Has it really been five years since the Gareth Edwards Godzilla? I guess so. In that film, we had a weird confusion of identities. Bryan Cranston acted as if this was an Oscar winner to be, as this film may have felt like a statement on humanity’s reflection on disaster. Nope. It was about big creatures doing things. Here, Godzilla is feared, but then revered as the only option when other monsters appear.

Well, we’re in a similar situation right off the bat. We’ve got King Ghidorah as the main threat, but we also have Rodan and — my personal favourite always — Mothra as well. We have new human characters, as well as some old ones. One includes Dr. Serizawa, who proclaimed in the first film “Let them fight”, in response as to what the military should do in response to two titans duking it out. In King of the Monsters, it’s a little different.

They fight

and fight

and fight.

Look, if you want to see great visual effects and gargantuan behemoths kicking the daylights out of each other, you’re not going to care about the story. Because the film doesn’t care about the story. Oh, humanity is doomed again. Monsters gotta fight. If the film isn’t setting up the next lengthy battle, it’s setting up next year’s battle between Godzilla and King Kong. So, there you have it. This is either a two hour compilation of beast wars, or it’s a two hour trailer. Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but beginner at storytelling.

You can say I’m splitting hairs, but the original Godzilla films knew they were glorified action films, but they at least set up each film to be one major battle. This film is like smushing so many recognizable faces into one film. Yes, there were multi beast battles back in the good ol’ days. It took a number of films to get there. This is the second in the series. We’ve skipped the amount of work it takes to earn that two hour slugfest.

Then again, I’m preaching this to the fans that only want to see the fighting, so I might as well quit now.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters