"Long live the king."

Trailer Review 026 & Movie Preview 035

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Legendary Pictures

[May 31st, 2019]

Trailer(s) Effectiveness = 100% for clearly setting up the premise with the human role seems as crucial as before in bringing this Kaijus to life while there are already a number of iconic scenes being shown.

The name Godzilla holds so much weight behind it in our current pop culture zeitgeist, from cementing its status as the forefront leader of the kaiju genre from the Land of the Rising Son with its then one-of-a-kind premise and execution with radioactive monsters as well as miniatures and people in plastic suits. While the original version is still going strong in their country of origin, the unsuccessful attempts by Hollywood to adapt it and getting it to hit mainstream success being represented by the unfortunate Roland Emmerich's 1998 adaptation but now the most recent one by Gareth Edwards has revitalize the audience's passion for the franchise and crave for more faithful and adept representation of the giant with fire breath. While they have to wait for awhile for a proper sequel, Kong: Skull Island provided an appropriate, satiating alternative especially considering it takes place in the same shared universe with an eventual versus crossover in the future to tie it all up and be this universe's own ensemble piece in the veins of the Avengers. Hopefully learning from some issues being brought into light by the fans from the first film and how the change of pace and style of the giant ape feature play to the viewers, this followup looks like it still have some of the original flairs being conserved while doubling down on the monsters department by featuring the franchise's more memorable kaijus in the forms of the moth Mothra, Rodan and the infamouse three-headed dragon Ghidorah! There is some implication and foreshadowing that mankind again meddling with something that they shouldn't have (which is the thematic throughline of the Legendary Universe if you watch the movies back to back) with some nefarious bodies intentionally wake up these giants from the slumber to be released and wreak havoc against maybe each other but certainly against the human race, with the grand yet foolish intention to return to the natural balance. Or I might just read too into it and this would turn out to be wrong ... but that's the fun of speculation, right? Okay, as I reviewed the trailer again, it seems that they are looking for the Titans because the want them to fight each other before the Earth perish ... well, that's a bit more clearer than before. It might have the same beat with its predecessor but I can't emphasize enough how beautiful and majestic these kaijus appear in the trailer from the first appearance of Mothra with its gorgeous wings to Rodan's close proximity flight. Ah, I can't wait to see them in the glorious silver screen just as it should be seen to properly bask in its full glory! Having a much more decorated cast with established household names as the casting is definitely getting better from film to film, the critics might have some valid concerns on whether they would be used comparative better than the previous entries, with Bryan Cranston unarguably bit the dust too early while the whole human cast in Skull Island wasn't used to their full potential. With that being said, this first official trailer is the right foot forward in presenting this second Godzilla feature in the best light possible. Do you agree with my assessment?

Chance of Success =
90% with the franchise and the shared universe going strong with respectable reception of Skull Island while the positive buzz around this trailer certainly helps.

.

a case for the first film and the apocalyptic spinoff:

+ Highlights +

Excellent monster film and then a fun period flick with the kaijus excellently rendered and brought to life, the giant ape and octopus included as well.

? Main contention ?

The difference in style might be tricky to meld together properly for the ensemble.

- Lowlights -

The teasing angle of the first and the 'over-the-top' nature (I'm not agreeing since it is a monster film after all) of Kong weren't appreciated by certain demography of fans.

-

a case for the followup and the eventual team-up-slash-fight:

+ Highlights +

Gorgeous representation of the fan-favourite monsters (so far) with perfect tease of the eventual clash between the the kaijus and the supposed king of the monsters.

? Main contention ?

Being the underdog yet again with the task of fighting the odds of three against one, I hope they can freshen up the formula instead of just being a retread of the first.

- Lowlights -

Depending on the success of this sequel, we may or may not see that dream King Kong vs Godzilla match.

--

- Synopsis -
The new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super-species – thought to be mere myths – rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity's very existence hanging in the balance.

Cast

Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell, Vera Farmiga as Dr. Emma Russell, Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham, Bradley Whitford as Dr. Stanton, Kyle Chandler as Mark Russell, Ziyi Zhang, O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Chief Warrant Officer Barnes, Charles Dance as Thomas Middleditch, Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa ...

(Michael Dougherty [Krampus, Trick 'r Treat], Genre - Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Kaiju, Sci-Fi)

- IMDb - wiki -

trailer breakdown

- x -