The third film in Warner Bros' Monsterverse stable of Kaiju (strange beast) films has hit our shores and our skies and is set to go all-out with some epic battles! This time, Godzilla is pitted against a rogues' gallery of deadly destroyers, each with their own reputation for mass destruction.
GODZILLA - THE INTROVERT
When it comes to monster movies, a clear and visible personality in the beasts has always been a key element to my enjoyment. I have always appreciated Peter Jackson's adaptation of "King Kong" (2005) and likewise certain dinosaur depictions from the "Jurassic Park" franchise, as whether it was shown through a raw, primal instinct (usually hunger related) or akin to that of a devious human being with a personal agenda, seeing the deliberate motivations and communication of these creatures, is part of what distinguishes these films from just being expensive B-movies. In the western portrayals of "Godzilla", I have never really seen the same detail placed in its character. Godzilla for the most part has always been this evasive, slow to see, slow to rise, mass force of nature, that appeared for uninspired fights and then disappeared. The commercially successful 1998 version doesn't even bare mentioning and even though it made $379,000,000 from its $140,000,000 budget, it is probably the reason that it took 16 years for a Godzilla movie to be seen on the big screen again.
THE MONSTER RECAP - GODZILLA (2014)
In 2014, "Godzilla" the first of the Monsterverse films was released. The story centered around the emergence of ancient creatures that had been dormant and underground for many years and then due to nuclear disturbances created by the current surface dwellers - humans, they are awakened and quickly go about causing all manner of major havoc. Their natural prey in the form of Godzilla, would apparently always arise in synchronicity, in order to take them out and preserve the Earth, but the humans finding themselves stuck in the middle of epic battles, with massive collateral damage, formed a secret organisation; Monarch in order to investigate and protect mankind. Monarch is what links all the films in the Monsterverse together...
THE MONSTER RECAP - KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)
Following on from Godzilla; "Kong: Skull Island" (2017) is set in the 1970s and sees a team of soldiers, scientists, one mercenary and one wartime photographer, take on a mission to a new island, accidentally discovered by roving satellites. Led by a high ranking Monarch official, the trip is disguised as a mapping expedition, but really it is an exploration for unseen phenomena in the realm of giant creatures. What the team soon realise, is that in abundance, Skull Island births giant creatures, friendly and otherwise. Whereas "Godzilla" was dark and moody, "Kong: Skull Island" is a much more bright, fun and energetic film.
GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS...
Between the fight and devastation left by Godzilla vs MUTO in the movie that kick-started the Monsterverse, the whole world is now aware of the existence of monsters, that have been nicknamed "Titans". The Monarch group is now under investigation for its role in the whole saga and are on the verge of being shut down by governmental powers, though the verdict on what to actually do with the beasts is yet to be delivered, as Godzilla did defend mankind. Away from the tribunal, there is an escalating monster fever beyond Godzilla's existence, as the Monarch group and an opposing rouge mercenary organisation are all dedicated to awakening more titans. Both working with radically different agendas, the mercenaries' wish; is to restore the natural balance of the Earth...you know, the scenario where humans get wiped the hell out and nature can once again grow and thrive in city spaces. Their plan is to release all the titans steadily, one by one, as for some strange reason, they think that subtle annihilation is somehow better than straight out utter termination, but the best laid plans and all that jazz...
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O DEAR...
With a budget of $200million dollars on the line, one would think at this point in cinematic knowhow, that all the best efforts would go into making sure that audiences would be left with something memorable. But in "G:KOTM", the plot is immediately convoluted and messy and the personal motives of characters constantly changing...changing like they hadn't really thought out the consequences of their cataclysmic global machinations. The biggest draw for any creature feature is obviously the monsters and so I am annoyed at the repeated frustration, that most of the film and the fights take place at night or in dark spaces. Why is this? Why can't we see the creatures during a sunny day, with clear blue skies like in the King Kong films? And to compound this element, the camera work is too often, shot so close to the monster action, that I'm sure that half my brain had to reroute power, just to be able to make out what the hell was happening on screen. Also, amongst the monsters there is very little colour variation, we are subject to dark browns, dark greens and dark brownish reds, I know it's not suppose to be "My Little Pony" but that's as exotic as it gets.
THE WRAP-UP
A lot of work has been put into the effects - in fact the whole film, but per scene, there is usually something present to ruin the moment. The dialogue is clunky and corny and more than 3 times, it had the audience laughing in the wrong places. Then there are the motivations of characters, some of which change for no reason and some of which never made sense to begin with. Characters are being subjected to this mass apocalyptic, end of the world event and people are acting as if it's a mid level tornado. Characters are also quite happy to put themselves in proximity to the scariest beasts on Earth with no fear and are even brave enough to magnetise danger unto themselves with virtually with the same attitude. Lots of movement, does not mean that we are travelling in a coherent direction and because the layout of the story is scattered, incoherent direction is what you get. All I can say is some of the fighting, when you can actually see it is good, but I would say that this film is for die hard fans only, as for the most part the film just leaves a monster of a void.
The film is out now and the 4th in the series: King Kong Vs Godzilla is scheduled for a March 2020 release date.
The film is out now and the 4th in the series: King Kong Vs Godzilla is scheduled for a March 2020 release date.
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