Thoughts on Godzilla: King of the Monsters One Month after Watching the Movie
Come for a breakdown of a Godzilla movie, stay for the semi-existential crisis at the end
Before we get started, a quick disclaimer is necessary: this is probably going to suck.
A while back, a group of friends and I decided that we would spend our Friday night together at the theaters. I’m a complete sucker for action movies as is and had been given the action movie itch after seeing John Wick 3: Parabellum not too long. Ultimately, I was successful in roping in 3 buddies who were all far less excited to watch 2 hours-worth of a giant lizard.
Now, I saw this movie a month ago which results in a few things you’re just going to have to deal with: I remember very little of the plot, I can’t remember a single characters’ name so I’ll have to describe them as my mind remembers, I have a few of the monsters names still in my brain but not all of them, I’ve done zero external research before writing this. I have, however, gone on to watch the other two films in the Monsterverse in the weeks after. (I guess they’re turning these movies into some sort of Godzilla Cinematic Universe for which I am now all in.)
I was coming in placing minimal expectations on the movie. (Side note: ever since hearing Killmonger was the best villain since The Joker from The Dark Knight in the lead up to Black Panther, I’ve tried to watch movies with as little prior knowledge and expectations possible. A near impossible task in today’s era of movie marketing and social media, but quite rewarding when you can actually pull it off.) I had no idea there were two other movies involved in what I have later learned is called the Monsterverse. I knew there was a Godzilla movie that came out a couple years ago with Walter White but never saw it. I made fun of my friends for going to see Kong: Skull Island my freshman year of college and never saw it. I was going into this movie completely blind.
What a treat that turned out to be.
I didn’t even know what Godzilla himself looked like, nor did I know that he had the ability to swim (or any of his abilities for that matter). Everything about this lizard cracked me up. I didn’t know that Godzilla had a fairly normal (?) looking face. I’m not sure what my mind pictured Godzilla as having for eyes, but I know that what I saw wasn’t that mental picture. Whenever Godzilla himself came on screen, or someone even mentioned his name, I started giggling.
I quickly realized the right choice had been made. This movie was destined to be incredible.
The plot is inconsequential. Tywin Lannister (didn’t bother to listen to what his character’s name was, seeing Tywin in this movie was too great a distraction) is an eco-terrorist of some sort who wants to awaken these sleeping (?) monsters because humans aren’t good at being at the top of the food chain (???). The good guys try to stop him and can’t, so the monsters wake up and all hell breaks loose.
I’m pretty sure that’s the gist of the movie. Who cares? My money was not spent to hear some backstory for why humans want huge monsters back on the earth. My money was spent to see those huge monsters treat the entire planet like a steel cage and have a slobberknocker Jim Ross would be proud of.
The rest was filled with the good stuff. Tywin and his goons brought King Ghidorah – huge monster frozen in Antarctica, three heads and breathes lightning (?) – back to life and the dragon immediately had beef with Godzilla. I don’t remember how or why Godzilla got to Antarctica just in time for Ghidorah to wake up, but that’s not the point. The point is, Godzilla got there and immediately got his ass kicked by a dragon with three heads.
I’m unsure if this was the part where Godzilla revealed to me that he had the ability to shoot a huge blue laser beam (could’ve been fire?) from his mouth but I’m certain this was when Ghidorah was shooting lightning at our favorite lizard.
The three-headed dragon takes round one convincingly. Leaving Godzilla to retreat to wherever home is.
Around this time, some other monsters are introduced, but they are role players. They provide stunning visuals and add some depth (lol) to the story, but they really don’t matter too much here. (Think Jared Dudley and Patrick Beverly: good players, vital roles on contending teams, not what people are paying to see.) Rodan, the big fire bird who comes out of the volcano is Ghidorah’s right-hand man, but doesn’t do all that much of consequence. Mothra, the Queen of the Monsters (?), is a big Godzilla fan and helps our lizard friend from time to time, but I can’t remember if she was a big deal. In the end these two fight and the big fire bird beats the huge insect.
Back to the good stuff.
At some point, Ghidorah becomes the alpha to all of these monsters and starts sending out a call in an effort to get them all to bow at his feet or to start a dialogue on how what form of government is going to best suit their individual needs. The movie is unclear on which, though we can’t rule out option #2. While all the monsters are coming out of their slumbers in various locations around the globe to heed their alpha’s call, Godzilla is taking a couple sick days.
The good guys are frantically searching for any chance to defeat King Ghidorah (don’t ask why they want Godzilla in power). Ken Watanabe, easily the biggest Godzilla fan in the world*, convinces the rest of the good guys that Godzilla is their only chance. As such, the good guys leave on a journey to find the big lizard and get him back in the fight.
