Review: Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the sequel to 2014's Godzilla and the third entry in Legendary Pictures' wholly unnecessary MonsterVerse, contains moments of visual splendour involving its Titans that nearly justify its existence.

There's Mothra, first seen as an angry larva before cocooning herself beneath a waterfall, from which she emerges, spreading her wings in angelic but vengeful lyricism. Mothra will soon find herself in battle with Rodan, an unholy combination of dragon and pterodactyl. Godzilla himself, who has been incarnated innumerable times since first appearing in 1954, is shown in all his radioactive glory. Yet the real attraction here is King Ghidorah, the formidable three-headed winged serpent who is also a surprising source of comic relief. The sight of its three heads squabbling with one another is enough to make one imagine them as new housemates for the What We Do in the Shadows crew.

When the film focuses on the monsters as they throw down in various combinations, then it is an enjoyable spectacle. The problems, as always, are the humans and storyline. Rare is the monster movie that allows actual characterisation, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters is no exception. Actors like O'Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Zhang Ziyi, David Strathairn, Charles Dance, and Bradley Whitford are tasked with breathing life into one-dimensional characters, succeeding with their sheer presence or, in the case of Whitford and Dance, hamming it up. Given more to do are Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Brown as the family torn asunder by the 2014 attack in San Francisco. Chandler's Mark and Farmiga's Emma are also at odds over how to deal with Godzilla and his ilk. Mark believes they should all be done away with, Emma believes that humans and Titans can co-exist peacefully. Caught in the middle is Brown's Madison who, try as she might, cannot bridge the divide between her parents.

There's less philosophical blather here than in the 2014 film, though what little of it there is still irritates and bogs down the proceedings. Godzilla, even in his lumpier and more lumbering state, still makes for solid entertainment. Even if viewers aren't particularly keen on seeing him any further, there are enough not-so-subtle hints that he'll be back again, this time to defend his title as King of the Monsters against the mighty King Kong. One can only hope that film does away with humans altogether and simply revels in monster-on-monster action.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Directed by: Michael Dougherty

Written by: Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields

Starring: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Ken Watanabe, Zhang Ziyi, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O'Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Joe Morton, CCH Pounder