Review: Godzilla, might not be the king of such ‘monster based’ films but is definitely a fairly engaging attempt!

Akash

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, the sequel to the 2014 Godzilla film can literally be determined in one line. The rise of the Godzilla against the fierce and deadly Ghidorah that is set free to destroy the entire human race and earth. Is co-existence between the humans and the monsters possible or not? Read further to find out how engaging the treatment of this visual action film is!

Godzilla 2, as we can shortly call it has a lot of subplots that deal with numerous issues and all of these are woven into the main line that has the battle between Godzilla and the deadly 3 headed evil Ghidorah. We have Kyle Chandler playing Mark Russel and Vera Farmiga as Emma Russel. They have lost their son Andrew and they have a precious daughter Madison played by Millie Bobby Brown. The first subplot has their family relationship and their contradicting goals towards the monsters. The other plot has the government planning to eradicate each and every monster to restore humanity. Emma believes that the monsters are ancient gods and that humans must learn to co-exist with them. However, a lot changes after the 3 headed Ghidorah is set free and their opinions almost reverse. How they save their daughter and the rest of the world from the deadly 3 headed monster forms the rest of the story.

Though this is enough content to keep us hooked for over 2 hours, the makers seem to have had a lethargic approach towards getting to the thick of things. For the first quarter, we do not have many moments to look out for that might get your adrenaline up. However, the performances of the lead cast are exceptional and the daughter Madison played by Millie is the stand out character. Right from her introduction till the climax, she has a variety of expressions and emotes well on screen. Another well etched out character is that of Dr.Serizawa played by Ken Watanabe. The very character arc, the idea of for humanity that Serizawa goes through and his sole motive throughout the entire film is very commendable and he has enacted it convincingly well too.

Godzilla looks majestic and deadly but has a heart that most people fail to understand and this idea has been explored well towards the second half of the film. In fact, every scene that has Godzilla is a big positive and it is safe to say that there are only a few of those moments throughout the entire film. Some of the well shot sequences include the Mexico village evacuation scene, entry of Monster Zero, the final battle and Serizawa’s sacrifice portion. These add up as the memorable parts of the film and one might wonder why the director Michael Dougherty decided to stop with just 4-5 such extraordinary scenes. The build up to the final battle could be tiresome for a few and the main reason for this is the fact that the crux of the film has a few predictable twists and turns. A slightly more pacy screenplay and visually enhanced scenes could have done wonders.

Technically, Godzilla 2 is a very sound film. The visuals, especially in the battle portions between the two monsters or the attack of civilians are so well shot by cinematographer Lawrence Sher. This is topped with some really good graphics that makes the film look grand yet natural. Music by Bear McCreary is also decent and the fact that he has let the visuals do the talking in some of the scenes requires praise. In fact, in a particular point at the fag end of the film when the daughter Madison is stuck in a building situated in the deserted Boston and trying to escape from the deadly three header, the visual experience is fantastic because the music or dialogues do not jar. This is easily the best part of the film and the team has shown extra maturity with the last few minutes of the film that anyone would love.

On the whole, Godzilla 2 has a few ecstatic high points but just not abundant enough to engross us at highly regular intervals. We know that Godzilla will be brought back to save the day at some mid point in the film and the scenes that we have to get to the climax are a bit of a struggle. Nevertheless, with a couple of fantastic beast battles, a few engaging and intriguing scenes topped by a luring sentiment that works here and there, Godzilla is definitely watchable. However, for the excellent effort put into the visual department that has come good in the last quarter, you can only wonder why there weren’t more such moments ahead of it.

Bottomline: Godzilla 2 is watchable for its performances, visuals and the very impressive last quarter!

Rating: 2.75/5