Setting an example I hope will be followed in years to come, a formal motif is made of a series of stomp sounds followed by Godzilla's roar. SHIN GODZILLA had this, and before that only GODZILLA VS DESTOROYAH and the 1954 film had this. For all tense and purpose, it should be the formal beginning of a Godzilla film, like the James Bond openings or the first five Friday the 13ths. This is definitely a Godzilla movie. No one can deny that the same spirit inhabiting the Japanese film's Godzilla is in this film as well. These are the legitimate Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah. But we're in for mixed waters of polarizing extremes.
What's disparaging about the final film this time around is that, considering what the film is possibly introducing a lot of audiences to for the first time, it wasn't THE DARK KNIGHT to 2014 Godzilla's BATMAN BEGINS, though all the signs were there.
The first Legendary film and Toho's Shin Godzilla were a one two punch that did great good in breaking Godzilla back into the mainstream, both abroad and at home. The 2014 film boldly went the JAWS/ALIEN approach, figuring Fukushima Daiichi iconography into it's own narrative. SHIN GODZILLA is a political cartoon more awesome than comedic, and helped (particularly art direction wise) bring Godzilla up to speed in a post AKIRA/H.R. Geiger world. GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS has cool moments and ideas but comes off typical at times, cheapening the overall film.
Possibly the problem is the filmmakers choosing a story without shades of thematically relevant threats mirroring reality to add intrigue to the premise. Iran, North Korea, and considering Stranger Thing's NEW COKE ad played before Godzilla King of the Monsters (as did a Rambo and Terminator trailer), Russia and America. Godzilla King of the Monsters has come out in a time preluding a second Cold War. But none of that is dealt with directly. Here there are no resonating observations for the audience's sense of relevance.
The film's primary focus is seemingly on fleshing out the universal themes and aspects of Godzilla himself. Godzilla as a force of nature, tied to the bomb for his emergence bit nuclear disaster being only one of many threats to planetary ecology henresponds to.
The film also focuses on comedy of a lame quality. "Oh my God-zilla", asking if a character said gonorea when she mentioned Ghidorah. Even disrespectful and not needed since nothing about the action in the film needed that comic relief. The sophomore-bore humor feels too forced.
How the film could have ironically used such to create practical human illlustrations for the pop-social science exposition and situation. Considering the film was written carying on the bioacoustics motif from the Gareth Edwards Godzilla, and obviously makes deliberate parallels (when Vera Farmiga calls out the full name, in a different tone to boot, of Madison before freeing Ghidorah, a human alpha predator bioacoustics display; parents calling out for children; Maddison screaming at Ghidorah), it would seem logical. The father character is made out to be the Jim Bridger type, but the typicalities of his comments undermine what parallel to the kaiju drama they could have. But yet this is the character that stared into Godzilla's eyes and realized Godzilla's awareness and role in nature as to forgive. He doesn't seem like the scientist his co stars keep him in the esteem of.
What human action that is there after that is cliched to begin with, though at moments captured well. Vera Farmiga and Charles Dance's character should have been one character, we should have seen what the fathers downfall after losing his son was like. Instead, we get the "helicopter lands in remote back yard of a home of a guy the military needs for a special mission" trope.
What the film ambitiously tried to accomplish, and did a decent job of establishing it without doing anything much with it, and that is a sincere attempt at coexistence with Godzilla and showing what that means thematically. This means the human story and the monster stories not being mutually exclusive. They have to intertwine.
To fulfill this, the bioacoustics mentioned in the first film rear their head in a new extension of the idea: the Orca, a device which gives humans the upper hand by enabling basic communication between human and monster. The possibilities of this device in future movies is exciting potential.
This turn has an indirect relevancy to the real world. Given that hopes of the crew of the 1954 film were unrealistic, for we still live in a world with nukes, the thesis proposed is responsible existence with nukes. If we can't get rid of them, lets be mindful and dutiful with them.
King of the Monsters's best feature is the treatment of King Ghidorah. To have a Cg American Ghidorah was hard to imagine. Complete with personality quarks and more than competent photography giving Ghidorah a daunting presence, this might be one of the best if not the best Ghidorah film made to date.
