Synopsis:
The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super- species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.
What We Thought:
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a perfectly fine summer popcorn flick. I didn’t love it nor did I hate it. It will do well worldwide and will set up the next film with King Kong.
The biggest positive of the film is watching my hometown of Boston get destroyed on the big screen. Sure Boston has come a long way in movie production, but most films destroy NYC, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco or others. This is the first non-Boston based film I really remember blowing up my city! I know that sounds weird to be excited about, but it’s cool to finally see Boston gets its due and get damaged. It wasn’t shot here, but seeing Fenway get demolished and the local area is a neat first time thing.
I thought some of the action was cool too. There’s no sky drop like in Godzilla from 2014, but the monsters have some good fight sequences and the overall action is decent. At times the CGI is as bad as a Transformers flick, but if you read me enough you know how much I loathe CGI in the first place.
I think my biggest issue with the movie is the storyline and how human it is. It’s the latest Hollywood movie to tell us how bad we are screwing up Mother Earth and now these resting Titans are out for revenge on mankind for damaging the planet. I get it, we are over populated and not taking care of the planet, but enough with the soapboxing already. It’s literally the reason one of the main characters goes bad and why all the Titans get released.
In a movie called King of the Monsters I don’t care about humans. I want them running and screaming and buildings falling on them while monsters eat them and squish them. I don’t care about a teen girl and her parents being separated. I don’t care about their dead son. I simply want Godzilla fighting Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. Give me some backstory on the monsters and let them go at it. I don’t need human bad guys fighting human good guys, just put a monster against a monster and let me enjoy.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is good enough to see if you’ve already seen Avengers and John Wick 3. I always walk out of these movies wanting more, but never hating them. You do get a lot more of Godzilla in this compared to the 2014 movie and make sure to stay through the credits. Time to bring on Kong.
Director: Michael Dougherty
Writers: Michael Dougherty & Zach Shields; story by Max Borenstein and Michael Dougherty & Zach Shields
Producers: Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Brian Rogers
Cast: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O’Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe and Ziyi Zhang
Running Time: 134 min.
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of monster action, violence and destruction, and for some language.
Opening Date: May 31, 2019
The Nerds Templar 