THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
We knew that Hollywood wouldn't stop making movies of Godzilla after their success of the 2014 outing. Meaning that fans and moviegoers alike became excited when a sequel was around the corner.
PLOT
2019's King of the Monsters takes place years after Godzilla defeated the MUTOs in San Francisco. Monarch agent Emma Russell has been grieving over the death of her son Andrew who died in the city at the time of the catastrophic event. She lives in China with her teenage daughter Madison who are studying another creature known as Mothra. The new "Titan" hatches from egg revealing its larva form. Emma uses her sonar device, the Orca, one that can emit frequencies only Titans can hear and it successfully works. However, she and her daughter are abducted by eco terrorist Alan Jonah. When Dr. Serizawa, Dr. Graham (Sally Hawkins) and Dr. Sam Coleman discover this, they alert Emma's ex husband, Mark, who blames Godzilla for his son's death. When seeing the footage of his family's abduction, he chooses to go with the Monarch group. He explains that the prototype for an Orca was meant for communicating with whales, meaning he had no idea Emma was designing one for Titans. They first visit an underwater control center that tracks Godzilla. There, he meets crypto-sonographer Rick Stanton, Colonel Diane Foster (Aisha Hinds) and mythologist Ilene Chen. When Godzilla makes his presence known, Mark suggests to look at his tracks history, which shows him repeatedly passing an Antarctic base. The base contains a three headed Titan known as Monster Zero, the ancient rival to Zilla. Team Monarch heads there, believing that Jonah and Mark's family are there. At the base, there is a crossfire between Foster's crew and Jonah's men but when Mark attempts to rescue Madison, she chooses to stay and Emma detonates explosives to destroy the ice Monster Zero is stuck in. As both groups attempt to flee, Emma uses the Orca to wake up the three headed monster. When it does, it attacks everyone on the ground. Madison temporarily misuses the Orca in order to buy time for her dad to escape. Godzilla shows up to fight his foe but is unable to get the upperhand. It pushes him into the crevice, crushes Dr. Graham and flies off. Emma makes contact with Monarch, explaining that freeing all the Titans might cull the human race but will restore balance. Mark calls out his ex wife, knowing that she did this out of the grief of their dead son. She does continue her goal by freeing Rodan in an outpost in Mexico. As the civilians evacuates, Rodan reduces the city to rubble due to the downward thrust of its wings. Monster Zero appears and defeats the fire demon but Godzilla returns to finish his foe, almost succeeding in ripping off one of the three heads. As Monarch flees from the conflict again, they get a message from Admiral Stenz (David Strahairn) that an 'oxygen destroyer' is sent to wipe them out. After the blast, Godzilla is unconscious but Zero regrows a new head as it and Rodan recovers. Zero than roars so loud that it wakes up the other Titans around the world, becoming the new king of monsters. This ruins Emma's plan as she originally wanted to release them one at a time. Madison now resents her mother for actions as the world around them is ending. At the Monarch ship, the USS ARGO, Chen discovers through her research that Monster Zero is an alien known as Ghidorah who wanted to terraform the planet, meaning that its invasion made itself a rival to Godzilla. During the chaos, Dr. Brooks (Joe Morton) and Dr. Ling see Mothra emerge from her cocoon in China. She flies to their facility near the Bermuda Triangle where she can communicate with Godzilla, implying their symbiotic relationship. Because of this, they discover that he is recuperating underwater. They find a tunnel where he is consuming radiation. Because they need his help now, Serizawa take a nuke to Godzilla's sleeping chamber to give him the energy he needs. When it goes off, Serizawa dies but Godzilla is now stronger than before. Madison sneaks from the hidden base and takes the Orca. She goes to a stadium in Boston, Massachusetts to broadcast a frequency that the Titans will all hear. Monarch tracks this down but so does Ghidorah. The three headed beast attempts to kill her but she is saved by Godzilla. The two creatures fight one last time, while Rodan and Mothra fight each other. Mothra is able to wound Rodan but is also wounded in the process. When Godzilla gets pinned down, she gives him the last of her energy as she is killed by Ghidorah. Emma leaves Jonah to find her daughter and with Mark, they succeed in doing so. They fix the Orca as it was damaged when Ghidorah was chasing Maddie. She and Mark enter another Monarch airship to evacuate, but Emma stays behind to distract the alien. She does die but not in the hands of Ghidorah, but due to a thermonuclear explosion caused by Godzila. As the king finally slays his foe, the other Titans arrive and bow to him. The film ends during a credits montage, showing headlines of a massive egg being found, 'Godzilla putting Titans in check', 'Titans head to Skull Island' and a mural revealing there was conflict between Godzilla and Kong once before. There is also a post credit scene of Jonah picking up Ghidorah's severed head in Mexico.
