Godzilla: King of the Monsters

A long time has passed since the 50s, when a Japanese filmmaker wanted to show audiences the horrors of a nuclear disaster without being so heavy-handed in his symbolism...now that creature birthed from this desire sparked a whole genre of special-effects-laden movies with varying results, creating possibly the first cinematic universe. Hollywood has tried their hand at replicating this lightning in a bottle for American audiences, again with varying results, but the folks at Legendary Entertainment has come the closest to giving the people a true-blue classic Tokusatsu film for modern audiences.
And now, "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" has hit theaters with both critical acclaim and disdain.
Why the split in opinion though? Some people just want to know if it is a "good" movie and can't seem to settle on a consensus.

In all truth, giant monsters were never supposed to be characters, more akin to natural disasters given physical form, like if the tornado from "Twister" sprouted legs and a tail or the iceberg from "Titanic" suddenly being a fanged monstrosity. This is captured fairly well in another Japanese reboot of the Big G, "Shin Godzilla," where this devastating monster wreaked havoc and destruction, but on its own, had very little personality. But then, talented suit actors injected their own flair into the subsequent films after the first Godzilla film, making the behemoth and his cadre of colossal companions and enemies very distinct personalities and characters in their own right. Of course, the movies needed human characters to help the audience relate and to spout exposition/help or hinder the monsters in their brawling so it would not just be tons of spectacle without much story. Was that ever the focus though? Some could argue that human characters and their drama are essential to a kaiju film, but mainly, good human story can only enhance the monster action.

Indeed, the human story is probably the weakest part of this movie, which is par for the course when it comes to these kinds of movies. Some people still have a sour taste in their mouth from the ABUNDANCE of it in the 2014 movie, where the title character only had 11 minutes of screentime for the entire 123 minute runtime. Most critics have claimed the follow-up has the inverse problem with too much monster battles and not enough human drama.  I will have to defend the human portions of the story for this movie though, because despite what a majority of critics say, there is still tons of stuff happening on the human front that aren't completely a waste of time.  The movie kicks off with a scientist and her daughter getting kidnapped by eco-extremists for the scientist's nifty invention that can talk to the big beasties. MONARCH, the S.H.I.E.L.D. of this universe, have kept these gigantic critters under wraps for decades now and they try to stop them from waking up too many of kaijukind. Along the way, the King of Tokyo tags along to help fight the uppity titans trying to cause havoc and destruction. And when their atomic fire-breathing trump card is down, it's the dedicated humans who enact a plan to help bring him back from the brink. If that doesn't sound like decent involvement from these side characters than barely running away from the destruction, enacting foolhardy plans to stop something the size of skyscrapers, and just generally being annoyances, than what really is the point of having human characters?  Granted, like "Rogue One" I can't really remember the characters' names so much as their character archetype, and most of the time, the human characters make truly baffling and stupid decisions.

Which leads us to the monsters themselves, the true stars of the film. Without saying a single discernible word, these massive beasts manage to steal the show with their displayed ferocity, their determination, and of course, their fighting prowess. Special kudos go to the new Mothra, being a benevolent buggy, and the new King Ghidorah, who has a load of personality in its three heads as well as the malevolent vibe only a lightning-spewing, three-headed space-dragon can provide. And while I always had the inclination that Godzilla himself is like the Hulk, too dangerous to be a real hero and more suitable as a blunt instrument to be directed at enemies, for the first time, I feel like the radioactive ancient lizard can be considered a hero. Coming in like a hurricane to save people from certain doom, despite having no inclination to save anybody and having killed and hurt millions in his last outing, he can be seen has become a benevolent king to kaijukind and humanity alike.

Overall, a film to not take too seriously, as its highlights are the abundance of giant monsters battling, but not devoid of decent human melodrama and interactions. Watch it if you want a big screen blockbuster to fill the void after having watched Avengers Endgame too many times.

Left head of King Ghidorah was a strange addition to an otherwise menacing beast.