These Lizards Fight Good – Godzilla: King of the Monsters Review

This Movie IS For:

• People looking to see big monsters fight other big monsters for two hours
• Those who can set aside realism to enjoy said monster fights

This Movie is NOT For:

• Fans of Boston remaining intact
• Anyone hoping for a monster movie with a plot and/or significant acting (go read my Godzilla: Minus One review instead)

Brief Review With Some Spoilers

First off, I can’t keep track of this dang monsterverse, and I’ve clearly watched it out of order. To this point, my watch order was:

1. Godzilla – The one where Bryan Cranston is in it for five minutes
2. Kong: Skull Island – Rad as hell, had Loki
3. Godzilla vs Kong – Apparently, it comes after this movie…
4. Godzilla: Minus One – Not in this series, but so good it merits mentioning twice
5. King of the Monsters – Where we are now

In an attempt to understand the deep connective tissues that bind this series so I can fully enjoy Godzilla vs Kong: The New Empire in theaters, I’ve finally returned to King of the Monsters. I’ve been a fan of Godzilla since I was a child. Mostly the old Japanese monster movies, but I also have a modicum of love for the Matthew Broderick remake in the 90s. Suffice it to say, I know these monsters and I know how I like to watch them fight. I had low expectations going into King of the Monsters because the past movies (other than Skull Island) didn’t hit for me. I’m glad to say, this movie turned the tide. Yes, it’s dumb, no, there’s not a deep plot, but it’s funny when it needs to be funny, epic when it needs to be epic, and Godzilla plays another lizard like a goddamned flaming flute.

Monster movies have two choices: 1. Take the carnage seriously and play it like a serious survival movie, or 2. Ignore collateral damage and accept that it’s fun to watch big creatures wreck shit. King of the Monsters falls firmly into the second category. I had a lot more fun when I stopped wondering how many millions of people had died so one of our protagonists could say ‘That’s one juiced-up lizard’, and just started enjoying the carnage. Luckily, the carnage in this movie is great. That’s mostly due to an incredible cast of side monsters (Mothra & Rodan), and a very solid big bad, Ghidorah (or Monster Zero). These creatures are menacing, and the CGI looks phenomenal.

There are very few movies where I will sit through big CGI fights without lamenting a lack of practical effects, and this is one of them. Watching these titans duke it out on battlefields across the world is a joy. The human plot is thankfully very scarce and mostly limited to comic relief—sometimes even in their deaths. What little emotion the movie does try to show in its humans is really where things go wrong. You can’t have tear-jerking moments and also ignore the devastation, that’s two different movies.

Even with the lackluster human moments, King of the Monsters is a hell of a lot of fun. Like a lot of movies these days it’s too damned long, but I was thoroughly entertained throughout. The film also does a fair amount of world-building which I assume is paid off in the new Apple TV series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. Even without additional context, the idea of monsters lying dormant beneath the surface is an entertaining concept and provides enough justification for the fights that ensue.

Overall, I really liked this one and I’d recommend it to anyone who just wants simple monster-smashing action. There’s not a lot to it beyond that premise, but sometimes that’s just what the doctor ordered. Now I feel fully prepared to go into theaters and watch Godzilla vs Kong 2, which will doubtlessly pay off on all of the narrative threads that have been so delicately woven throughout this monster-spanning cinematic universe.

4/5 Stars – Big lizard shoots fire through another big lizard, and that’s enough for me.

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