65 years! That is the distance in time American movie audiences have traveled for one Godzilla, originally known as ‘Gojira’ to Japanese film audiences (in 1953). When I was just a boy, I had no knowledge of the first movie. Rather, I experienced one, specific film, known as “Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster,” which came nearly two decades later. I, also, had some good times attempting to play through the Nintendo Entertainment System video game “Godzilla: Monster of Monsters.” One recollection of that particular game involves the inclusion of Mothra as a playable character and something of an equal protagonist to Godzilla, himself. As it happens, Mothra was not a friend to Godzilla, originally, but a foe from what is widely considered the best of the original movie franchise.
Apparently, in the year of 2019, the role and, possibly, popularity of Mothra has not been lost. Even though the official title is the same as the 1954 American adaptation, it bears little resemblance to it. Godzilla is not the lone ‘monster’ and he is not the antagonist. My thinking, based on the exposure to all of the subsequent films, was that this looked more like a recreation of “Destroy All Monsters.” Like most movies these days, the pacing was designed to move the introduction of the story along at a brisk level. As it turns out, this is really a follow-up to the 2014 Godzilla entry, “Godzilla.” Do not feel bad if you are confused. That title has been recycled at least three, separate times and they have, largely, failed to yield any sequels. Be warned, though, if you have not seen that 2014 movie recently, you might feel a tad lost, at times, during this new viewing.
Almost right away, CGI surfaced, but I was mostly unimpressed with what I saw, overall. Sometimes, you can look at a film and you can tell whether or not it might hold up, down the road. 
Practical effects are, basically, a thing fo the past and it is an unfortunate state of events. Mothra, somewhat surprisingly, is the focal point of attention and is deemed to be an asset for humans around the world, but not everyone wants the same purpose served and, therein, lies the dilemma.
As the principle characters begin to interact, it becomes obvious that the filmmakers wanted to spice up the language with clever quips and thinly-veiled philosophical tropes. Possibly worse than this was the constant over-acting by specific people, throughout. If it was not an issue of apparent, ludicrous accents, it was something else…
A couple of moments played out as though there was no time to get another take and so the cut made it into the movie, awkward line deliveries and and all. It, also, made me wonder: are some actors still using the old ‘Marlon Brandon’ method of being fed their lines through a hidden ear piece? I suppose it is certainly possible.
Michael Dougherty (“Krampus”), not formerly tied to the latest entry of films for the franchise, took on the role of directing this movie. He and Zach Shields, also, collaborated on the development of the story and the screenplay. If you possess any affection for the likes of: Ghidora and/or Rodan, you might be adequately pleased by their appearances in this movie. However, they are, still, one-dimensional and this leaves things up to the human characters to carry most of the film.
Kyle Chandler (“The Vanishing of Sidney Hall”) is Dr. Mark Russell. His wife, Dr. Emma Russell, played by Vera Farmiga (“Annabelle Comes Home”), is mother to Madison Russell, who was played by Millie Bobby Brown. Although she has enjoyed a lot of attention from television, she is embarking into new territories with the onset of this movie. The rest of the cast includes: Bradley Whitford (“Get Out”) as Dr. Rick Stanton, Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”) as Dr. Vivienne Graham and Charles Dance (“Johnny English Strikes Again”) as Colonel Alan Jonah, among other, notable names.
Maybe this all looked good on paper, but execution is another matter. This film made me feel sorry for the titular character. King Kong seems to have had a better record, going back even further than 1953/54. Perhaps, an analogy could be made, compared to DC and Marvel. An additional sequels for released next year, but my hope is not high, after this display. When the greatest detail, from my perspective, is the original music (by Bear McCreary), it is hard to know where else to go, in terms of acclaim. All the way down to the final moments of the film, much of the story was laughable, even where it was not intended to be. There is no Tommy Wiseau around, either, to vouch for the final product as something of an alleged ‘farce’ or ‘spoof.’ I wanted to have fun, whether the movie was good or not, but even that was not attainable, in my case. In other words, it was a lose-lose scenario.
Director: Michael Dougherty
Screenplay: Dougherty and Zach Shields
Starring: Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O’Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe and Zhang Ziyi
Music: Bear McCreary
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures and Toho
Release: May 31st, 2019
