Dollar Tree Cinema: Godzilla, Roi des Monstres

“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019)
Starring Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Ken Watanabe
Directed by Michael Dougherty
Screenplay by Dougherty and Zach Shields; story by Dougherty, Shields and Max Borenstein
Rated PG-13 for sequences of monster action violence and destruction, and for some language

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is in theaters now, and I should be excited. Giant monsters? Check. A bona fide cinematic universe with interconnected stories that aren't strictly sequels? Check. An all-star cast with each installment? Check.

But somehow this MonsterVerse just hasn't connected with me. I've seen each movie, starting with 2014's “Godzilla” and on to 2017's “Kong: Skull Island,” 2019's “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and 2021's “Godzilla vs. Kong.” But always at home, well after they've been in theaters, and only one a second time.

And I own the 1998 “Godzilla” on DVD.*

Thanks to my appreciation of giant monsters and a good deal, I also now own “King of the Monsters” on Blu ray and DVD after spotting it at a local Dollar Tree. I attribute its presence at least in part to the French title, “Godzilla: Roi des Monstres,” but the audio is on default English. Alas, the several-years-expired digital code didn't work, but it's always worth a try.

Sure, he's a big flaming pterodactyl, but don't forget Rodan is also an accomplished sculptor.

What I thought before: Definitely more monsters and action and overall more enjoyable than the 2014 reboot. I don't remember if it was before or after watching it the first time that I began to think of this movie as similar to “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” inasmuch as it seemed like a risky effort to fast-track a cinematic universe. It worked better but still didn't excite me the same way as Godzilla movies did when I was a kid or, more recently, “Pacific Rim.”

What I think now: About the same.

Spoilers follow.

The monsters are magnificent, and the human roster is impressive as well. I'll admit to a little disappointment that Chandler isn't using tomorrow's newspaper delivered a day early** to try to wrangle all the kaiju, but it's clear they didn't skimp on the casting. Heck, 2017 Best Actress nominee Sally Hawkins gets swallowed by Monster Zero, aka King Ghidorah, in an intense and surprising sequence that reemphasizes the stakes, and it barely dents the pedigree of the cast. Ziyi Zhang (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) plays twins, and Bradley Whitford is just, like, this Monarch scientist who works with the big wigs but is probably one of the lowest-ranking guys in the room.

How many giant monster movies do you know that, in the opening minutes, feature a close-up of another Oscar nominee (Farmiga) struggling to face the day with the weight of the world on her shoulders?

Not pictured: Denzel Washington as the janitor.

It's been a long time since I watched the 2014 “Godzilla,” but my main gripe about it was that every time it looked like Godzilla and one of those MUTO things were about to fight, the movie cut away to people talking about their feelings. Granted, it was people like Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but still, I came for the giant monsters.

There's much more balance here, and the human story is compelling. Farmiga's Dr. Emma Russell is an expert on the so-called Titans, massive monsters like Godzilla, who are viewed as threats by many but a vital part of the world's ecosystem and even more by the folks at Monarch. Emma and her daughter Maddie (Brown) are seemingly abducted by eco-terrorists who want to use the creatures to restore the balance of nature. But it turns out Russell was pulling the strings all along, driven by grief over the death of her son in the carnage of the 2014 film to radically change the world. It falls to Monarch and Russell's ex-husband Mark (Chandler) to stop them. And of course, the producers didn't hire Brown as her “Stranger Things” star was rising to sit on the sidelines.

I found a lot of the details confusing, such as what the heck Monarch is, to be challenged by the United Nations and U.S. military yet also have access to submarines with nuclear weapons? But the overall thrust of the story – giant monsters exist and some of them, such as Godzilla and Mothra, apparently have a role as protectors of the planet and humanity, while others are raging beasts and Ghidorah is an invasive species from outer space – easy enough to follow.

I also don't get why Kong never showed up, despite being a known quantity referenced a couple of times by name, other than they were saving him for the sequel.

This movie references a total of 18 monsters, including Godzilla and Ghidorah and introducing Mothra and Rodan as supporting cast members. It's a quartet I fondly remember from “Monster Zero” that I recorded off of TBS' “Super Scary Saturday” many years ago and watched many times.

Although the movie starts off focused on her, Mothra really doesn't get enough screen time and backstory, especially since she dies in combat. But a newspaper headline in the credits confirms she did lay an egg before flitting off this mortal coil.

Even though the prospect of a renewed Godzilla-Kong grudge match was exciting, it seemed like a reduction in scale for the two of them to come to blows before teaming up against (spoilers for that one too) Mechagodzilla after the massive guest list in this one, hence the “Dawn of Justice” parallels in my mind.

So I'm really not much closer to defining exactly what it is about these movies that falls short for me. Sure, it may be as simple as the material hitting me differently as an adult than a kid, but the movies offer plenty of complexity and details about the Titans' role in the natural world that were either missing or forgotten from those earlier movies. And “Pacific Rim” certainly proved that I can still appreciate the genre in my older age.

* - It's a decent movie. It's just not a very good Godzilla movie, IMHO.

** - You may know him from “Friday Night Lights,” but salute to “Early Edition.”