There’s an old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”…
Why, oh why did the team behind ‘Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’ try to ‘fix’ the classic formula? It’s a monster movie, show lots and lots of monsters, and forget the human drama.
Sigh.
But let’s start with the few positives – there ARE monsters in this ‘Godzilla’ sequel, and they are impressive. There’s Rodan, a flying creature, Mothra, a giant….well, moth….King Ghidorah, a three-headed dragon-thing, and of course, the headliner, the overgrown lizard named Godzilla. The titanic battles involving these overgrown beasts are pure popcorn-munching euphoria – but the clashes also emote a bit of sadness when you consider that, had director Michael Doughtery and his gang focused on the CGI clashes and ignored anything involving people and their problems, this would’ve been an instant classic.
Since the bulk of the film is spent in dark laboratories, it’s instead passable…
And hey, trust me, when it COMES to this stuff, I’m an audience member full of grace. I love the old creature features from decades ago in which these critters were dudes in rubber suits, wrestling over knee-high paper mache models of Tokyo. The primary trouble stems from the expectations of this project – on the heels of the very successful ‘Kong: Skull Island’, ‘Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’, given the roster of beasties involved, is supposed to be a launching pad for the new ‘Monsterverse’….but it stumbles. Reason being, again? Too many people, too little monsters.
Millie Bobby Brown (‘Stranger Things’) is probably the most prominent human performer here, playing Madison Russell, whose estranged parents are paleobiologist Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and antrozoologist Dr. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler). Their union fell apart when their son died in a monster attack, making it tough when Mark is called back into action.
Oh, cities are leveled, Godzilla shoots that cool blue flame multiple times (cool!) and the visuals are often jaw dropping. But when the heaviest lifting our titular monster does is carrying the weak narrative on his scaled back – things are far from perfect.
