Godzilla: King of the Monsters
(C or 2/4 stars)
I dug 2014's Godzilla directed by Gareth Edwards. 5 yrs. later were given, 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' (directed by Michael Dougherty). Does it measure up? Well. Any time Godzilla & the other god-sized monsters took center stage, I was in awe. Any time the humans took center stage ... I was colossally bored. Following the death of their son caused by the collateral damage that resulted from Godzilla battling the Muto in San Francisco, scientists Mark (Kyle Chandler) & Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) have separated, with their teen daughter, Madison (Millie Bobby Brown, of Stranger Things), now living with her mom at a Monarch facility in China; one of many zoological facilities that continues to research monsters {or Titans}.
Emma has continued to work vociferously on a device known as Orca that can communicate in a way with monsters by operating on a sonar frequency they understand; and that's put to use when the beautiful, but dangerous Mothra emerges from her cocoon. But then eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) shows up with armed men who kill people at said facility, steal Orca, and kidnap both Emma & Madison. Believing that humans are destroying Earth, Jonah wants to unleash the world's dormant monsters & let them re-balance the natural world order – this means that millions of people would die.
That doesn't sit well with Monarch officials: Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins), Dr. Chen (Ziyi Zhang), Rick Stanton (Bradley Whitford) & Sam Coleman (Thomas Middleditch); all of whom think that Mark could stop Jonah {due to his knowledge of the Orca device}. Mark is willing to help, but only if the military - like Admiral Stenz (David Strathairn), Col. Diane Foster (Aisha Hinds) & Chief Officer Barnes (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) - kills the monsters; something Dr. Serizawa is against. But with Rodan & the new "alpha" - a gigantic, all-powerful three-headed Ghidorah - now on the loose, they realize that their only hope to wipe them out & save mankind lies with Godzilla, the 'king of all monsters'. Mayhem ensues.
As mentioned earlier, this film is just way too boring whenever the monsters/titans aren't on the screen. And probably 1/2 the running time {an exorbitant 132 min.} is devoted to the dismal, deadly serious human storyline with thinly-sketched characters. Speaking of the storyline, to say that it is muddled is an understatement. And the lines of dialogue that come out of the mouths of our human characters are just mind-numbingly dumb; and don't get me started on all of the "fun" one-liners that a chucked out, as well. They are SO obvious & SO banal; you could practically say them out loud before the characters do ... pathetic. Furthermore, when tragic things happen to some of the human characters, the emotional beats didn't feel genuine or earned.
Now, on a visceral, monster-on-monster mayhem level, this film delivers. I loved the visualization of Mothra {beautiful with her shimmering wings, and yet, you know she's dangerous as Hell!}, Rodan {looking like a giant demon from Hell}, & Ghidorah, the enormous three-headed hydra that looks like it could take out a city with one breath of fire -- they all look amazing. And when good 'ole Godzilla turns up to fight Ghidorah at various points of the story, this film thrives. The thrills were there. The sound design is astounding; just like the 2014 film before it. And the CGI is incredible, too. I just don't know why these filmmakers can't find something interesting, intelligent or fun for the actors to do -- and these are TOP-notch actors being wasted.
Emma has continued to work vociferously on a device known as Orca that can communicate in a way with monsters by operating on a sonar frequency they understand; and that's put to use when the beautiful, but dangerous Mothra emerges from her cocoon. But then eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) shows up with armed men who kill people at said facility, steal Orca, and kidnap both Emma & Madison. Believing that humans are destroying Earth, Jonah wants to unleash the world's dormant monsters & let them re-balance the natural world order – this means that millions of people would die.
That doesn't sit well with Monarch officials: Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins), Dr. Chen (Ziyi Zhang), Rick Stanton (Bradley Whitford) & Sam Coleman (Thomas Middleditch); all of whom think that Mark could stop Jonah {due to his knowledge of the Orca device}. Mark is willing to help, but only if the military - like Admiral Stenz (David Strathairn), Col. Diane Foster (Aisha Hinds) & Chief Officer Barnes (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) - kills the monsters; something Dr. Serizawa is against. But with Rodan & the new "alpha" - a gigantic, all-powerful three-headed Ghidorah - now on the loose, they realize that their only hope to wipe them out & save mankind lies with Godzilla, the 'king of all monsters'. Mayhem ensues.
As mentioned earlier, this film is just way too boring whenever the monsters/titans aren't on the screen. And probably 1/2 the running time {an exorbitant 132 min.} is devoted to the dismal, deadly serious human storyline with thinly-sketched characters. Speaking of the storyline, to say that it is muddled is an understatement. And the lines of dialogue that come out of the mouths of our human characters are just mind-numbingly dumb; and don't get me started on all of the "fun" one-liners that a chucked out, as well. They are SO obvious & SO banal; you could practically say them out loud before the characters do ... pathetic. Furthermore, when tragic things happen to some of the human characters, the emotional beats didn't feel genuine or earned.
Now, on a visceral, monster-on-monster mayhem level, this film delivers. I loved the visualization of Mothra {beautiful with her shimmering wings, and yet, you know she's dangerous as Hell!}, Rodan {looking like a giant demon from Hell}, & Ghidorah, the enormous three-headed hydra that looks like it could take out a city with one breath of fire -- they all look amazing. And when good 'ole Godzilla turns up to fight Ghidorah at various points of the story, this film thrives. The thrills were there. The sound design is astounding; just like the 2014 film before it. And the CGI is incredible, too. I just don't know why these filmmakers can't find something interesting, intelligent or fun for the actors to do -- and these are TOP-notch actors being wasted.