As we enter a new decade, it is time to look back on a movie that came out last year — not just any movie, but the monster movie to change the way we view all monster movies. This film had loads of anticipation behind it leading up to its release. Of course, it was Godzilla: King Of The Monsters directed by Michael Dougherty.
This is the third installment of the Monsterverse created by Warner Bros and many fans–present company included–think it’s been a rocky start.
The first Godzilla film, directed by Gareth Edwards, out of the Monsterverse was released in 2014. (Yes, it feels like that was an eternity ago.) Believe the hype for the sequel was insurmountable! And then, many of us — again, present company included — were let down.
Here’s are two main reasons why Godzilla: King Of The Monsters was the most disappointing movie of 2019. (For me at least)
The Characters
These leading characters in Godzilla: King of the Monsters maybe some of the most boring characters I’ve seen in a movie in a while. Its creators listened to the fan’s feedback after the first Godzilla movie and brought much more of the monster in this sequel. Good thing too, because the characters feel lifeless and aren’t fleshed out at all.
It felt like they were there only to give exposition…like, in almost every scene. Between every monster scene, we get an exposition dump, which is extremely disappointing. This movie — a monster movie, mind you — is too focused on human characters. They should be used to amp up the plot and build up the intensity. Instead, they bog the story down with stale writing, uninspired execution, and senseless decisions.
This really let me down because I was so excited to see the monsters but we got so little of them, only a dosage. I’m not saying the monsters should be in every scene but they should’ve been in the movie much more than they were. Whenever the monsters were on screen, the scenes were magnificent and the five-year wait felt worth it.
If you’re going to incorporate humans in a movie like this, it should come with a better script, improved execution, and sharpened acting performances. The script of this film almost felt like the first draft. Again, this was a five-year wait. They had years to work on this film and that is what we got from them on-screen?! Extremely disheartening.
The Plot
The plot was a mess. Was there real “reason” for the monsters to fight other than the fact the movie is called Godzilla: King Of The Monsters? The way this movie finally connects all the characters to battle is ludicrous. Yes, all of us want to see monsters fighting and destroying cities in their path but there has to be a logical need for all that chaos to occur. The writers just wanted to have cool, aesthetic fight scenes and not care any of it to make sense.
To me, it seems like there was no end game for this movie–almost like this movie was never meant to be good.
Godzilla: King Of The Monsters feels like it was only made to see Godzilla battle it out with Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. Rather than focusing on making a good-coherent movie, this film focuses on Godzilla fighting the monsters and that wasn’t as impressive as it could have been.
Yes, fans pay to go see these movies for the action and monster fighting, but we still want good movies in the process of this entertainment. Just having good action, astounding visuals, and loads of fan service aren’t going to cut it.
At the end of the day, fans want good movies and this movie had all the potential to be just that. Instead, the film was steered in the wrong way. Overall, this film was very disappointing after a five-year wait. Yes, the movie had unreal visuals, almost near-perfect aesthetics, great monster fights, and some of the best shots I have seen in a while.
All those aspects fail to save this movie, but hey maybe Godzilla Vs. Kong will redeem it. Maybe.
You must log in to post a comment.