Full Godzilla: King of the Monsters review (spoilers) · 5:29pm Jun 27th, 2019
I've been waiting for this for a while and I'm finally able to make this review. To my non-spoiler review, when I said 'I loved it' was an understatement. This film was everything I hoped for in an American version of Godzilla. I'm tired of comparing these films to the 1998 Godzilla. Yes, it has the Godzilla name, but it doesn't have the Godzilla spirit. Hence why it felt like a different kaiju film; but I digress. I will compare 2014 to KOTM because they are of the same universe. I've waited for a long time for the right time when Hollywood decided they actually wanted to get Godzilla right and make Godzilla fans happy for once. 2014 came close with having Godzilla resemble the traditional look of the Japanese films but still have him look more animal-like; that, and we got to see him fight other monsters. I did like the film, but it barely had the Godzilla spirit with just those two things. I will give them props for making a different soundtrack, but I think it's nothing to write home about. The human cast was okay. I enjoyed a few (mainly Brian Cranston, Ken Watanabe and the guy who played the general), but others needed a little work. The Mutos were fine. I enjoyed them for what they did and they had a great role with being the things to cause an imbalance Godzilla had to fix. ...Actually, I take a few things back, the film did have some things going for it like Godzilla being the one to bring balance to the world by killing those who would be an imbalance and that he's not here to just cause destruction. I liked that path it was taking. But that's as far as I'll go with it, everything else seemed bland to me. Even the trailers were misleading. It made it seem like it was an apocalyptic movie up until people saw the actual film.
Now then, KOTM comes around and it was on a whole different ballgame. When I saw trailers to the movie, I thought I was dreaming. Not only do we get Godzilla back, but he's bringing along Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah. Yes, I saw the after-credit scene for Kong: Skull Island, so I was aware. But seeing them in trailers made my blood boil with excitement. The trailers looked amazing and I could not wait to see the movie. I had a feeling it wasn't gonna be like Ghidrah the three-headed monster even if the exact same kaiju were in the new film. Side note: I like the idea of dubbing the kaiju as 'Titans' because I feel like that actually makes sense. Japan calls them Kaiju, America calls them Titans. Makes sense to me. After that more trailers started popping up and I couldn't be more excited. I felt like a 9-year-old just waiting to get to an amusement park.
Once KOTM finally aired, you bet I was going to see it. When I did, I could not take my eyes off the screen. And what do I see... what do I see? I saw an American Godzilla film done right! Oh my god, I was enjoying the movie from start to finish. Easter eggs left and right. References I could list off of. Surprises just gift-wrapped for fans. This film is a g-fans wet dream and the people behind it knew what the fans wanted. We got more Godzilla, we got recognizable kaiju, we got more action, we got actual character arcs with relatable characters -- even a side villain for the next movie if the ever comes into fruition. And the best thing of all.... we got new versions of classic theme songs and a new version of Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla song! Not to mention, Godzilla has his recognizable roar, too. Throughout the whole movie, I did not see any pandering, at all. I saw a love letter and I appreciated it. Hopefully, this keeps up with Godzilla vs. Kong.
Likes -
Where do I even begin? Oh, I know, I'll start with the titans themselves.
