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In 2014, legendary movie monster Godzilla stomped back into theaters in a big, bold way. Five years later, as the world is still dealing with the aftermath of a devastating monster attack, the massive beast returns in Godzilla: King of the Monsters—and, this time, he’s bringing a whole bunch of his gigantic friends along for the ride.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters follows the story of the Russells, whose family was torn apart by Godzilla’s 2014 attack. The loss of their son led to destructive behavior in dad Mark (Kyle Chandler), while mom Emma (Vera Farmiga) devoted her life to working with Monarch to figure out how to control these enormous Titans. When Mothra hatches at an outpost in China, Emma and her daughter, Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), are taken by an ecoterrorist who’s set on unleashing the rest of the Titans, and Mark is brought in to help save his family.
Part of the problem, though, is that, while the sequel feels like it’s telling the continuing story of this family, the characters never appeared in the 2014 original. So don’t beat yourself up over forgetting the dramatic story of this couple losing their son—because you didn’t actually see it. And that lack of background can be frustrating, since you’ll feel like you should have a connection to these characters that you don’t really know.
Fortunately, though, as is generally the case with these big-budget summer blockbusters, the story doesn’t really matter. Moviegoers aren’t buying their tickets for this one in hopes of a compelling story. So, mostly, it’s just a whole lot of politics and drama (much more than necessary, in fact) for the sole purpose of letting a bunch of massive monsters climb out of their respective holes in the ground and march into battle. Everything else is just filler.
The point of the movie is its monster battles—the effects and the action and the devastating destruction. Though the action sequences are surrounded by a whole lot of unnecessary stuff, the monsters themselves are pretty remarkable. They’re huge and terrifying. And though some of their battles are a little too dark and disorienting, fans of monster movies will enjoy their oversized battles.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters certainly provides the big-budget action that audiences expect from summer blockbusters. It isn’t a memorable must-see, but if you enjoy watching massive mythical creatures in battle, it’s good for a couple of hours of brainless entertainment.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
