“GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS” — 3 stars — Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Charles Dance; PG-13 (sequences of monster action violence and destruction, and for some language); in general release; running time: 131 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” is big, dumb, loud and charming. It’s a throwback to classic monster movies that goes all in on its spectacle, even if it might make you feel a little guilty for enjoying it.
Staged in a variety of CGI-enhanced locations worldwide, Michael Dougherty’s film sets up a supersized battle royale with the third installment of a monster franchise that started with 2014’s “Godzilla” and continued with 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island.”
The common thread is a clandestine government agency called Monarch, which has been tracking the activities of the so-called “Titans” for years and trying to determine whether the larger-than-life creatures are a man-made accident of nature or nature’s way of stamping us out. “King of the Monsters” takes place five years after radioactive megalizard Godzilla leveled San Francisco, as Monarch has set up bases of operation all around the world to monitor the development of new Titans.
In a dramatic and ludicrous opening scene, a Monarch scientist named Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and her daughter Madison (played by “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown) witness the birth of a Titan named Mothra only moments before a team of eco-terrorists attacks the base. Led by an extremist named Jonah Alan (Charles Dance), the terrorists are determined to use Monarch technology to unleash the wrath of the Titans on the globe, restoring what they believe to be a more natural order.
This chain of events eventually leads to Antarctica, and then Mexico, as Jonah manages to rally two more Titans to the cause: a fire-breathing pterodactyl named Rodan, and what seems to be the alpha male of all the Titans, a three-headed dragon called King Ghidorah.
To counter Jonah, Emma’s estranged husband Mark (Kyle Chandler) and a Monarch team led by the perpetually-in-awe Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) try to call Godzilla out of retirement, in the hopes that the “good guy” monster will put the “bad guy” monsters in check.
Dougherty and screenwriter Zach Shields actually try to put a lot more into the story, but let’s be honest: Everything else is highly irrelevant. The objective is an epic CGI-throwdown with maximum collateral damage, and thinking too hard about the story or pondering the insipid hokum that is passed off as some kind of pseudo-environmentalist messaging is only going to give you a headache.
“King of the Monsters” is first, foremost and probably lastly, a monster movie. And in that it succeeds — especially if you catch it in IMAX. Anyone who felt that “Godzilla” didn’t have enough fight scenes should be more than satisfied with this one, and the over-the-top effects that make about 80 percent of the film look like it's taking place in a perpetual electric storm make it clear that “spectacle” is on the top of the filmmaker’s priority list.
Even if the expository dialogue is ridiculous and the plot is laughable — pitting the fate of the human race on a 12-year-old being able to sneak a piece of vital yet unguarded tech out from under the noses of a supposedly skilled band of eco-terrorists (and her mother) — having veteran performances from Dance, Chandler and Farmiga does manage to add a little credibility to all the silliness.
The best performance, though, comes from Godzilla himself, who even in 2019 CGI form still looks like the before picture in a dinosaur weight loss tract, even while spewing a world-charring dose of radioactive dragon breath.
Often the phrase “turn off your brain” is used too generously as an excuse for a bad movie. With “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” it should be used as an endorsement. Dougherty’s effort might have worked a little better if it leaned harder into Godzilla’s inherent campiness, but as is, “King of the Monsters” is still some good summer fun.
Rating explained: "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" is rated PG-13 for considerable if bloodless CGI mayhem and action violence, as well as some intermittent profanity, including a single use of the F-word.