Godzilla: King of the Monsters

The classic face-off arrives in an emotional vacuum rather than as an earned catharsis; the big fight never feels like a payoff.

This thing is an unholy mess.

Its errors fall mainly under the heading of failing to get out of its own way, and its imperfections are compensated by magnificence.

"Godzilla: King of the Monsters" doesn't need an original story: Like all kaijū movies, it only requires awesome monsters, epic fight scenes and some subtle social commentary.

Dougherty isn't quite sure whether to wow us with the hulking immensity of the action scenes or to wag his finger at us for the environmental hubris of our species.

Budget is not normally the sort of thing you mention in a review, but when you see a film that is almost entirely driven by spectacle and you keep marveling at how slapdash and/or unreal everything looks, you do start to wonder where all the money went.

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS never knows [what type of movie they are telling] and tries throwing all sorts of dead-end plot threads and ineffective emotional beats at the audience.

This is the sort of film that'll make you think cinema is dead.

This is a film that fixes some of the previously problems in this universe. But, it also makes some new mistakes. But, I was never bored and it absolutely delivers the action, mayhem, and destruction you want from the genre.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters doesn't hold back on the big monster fights, and it's definitely the best Godzilla film to date from Hollywood.