Particularly interesting is the fleshing out of Ghidorah's niche in the intergalactic solar system. Of all, this is the film's most worthy achievement. Godzilla being King of the Monsters isn't just an inherent title resulting from a track record. Unlike the Showa films where Ghidorah schitzophrenically destroyed for no reason, and possibly under control of an alien race starting from his 1964 debut, this is one of the only times where Ghidorah is autonomous. His own will is all that informs him. Ghidorahs purpose is to be the top alpha predator in an ecosystem. A creature that can only live if he is at the top, a parasitic species. This was a great development.
No longer is the King of the Monsters title an inherent title due to the slew of monsters fought, here we have for the first time a formal fighting for the title. Some might be saddened that the human characterization from 1964's GHIDORAH THE THREE HEADED MONSTER with Mothra negotiating for Rodan and Godzilla to team up to fight Ghidorah isn't here. While not to a Shinichi Sekizawa extreme, KOTM gets the monsters as animals in an ecosystem and characters with personalities at the same time. The personification doesn't undermine the monsters role in a reality based ecosystem and vice versa. A good balancing act. Get ready to crumble.
Ghidorah's physical realization is also well done. He has never seemed more massive than he does here. Nor more focused, allowing for more character to come out. Ghidorah's roar is great, usually sounding like Cretaceous Ghidorah from MOTHRA 3: KING GHIDORAH ATTACKS. Layering and filling the soundscape with the triage of voices that sound of all encompacing threat. The first full roar Ghidorah gives Godzilla sounds like a dangerous machine about to break and do damage to anyone around. Though not kept in the higher pitch, this Ghidorah does have that ring in the roar, as if Ghidorah doesn't just rolls his r's, he rolls everything.
The added benefit of being so massive as to cause tornadoes, floods, and hurricane rain is a feature all too undelved into. Its a great continuation theoretically to Del Toro's directing of PACIFIC RIM, where elements like water were used particularly to compliment the kaiju as an image, if only a good suspense sequence a la DAY AFTER TOMORROW showing an oncoming storm, lightning and a cluster of tornadoes, and then the reveal of a Ghidorah silhouette. Definitely want to see this aspect revisited in a future instalment. Ghidorah also translates well for Western iconography. Ghidorah, loosely a hydra, is given an ability awarded the most famous hydra of all - the regenerative powers of the hydra that fought Hercules. A scene also realising some of the body horror elements now introduced to Godzilla in recent years, going back to the likes of AKIRA and EVANGELION at least is displayed by Ghidorah growing back a head. The more gruesome body horror stuff is saved for the antagonist Ghidorah. The cool stuff is saved for Godzilla, the protagonist.
Godzilla himself has never looked better in an American film. His larger Shodai Goji dorsals look appropriate to the rest of Godzilla's mass. As now almost as tradition Godzilla (along with the other monsters) is bioluminecent (and a piece of the Lowe's concept stage I was happy they decided to save until the second film). More close ups, and a great spin on Burning Godzilla and his nuclear pulse attack (ironically though a moment given to Mothra to build the symbiotic relationship, it is a call back to a moment afforded none other than Rodan). Never thought such an ability would be showcased in an American instalment, or for that matter Ghidorah shooting beams through his wing tips.
Rodan is another creature full of personality. His roar is a really throttled version of what fans know and love, but that design is something else. Though Rodan does come off as a pteranadon-esque creature, recent discoveries of feathers on dinosaurs have lent an odd feathered motif achieved through Rodan's burning lava body. Never thought features, or volcanic scales who, along with the ash, give the pression of feathers.
Considering again Pacific Rim and Shin Godzilla, this is the most art directed the monsters looks have been ever.
Michael Daughtery does a good spectacle job with King of the Monsters. In a mix of what Kong: Skull Island and Gareth Edwards film did: action filmed from real locations and not just a chosen God's eye point of view. While by the end we do see the action is shot as if the camera is being used by a kaiju sized panaglide technitian, the switch is sealmess, with grounding shots keeping up the illusion. There's even something which the 2014 had which none other had (effectively for this viewer) - a good Godzilla jump scare. Michael even offers some nice shots in reference to 2014. When Godzilla was another invading force, he drowned masses in tidal waves. Now, coming to save Millie Bobbie Brown from Ghidorah, the tide is receeding but with navy ships sailing beside him. There's even good repurposing of some unused shots from the 2014 film's early trailers. There's an interesting parallel to Gamera 2 where this Godzilla 2 also concerns with fighting the enemy monster as a Godzilla-human joint operation.
