I went to see Godzilla: King of the Monsters this morning with my two (grown) sons and we all enjoyed it. It was better than the previous movie (which we also enjoyed), with a better story going on with the humans that the viewers generally don't care about as much as the fighting monsters. They did an excellent job with the monsters for the most part, with Godzilla and Ghidorah being especially well done. Rodan was pretty good as well, although they added a "fire demon" aspect somewhat reminiscent of the Fire Rodan version from the 1993 Godzilla vs. Mecha-Godzilla II. It was Mothra that felt the least like the original version; while the larval form was okay, the moth form had a much smaller head than I'm used to and her legs were much, much larger than in her previous appearances. I guess I'm just not used to Mothra being a competent fighter; in the past she's pretty much relied upon the wind (and "poison flakes") from her wings as her main combat maneuvers.
I didn't think they'd add Mothra's 6-inch telepathic fairies in this American version (and I was right), but they did a nice call-out to them in a photo of the family of one of the Japanese scientists, a third-generation member of Monarch, the group dedicated to the study of the "titans." That was a nice touch. And they used the Mothra song several times during the movie when Mothra showed up, which I greatly enjoyed.
I'm intrigued now to see Godzilla vs. Kong, because I highly doubt they'll be the only two monsters in that movie.
Overall, a worthy entry to the kaiju movie list. (Oh, and stay through the credits - there's a post-credits scene that will likely play into future movies.)
Johnathan
