Images courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
3/10 Godzilla: King of the Monsters tries to be almost everything to almost everyone. Unfortunately, the one thing it isn’t trying to be is a giant monster movie for people who just wanted to watch a giant monster movie.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters focuses on the Russell family, parents Kyle and Emma (Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga) and daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown). The family was torn apart in 2014’s Godzilla when Madison’s brother was killed during the monsters’ rampage through San Francisco. Now, five years later, Emma Russell has developed a sonic device that can control Godzilla and the other “titans,” but she, Madison, and the device are all kidnapped by eco-terrorist Col. Alan Jonah (Charles Dance). Kyle Russell, who had been helping his wife develop the device but turned to drink after their son’s death, is called in by Monarch, the secret government organization that handles giant monster business, to help track the device down and rescue his family.
Emma Russell awakens several other monsters, including King Ghidorah and Rodan the Fire Demon, and they have fights with Godzilla, but that’s mostly in the background – Warner Bros. knows that nobody came to see monster fights and wanton destruction. The Russell family dynamic is what really matters here.
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