ReelBob: ‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters’ ★★

By Bob Bloom

My first experience with Godzilla was watching on TV the American, English-dubbed version of the 1954 Japanese film, “Gojira,” released in the United States as “Godzilla, King of the Monsters.”

That movie lacked the nuances and subtext of the Japanese original, transforming what was clearly an antinuclear movie into a mindless monster mash.

Over the next several decades, many more Godzilla movies — most from Japan — were released. As the years went by, these movies grew more inferior, basically becoming kiddie-matinee fodder.

In 2014, a new “Godzilla,” directed by Gareth Edwards and released by Warner Bros., received respectable reviews and — more importantly — decent box-office earnings.

Now comes its sequel, “Godzilla, King of the Monsters,” a mash-up that features other iconic “kaiju,” such as Rodan, Mothra and Monster Zero, aka, Ghidorah.

This latest release pushes an environmental message in between sequences of the various beasties battling each other, destroying cities and people, and, once in a while, munching on an unfortunate supporting player or extra.

The movie’s major drawback is that it takes itself too seriously. Director Michael Dougherty, who wrote the script with Zach Shields, strives for the gravitas of the original “Gojira.”

But his dialogue is so hokey, hoary and exposition-laden that it distracts and detracts from his intent.

Plus, Dougherty is altering the mythos about the kaiju. The original idea was that — for at least Godzilla and Rodan — atomic testing was the cause of their resurrections.

That basically is still the idea in this newest “Godzilla,” but now we get some hokum about how these giant creatures lived in harmony with man thousands of years ago, keeping the planet and its ecosystem in balance.

But Dougherty also reinstates Monarch, the secret government agency that has hidden bases around the world where they keep most of these titans in check.

An ecoterrorist group wants to set these creatures free to reign death and destruction on mankind and restore balance to Earth — if such is possible.

“Godzilla, King of the Monsters” is mainly CGI eye candy. Most of the humans in the cast are required to gape in either wide-eyed wonderment or terror — depending on the situation — as these monsters stomp, swim or fly around, causing havoc wherever they touch down.

To add continuity from the 2014 movie, Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins return as scientists Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham, who run Monarch and are tasked with keeping the creatures as docile as possible.

Most of the beastie battles are exciting, but they were filmed against rainy, stormy or dark backgrounds that make them difficult to follow. It’s almost as if they had taken up residence in Westeros during the Battle of Winterfell.

The movie would have been much more fun if it had simply concentrated on Godzilla and his playmates. Whenever we hear sequences of people expounding, the movie just drops dead in its tracks.

Dougherty and his collaborators should have given people more of what they really want — cities toppled, more monsters bashing each other — and fewer moments of actors spewing inane dialogue.

“Godzilla, King of the Monsters” pays homage to its past by utilizing musical cues from the various Japanese features. And it also looks ahead for its next heavyweight knockdown-title card between Godzilla and that big hairy denizen of Skull Island.

A tip to the filmmakers — remember what the late Heath Ledger asked in “The Dark Knight,” “Why so serious?”

Lighten up a bit and have some fun with these big fellas. After all, you now have CGI, not men in rubber suits. The gloves and constraints are off. So, add a little zest, a wink and a nod here and there. Liven up the franchise or it may become in danger of extinction.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS
2 stars out of 4
(PG-13), monster action violence and destruction, language