Monumentally silly action blockbuster. I mean really, this is just incredibly dumb and amazingly inept in execution. You can usually dismiss films like this stating ‘well, its daft but at least the visual effects are fun’ but that’s not true with this one. I think it is one of those films that simply has so much effects work (and likely done in so short a time) that the quality goes down the plughole. I’m sure they make these things with the best of intentions (other than the usual one, which is to make loads of money) but this is really a bit of a train wreck.
Which is a shame and rather a let-down, because I really enjoyed Kong: Skull Island, thinking it was quite a lot of fun and with some decent, and quite effective, effects sequences that had some thought invested in them. Godzilla: King of the Monsters has so much going on all the time it obviously just got out of control and regards the effects, its clear that quite a few got through to the editing suite before they were really polished/finished. This thing really wasn’t ready for its release date and needed more time.
Not that the surprisingly shoddy effects work is the only problem. The script, such as it is, is really all over the place with, in particular, some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard in a film in years. Its really awful- the kind of ‘witty’ one-liners that are clearly designed to be featured in the trailers as soundbites. Or its lines written just to try explain whats going on and why- something that really has become a pet hate of mine. The script is obviously not finished or written well enough to explain the film through its plot so has to stitch sequences together with dialogue. Woefully inept film-making- my rule is: show me, don’t tell me.
In any case, the substantial budget is reflected in the fairly high-calibre acting talent that is paid to speak the awful dialogue as sincerely as their pay-cheques can muster, but its like getting Pacino or De Niro to play in a High School drama written by a thirteen year old. Its such a waste. The characters are underwritten to the point of nothing being there at all, you don’t care about anybody in any scene, so there is nothing reinforcing any of those shoddy silly monster effects. As for all the hardware on show, and the destruction in which tens of thousands of innocents are just killed off without a mention or anything, its all just reduced to the level of a video game. There’s no context, no drama.
Is there a good film in here? To be honest, I have to wonder if there is even a film in here. Maybe it works as a long trailer for an Xbox game, but that’s about it.