GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS
Rumble In The Bungled
But is he king of the movies? Whoa, don’t stomp us, big guy... We’re just asking.
RELEASED OUT NOW! 12a | 132 minutes Director Michael dougherty Cast Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Godzilla
We hear a deep rumble and an iconic roar, then it begins. Two behemoths, with a long history of battle, begin to grapple. It’s an ugly sight at times. At others, it’s beautiful. But there’s only going to be one winner.
Are we talking about Godzilla vs Ghidorah? No. Rodan vs Mothra? No. They all appear (as themselves, according to the credits), but the most significant struggle at the heart of King Of The Monsters is between action and drama. Two old foes, fighting dirty.
In Gareth Edwards’s 2014 film, drama won, of course. But the slow-build subtlety of that movie is dragged across concrete almost immediately in Krampus director Michael Dougherty’s take, as we return to the timeline and location of Edwards’s film, before swiftly cutting to an awe-inspiring shot of Godzilla smashing into frame. In the same sequence, we meet the family at the heart of the story. A married couple, with two children. No, make that one child – Millie Bobby Brown’s Madison, daughter to doctors Mark (Kyle Chandler) and Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga), who lose a son to Godzilla’s apocalyptic tread.
Skip to the present, and Emma’s developed a McGuffin that allows her to control the kaiju, because she wants… well, that strays into spoiler territory. Put it this way: in these kind of films, the moment someone says they’re the sanest person in the room, that normally means they’re absolutely bonkers. And bonkers is definitely the best way to describe the plot, which makes (monster) zero sense.
One element that does stand up to forensic scrutiny is the special effects. Ghidorah, the franchise’s golden dragon, deserves a golden statue for its surreal realism, somehow managing to look like a cartoon and a muppet at the same time. Take a bow too Bear McCreary, composer of a score so reverent and urgent, it’ll help writers hit deadlines for decades to come. The music is so glorious, and the effects so stunning, that when they cut to the set-pieces, you’ll feel you’re watching one of the greatest Godzilla flicks ever made. “Finally!” you’ll think. “Finally, they’ve got this right.” Then we drop to ground level, back to the humans, and things go south faster than Rodan dive-bombing a fighter jet.
Rodan, incidentally, is awesome. Mothra, magnificent. They each get introductory scenes that feel like they’re from other movies. If only they were.
If all you want is a monster mash, this’ll be a graveyard smash. But if you enjoy action and drama symbiotically coexisting, this is not the kaiju for you. Who wins the fight? Not cinephiles. Sam Ashurst
One of Monarch’s “G-Team” is called Officer Harryhausen, in a tribute to legendary stop-motion monster–maker Ray.