Review: In "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," Humanity Gets in the Way of a Good Time

Scene from Godzilla: King of the Monsters

There are points in director Michael Dougherty's Godzilla: King of the Monsters that are some of the most beautiful, artistic scenes in any big budgeted American monster movie. From the use of light to the placement of characters, it feels like a painting come to life and its violent action is incredible. It's everything that an audience would want in these types of films, especially one promising a fight between Titans like Godzilla, Rodan, Ghidorah, and Mothra. When it achieves this, there's nothing like it. However, Dougherty's story is undone by the presence of another issue: the humans. As a film in Lionsgate's delightful MonsterVerse and its b-movie feel, it's the first misstep in the franchise as it's more concerned about exposition and set-up than action, meaning that moments of brilliance are undone, as everything is in the film, by humanity. It's a bit disappointing and squanders the fun of a film that has some of its best moments off-screen. 
As is crucial at some point in every cinematic universe, there is a need for exposition dumb. There is a need to explain so much of the world that it makes it easier to watch future films without pulling out whiteboards. For the MonsterVerse, this is that moment, and it doesn't live up to the entertaining mix of Iron Man 2, but comes just ahead of the muddiness of Batman v. Superman. What it does is cross off a series of checkmarks that work in a sense to create this world. Since Godzilla doesn't speak English (yet), this job is relied upon by humans. In this case, it's a private organization called Monarch that circle the globe following these monsters. Along the way, Monarch tells newcomer and cynic Dr. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) everything that you need to know, including that there are 17 Titans out there. By the end of the film, there's a strong understanding not only how humanity manipulates them and how there's a whole hierarchy to them.

These concepts are cool enough, but they're no match for the idea of just watching an awesome monster fight. Unlike the previous film that built towards one climactic battle, this one sprinkles in fights that see humans running away from chaos. While this helps to add scale to their peril, the camera chooses to focus on how Ghidorah tearing apart Antarctica impacts the human characters. As Mark's kidnapped wife Emma (Vera Farmiga) will have the audience know, humanity has caused all of the planet's misery. Godzilla, as much as he's seen as a figure of destruction, actually replenishes life in its wake. One has to wonder why anyone would want to follow humanity when monsters symbolizing good (Godzilla) and evil (Ghidorah) seem like a far more cinematic achievement. 

Dougherty decides too often to follow humanity down its path of observing the destruction and does so often at the worst times. Right as battle scenes are warming up, there is a cut to Monarch's viewing from an adjacent plane. It leads often to two-minute exposition scenes that diminish any power from the action. Considering that "Godzilla" and "monsters" dominate the title, one has to wonder why the film takes so long away from them. They're the stars of the show and are sidelined during their big moments. It's true that they do get to have plenty of solid moments, but again the direction treats precious humanity as being more important when all they need to do in the plot is stand back. 

There is one character who warrants significant screen time. Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) returns from the previous film and embodies a sympathy for the monsters that serve as the thematic center for the film. Whereas the people working with Monarch differ on how important it is to take care of the Titans, he has an undying appreciation for what they bring to humanity. Life is on the verge of falling to these monsters, and his optimism to find better answers gives the film an interesting wrinkle. Considering that the monsters are themselves battling for using power for good and evil, the debate among the human characters is at times interesting and thematically resonant to the bigger MonsterVerse franchise. However, it's too one note to fully redeem its use in the plot by the third act. Had the human characters been reduced to 25 minutes, odds are that the film would be a masterpiece of monster movie mayhem.

Which should be the case because so much of the rest of the film is so beautiful. When Bear McCreary's score kicks in as Mothra appears in the film, it's so magnificent that it could fill the audience with awe. The film is full of these moments that are so intricately designed that it feels like a paintbrush was taken to design every aspect of the background. The bombastic music gives an intensity that the film maybe doesn't deliver on. When Rodan flies into the film, there's something exciting about it because it's the one moment where the chaos is allowed to be more. Audiences get to see the fight for dominance in a way that's purely visual. Unfortunately, the rest of the film isn't confident enough to not cut to exposition that's more for the next film than enhancement of this one. The countless character introductions, all presented as some mythic caveman artwork, are given way too much time with little payoff. The film wants to make this world seem bigger than it is. Maybe in a few films, it will all make sense. Right now, it's just tedious.

Sure, it helps to make sense of how Godzilla will come to face off against King Kong, but there are far more wrinkles this time around than audiences were sold years ago when it was announced. Now there are more monsters to count for, and it may mean that the screen is more cluttered this time around. Hopefully, it won't be full of humans making the story more of a headache. Still, for a film that promised to live up to the monster mash 'em up genre's best tendencies, it failed on a lot of fronts. While it's thematically resonant to what's come before and sets up some interesting elements for the future, it's an overlong film that doesn't really get to the great stuff until dull exposition and cutaways that remind audiences of how humanity gets in the way of everything, including our good time. It's by no means a terrible movie, but it's a far cry from what it should've been.