*And I mean easily. It doesn’t matter what ideas people are throwing out to stop these monsters from destroying the world, this guy is going to insist on waiting for Godzilla to show up and return order. He’s just unflappable in his Godzilla fandom.
It is very important to remember that Godzilla got messed up by Ghidorah. Career ending stuff, really. He’s showing no signs of willpower to get back, his morale has been destroyed, injuries are taking their toll. But his story is far from finished. All Godzilla needs is a little boost.
That boost comes in the form of the good guys finding Godzilla in his home down inside the middle of the planet (?) and detonating a nuclear weapon (!) right beside Godzilla to supercharge him (!!) because these monsters feed on radiation (?).
In conclusion, nuclear weapons of mass destruction are Godzilla’s PEDs. Top 5 movie premise I’ve ever seen. Easy.
Imagine we let LeBron take more steroids than he already does. Do you think the league would stand any chance? Do you think the three-headed dragon Durant Warriors were beating PED LeBron in a series?
They might put up a good fight, but in the end it would’ve been futile. That’s what the rest of the movie was like once the powers that be supercharged Godzilla with a nuke. Godzilla comes back and it’s an instant fade on sight between the lizard/dragon. For a second there it seems as if Ghidorah is going to come out on top after it takes Godzilla a while to shake off the rust, but our big lizard friend turns it around. Ultimately, Godzilla winds up victorious after going thermo-nuclear (hahaha) and exploding into a Godzilla-sized nuclear blast (I’m not sure how this didn’t kill the lizard himself but I’m also not complaining).
A couple of Ghidorah’s heads are promptly removed from the rest of his body as Godzilla is reveling in his victory, all just in time for the rest of the monsters to show up and bow at the feet of their new alpha.
This seems like a fitting conclusion to the story. Being the third movie in this franchise, with Godzilla taking his seat as the King of the monsters, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Monsterverse is complete. One would also be tremendously incorrect for thinking this as there’s already a release date for the next installment.
On March 13, 2020, we are being gifted the opportunity to watch Godzilla vs. Kong.
You’ll have to forgive me for being a little skeptical that a giant gorilla is going to be an even matchup for a giant lizard with laser (fire?) breath. Regardless, what a treat that movie is going to be. You haven’t been reading very closely if you don’t think I’ll be there opening night in IMAX.
When everything around us seems to be moving at an unmatchable pace, sometimes the greatest gift we can give ourselves is the excuse to turn our brains off for a couple hours and watch CGI monsters throw hands. When I was planning on watching this movie, it was more a banter selection than expecting to actually have a good time. I wasn’t thinking that around a month later I would be spending time racking my brain trying to remember plot details about a Godzilla movie or refusing to Google the cast to find out what Tywin Lannister’s character was actually named. I definitely wasn’t thinking that I was going to have a lasting memory of sitting in a theatre belly laughing at the sight of a lizard’s face with three friends who I expect to remain close with for the rest of my life.
As funny or dumb as it sounds, I’m not going to forget the night I watched Godzilla: King of the Monsters for a long, long time. Not based on the merits of the movie itself, rather for the experience and memory it created between a group of idiots who cackled with laughter every time Ken Watanabe said “Godzilla” during the film.
To quote the great Canadian hero, Keanu Reeves: “I love movies. Gosh, I love movies.”
Movies give us the escape to turn our brains off, or up to eleven. To travel to worlds and places we could never. To allow our minds to think and imagine and dream beyond our normal capabilities. Movies make us laugh, make us cry, make us feel triumph, and leave us with wonder. They can educate and they can inspire. They can form memories and strengthen bonds with those we watch them with.
It will always make me laugh that it was this damn Godzilla movie which brought me to respect and appreciate all that film and movies has done so far in my 20 years here. I think back to growing up with the Fast and Furious movies with my brother, dragging my Dad to The Dark Knight, crying in The Greatest Showman with my Mom, theorizing and debating Avengers movies with my roommates for hours on end, and I can’t help but smile at all the good memories movies have given me with the most important people in my life.
There are a certain few movies that I can trace my life with, movies that are emblematic of who I was and what life was like back then. If you were to tell me that Godzilla: King of the Monsters (even the title is hilarious) was going to be one of those movies, I would’ve laughed in your face.
During a time when I’m fighting the harsh reality that I need to grow up in the coming years, it’s movies like this which remind me what it was like to be a kid. What it is like to still be a kid. I can only hope that in 5 years, 20 years, whatever, that when I find myself watching more dumb action movies, that memory will still be just as strong. I know I’m going to have to grow up soon. I just hope I’ll keep being able to find the Godzilla’s which can keep me young.