Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to be back on assignment for Scenestr magazine to review Godzilla II: King of the Monsters. This was in the Gold Class cinemas at Chermside cinema, usually I demure from such things but this time around I ordered dinner from their menu and had it served to Karen and I in the cinema – delicious. It was easily the highlight of the night because the film frustrated me no end.
The flawed Hellboy came out recently and has closed out its box office run quickly and with very little gross. I felt more engaged and energised by some of the inventiveness of that film despite its many faults. I have no doubt Godzilla II will meet with more success than Hellboy.
We’re in June and I’m yet to see the first great film of 2019 but I don’t want to be too old and grouchy. I think for fans of Godzilla there is enough Easter Eggs and visual splendour to enjoy. Also the filmmakers seem to be addressing some of the criticisms of the 2014 original by giving the humans more agency here but make no mistake it is the human story that is lacking. During the finale set in Boston I really could have used some colourful Bostonian character reacting to Godzilla. “Hey you think ya bedda dan meah?!”. You can check out my review here http://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-review-20190531
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Having started in 1993 they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland every month.
-Lloyd Marken
Back to the Drawing Board Productions 
Sounds like a very fair review to me, Lloyd. I wish I had a cinema where I could be served dinner as I watched the film! I suspect the dinner was better than this pointless remake, and I will be giving this film the swerve it deserves. I will stick with the original Japanese stop-motion monster, thanks. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
Thanks Pete, that was very much my sentiments. 🙂 Best wishes.
Not my type of film, and I love Ken and the actress who plays 11 from Strangers….
Plus Bradley Whitford from The West Wing.
Good review Lloyd. Like the aboves, I’ll stick by the original.
I’ll have to check it out. I enjoyed Kong vs Godzilla when I was a kid.
I love Godzilla so I shall no doubt go and see it. It looks as if I won’t necessarily enjoy it that much. Personally, I think they peaked with King Kong v Godzilla.
If rumours are correct there’s a King Kong vs Godzilla remake in the pipeline.
Correct, comes out next year so might even be shooting, if not now then very soon.
You might be right John. The monsters are done well say in comparison to Gozilla from 1998. But they still can’t tell the human story well.
I think 132 minutes would be too much for me, even with dinner thrown in.
Good review Lloyd, I like the car park shot too.
Thanks Paul, bit of a random shot. As for dinner I think in the past I’ve been very nervous and full of concentration in critics’ screening but I feel very fortunate to have gotten to the point to be able to r relax especially with this kind of film. It also helps because you just go straight home and can get stuck into writing the review straight away.
When I hear of Godzilla, I think back on Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Foghorn” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fog_Horn) which was an inspiration for the movie “The Beast from 20,000 fathoms”. The white structure of a roller coaster dimly seen through late night fog and the sound of a fog horn near Venice, California inspired his short story. Bradbury’s story was published in “The Saturday Evening Post” in the early 1950s. It is amazing how it has evolved over the years. If your are unfamiliar with Bradbury’s short story, you might want to check it out.