By Harlly Lewis
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a 2019 monster movie directed by Michael Dougherty and is the third film in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, alongside 2015’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong Skull Island. The film stars Vera Farmiga as Paleobiologist Dr Emma Russell, Kyle Chandler as Dr Mark Russell, animal behaviour specialist and ex-husband to Emma, Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell the child of the pair who is scientifically gifted in her own right and Charles Dance as misanthropic Eco terrorist Alan Jonah.
Godzilla: King of Monsters (Also known as Godzilla 2) takes place five years after the events of Godzilla as the existence of monsters is now causing chaos on earth. With the organisation formed to study and contain these “Titans”, known as Monarch, under investigation by the US government, other less savoury organisations have gained an interest in waking the remaining 16 dormant Titans, including classic Toho monsters like King Gidorah, Rodan and Mothra, to set the world back to a state of ecological balance, it just so happens that balance means the destruction of the world we know.
This is a very loud movie, both in terms of the amount of noise and the amount of stuff happening on screen at one time. But loud, in this case does not mean bad, but it is important to address this as some will feel overwhelmed by how much this film does in its 2 hour and 20-minute run time. However, when the movie slows down and gives the audience a good look at the monsters, particularly Mothra, the film is gorgeous, with images that would be really awesome screensavers. The action is as thrilling and inventive as I have come to expect from the MonsterVerse and I hope this creativity continues in the future films.
The actors perform their roles well, with everyone really pulling their weight. While none of the performances stand out apart from the others, the human story does take a bit of a back seat to the war between the monsters and the greater societal effect of their existence. This is truly an ensemble film with no one performer really taking a central role with perspectives being evenly spread across the film. Farmiga and Brown have a very believable mother and daughter dynamic and it is good to see Brown getting more dialogue driven roles as opposed to her breakout role as Eleven in the Netflix show Stranger Things, which is ironically also a show about monsters. Charles Dance seems to coast through the film as his villainous role takes a back seat to that of King Gidorah, but he still plays his role well when he is there.
The score composed by Bear McCreary, who some may remember composed the music for TV shows such as Black Sails and The Walking Dead, and films such as 10 Cloverfield Lane, contains updated versions of many of the classic Akira Ifukube themes for Toho monsters like Godzilla, Rodan, Gidorah and Mothra and this helps this film feel like a true love letter to the older films. To me the stand out Leitmotifs were that of Rodan and Mothra because these themes are distinct from the other music that seems much more homogeneous, with the song “Rodan” feeling like the panic that falls after a volcanic eruption, with the rhythmic beating of the drums feeling like a pyroclastic surge symbolising his role as the one born of fire, and “Mothra’s Song” written by Yūji Koseki having a regal yet benevolent tone symbolising her role as queen of the monsters. As the sound effects of the film are quite loud it tends to drown the music out at parts which is a real shame, but when the music can be clearly heard it is incredible, utilising Japanese choirs, Buddhist chanting for King Gidorah and Taiko drumming. The score also contains an amazing cover of the classic song “Godzilla” by Blue Oyster Cult performed by Serj Tankian and composed by McCreary which plays over the credits cementing the film as a celebration of the legacy of Godzilla.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a very loud, very visually exciting and celebratory film that will be followed by Godzilla vs Kong in 2020. The message of the film illustrates that humankind has very little control over nature, no matter what theories we come up with to give it order. As best said in the song Godzilla from the soundtrack “History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men”.
On The Brightside 