With "Godzilla vs Kong" out, it's time I review this long-awaited rematch... If I could. Sadly, the Canadian city I live in is in a bit of a pickle. Not only is the film not on any streaming service, but the theatres are closed as we enter a month-long lockdown. So, I guess the alternative option is for me to review one of the other films from the franchise. Despite being a highly anticipated follow-up, the sequel to the 2014 Godzilla reboot managed to become a box office disappointment and a mixed bag for the critics. But, is it deserving of this reputation? Well, the story doesn't help much. Dr. Mark Russell is approached by Monarch, an organization that studies the newly-emergent Titan creatures, as his wife and daughter have been kidnapped by ecoterrorists. Upon joining a rescue mission in Antartica, the group is shocked to learn that Mark's wife, Emma, has sided with the terrorists and has used her and her husband's invention called the ORCA to awake an ancient Titan from space known as King Ghidorah. Ghidorah's reawakening also relights a long battle between the alien dragon and Godzilla, which Monarch must relay on for both the fate of the human race and the world as they know it. The issue with the story isn't really the core narrative, but rather the sub-plot regarding the ecoterrorists and Emma Russell's motivation to release Ghidorah. Instead of just having the monster be released by human error or lack of knowledge, it's because Emma and the ecoterrorists believe that humanity should die from the Titans so that the world can thrive. Not only is it a ridiculous motivation and a lazy attempt to get some morals and themes, but the film is ballsy enough to make Emma a sympathetic character. On top of that, ecoterrorism is just simply a silly idea in concept as I find it hard to believe that people with that extreme ideology exist. Regardless, when the story focuses on the monsters and Monarch trying to figure out how to aid Godzilla, it actually works. There's a sense of dread, stakes, consequences and inner drama for certain characters that I think really works. What doesn't work is the forced humour by the lame comic relief characters. It's not painful, but it might as well not be in the film as it should be on a more serious feel akin to the 2014 film.
The characters is where things get really messy, since the majority of them are simply generic or unlikeable. The sad thing is that you can tell that all of the actors and actresses actually gave a shit about their performances, despite how one-note the characters are. First, there's Kyle Chandler's Mark Russell, the protagonist who is hesitant to aid the monster that killed his son, but later proves to be a supporter for Godzilla while also trying to get his daughter back. Mark isn't an awful character, but just a simple one. A really bad character though is Emma Russell, played by Vera Farmiga, the wife of Mark who reawakens Ghidorah and sides with the ecoterrorists. I already said enough as to why she's a terrible character, so let's move on. Millie Bobby Brown plays Madison Russell, the daughter of Mark and Emma who spends the film being rightfully pissed off at her mother for the atrocity she has committed. Brown does a good job, but there's not really much to her character. As for the side characters, it's also a mixed bag. Bradley Whitford's Rick Stanton and Thomas Middleditch's Sam Coleman are the annoying comic relief, Charles Dance does a chilling villainous performance as the unrealistic ecoterrorist leader, Alan Johan, and Aisha Hinds as Diane Foster is good at playing the typical military leader. The only characters that are actually likeable, aside from the monsters, are Ken Watanabe's Ishiro Serizawa and Zhang Zhyi's Irene Chen. These two have such great chemistry with each other as the scientists in touch with the Titans and Godzilla's role as the protector of the planet, with Watanabe being the highlight of the film just as much as his role in the 2014 film. The monsters of Godzilla, Ghidorah, Mothra and Rodan are also well characterized mainly thanks to the performance capture of their respective actors. It's really nice seeing the monsters have a sense of personality despite a lack of dialogue or subtitles, very much like the Japanese films. So, the characters are underwhelming overall, despite the strong cast and few likeable exceptions.
Micheal Dougherty takes over from Gareth Edwards as director and it's both a stylistic difference and an improvement in some cases. While I appreciate Edwards's more grounded approach with Godzilla being depicted as a natural disaster, the problem was that the film was both aesthetically ugly by how dark it is and that Edwards refused to show a lot of action with Godzilla. Dougherty ditches the grounded bystander look, adds more action and cranks up the vivid colours. Although the film is still dark in certain sequences, there's an attempt to offer more of a unique colour palette than ever before with each monster reflecting certain colours. The cinematography by Lawrence Sher is a mixed bag. While the action, adventure and suspense sequences have some great visual moments and pacing, the camerawork during conversations are just very flat and standard. The score by Bear McCreary is perhaps the best work he's done for film. From the rearranged iconic theme of the character to the foreboding, horror-esque score, McCreary nails the musical cues and additions to the franchise. The visual effects are extremely solid as well. While it never looks like the Titans truly exist on the same plane as the people, the CGI is really good in their movements and textures even though some environments do tend to look really fake. The action sequences act as a step-up from both the 2014 film and "Kong: Skull Island", but it does have a minor issue. While the fights between Godzilla and Ghidorah along with Rodan's rampage in Mexico is entertaining as all hell, the environments tend to obscure the action at times due to how dark, rainy or snowy it is. I understand that it's more of an atmospheric choice, but it can bother those who just want to see the action far more clearer. Regardless, Dougherty did a great job in covering for Edwards, with his only problem being the added humour that is well-known in his horror-comedies.
"Godzilla: King of the Monsters" is such a conflicting movie for me, much like the constant fighting between Godzilla and King Ghidorah. On one side, the main story is engaging both by the human and monster-level threat, the tone works when it focuses on the catastrophic danger that's coming, the characters of Serizawa and Chen are enjoyable along with the memorable monsters, the cast as a whole is very well acted no matter how thinly-written the characters are, Sher's camerawork during the action set-pieces are fantastic, McCreary's score is the composer's personal achievement, the visual effects are as good as they need to be, the action sequences are just as engaging as ever, and Dougherty's direction offers a more cinematic approach and vivid colours to the franchise that wasn't seen before in the previous American films. On the other side, the plot elements surrounding the ecoterrorists bog down the story to the point of stupidity, the forced humour and comic relief takes away from the seriousness of the dire story, majority of the characters are simply one-note and generic despite the talented actors and actresses, Emma Russell is, by far, the worst character in this franchise in regards to her actions and the film wanting the viewer to sympathize with her, the camerawork during the slower moments of the film can be quite mundane and bland at times, and the action sequences are always obscured by the environment. At the end of the day, it's an above-average monster flick that delivers on the kaiju action and spectacle while sacrificing the characters and aspects of the narrative. It's far from the worst "Godzilla" film, but it's nowhere close to being the king amongst them.
Verdict: 6/10. Decent, but covered in flaws. Still a blast to watch in regards to the monsters and visuals.
No comments:
Post a Comment