Certificate – 12
Directed By – Michael Dougherty
Starring – Millie Bobby Brown, Charles Dance, Vera Farmiga, Kyle Chandler, Sally Hawkins, Thomas Middleditch, Ken Watanabe, David Strathairn, Ziyi Zhang, O’Shea Jackson Jr.
Running Time – 132 Minutes (2 Hours 12 Minutes)
When this film came out earlier in the year I ultimately didn’t like it. However, I wanted to give this massive monster movie a second chance as Godzilla: King of the Monsters is now out on Blu-ray and DVD.
What is Godzilla: King of the Monsters About?
Set five years after the first Godzilla, members of Monarch continue searching for titans and a god-size battle for supremacy begins as Mothra, Rodan and the mighty’s greatest nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.
Is It Any Good?
Once again there’s so much to enjoy, but again I still had issues with it.
On the plus side, it’s a lot less than previously seeing it on the IMAX screen. Actually, it works pretty well as an at-home film and you will get some enjoyment.
Meanwhile, I still believe these monster fights were wonderful on the IMAX screen. You never lose any of the epicness it brings and they’re still popcorn fun and enjoyable.
Dougherty directs this film beautifully and some of these shots, especially in the form of Mothra are like paintings. The filmmaker also does do a decent job of furthering the story and expanding it.
He also plants seeds for Godzilla vs King Kong.
Finally, the greatest thing about this film is Bear McCreary’s epic score that should be seen as one of the best of the year. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Hans Zimmer’s and Junkie XL’s Batman v Superman score and with Godzilla’s theme has a Dark Knight Rises feel.
Anything Bad About The Film?
I still believe the film is a good 20-30 minutes too long and if they focused on a couple of human characters this could’ve been cut to be leaner and better.
It would’ve helped with the boredom I think if it was roughly pushing the two-hour mark it be more enjoyable.
A lot of the human characters do nothing, Brown (while a massive focus of the trailers) does next to nothing and they waste the great Hawkins as she dies in the first half-hour.
Watanabe only speaks in thoughtful phrases and sentences. Finally, Dance as an eco-terrorist should’ve added to the fun but they waste it.
I know this is a popcorn movie and I’m not looking for anything deep. Just some connection to a human character with some good dialogue.
Despite my issues, this film does help with my excitement of seeing Godzilla and Kong go toe-to-toe next year.
Finally, I would recommend buying it on blu-ray but not until it’s on sale or under £10 or just wait until it’s on TV.
As The Blu-Ray Got Any Special Features?
If you’re like me and love your bonus features you’re going to love owning this because Warner Bros and Dougherty have crammed so much in, especially if you want to learn about filmmaking.
- Commentary by Dougherty
- Godzilla: Nature’s Fearsome Guardian
- Mothra: Queen of the Monsters
- King Ghidorah: The Living Extinction Machine
- Rodan: Airborne God of Fire
- Godzilla 2.0
- Making Mothra, Creating Ghidorah, Reimagining Rodan
- The Yunnan Temple
- Castle Bravo
- The Antarctic Base
- The Isla de Mara Volcano
- The Undersea Lair
- Millie Bobby Brown: Force of Nature
- Monster Tech: Monarch Joins the Fight
- Monsters Are Real
- Welcome to the Monsterverse
- Deleted Scenes
Verdict
There’s so much to enjoy from Dougherty’s directing, the epic fights and the fantastic score. However, the human characters and runtime ruin it.
The Bear Cave 