Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a disappointment comparable to the proportions of its starring cast. It’s dumb, but not a jovial way. It’s suspenseful, but not in a edge-of-your-seat way either. Instead, our excitement is measured by the times we sit and wait, hoping our dreams will come to fruition. It never does.
Remember when Godzilla (2014) hit screens and our title character remained submerged in the ocean for most of the picture? Eventually, he surfaces, demolishes the Golden Gate Bridge and fights TWO mega-sized foes! The boring human drama that plagued the first half was replaced with the stuff we wanted! Now, our sequel promises lots of battles with staple Godzilla foes, including Rodan and King Ghidorah, correcting the missteps of the first. But, it never truly offers a release for our held breaths. When Godzilla and company finally exchange lasers and radiation, the action is obscured by heavy editing, dim sequences and, worse, lots of cutaways to humans who just don’t matter. Instead, it repeats the mistakes and offers an inferior sequel in every way.
The film desperately wants us to invest fully in the plight anthropologist, Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler), who blames Godzilla for killing his son five years ago and desperately wants to rescue his ex-wife Emma (Vera Farmiga) and daughter Madison (Mille Bobby Brown), who have been kidnapped by the eco-terrorists. Lead by the devious (as always) Alan Jonah (Charles Dance), the terrorist organization plans on unleashing many monsters, who have been dormant for centuries, in order to reduce the human population and bring balance to nature. (Of course they do!)
The plot is inane as always, but the issues arrive early with the film’s attempts to surprise us. But this shock is undercut by obvious giveaways. The rest of the plot is in coast mode. Each character is tacked on to serve a singular, myopic purpose: Dad (Chandler) wants to save daughter; villain (Dance) plans to destroy planet; side-characters (including a sarcastically-quipped annoyance, Bradley Whitford) serve as comic relief. We also have Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Wantanabe) returning from the first flick, repeating his role from the 2014 film, which is limited to glancing concerned stares and whispering the name “Godzilla” a dramatic Japanese accentuation.
Chandler’s role is especially obnoxious with Russell seemingly knowing all the answers and solutions, while his military and scientific coterie react with dumbfounded faces. He’s constantly barking concerns: “You can’t do that because…” or “This is a MISTAKE because…” only to be proven right five minutes later. This leaves potentially interesting characters like the cryptic Dr. Ilene Chen (Ziyi Zhang) sitting on the sidelines. “Godzilla” won’t win awards for diversifying its hero roles here. Nope, it’s the white guy who knows better and can do it all!
Farmiga is subject to “Episode One” syndrome, which is a film that assembles a great cast, but their contributions are reduced by the lack of direction and terrible script. When Farmiga isn’t robotically channeling insipid dialog, she struggles to find the appropriate emotions that match her constantly evolving motivations. This leaves Brown, whose part is relegated to appeasing younger “Stranger Thing” audiences. If you saw her in the trailer, you basically captured the best of Millie Bobby Brown here.
I offer this long-winded synopsis of the human plot because that’s the focus of a film that just happens to be titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters. This is not a tent pole film that relies heavily on special effects and deviates from the human drama. Instead, it exhausts all of its time on the humans without actually making the film feel human — while failing to deliver on its spectacle. Like the 2014 predecessor, the film offers the goods is small doses. But, unlike the last film, this one does not reward our patience. The climatic bits are constantly interrupted by various human drama. The worst is during fight between Godzilla and Ghidorah, we’re saddled in the car while our human cast engages in a spousal quarrel!
The best bits are when the film shows a modicum of patience rather than trying to push a rather convoluted plot. Godzilla’s first scene echoes some of Gareth Evans drive for suspense and danger. Rodan’s awakening in a Mexican volcano also hearkens back to the glory days of Godzilla when the creatures had grandiose entrances and imbued dread.
But the geeky comic bits cannot be saved by the plot that includes ludicrous explanations. The two (unintentional highlights) include two monologue speeches in which the orator always has videos and images to present — even when they receive follow-up questions from the audience! (When you plan on destroying the world, have a PowerPoint prepared!) But, the best is Admiral William Stenz (David Strathairm, once again returning and seeming nonplussed by anything!), who offers a last-minute video call that is so stupid and forced — that is almost warrants the price of admission.
My rule for a film like Godzilla is that human drama must exist in order for us to feel invested in its story. Gareth Edwards lead me astray with Bryan Cranston — only to have him dispatched after 20 minutes. Godzilla: King of the Monsters has no human moment. People say they feel things — but we’re never allowed to share their emotions. There’s no moment when we see Chief Brody is sitting a dinner table, pondering about his guilt over the shark attacks in “Jaws”. But, Godzilla wouldn’t be Godzilla if it wasn’t focused on the big monsters engaged in big action. With a massive budget, Godzilla: King of the Monsters feels uncomfortable in its own skin. We see Godzilla punch and cut away. Later, Godzilla falls. Why? I dunno! The film only wants us to taste in the spectacle; never to feel part of it!
Despite my negative review of 2014’s Godzilla, I appreciated direct Gareth Edward’s trying to make the monsters a mysterious force of nature and carefully orchestrates shots which accentuate their size and menace. There were bits of suspense and excitement that are clearly missing in this sequel. The last fight — when we actually do see it for longer than five seconds — feels more akin to a video game with lots of noise, smoke and lightning.
Given its rather impressive marketing campaign, this is probably the biggest diminished returns between the trailer and actual feature since 2013’s Man of Steel. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is proof, once again, that a bit of passion and rubber suits can still be more entertaining than $200 million Hollywood fluff. After three attempts, Godzilla still can’t conquer America.
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