The human characters are frustrating, because before seeing the execution the ground work works, and acts thematically as a sequel to the Brody family. Godzilla 2014 created grief for the family that they stay safe from after the first 15 minutes. KING OF THE MONSTERS is the stages of grieving with fantastical possibilities given the careers of the characters in that world.
Thinking of the themes at play, one couldn't help but be reminded of War of the Worlds, where Ghidorah is the obvious alien and Godzilla is the bacteria that caused their downfall. Where as say the last relevant film adaptation from Speilberg had the theme mirrored by little Dakota Fanning waxing poetic about stuck thorns, King of the Monsters shakes those themes up.
While the good news is that the human drama and the monster drama does depend on one another to work, many comparisons could be made to the Heisei Gamera films. Similar comparisons were made of the 2014 film, and its interesting it has continued. Is there a subconscious tie to the storytelling by Kaneko and Higuchi or are Americans generally ignorant of those films and our logic behind monster movies is only now catching up? Michael Doughtery even sounds like Shinji Higuchi in not kidding himself that with a sequels logic: monsters have already been established. Too much suspense doesn't work because the element of surprise has diminished.
The film starts with a flashback contain my newly filmed scenes, a parallel to GAMERA 3. Redemption is a theme of the film, anothernparallel to the dramatic material from Gamera 3. Madison's father has to be there for his daughter and lot let grief and vengeance wear his spirit down. Madison's mother has to content with her faulty ideologies and the danger she had put everyone including her daughter. If only there was a scene showing Serizawa creating the Oxygen Destroyer as a trade to get the government off Monarch's back.
Serizawa is a mixed note, and only time can tell if it will be seen as a nice twist on the 1954's Serizawa death scene serving the "living with nukes" theme. Or is it a perversion of the 1954 film's climax? Should Serizawa die saving Godzilla, therefore humanity, by bringing us in accordance with the larger forces of nature or should Serizawa die knowing the weapon being used to kill Godzilla has to be a secret he takes with him to the grave lest World War III breaks out. The Oxygen Destroyer isn't given the respect expected given the weapon and its usual implications on the subtexual reality of a film. Its definitely a dramatic scene that works well, driving home a somber tone of sacrifice. But at what cost? We should remember, even Serizawa said, "time to get a new watch". In general, Ken Wantanabe does his best work here emotively since his Oscar nodded turn in THE LAST SAMURAI (which came out before a film showcasing Wantanabe and KOTM co-star Zhang Ziyi as lovers, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA). His dedication is remarkable and though dramatically satisfying, should have been there for the showdown with Kong.
Millie Bobbie Brown's Madison is a nice center for the film. She expresses childish wonder and teen-angst-for-emotional-independence, but again feels typical. Brown does a knock out job though giving a performance that feels complete and free of the roles functions in the script. Only question is if she is just a girl filling a boy role? Androgyny of youth being used to help the film fulffill the Bachdel test? Why didn't this character click?
Charles Dance as Alan Jonah is a frustrating character. Dance exudes presence and gives a good performance. Considering build up though, his limited function in the story as just someone helping Vera Farmiga out seems like a shortcoming. His character plays a good philosophical counter point to Farmiga, who not only was wrong with her plan but also is going to risk it all once granddaughter's safety is not guaranteed. He is in an odd way pure, recognizing even with monsters informing the situation, when its man and when its nature being expressed in the individual. Farmiga could have been another shot in the back Monarch scientist, but her agenda matched Alan's. She hired him. She lost nerve when motherly instinct kicked in, and she wants to stop a larger natural force of her own. She put her daughter in danger and leads to a repeat of San Francisco - the two parents again traversing debris for their daughter while the monsters fighting all around them.
Dance doesn't stop her, and that's telling of the character. Its not his place to stop her, its natures jurisdiction, as she meets her end as a martyr of the situation she caused (there is no death or dead shots of Farmiga, but safe to say Godzilla's pulses should have killed her).
Farmiga's character of Emma and her relation to her husband make an interesting contrast. Not between themselves, but as a foil couple to the Brody family of 2014. 2014's family drama was just getting the family together. Here, the family drama is reliant on daughter Madison to break away from her mother's teachings and show that a good relationship with her father is possible. Because Emma by Farmiga has skewed views and skewed facts to prove it.