Mothra! What can I say about her? Her role in this film felt so different and new that it makes her stand out from her other incarnations. Her design is beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Though her larval form is different, too. Like the other incarnations, they looked so adorable you'd rather want to hug them and not see them get hurt. This incarnation of Mothra larva does not mess around. In fact, she doesn't care if she hurts anyone. You piss her off and you're toast. Her imago form is something also different from her previous incarnations. In some films, she's seen as all fluffy and colorful -- aside from GMK; that one actually looked pretty threatening. But with this new incarnation, you look at her as if you really are looking at a Goddess about to ascend or descend to any location you're in -- her bioluminescence ability really adds to the feel. But that's just the beautiful side to her. The terrifying part to her is that she LOOKS LIKE SHE'LL MAIM YOU WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!!!! Holy jeez, they could not make her more battle ready. She's got praying mantis scythe-claws that would make Kamacuras jealous, she has a silk attack that's strong enough to pin Ghidorah to a building, and, I kid you not I actually dropped my jaw when I saw this, she has a powerful stinger in her abdomen that she used on Rodan and brought the pterosaur down. If Mothra had venom in her abdomen, then Rodan would've been S.O.L. Lucky for him it went through his shoulder, so he lives another day. Mothra also had a symbiotic relationship with Godzilla which explains why her wings kind of resemble Godzilla's eyes. Huh, that's new. But, I also liked the idea of those two having a symbiotic relationship; makes them stand out instead of them butting heads all the time. But, as all Godzilla movie traditions, Mothra ends up sacrificing herself and giving her power to Godzilla (A clear nod to GMK. lol), and I was expecting that. Still sad to see her go, but the discovery of another egg hints that she's not going anywhere. In any case, this version of Mothra definitely proves why she is Queen of the Monsters. And would gladly bow to her.
Rodan! Man, it was nice to see him make a return. Of all the incarnations of Rodan out there, this one has to be my favorite. Classic and 04 are second and third. His design is amazing. He actually looks like he's made of rock and the way lava drops from the ends of his wings was a nice touch. His introduction was just badass and the way he takes off just wiping out anything underneath by just flying above it was just awesome. His aerial combat scene with the fighter jets was just perfection. And this might be the first time we see any incarnation of Rodan do a barrel roll. I thought that was cool. But what really had me going was when he got a chance to duke it out with Ghidorah in the air. I thought he was gonna bite it right there, but he actually held his own up until Ghidorah grabbed him by the wings and blasted him in the face with his gravity beam. After that, he kind of stopped and started working with Ghidorah after Ghidorah became the new alpha. Yeah, I would compare him to Starscream, but let's be honest here, Starscream goes out way more than Rodan ever will. Rodan may have been a lacky but doesn't go out in seconds... until he gets a stinger through him and paralyzes him. Other than that, not so much Starscream. I did like the one scene where Rodan shows up to meet Godzilla, but Godzilla looks at him as if what he did was just plain stupid. Can't say i blame him. Rodan did attack the queen. But, Rodan just bows and is forgiven. I'll say, Rodan was underwhelming, to me. It was awesome to see him, but I would've loved to see more of him.
King Ghidorah! I don't think I have anything bad to say about this incarnation. This King Ghidorah brought everything to the table and just threw it all in my face. This new King Ghidorah is, by far, the best incarnation I've ever seen. Each head has its own personality and it showed. The left head, especially -- talk about goofy and observant. That scene with it looking down at the humans was just hilarious. And the other two are like 'why are you just staring at them?'. I thought that was great. His fights with Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan were entertaining as hell. But what really had me going was when Ghidorah had his left head ripped off by Godzilla only to have it grow back. It was hinted in previous films that King Ghidorah can regenerate and heal over time. To see this shown on screen was just a treat and I loved it. Actually, now that I think about it, this version of King Ghidorah has taken a few inspirations from Grand King Ghidorah from the Rebirth of mothra series. Huh, interesting. Anyway, the final fight between him and Godzilla was just fun to watch. I thought it was surprising that, even though he had his body blown to bits, he was still alive when Godzilla held him in his mouth by the stem of his neck. Roaring and everything, But the moment Godzilla blew the last of Ghidorah away was when that put a smile on my face. I didn't expect that and I was floored. Though, the after credit scene seemed interesting and I would love to see where it goes. I even said out loud in the theater 'If they're hinting at Mecha-King Ghidorah, I swear'. In any case, I loved this version of King Ghidorah. I rank it number 1. GMK is 2nd. Classic is third and 93 Ghidorah is 4th.
