Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Godzilla: King of Monsters - Movie Review (3/5 stars)

By Hamza Shafique (Instagram / Facebook)


What do you expect when you go for movies like Godzilla, King Kong and Meg? Of course, some crazy, well-choreographed, visually spectacular, CGI heavy Monster action on screen and from that perspective Godzilla: King of Monsters has full marks. What I feel this franchise still lacks is a plausible narrative, but Monster part especially the action is so amazingly done, that it covers for it in this installment.



I know this is a Monsterverse filled with creatures like 3 headed flying lizards, which can never have a connection to the real world and most of us are there just to enjoy these massive creatures fight on screen but still the main elements of the story which create the norms of this cinematic world and the conflict that takes narrative forward need to connect and flow naturally with the audience and this is where it lacks especially the human part is very weak , All the characters are half cooked and especially when antagonist reveals what she is doing and why she is doing it , it didn’t make sense to me considering her motivation and felt more like lazy writing, just to reuse an element that has been used in countless movies before and in 100 times more convincing manner. This is the fundamental and only flaw in the screenplay. Otherwise Screenplay is fast paced, covers all the ground and gives right space to all the monster action required.


All the monsters on display here are well conceived and they put on a larger than life show on screen. As an audience you may not connect to the human part of the movie, but I am sure you will connect to the monsters here as if they are humans. In fact, Godzilla is the main protagonist here while King Ghidorah is the main antagonist with the level that matches that of Thanos in terms of grandeur. Usually action in such monster movies is pretty basic, loud and brainless with a lot of destruction but here each monster seems to have its individual characteristic along with a purpose which makes action sequences a lot more enjoyable and meaningful.  


Production quality is great, this is a very CGI heavy film and yet at no point you feel that these monsters don’t exist in real life. There are so many characters in the movie and are performed appropriately. Kyle Chandler as Dr. Mark Russell and Vera Farmiga as Dr. Emma Russell as estranged couple are convincing but highlight for me was ‘Stranger Things’ famed Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell, she got the best part and has delivered accordingly as well.


Overall, I really enjoyed my time at cinema. I will suggest, don’t think too much and surrender yourself to the world Michael Dougherty creates here, to enjoy this epic monster spectacular to the max. I go with 3 stars.

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