Upon watching the 2014 film after KING OF THE MONSTERS, its odd that Emma would choose a clip of post 1999 attack Janjira (where a mother character dies, let remember) to illustrate that MUTO/Titan radiation acts like a primordial ooze when Bryan Cranston discovered there was no radiation. While we get new footage of post 2014 Las Vegas showing vegetation and a news paper article talking over the rebirth of coral reefs, what is shown doesn't look like regular modern day flora. Looking into vegetation post Chernobyl does reveal plants with radiation resistant or metabolic features. Possibly reverting the world back in time not just by the re-emergence of the last remaining Titans, but the plants and animals too. Not quite what the character shells out quite though, no?
That's because Emma is nuts. Where as the family of 2014 were innocent victims, Emma and her family are people in the closest thing to the human seat of power in these matters, even creating a humans-as-an-alpha-predator roar voice box.
Emma is just like Alan Jonah - an eco-terrorist who did good to rid of holo sapiens centrism in viewing the order of nature, but takes it to a far extreme. Alan Jonah is a person who knows to let nature take its course. He lets it be her show and even let her have her way when hernprimal instincts make her turn one her ideologies.
Eco terrorism seemingly would be a good archetype to mess with considering franchise themes. This is a little developed theme within the Godzilla franchise. The closest to it would be Biollante, whose terrorism isn't for ecological reasons necessarily but money in turning desert into viable farm land. Therefore I am reminded again of GAMERA 3, a film made to conclude an edgy retelling right at the possible end times of the new millennium. Gamera 3 showed off ecoterrorism disguised how it was in Japan at the time - cultembers of groups like Aum Shinryko making their way into goverment to progress agendas with action. Where as He's ecoterrorists are good at being legal about this but come off as singular asexual nihilism spouting characters, we have renegade who poetically find themselves in the end scene (last 20 minutes is a big fight scene) doing the same thing they were doing at the beginning, looking for a child while the monsters run amok. Mother has to pay for sins and father gets back a child instead of losing both. If anything, King of the Monsters is structured well.
Other aspects of the film do not manage so well.
The G-Team, Monarch's own Seal Team 6, isn't a well built group. No G-Graspers or G-Force here. Instead, the rest of typical racial casting. Godzilla King of the Monsters isn't a racist film like Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but its typical. O'Shea Jackson, Ice Cuba's son, is in a supporting role spouting ignorance (Mothra and Godzilla, they have like a thing going?) and typical statements (that's messed up) are what he is given save for him being given the saving grace line of criticizing Farmiga and Kyle Cooper's parenting but inspiring the idea of where Madison is. Other characters are given this treatment (You're damn right is another line). This matters. I was driven by a neighbor to my first seeing of Kong of the Monsters. They were going to see Aladdin. Their choice was informed by a review that Aladdin was better than Black Panther. It seems like an apples vs oranges comparison, until we remember Will Smith is in Aladdin. The race card is in play. These are the skewed views on political topics that's informing studio and audience choices it seems.
The exception is the Chens, played by Zhang Ziyi. Interestingly acted as a dual role, the secondary role being a cameo to fulfill in a hinted way a shobijin parallel, there is a secondary side to her character. Serizawa dying feels better than Sally Hawkins, whose death feels cheap and not in a Janet Jason Leigh/Psycho or Drew Barry more/Scream way. But there can only be one person waxing philosophical about the monster, and Ziyi taking up the Serizawa mantle reminds me of Kanji Fukunaga's step down from Warner Brothers and Thomas Hill's stepping down from Legendary after Legendary was bought by Chinese conglomerate the Wanda group. Not as hilarious of a parallel as PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING (which effectively replaced Rinko Kikuchi with the president of Zhao Industries), but interesting none the less.
Poetically, KING OF THE MONSTERS ends with monsters bowing to Godzilla in a lion king esque sequence. It will be interesting to see Kong vs Godzilla shape up, for King of the Monsters (not a better film than Gamera 3) plays with the same themes as Gamera 3, and how will those be developed in the sequel could be a new achievement. Though plagued with Holywood typicalities, GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS is a good Godzilla film with possibilities for the future. Better than Kong: Skull Island and Pacific Rim: Uprising, not as good as Godzilla 2014 or Shin Godzilla.
But it gets Godzilla right, puts him in an interestingly developed world where man and monster did co exist. Unlike 2014, I knew off the bat this would become a favorite.
7/10
