Film Review: Godzilla - King of the Monsters

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable
Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity Acceptable
Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

I have found that die-hard Godzilla fans are their own sub-culture.  I don't say this in any way as an insult.  But from the outside looking in, Godzilla is just another classic movie monster.  But on the inside, there is a rich history and tradition with a level of complexity that I find quite astonishing.  

This is why whenever you review a Godzilla film, you have discern if the movie made for Godzilla fans or for general audiences.  There can, of course, be overlap between both, but each film seems either to be expecting the audience to already Godzilla devotees or else the movie acts as an ambassador to non-Godzilla fans.

Writer/Director Michael Dougherty made a movie for Godzilla fans.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a follow-up to often maligned 2014 Godzilla remake.  Both movies take place in the same cinematic universe as 2017's Kong: Skull Island.  A group of scientists led by Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) have found a way to awaken the titanic monsters: in this case Mothra.  They do this with the use of special device called "The Orca."  However, Emma and her daughter Madison are taken by Alan Jonah (Charles Dance), the leader of an environmental terrorist group.  The monster experts at the organization known as Monarch, led by Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), seek out Emma's husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) to help them track down Emma and the Orca before more monsters awake.  As this occurs, Godzilla stirs and seeks to restore his dominance over the other monsters.

What works about this movie is that it does a much better job of taking us ring-side into the big monster fights.  One of the biggest criticisms of the 2014 film was that director Gareth Edwards would often cut away from the action when it became interesting and he would choose to view the combat from the least interesting perspective.  While this new Godzilla film often films the action from the point of view of the humans, it focuses a lot more of its time on letting us see these fights play out.  The special effects are very good and fill you with a sense of our own smallness in the face of these gargantuan creatures.  Doughtery knows how to use his monsters to build up tension and then release it in a cathartic explosion.  There is a sequence towards the middle of the film with the fire creature Rodan that is as exciting as anything I have ever seen in a Godzilla film.

The movie also does a good job of presenting Godzilla himself as a character without making him too relatable or too human.  Godzilla is terrifying to all the humans, but he is less terrifying than the more destructive monsters like King Ghidorah.  It reminds me of a line from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where the Beavers caution the children about the mighty Aslan: "He's not a tame lion."  There is nothing tame about this Godzilla.  The movie draws the fine line between awe, respect, and fear of the great monster.

The script is better than most Godzilla movies I have seen, but it still isn't very good.  The dialogue is stilted and unnatural.  The human characters are painted flatly, with little to make us feel connected to them.  Particularly annoying is Mark, who is very much a Mary Sue in this movie.  With the exception of his intense drive to kill Godzilla, Mark constantly makes out of left-field suggestions that almost always turn out to be right.  Yet there is almost no reason that anyone at Monarch should listen to anything he say.  The script also has the same problem as most Godzilla films: we really don't care about the human story.  There is a thematic subplot about broken families, but it feels like a distraction from the monster fights.

The performances are fine, but most are nothing spectacular.  A few exceptions are Watanabe, who brings a noble reverence to his relationship to Godzilla, and he has one of the best scenes in the film.  Dance always carries with him strength and dark charisma.  But almost no one else makes an impression, even established actors like Bradley Whitford, David Strathairn, or Ziyi Zhang.  They do what they can with their parts, but they don't have much to work with.

I found it very interesting that the main villains were environmental extremists.  Pope Francis emphasized care for the planet in his encyclical Laudato Si, but I have noticed a strain of misanthropy in some environmental movements.  These groups talk about humanity as a blight on the planet and that we have to preserve other life instead of human life.  This is such a diabolical flip to the words of God in Genesis when He told us to fill the Earth and subdue it.  This corruption is understandable in a society where we de-emphasize God.  Humans need to have their actions directed to a higher cause.  Without God, many would look to the world to give them meaning, but they fall into the trap St. Paul warned of:  "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  " (Romans 1:25)

But never explores the issue too terribly deeply.  The movie is there to show us fantastic monster destruction.  And if that is what you want, Godzilla: The King of the Monsters will satisfy.