THOUGHTS
When seeing this film in theaters back in 2019, I recall thinking "Got damn!' because this movie was a pretty fun film. Godzilla movies are normally fun and this one was no exception. Michael Dougherty succeeds in bringing back that aspect while also continuing Legendary's Monster Verse. When hearing the score by Bear McCreary, a new cover to Godzilla’s theme song and improved CGI to make this monsters a spectacle to witness, along with Lawrence Sher’s cinematography, this was clearly a movie meant for the fans. To back it up, they had the most clever Easter eggs ever. From revealing the oxygen destroyer, a bomb from the ‘54 classic, to Godzilla going thermonuclear like in 1995's Godzilla vs Destroyah, to confirming the 'Hollow Earth' theory from Kong: Skull Island, I mean that is clever writing by Dougherty, Zac Shields and Max Borenstein. What I respect highly is the hidden message between the iconic characters I saw in my interpretation. We always know that Godzilla is the original symbol of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings but it's much more than that here. When it comes to Ghidorah, you are terrified by its height, three heads and abilities. I mean who wouldn't be afraid of something that can cause the impossible that are Category 6 hurricanes? But that's where it gets interesting because the fact that humans are responsible for freeing this creature and ignored the dangers, lays out the allegory for me. In my eyes, this creature reflects the unprecedented destruction of man made climate change. As for Godzilla, he is a force of nature that can't be controlled, meaning that he is the natural world while Ghidorah is mankind's destruction. Mothra on the other hand represents youth not just because she had hatched when the story began but it reflects how powerful youth can be with combined efforts, how they can make a nation stronger and how in maturity, they can pass what they achieved to the next generation. Mankind can come back from the wrath of a climate crisis but must appreciate nature, not control it. And with Rodan, he arguably has Godzilla's original message of nuclear threats due to how he glides across Mexico. While I appreciate a new message presented in the franchise and felt that a lot that has improved in comparison, but I don't like this more than we got in 2014 is because there were many gripes in this outing. The first of many is how there were moments where the view of the action is blocked by aircrafts way too many times to a point where it's annoying. As for the story, there were some flaws where I'm still itching my head about. While it was a coincidence for Emma to successfully use the Orca on Mothra right when Madison shows up but she is taking a giant risk allow her touch the dangerous creature. If Monarch was on high alert, why didn't the emergency codes change? If they wanted to prevent Jonah from infiltrating more bases, that would've delayed releasing Ghidorah. And if people outside Ghidorah's outpost got killed, why didn't people inside send an alarm? Again, Jonah could've been delayed if that was the case. I know Mark is a civilian but he should not reveal his presence in a shootout when attempting to save his family. And how the hell did they have footage of Kong's murals back in Skull Island? I know that Weaver may have taken pictures but actual footage is totally different. If you're telling me more people have visited the island after what occurred in the 70s, that should be explained. I also can't believe how easy it was for Madison to escape the bunker with the Orca. I understand that leaving was inevitable for but if Jonah wanted to keep the Orca, he should've locked the gates incase anyone would attempt to take it. And how is Jonah gonna carry a load of a severed monster head? I find it disappointing that Godzilla vs. Kong didn't explain this. Lastly, how did Rodan survive the blast considering he got stabbed by Mothra prior? I know this is a cool creature but if you wanted to be slightly realistic, you should've killed off Rodan as well. Ignore this and we still have another fun monster movie on our hands. Oddly, I mixed feelings about the cast as some impressed me and some did not. Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga basically reflect two paths of grief and I think they own it. For Mark, he is basically on the path of acceptance while Emma fell so deep that her brilliant mind became unorthodox, based on her actions. The only time you respect her is the fact that she distracts Ghidorah in order for her family to escape Godzilla's blast. I wasn't sure what to expect from Millie Bobby Brown but I did enjoy her when she was present as Madison. She is likable because of how she is the best of both worlds, as in expresses both perspectives of her parents. She tries to see a benefit out of the Titans like her mother did, while also accepts the truth like her father does. She was smart to use the Orca because while it risks her life, it was the best way to lure Ghidorah until Godzilla showed up. That is why she smiles when the giant lizard appears because that was part of the plan. I didn't like Thomas Middleditch as Sam Coleman. He doesn't make me laugh here like he would on HBO's Silicon Valley. Confusing the name Ghidorah with gonorrhea is the laziest joke I've ever heard and he phones it so badly. I think it was intentional for Bradley Whitford to make laugh as Rick Stanton but at the same time, I think he made me laugh more than expected. I am not having a straight face when he is hoping for Godzilla to get back up after the oxygen destroyer. Casting Zhang Ziyi as both Elene and Ling Chen was genius as you are implying that they are Mothra's fairies. Based on how both twin sisters look at the Queen of Monsters, you truly sense the connection. Charles Dance kept things interesting with the role of Alan Jonah. Since he is an eco terrorist, the guy is going to be firm of all disillusions he believes in. Because of that, it was so odd that he didn't return for the crossover. Last but not least, returning actor Ken Watanabe was honestly the best thing about the human cast as Dr. Serizawa. Compare this sequel to the predecessor, you could see some growth to him that he was open minded to Mark's ideas in comparison of being against nukes. His death is meaningful because he is using a device that killed his father years ago but using it for good just expresses his own personal closure. He called Godzilla his friend because of the connection he had that he can restore balance, and this sacrifice backs it up. All of that sums up the depth of this character all along. In short, Godzilla: King of the Monsters will remain as another fun movie of the ongoing franchise. If you love monster films like this, see it now.
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