreciation and attachment to the Godzilla franchise and that the story here is a homage of sorts to the crazy narratives of those films. Whilst that works in the context of a cheesy Saturday afternoon monster movie where men in rubber suits walk around knocking each other into cardboard buildings, the world that was established in Gareth Edwards film is very much a centred, real-world take on what would happen if these creatures showed up in our world. Those old films found it necessary to have these wacky human-centric plots to break up the action and to deal with budget constraints, and it works with the tone that was set. In this more grounded take on the Godzilla universe, that tone just doesn’t work and whilst I appreciate what Dougherty was trying to do – which will probably appeal to many long-time fans of the franchise – I would have preferred to see the series carry the tone across from the 2014 film, or at the very least reign in some of the more over-the-top aspects of the story.
What works best in King of the Monsters is, as the name suggests, the monsters. Godzilla is as fearsome as he was in the last film and the writers (Dougherty, Zach Shields and Max Borenstein) are clearly having a ball exploring the background and inner workings of the giant lizard. Their respect and reverence towards Godzilla comes across in the story, where he is touted as the protector of humanity, as well as through the relationship with Ken Watanabe’s character Dr. Ishiro Serizawa. Serizawa clearly worships Godzilla as he’s studied him for years and there is such a strong connection here that is clearly symbolic of the writers’ – and to a larger degree, Godzilla fans’ – connection to the franchise as a whole. Added to the mix this time around are classic Godzilla staples Ghidorah, Mothra and Rodan to punch up the monster roster as well as to provide some more big battles and variety in the fights. It’s something I was particularly grateful for after seeing Godzilla fight a few times, as I was craving something different from these confrontations and it certainly delivered, taking action to the skies with Ghidorah and Rodan, and involving the human military forces in a surprisingly effective way. The film does a good job of not simply having human characters sitting around witnessing the carnage but taking matters into their own hands. It makes a difference as these separate stories do not confine the separate camera angles like the first film did, which was almost always from the point of view of a ground-level character. Here we get stunning wide angle shots of the action not tied down to a human character and the film features some truly gorgeous imagery as a result.
Inside of this ridiculous story are a veritable smorgasboard of some of the best actors working in the business today, and while not every performance is a home-run, the actors are all trying their best with the narrative they have been given. At the top end of this spectrum are returning mainstays Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins, both of whom give terrific performances as Monarch scientists who have now risen to the top of the food chain in this new world order as the authority on Titans. Watanabe shares some genuinely emotional scenes with Godzilla and he is definitely the beating heart of the film, a representative of the audience’s attachment to these creatures and films. Newcomers Millie Bobby Brown and Thomas Middleditch also deliver the goods, both having come off major television shows in Stranger Things and Silicon Valley respectively. Brown is clearly having a ball playing the tough-as-nails kid who has grown up around these monsters and has a deep emotional connection with them. Whilst her particular narrative takes a few left turns here and there logically, Brown’s commitment to the role never wavers and she lights up the screen. Middleditch, having led a sit-com for several years, is understandably assigned a majority of the humour in the film, which he pulls off seemingly effortlessly as a scientist who appears to have almost no knowledge of basic human interactions. He also gets a chance to show some real emotional depth and he handles it remarkably well, showing that he is more than just a comedian and I hope more roles go his way that utilise this skillset.
This is where the acting takes a turn however, with the performances of Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler in particular. Farmiga, who is normally excellent, seems as though she doesn’t know what kind of movie she’s in – playing the role of a scientist obsessed with not allowing another San Francisco incident to occur. There isn’t much emotion that comes through in her performance and I was never quite sure what her motivations really were, which was not helped by the downright stupid and illogical decisions her character makes. On the other hand, Kyle Chandler’s character was so one-note and bland that I was just annoyed whenever he would appear on-screen, again making some supremely stupid character choices that contradict the development we have just seen his character go through. It’s unfortunate that the film has actors of such a high calibre and can’t do anything interesting with them and I couldn’t help but think that by losing some of the seemingly endless characters and really focusing on a core cast the film could have come up with a tighter story with some solid, meaningful character development.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a different beast to its predecessor. One that tries to continue the story set up by Gareth Edwards film as well as a celebration of the franchise’s fifty plus year history. Whilst it doesn’t all hit the way it is intended to – with a murky, illogical story and some awful characters – when the giant beasts converge on the screen to fight you cannot look away. It is a testament to these characters and their legacy, as well as the incredible work of the visual effects team, that after all this time there’s something so pure and enticing about giant monsters fighting amongst humanity and the society we hold so dear, destroying everything in their path.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Thomas Middleditch & O’Shea Jackson Jr. – In cinemas now.