Summer is Here

Godzilla-King of the Monsters

by Kathia Woods

Summer movie season doesn't seem official without a movie entrance that has lots of special effects and a monster, Godzilla is that movie. The conflict is between Monarch a crypto-zoological agency that fights monsters and the revived dormant monsters. I know that seems contradictory but that is the scenario. Godzilla is apparently on the human's side, but his nemeses King Ghidorah, aka the three-headed monster is not. In plain English, they are fighting over supremacy.

Sprinkled in there are Dr. Emma Russell, Dr. Mark Russell and their daughter Madison. The Russell's are still grieving the loss of their son at the hands of Godzilla. This grieving results in Dr. Emma Russell, making some bad choices. Vera Farmiga portrays Dr. Emma Russell. She's usually formidable, but in this movie, she's just flat. I could not muster any empathy for her character. Millie Bobby Brown is Madison Russell and let's say this part was not an evolution from her Stranger Things character eleven. Kyle Chandler is the most likable out of the Russell bunch as Dr. Mark Russell, but even he couldn't salvage this.

You may be asking how that plays into the monster storyline? It doesn't.

That's the problem with Godzilla; it's preposterous even by action movie standards. We don't care about this family and its issues. The beginning of this movie is slow and drags. I found myself almost falling asleep, which seems hard amongst all the noise. The plot is nonexistent. They attempt at various stages to pull us in with the scientific mambo jumbo, but it just doesn't work.

At one point we are inundated with so many monsters that it’s just overkill. Also, the special effects weren't the greatest. Some of the CGI is quite comical.

One aspect of this movie I did enjoy is the diversity in its cast. There's been much discussion on how best to apply diversity in a film. Godzilla does. O'Shea Jackson Jr, Ken Watanabe, Zhang Ziyi, Aisha Hands, Anthony Ramos, and Elizabeth Ludlow all have roles with purpose.

I didn't expect Godzilla to be Jurassic Park; however, the biggest sin is that it’s boring. An unutilized stellar cast, overkill special effects and to many monsters makes for quite a snooze. If they do decide to make another movie in this series, I urge them to keep it simple. In the end, less is more.

Scale: This movie gets a five. An action movie that was dull.

Diversity: This movie gets an 8 for having a diverse cast from starring roles to supportive roles.