Re-Review: "Godzilla: King of the Monsters"

[NOTE: This review is heavily laden with references to many details of Godzilla lore. As a courtesy to the uninitiated, I have put various links to places where you can get information on the subjects at hand. I highly recommend that you read them, as otherwise you'll have no clue what I'm rambling about.]

At long last, Godzilla: King of the Monsters has made it’s way to home video! Over the past week (curse you, first week of college!), I’ve spent my free-time re-watching the film, as I only managed to see it once in the theaters. I know I already posted a review of the movie when I first saw it, but I wanted to do a second assesment of it once I watched it again.

And, after a few additional viewings and allowing my thoughts to settle, I can safely say…

…it’s still a great Godzilla movie. I do still have some qualms with it, but it definitely lived up to the hype for me.

I’m gonna veer away from my usual format and go more for a straight up list of the things that I liked and the things that I didn’t. I’m gonna start with the cons and nitpicks that I had before moving on to the pros, if only so that we can save the best stuff for last and end on a high-note. Keep in mind, though, quantity doesn’t equally quality; just because the cons section has more points than the pros section doesn’t necessarily mean that they outweigh the latter.

So to here we go.

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Cons and Nitpicks:

• The physics of the monsters just feel off, especially compared to the 2014 film. In the latter, you could really get a sense of the sheer size and mass of these creatures. You felt how big they were. I didn’t get that feeling from KOTM, which is unfortunate, because that was one of the things I liked about 2014. There were moments where I felt like the monsters moved way too fast for creatures their size. I’m not talking running speeds, I mean in things like swinging their arms around or something like that. I get that they might have been trying to emulate the feel of the classic effects of past Godzilla movies, but I would have rather gone for the 2014 feel.

• I’m probably going to get a lot of flak for this, but I personally didn’t care much for the reveal that Dr. Chen and her twin sister are the MonsterVerse incarnation of the Shobijin. They make such a big deal out of it at Mothra’s hatching and when she and Mark are talking on the Argo, but then nothing ever comes of it. Mothra never has any real interactions with them, they don’t do the song and dance number, nothing. And then there’s her family lineage, having identical twins in her family going generations back. There’s suspension of disbelief, and then there’s that. Everyone points to the Oxygen Destroyer as the laziest easter egg in the movie, but at least it had an actual impact on the film’s plot. Which brings us to…

• I don’t think I need to remind everyone that the Oxygen Destroyer definitely needed more build-up and more clarification about what it actually does. I’m fine with it’s usage and impact on the story, but still.

• Outside of Colonel Foster, there are three named military characters, Barnes, Martinez, and Griffin, and none of them really do anything meaningful to warrant those bios they have on the Monarch Sciences website. Seriously, they’re really there to fill up the human roster, but other than that they don’t do much. I don’t remember Martinez doing anything, Griffin got shrapnel through the leg during the Boston battle, and Barnes is only noteworthy for dropping the Godzilla franchise’s first (and hopefully last) F-bomb. You could cut all three of them out of the movie and you wouldn’t miss a thing.

• As we will get to later, I am perfectly willing to defend the basic concept behind the character of Dr. Emma Russell. Her constantly weepy face, however, I will not. Seriously, I feel like she’s almost always on the verge of tears throughout the whole movie. You know that one meme, “The Many Faces of Darth Vader”, and the joke is that it’s the same face? You could do the exact same thing with Emma. You don’t even need to use one screenshot, you could get a bunch of them from throughout the movie and it’d look exactly the same. Really, though, I shouldn’t joke; I can’t imagine all that liquid seeping from her eyeballs is in any way healthy. She really ought to see a doctor…after she sees a therapist. I totally understand the people who say that they got tired of her. I don’t blame ‘em one little bit.

Look upon me and despair as much as I do.

• Dr. Rick Stanton is supposed to be a crypto-sonographer. He works in Monarch’s bioacoustics department. I think the movie should have played up that aspect of his work as opposed to making him the unofficial Director of One-Liners. I will say this, though, he didn’t get on my nerves nearly as much as he did the first time I saw the movie. Other characters, though…

• I really don’t understand why Sam Coleman is in the movie. He’s supposed to be Monarch’s Director of Technology or whatever, but he doesn’t really do anything besides being the awkward new “friend” for Mark. And the one time he actually is in a situation where he could have been useful–the jammed hangar door scene–Mark is the one who solves the problem. That, and he called Ghidorah “gonorrhea”. DO NOT BLASPHEME THE NAME.

• The cast gets over Ghidorah being an alien surprisingly quickly. I should think that there would be a moment where everyone goes dead silent with horror over what they’re dealing with.

