Godzilla, King of the Monsters
Film Review by Ekow Daniels
Like a Mothra to the flame, I can't help myself when it comes to big budget summer blockbuster movies. I'm compelled to see how filmmakers use new and improved technology to depict future worlds we can only imagine, historical settings or the impending apocalyptic landscape that we as a species seem so eager to bring about as quickly as possible. Each time, I go hoping that said filmmakers employ their new tricks in the telling of a decent story involving characters you care about and want to spend some time with.
So I found myself wide-eyed and excited to see 'Godzilla, King of the Monsters'. I know, I know. I didn't expect a mold-breaking masterpiece, but I wasn't prepared for the abomination that unfolded in that sparsely filled IMAX torture chamber.
After his moderately successful 2014 rampage, Warner Brothers evidently decided to throw out any and everything that made Godzilla watchable and substitute it for two and a half hours of noise and nonsense.
What we get is thinly drawn characters milling around expensive sets pontificating in whispers about the nature of nature as giant super predators destroy the world around them. In a movie filled with acting luminaries the likes of Charles Dance, Vera Farmiga, David Stratharin, Joe Morton and Millie Bobby Brown, the brightest spark comes from Bradley Whitfield's oversized veneers.
Director Michael Dougherty, he of 'Superman Returns' fame and cinematographer Lawrence Sher seem to have drawn inspiration for the movie's visual esthetic from staring into a washing machine and leafing through the works of William Blake only to bastardize the latter and deliver a murky and choppy whirlwind vision of hell on earth in which neither monster nor man is kept sufficiently in-frame long enough for the viewer to get any real sense of what's actually going on. To be honest, if you're reckless enough to follow in my footsteps and see this movie, I challenge you to care.
A monster movie is the one time where we can all agree that size matters. We all go to experience that virtual sense of awe and humility in the presence of god-sized creatures towering over mortal man and wreaking havoc. Even this basic element is undone by the impulse to needlessly swing and dolly the camera around at every opportunity and breakneck editing that leaves you dazed as opposed to dazzled.
Any semblance of a coherent and compelling story has been pushed aside in favor of what amounts to a full-bore audial assault. They literally take everything up to Eleven. One expects an element of ludicrousness with monster movies, but 'Godzilla, King of the Monsters' is a master class in the ridiculous.
Let's hope the dismal response to this outing sends a message to studios that story, characters and dialogue supersede CGI and THX and maybe a return to basics is in order.
Overall rating: 2/5
👊🏾👊🏾