Michael Dougherty’s 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters (GKOTM) is the much-anticipated sequel to Gareth Edwards’ 2014 film, Godzilla, and joins the Warner Bros’ MonsterVerse collection of films. GKOTM introduces three new monsters to the franchise, namely Rodan, Mothra and Gidora, which are well-known characters from the Toho kaiju universe.
GKOTM engages the audience from the beginning, giving us excellent and immersive CGI monsters and environments that sweep us up into Godzilla’s world. The colour palette for this film is mostly dark, with few moments of light. However, the moments of brightness, especially from Mothra, are symbolic of salvation, sacrifice and the coming of a new dawn.
Gidora, the one who is many, becomes the catalyst to bring humanity and Godzilla together in order to prevent major global destruction. However, it is clear that the monsters are the primary focus of this film. The human characters are simple plot devices and expository vessels, who are poorly developed and inauthentic. The dialogue is forced and simply there for explanations of events and the monsters’ actions.
GKOTM’s plot is riddled with continuity issues, inconsistencies, and is highly predictable. However, it is important to remember that this is a monster film, and therefore it is expected that the audience would need to suspend their disbelief significantly in order to become fully engrossed in the over-the-top action. The monsters are massive and majestic, and the action is massively exciting. The score is excellent and blends with the action flawlessly.
This is certainly a monster film, and not a human film. However, it is greatly enjoyable and satisfying.
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