This group wants to use the titans, of which
there are now “17 and counting” including a
pretty dazzling Mothra and a less-enchanting
three-headed “Monster Zero,” to help reset
the planet and reverse climate change and
overpopulation. There’s some convenient
explanation of why the radiation from the titans
actually helps revitalize vegetation, which, like
many of the silly plot devices in this movie, you
kind of just let slide. That said, anyone currently
watching “Chernobyl” on HBO will likely be very
stressed out about the amount of radiation all
the humans are likely absorbing just by being in
proximity to all these creatures.
Michael Dougherty has taken the directing reins
this time, from Gareth Edwards, and has done a
fine job capturing the grandness of the titans,
keeping the action coherent and balancing the
human element thanks to a terrific cast that
also includes O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Thomas
Middleditch. His script is also pleasingly light
and often funny, although Bradley Whitford’s Dr.
Stanton goes a little overboard trying to be the
comic relief.
But even that is easy to give a pass to. “Godzilla:
King of the Monsters” is turn-your-brain-off
summer fun, and doesn’t need to be anything
more than that.
“Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” a Warner Bros.
release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture
Association of America for “sequences of
monster action violence and destruction, and
for some language.” Running time: 131 minutes.
Two and a half stars out of four.
MPAA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material
may be inappropriate for children under 13.