• The movie still cuts away from the fight scenes. It’s not nearly as bad as 2014, where they cut away just as the fights were getting started, but it’s still there. The most egregious example of this is the Rodan vs. Ghidorah fight. I really don’t think we were missing much, but I still would have liked to have seen it. At least this movie has the decency to keep the scene within the fight itself. The downside is that now the fights feel shorter, whereas in 2014, you got the sense that the monsters were slugging it out for hours. Out of all the problems I had with the movie, this is the only one that outright confused me. Given how much of a Godzilla geek Mr. Dougherty is, I kind of expected more monster scenes than what we got. My only explanation is that Legendary got annoyed with him for every time they wasted money paying Millie Bobbie Brown or Charles Dance for a shot that they weren’t in.

• They really ought to have better explained how the Titans are beneficial for the environment. It’s an interesting new idea, but it needed expanding upon. I think it has something to do with them processing “harmful” radiation and emitting a cleaner, growth-inducing thing, coupled with the Titans being ideal for carrying seeds and nutrients over long distances, but that’s just my headcanon. Simply waving it away as radiation isn’t going to cut it these days.

• Alan Jonah is said to have trafficked in Titan DNA to raise money for his plans to restore the natural order. Um...how? I thought Godzilla and the MUTOs were the only Titans that were really on the loose. I can't imagine things went well when they tried to get ahold of Godzilla's DNA...

• I kinda wished we could have seen more of how Godzilla and the MUTOs rampage has affected life since then. Do people still live on the coast? Do they do Titan attack drills in schools? Are they trying to build walls like in that one scene of Pacific Rim? Y'know, little things like that to flesh out the world.

• They didn’t show the Maser Cannons. They name-dropped them in the Castle Bravo scene, but they didn’t bother to show the stinkin’ Maser Cannons. I think I'm more upset about this than I should be...

• More of a nitpick than the others, but I really wish Rodan had some sort of lava spit or something. I know certain birds can spit oil or even vomit on attackers as a defense mechanism, and it would have been cool to see in the aforementioned Ghidorah fight.

• Another nitpick here: I’m not too keen on how the tip of Godzilla’s tail as been turned into a rounded stump. I liked it better in 2014 where it tapered out.

• One last nitpick. In the posters, Mothra is associated with aqua green, but in the movie her bioluminescence is blue. I’d rather have the green color to differentiate her from Godzilla.

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So now that we’ve got the cons and nitpicks out of the way, let’s bring things up to a cheerier note with the good stuff.

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Pros:

• The monsters. ‘Nuff said. Seriously, I cannot state enough how gorgeous they all look. I wasn’t sure about Godzilla having the 1954 spine style, but I really like it, and I think it actually looks really good on the MonsterVerse design. Mothra is nothing short of beautiful; gone is the fluffy stuffed butterfly look of days gone by, now replaced with a sleeker design complete with mantis-like forlegs, a wasp-like stinger, and some pretty flashy bioluminescent abilities. She actually looks like she could hold her own in a fight now instead of just flapping her wings. Rodan’s new volcano-based look is awesome. He’s now literally a fire Rodan (ha ha [only Godzilla fans will get this joke]). Ghidorah is terrifying on a level that I’ve never felt from the character before, and the larger wings really add something to his look.

• Expanding upon the above, I love how the monsters each have individual personalities. Godzilla is a destructive guardian of nature, willing to do whatever is necessary to protect his turf, even if it means trampling a few buildings in the process. Mothra, while of a similar persuasion as Godzilla, is even more concerned with the well-being of life around her. Even during her little tantrum following her birth, she never actually kills anyone, opting instead to merely web them to walls or toss them into pre-existing webs. She’s also more than willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good. Rodan is a wild-card, cocky and arrogant until his pride is broken by his run-in with Ghidorah. Speaking of which, Ghidorah is terrifying in this movie. He’s always been said to be pure evil, but in this movie I could finally get a sense of that terror. He truly is a devil, destroying and killing for his own amusement.

• If you compare this movie with the other MonsterVerse entries, it becomes clear that Godzilla himself actually has a character arc of sorts. In 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, it’s highly implied that he was the one who attacked Bill Randa’s ship in World War II, and by 2014 he’s more or less indifferent to human presence. But after the events of KOTM, Godzilla is stated to be actively defending human settlements against the other Titans under his rule. Could it be that he came to recognize humanity as worthy of his respect and alliance after Dr. Serizawa’s sacrifice?

• The new Titans are fantastic. There’s Behemoth, a ground sloth-like beast with the fur and tusks of a woolly mammoth; Scylla, a nautilus-like creature with long, crab-like legs; and Methuselah, gigantic quadruped with a mountain-like back and horns like a bull. Despite their all-too brief appearances in the movie proper, they’ve already become fan-favorites, and rightfully so.

