Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released in 2019, and was directed by Micheal Dougherty. The film stars Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, and Ken Watenebe. The world watches as Godzilla fights other “Titans,” to see which will become King of the Monsters. 

     Kyle Chandler’s performance as Mark Russel is solid. He does a good job at portraying a Nathan Drake type character. Ken Watenebe is the best actor in the movie. He easily steals the show, and makes you feel and root for his character. In contrast, Millie Bobby Brown, as Maddison Russel is what I would credit as one of the worst performances I’ve seen for a long time. Never once was I convinced by her acting. Brown rivals Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones. 

     The script does a good job at letting the audience understand each character’s motivation, including the villain. Overall, the script succeeds at being intelligently self aware. For example, in order to help speed up Godzilla’s healing, the main characters decide to nuke him. And it’s awesome. The script understands that people aren’t there for the characters, but to see Godzilla fight a three headed dragon. 

     For the most part, the comedy is good. The dialogue as a whole struggles immensely. The character of Maddison Rusell is mainly there to say each individual Titan’s name. Many lines from several characters are awkward and written to specifically tell the audience what they need to know. It’s incredibly lazy exposition. The script spars to keep the audience entertained for the first 20 minutes up until Godzilla shows up, but once he does show up, it’s very entertaining. 

     The cinematography is beautiful. The film’s use of blues and yellows to help drive the story along is excellent. The CGI, and art design of each Titan is breathtaking. All of the action is amazing, and extremely eye-catching. Bear McCreary’s score is epic, and makes every scene far better. The directing does a great job at making you feel for and sympathize with Godzilla.

     There is a continuity error in the bunker. In one scene Maddison Russel is wearing a jacket, and her hair is down while talking to her mother. In the next scene in the bunker, her hair is up and the jacket is nowhere to be seen. This would be fine, except we’re never told these scenes are very far apart from each other so it’s very confusing. 

     King of the Monsters has several cool ideas, but unfortunately fails at successfully connecting them. The film’s clever self-awareness and captivating action redeem the mediocre script, and excite the audience. 

[My grade for Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a B-]