Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a colossal failure, says Rashid Irani

It’s been 65 years since this massive beast first stomped into cinemas in a Z-grade Japanese creature feature, and Godzilla (or Gojira) remains one of the genre’s most enduring icons. He smashes, he hatches, he’s open to subtle subtext. This time around, though, even the smashing doesn’t work.

A sequel to the 2014 blockbuster Godzilla, …King of the Monsters fails in almost every respect. The plot is flimsy — Godzilla collides with three other outsized titans to determine the fate of the planet. The movements of the behemoths are monitored by Monarch, a scientific research organisation whose members include an estranged couple (Vera Farmiga–Kyle Chandler) and their teenage daughter (plucky newcomer Millie Bobby Brown). An eco-terrorist (Charles Dance) is also on hand to ensure the success of a sinister scheme involving these prehistoric predators.

Incoming director Michael Dougherty struggles to animate a slack screenplay that seems to think CGI malarkey can make up for the fact that there’s no story. Even the climactic smackdown between Godzilla and the three-headed arch-nemesis Ghidorah aka Monster Zero falls flat.

Incidentally, the next film in the ongoing franchise, Godzilla vs Kong, is slated for release in 2020. Anticipation has already reached fever pitch as fans try to guess who will be the last monster standing. We can only hope the next one will be worth the hype.

First Published:
May 30, 2019 19:52 IST

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