And now we come to the big star himself. I think Godzilla was way better in this than in 2014. I loved his updated look, I loved his power-ups towards the end. Everything he did was just awesome. When King Ghidorah first appeared in the arctic and the camera peels to blue azure lights in the ocean, you knew who it was and shit was about to get real. His atomic breath has certainly changed, too. In the 2014 film, it felt a little weak but still caused enough damage to the Muto (which I found out the reason why Godzilla's atomic breath was like that was because the Mutos were making it that way with their EMP attacks), but in this film it's amped up to 11 (heh, Stranger Things pun. lol) and it does way more damage than what it previously did. When he turned Burning Godzilla (Yes, I'm calling him Burning Godzilla. Bite me!), I was on the edge of my seat. It was awesome and a blast to watch (quite literally in Ghidorah's case). Shame he only used pulse attacks. Would've loved to see how his atomic breath would've looked. Oh well. But, by far, the best scene was when he stood on top of a hill made by city rubble looking down as other titans approached him. Not to fight, not to cause trouble, not to even cause an argument (Rodan tried that and he got a scolding glare from Godzilla), but to simply bow to their alpha (also, Hi Muto, nice to see you, again). Godzilla lets out a roar to let those know that the true King of the Monsters is here. This scene should be a poster for my wall, I swear.
We even got to see other titans, too. Like the Muto, a mammoth-looking titan, called Behemoth, A spider, squid-faced titan named Scylla, and Kong in some shots. A few other titans showed up, but were only cameos. I even saw a name for a brief second: Titanus Mokele-Mbembe. If that is not a brontosaurus-looking titan, I'm gonna be disappointed. lol.
Some shots of the film were just outstanding. Almost like it took inspiration for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
The human cast was a lot better in this film than what we got in 2014. While I did love Brian Cranston's character, he just went out too soon and the movie kind of sunk after that. So, all we got was Arron's character and the others. Ken Watanabe reprises his role and he still does an outstanding job. That moment where he faces a badly injured Godzilla was just heartwarming and sad. He sacrifices himself to revive an 'old friend' was just a tug at the heartstrings. Everyone else did fine and they felt like how previous human casts in other Godzilla films acted. Millie Brown was great, but she wasn't the main character, sadly. I forgot who played the main character but he had a good character arc being a grieving father over the loss of his son after Godzilla's fight with the Muto in 2014. The mother was the same way, but she went down a path I just rolled my eyes over. The eco-terrorists were there and then not there. Huh, well, it was nice knowing them I guess. It was a side-plot, I guess.
Dislikes -
About the human casts. While I did like most of them, the villain's plan seemed way too generic and mixed. First things first, the idea of using Ghidorah to wipe out humanity because it's an 'infection' is like using acid to heal a broken bone. Did it ever occur to them why Ghidorah was frozen, to begin with? News flash, most of the Titans are there to protect, not attack. I say most because Rodan was classified as a destroyer. When Godzilla attacked, he was only there to kill the Muto, not humanity. I get you lost your child, but releasing a Titan to kill another Titan can only mean so much. And given that you released King Ghidorah to kill Godzilla means you shot yourself in the foot and blew off three toes. The whole redemption part seemed less rewarding when you're the one who caused all this in the first place! Bottom line, the whole cleansing message just doesn't work for me, but at least it's new. I'm just glad they went the route with having the titans fight to see who earns the title King of the Monsters. ... wait, so if Kong won his fight against Godzilla would that make him King Kong? Answered my own question there because it's completely obvious. lol.
The one easter egg they had in the film was used during the fight between Godzilla and Ghidorah, but it came out of nowhere and it felt unnecessary. Granted, it was nice to see it on film, though, I wish they would've built up to it. it was the oxygen destroyer and as much as I liked seeing it in the film, it felt like it should've been built up before being used. Oh well, least we know Godzilla doesn't get T.K.O'd from it. Ghidorah just walks away like nothing happened.
Aside from those gripes, this film had the Godzilla spirit and made me feel proud to be a g-fan. Hopefully, Godzilla vs. Kong knocks it out of the park, because I can say, in my own opinion, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is an Americanized Godzilla film down right. I give it a 9/10. Not a perfect movie, but it's right there at being a great Godzilla movie.
Still. Looking for that scene at the end for a wallpaper for my pc. Must have king Godzilla wwllpaper.