Godzilla: King of the Monsters

The monsters are on the loose again but this time all of mankind is in danger of domination or, worse, extermination. It is up to the cryptozoology Monarch agency to put a stop to the terror of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.”

Laura's Review: DNS

DNS

Robin's Review: C

For the first 39 minutes of this bombastic bombast there was actually a story being told. Characters, both human and monster, are introduced and the plot, as it is, moves forward. Then the estimated $200000000 budget kicks in and, for the next 90 minutes, we are presented a fast-paced, flashy and noisy special F/X extravaganza. There are reportedly 17 different monsters making an appearance during the course of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” The star is joined by such familiar faces as Mothra, Rodan and Ghidora, the three-headed monster (and more). But, more is not better, at least in this case, and the sheer number of mega-Titans on display is overwhelming – and muddled and boring for me. Normally, I would say that you need a score card to keep track of what is going on and who is who. Here, though, it would be fruitless since I was inundated with one monster, then another, then another in a blast of bright lights and colors. Unfortunately, I could not figure out what the story actually is as monsters and people are pitted against and with one another. I was just thinking, as I write this critique, that I would rather have watched the 1954 original Toho Film Co. “Godzilla” (not to be confused with “Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956),” the dubbed American version that inserted scenes with Raymond Burr). The original, at the beginning of the Atomic Age, was an allegory of the dangers of nuclear energy to the environment – Godzilla was one of the first Greenies. The 2019 take on the Toho monster legends has little in common with its 1954 ancestor – though, toward the end, you can hear a strand of the original film’s score being sampled. Replacing an actual story with just more and more F/X is not my idea of a good time. It is a good thing that, just before seeing this load of light and noise, that I got to see Toho’s “The War of the Gargantuas (1966).” Now that was good silly fun. For this latest, not so much and