Director: Michael Dougherty
Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Duration: 132 minutes
Godzilla II: King of the Monsters (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
We received a Godzilla reboot in 2014, which proved to be rather entertaining, albeit a bit slow at times. The movie did not make Godzilla out to be the bad guy like they did in the 1998 movie. In the original Godzilla movies, Godzilla was always the protector of humankind, and we reckon that this was why there never was a sequel for the 1998 movie, and why a reboot was eventually made. Nonetheless, the 2014 movie seemed to have some success, spawning a sequel five years later. This movie will once again revolve around the giant lizard, but this time, more monsters will join the battle, as we’ll see Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah. We were curious if many epic battles would ensue.
Five years have passed since the world last saw Godzilla and now Monarch, the organization that tracks and monitors the titans, is under fire. The government wants to eradicate all the titans, even though this is not an easy task. Monarch believes that the titans serve a greater purpose and could lead this world to a new era. Dr. Emma Russel (Vera Farmiga) is currently researching a titan by the name of Mothra, together with her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown). Things seem to take a turn for the worst when the titan awakens and eco-terrorists shoot all the researchers on-site, except for Emma and Madison. They are kidnapped, as Emma controls a device called the ‘ORCA’, which can somehow communicate with the titans.
Soon after, Dr. Mark Russel (Kyle Chandler) is contacted by Monarch to help find his ex-wife and daughter and get them out of the hands of the terrorists, who want to unleash all the titans upon the world. From here on out it becomes a race against time before all these massive creatures are unleashed to wreak havoc. That being said, it seems that Godzilla is also nearby to help when needed, even though Mark believes all titans should be killed, including the gigantic lizard.
The flow of this second iteration of Godzilla is extremely slow. The movie feels dragged out in nearly every scene, while hardly getting any useful information about the different titans. You’ll have to make do with extremely long action scenes, dragged out (and useless) conversations and an overall uneventful movie, even with the action scenes present. It feels like a heavy focus was placed on the visuals of the scenes, which we can certainly appreciate, without paying attention to the story or making the movie have a proper flow.
Acting performances are actually decent in this film. The main cast will, of course, consist out of rather big actors, ranging from the performance of Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe to Charles Dance. These actors and actresses add a layer of quality of the movie, but even these won’t be able to push back the negative effects of dragged out scenes and an overall slow flow. A kudos goes out to Millie Bobby Brown for putting down a proper teenager performance that doesn’t feel annoying like most child/teen actors/actresses tend to do.
There are loads of extras to be found on the Blu-ray edition of Godzilla II: King of the Monsters. You’ll find a lot of information about the different titans you can see in the movie, and how they were brought to life. You’ll get a lot of making-of sequences, deleted scenes, and trailers. There is ample content to be found. Even though the movie itself may have moved at a slow pace, we have to be honest that the special effects and such were all handled very well. If you’re interested in how a movie such as this is made, then the special features are certainly worth watching.
Conclusion
Godzilla II: King of the Monsters is a mediocre piece of cinema in terms of story and the buildup of the movie. You’ll have to wander through a rather slow movie, even though there are more than enough titans in this movie to make the experience very interesting. Some more information about the titans would have been cool, or better action scenes. Don’t get us wrong, there is action to be seen in the movie, but many scenes are dragged out, making them somewhat dull, losing their edge. That being said, if you liked the first movie, this one will still be somewhat entertaining, if you don’t mind the slow pacing of the film.
Related Items
1 Comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
[…] her) head again until a remake was made in 2014. The movie was somewhat of a success and spawned a sequel and another movie in the same universe (Kong: Skull Island), warranting a 4K UHD rerelease for […]