GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (12)
D: Michael Dougherty
Warner Bros/Toho/Legendary (Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni & Brian Rogers)
USA 🇺🇸 2019
132 mins
Action/Science Fiction
W: Michael Dougherty & Zach Shields [based on characters created by Toho]
DP: Lawrence Sher
Ed: Roger Barton, Richard Pearson & Bob Ducsay
Mus: Bear McCreary
Kyle Chandler (Dr. Mark Russell), Vera Farmiga (Dr. Emma Russell), Millie B. Brown (Madison Russell), Ken Watanabe (Dr. Ishiro Serizawa), Bradley Whitford (Dr. Rick Stanton), Sally Hawkins (Dr. Vivienne Graham), Charles Dance (Alan Jonah)
As the world recovers from the events in the 2014 movie, a mercenary group attack a crypto-zoological government agency, which leads to the subsequent release of a host of giant monsters, including Godzilla, and they fight each other for the title of King of the Monsters.
First off, I really wasn't a fan of the 2014 movie, but this was absolutely terrible. Bogged with scene after scene of exposition which drag the movie down to a suicidal pace, and though some of the visual effects are impressive, the action movies are too sporadic and really don't do enough to regenerate interest before the human characters drag it down once again into talking heads rubbish.
This may find some appreciation with those who enjoyed the 2014 movie, but I would name this amongst the worst films of 2019.
A further sequel is planned, with Godzilla taking on King Kong.
4/10
D: Adam Wingard
Warner Bros/Legendary (Thomas Tull, Joe Jashni, Brian Rogers, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia & Eric McLeod)
US 🇺🇸 2021
113 mins
Action/Science Fiction
W: Eric Pearson & Max Borenstein [based on characters created by Toho, Merian C. Cooper & Ernest Schoedsack]
DP: Ben Seresin
Ed: Josh Schaeffer
Mus: Tom Holkenberg
Alexander Skarsgård (Dr. Nathan Lind), Millie Bobby Brown (Madison Russell), Rebecca Hall (Dr. Ilene Andrews), Brian Tyree Henry (Bernie Hayes), Shun Oguri (Ren Serizawa)
Godzilla and Kong go head-to-head on land & sea, and even the centre of the Earth in this high octane continuation of the “king of the monsters” series.
The plot sees Godzilla turn against humans and a group of scientists using King Kong to obtain a power source for a machine which will give them protection.
The trio of human interest stories here just feel like padding to a wafer thin plot, with characterisation at its minimal and dialogue only there to serve as exposition and very little else, when all you really want to see is a giant lizard and ape beat each other up.
The fight scenes are excellently done, with superb visual effects and sound design, but outside of these scenes, it’s manages to be an incredibly dull movie. Nevertheless, it’s an improvement on the previous Godzilla movies.
5/10