Very early into the film, it becomes clear that Godzilla: King of the Monsters is not messing around. The action starts about 20 minutes in and continues relentlessly till the credits roll. The third film by production house, Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse franchise is a sequel to Godzilla (2014) which established the kaiju’s (giant monster) origin story. After saving the human race in the previous film, Gojira (Godzilla in Japanese) has vanished underwater until he’s needed again. Monarch, the secret organisation keeping tabs on Godzilla, have tracked down several Titans (ancient kaiju gods) all over the world. A scientist with Monarch, Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) has developed the Orca, a system to communicate with the Titans but her well-intentioned plans go awry, obviously. Despite the mammoth radioactive lizard proving his, for lack of a better word, allegiance to coexist alongside humans in the first film, authorities are out to eliminate him. This time, he’s been laying low but when other dormant kaiju are awakened, the King surfaces to prove his reign.
- Director: Michael Dougherty
- 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, Zhang Ziyi.
- Storyline: When dormant Titans are awoken, Godzilla must fight them to keep his reign intact
There’s a convoluted premise to King of Monsters , almost as if writers Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields drew up a story as an afterthought to meticulous monster mashes. In a bit to add depth to this Hollywood blockbuster, they’ve also tried to subliminally pass on a rather noble message: humans ought to be less arrogant about our position at the top of the food chain and learn to co-exist with other species. But with an excessively complicated screenplay and uni-dimensional characters, the writers’ benevolent missive is completely lost in translation.
Because Dougherty has pulled off such a spectacular visual feat with King of Monsters , all his co-writing faults are forgiven. The film is everything one would expect from giant monsters fighting to death on the big screen while destroying everything in sight. Buildings crash, fires blaze, piercing cries fill your ears and there’s a crescendo of light and sound unfurling, one after the other. The onslaught of monster action is everything you’d hope: the adrenaline is on tap in a free flow for all. In exemplary fashion, Dougherty successfully ups the ante all through, even when you think it can’t possibly get better. King of Monsters will thrill and excite fans of the Japanese Godzilla franchise as well as the uninitiated. As one character rightly says, “Long live the King”. Come for the kaiju and stay for exactly what you paid for.
