‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ delivers even more monster action

Posted on June 7, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

I ended my review of 2014’s “Godzilla” as follows: “Could it have been better? Sure. But is it fun anyway? Certainly.”

While not a perfect film, it was leaps and bounds better than Hollywood’s first attempt in 1998 to bring the King of Monsters to special-effects life. My biggest issues were a lack of focus — with a story that jumped from location to location — and human characters who consistently made questionable decisions. Overall, however, time would show that I enjoyed the movie a good bit more than a lot of others, who bemoaned a lack of Godzilla himself, with director Gareth Edwards taking the “Jaws” approach and only teasing the monster until the final act.

If a dearth of giant monster action was your biggest issue with “Godzilla,” then don’t worry, the sequel, “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” more than makes up for it with plenty of brawls, fights and overall destruction. As for my thoughts? Well, could it have been better? Sure. But is it fun anyway? Certainly.

In addition to Godzilla, we get a bevy of classic monsters from the original Japanese films, including the bird-like Rodan, the moth-like Mothra and the three-headed dragon Ghidorah. All are wonderfully realized as they are converted from their original rubber suits into computer-generated wonders. The special effects were great in “Godzilla,” and they’re even better this time around. Credit also needs to go to the sound design, as not only do all of the creatures have unique “voices,” but sound is very integral to the overall plot.

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