4 out of 5 stars
As the very beginning flashes back to 2014, I wondered if I was watching a sequel to some Godzilla movie I’d never seen. Later, when David Strathairn shows up as a serious military dude, I thought, “Hmm, I do vaguely remember him as a serious military dude,” and worried that I was in the middle of some sort of Marvel Universe Except With Monsters. (Should I have finally watched Kong: Skull Island off my DVR before coming to see this?) Sure enough, there was a 2014 Godzilla which I did in fact see and enjoy and then completely forgot about. But Coach Taylor and Vera Farmiga weren’t in it. But they are in this one. Got it?
Godzilla’s 2014 destruction was real September 11th-y, and Coach and Vera lost their son and split up. Now Coach is off “finding himself” but Vera, with their teen daughter Maddie in tow, sticks with the Monarch team (which Wikipedia tells me was in the 2014 movie) to study the “Titans” which is the politically correct term for monsters. But when mom and daughter are kidnapped by… hmm it’s not Max Von Sydow, and Christopher Lee is dead… some villainous old guy, Coach Taylor… just when he thought he was out, is pulled back in!
In addition to Strathairn, returning from ’14 are Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins as Monarch researchers. They’re joined by Bradley Whitford (because every science team has one guy who talks super casually) and Thomas Middleditch, trying to sell everybody a Verizon plan. Absolutely holding her own with the grown-ups is Millie Bobby Brown (I don’t watch Stranger Things but that’s my prerogative) as daughter Maddie, with sort of a young Natalie Portman vibe. Stay away, Moby.
And oh yes there are monst… uh, Titans. (Even though the new mystery super-creature is officially labeled “Monster Zero.”) The plot overlaps with the Jurassic films — should we destroy or protect these beasties? Plus the standard Godzilla nuclear stuff and that’s updated with a “it is us humans that are destroying the planet” message — but the monsters here are way better. Godzilla! Mothra! Rodan! And Monster Zero is hella scary!
Of course it’s not a perfect movie. Just when I was seemingly settling into a thoughtful “family trying to recover from tragedy” vibe, we enter one of those giant underground sci-fi command centers and I was instantly reminded, “oh yeah this is a big dumb Hollywood movie.” Also, security is very, very lax in this world; a savvy teen girl can basically evade any and all protocols.
But overall, it’s good! Especially for a monster movie, it’s really good. Dark and stormy and foreboding and you get the sense the world is actually ending. The action and monster fighting is pretty awesome and it builds and builds and builds. Plus on the soundtrack we get some Pixies, and updates of the Blue Öyster Cult “Godzilla” song and Mothra’s theme. Solid summer entertainment. Bring on the big ape!
Jack Silbert, curator