• I was actually surprised by how much I liked Mark Russell. In fact, I’d say he was my favorite character out of the whole thing. I like how they took the classic “Godzilla-hurt-me-and-now-I-hate-him” trope, but then handled in a way that makes him look a lot smarter and more likable. He makes it no secret that he wants Godzilla dead; but when he actually shows up, he’s not stupid enough to just tell Monarch to fire everything. In fact, he authorizes them to stand down unless they know it’s a fight that they can win. It shows that he’s not letting his hatred get the best of him, and that he’s not so blinded by it that he’s willing to risk innocent lives to achieve his fantasies. And in the end, when he realizes that Godzilla is actually essential to the continued survival of both humanity and the world at large, he’s able to let go of his hate. He’s also got quite a few moments of selflessness as well, going back to rescue the G-Team troops from the collapsing Antarctic base, and offering to help fix the Argo’s hangar doors to get the Isla Del Mara survivors safely on board.

• When you really think about it, and especially once you get past the torrential downpour spewing forth from her eyeballs, Emma’s character is a rather interesting one. In many ways, she’s a sort of foil to her husband. Mark blamed Godzilla for Andrew’s death and abandoned Monarch; Emma blamed humanity for waking up Godzilla in the first place and dove deeper into her research on the Titans. And now she’s invented the ORCA, and is trying to use it to create her idea of a perfect ecosystem. But things quickly go out of hand. Plans take a turn, new discoveries change things, and in the end, her vision spirals out of her control. She’s the folly of man personified; playing with things that neither understands nor has any business in playing with. And isn’t that the point of the Godzilla franchise? A warning about where the lines may be drawn, and when do we cross them?

• Monarch has really, really gotten an upgrade since 2014. Gone are the days of used-InGen helicopters and shoddy chrysalis containment arenas. The Monarch of 2019 now has a gigantic flying wing with it’s own hangar bay for VTOL craft, their own air force, a small submarine fleet, underwater bases, and the aforementioned unseen Maser Cannons. To top it off, they have access to loads of scientific, historical, and archaeological databases and equipment to further their research into the world of the Titans. It’s official: Monarch is my dream job.

• The ORCA is an intriguing concept. Not since the days of the psychic Miki Saegusa in the Heisei era has humanity come this close to establishing a direct link between Man and Monster.

• I know I complained earlier about cutting away from the fights, but what we do see is nothing short of mindblowing. You wanna see Godzilla choke-slam Ghidorah? That’s in this movie. You wanna see Ghidorah carry Godzilla a thousand feet in the air and then drop him? That’s here too. You wanna see Goji go full Burning mode and melt the ever-loving daylights out of Ghidorah before partially swallowing his head and then vaporising it?! Oh, yes, that’s here too.

• The scene where Godzilla shows up at Castle Bravo is nothing short of haunting. I can’t remember the last time Godzilla was so quiet. He barely even growls; he just flashes his dorsal spines in a threatening, but eerily non-violent, manner. As someone who’s deeply afraid of massive things silently slipping up behind you in deep water, this scene was chillingly fantastic, and the surprise jump-scare at the end capped off the whole thing perfectly.

• Godzilla and Mothra's symbiotic relationship. I'm not one of those people who outright ships them romantically, but they do make a great pair, and it's such a great reimagining of their interactions with each other.

• Something that I feel doesn't get that much attention. I just love how much color is in this movie. I get that the more washed-out, Nolan-y gray color schemes are a favorite for movies aiming to win big awards or whatever, but I honestly prefer a more vibrant color pallete. I particularly like the scenes taking place in orange dusk environments.

• The reveal of an ancient civilization that coexisted with Godzilla and the other Titans in the ancient past. It's such an intriguing concept, and I can't wait to see how they expand on it and what new secrets they uncover in future installments.

• Serizawa's sacrifice. I haven't shed this many tears in a Godzilla movie since the Big G died in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.

• The ending, with Godzilla assuming dominance over the other Titans and becoming the literal King of the Monsters. I haven’t witnessed a scene of an animal becoming king this epic since The Lion King. The good one.

• The music. Just…the music! Seriously, take a listen! It’s glorious! Oh, and speaking of music…

• The Blue Oyster Cult Godzilla song is in the movie’s ending credits. I am willing to forgive this movie for anything it did wrong for that alone. Okay, not really, but still, major points for me.

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And, I think that about wraps it up. I must confess, I spent so much time thinking of the pros and cons that I never really bothered to come up with a proper conclusion. And you probably want to do other things anyway, so I’ll just cut to the chase.

I’m not going to be one of those people who say that the critics are completely wrong and that the people who didn’t like this movie deserve to go to unsavory places. Having seen the movie a few times now, I can definitely see where they’re coming from, and I even agree with them on certain things. I had this sentiment from the moment I walked out of the theater.

But just because I acknowledge the bad parts doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate and celebrate the good. And this movie has a lot of good. It’s more than earned it’s spot as my favorite movie of 2019, and it’s definitely earned it’s spot as one of my top favorite Godzilla films. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I eagerly await the release of the much-anticipated Godzilla vs. Kong next year.

My final rating for this movie is 8.9/10.

Long Live The King.