Review of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) by Davidt2051 — 30 May 2019

Godzilla KOTM is the epitome of why cinema was created; introducing the “Monster Madness” craze in the early 50s. Let’s begin with the actors. All the actors with exception of O’shea Jackson have pivitol roles, or at least deliver their lines, and emote their feelings with great professionalism.

Mr Jackson is just a standard Jarhead with not much thought put in to his character. The plot. Vera Farmiga and Millie Bobby Browns character, are kidnapped by Charles Dance character to steal and use a machine that is capable of “controlling” the monsters.

Charles Dances character wants to use the machine to destroy humanity, so that he can rebuild the planet, with the radiation the Titans emanate (the radiation causes the earths vegetation to grow exponentially) I want to remind you that Ghidorah (3 headed dragon) is not the main antagonist, he is just a plot device, a mindless creature that was set loose just like the Indominus Rex in Jurassic World.

Charles Dance is the real antagonist. The rest of the cast aren’t really developed which isn’t bad, this is a summer monster movie after all. People complained how Millie Bobby Brown was just a 1 dimensional screaming girl.

And my rebuttal is, wouldn’t you be the same in this apocalyptic crisis? I hate how leading roles who portray a normal person needs to have some “grand purpose” it just feels shoe horned in. If their is 2 things that I didn’t really like about the film, is how Millie Bobby Brown is able to steal the Orca device, and somehow know how to use it Now I’m not annoyed that she steals it, in the film, the terrorist and Charles Dances character are in a state of panic and distress.

Their is no reason to guard the Orca, because 1. Vera Farmiga (supposedly) is the only person who knows how to use it. And 2. It’s the end of the world. The Orca is the last thing they want to touch, since it summoned all the monsters.

(They wanted to release one monster at a time, released Ghidorah first and underestimated Ghidorahs power) I also didn’t quite understand why Vera Farmiga character wanted to use the monsters to redeem herself for the death of her son that died in the beginning during the San Francisco attack in 2014.

The pacing was great! their are more monster scenes and less exposition in this one. Every scene had a reason for it to be there. If a fight wasn’t happening, the cast would explain why they are headed to a destination, or the motives of the terrorist.

The CGI is good. People complain of how the scenes are dark or rainy but the reason why the films are portrayed that way is not just to show a sense of scale, but because these monsters are larger then life.

The snow or rain effects are implemented to “distract” the audience to convey realism rather than a giant CGI monster. This tactic was used in other giant monster films like Pacific Rim. Movie directors want to implement humans as well as CGI so that we as an audience can get an idea of how massive these monsters are in comparison, without the human element, and just the single monster standing there, our perspective of the creature diminishes.

My final thoughts are this. The plot of Godzilla KOTM is ridiculously over the top, but that doesn’t mean it’s flawed. There is a villain with a clear motive, and the protagonist have a goal to lure, direct, and even heal Godzilla to fight Ghidorah.

(Because they tried to nuke them with a special weapon and it didn’t work) And that’s all that needs to be said. The radiation plot is a bit weird, but whatever. As long as the plot doesn’t contradict itself, we as an audience must not put our own sense of reality in a film devoid of any realistic properties.

This is a movie of a monster fighting other monsters. Anyone who assumed that this film has a deep metaphorical meaning that makes you feel “smart” for figuring out the directors hidden messages; look else where, because Godzilla King of the Monsters Is not that movie.

Just like a boxing match or a UFC fight, we watch them for the fight itself. If you want plot and motives and drama in your fights, then watch pro wrestling.