Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters (2019-Film)

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## **Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)**

***Godzilla: King of the Monsters*** is a 2019 American monster film directed by Michael Dougherty and co-written by Dougherty with Zach Shields. A sequel to *Godzilla* (2014), it is the 35th film in the *Godzilla* franchise, the third film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and the third *Godzilla* film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. It is dedicated to executive producer Yoshimitsu Banno and original *Godzilla* suit performer Haruo Nakajima, who both died in 2017.

The film stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O'Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, and Zhang Ziyi. In the film, humans must rely on Godzilla and Mothra to defeat King Ghidorah, who has awakened other Titans to destroy the world.

The sequel was green-lit during the opening weekend of *Godzilla*, with original director Gareth Edwards expected to return to direct a trilogy. In May 2016, Edwards left the project. In October 2016, Dougherty and Shields were hired to rewrite the script. In January 2017, Dougherty was announced as the director. Principal photography began in June 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, and wrapped in September 2017.

*Godzilla: King of the Monsters* was theatrically released on May 31, 2019, to mixed reviews, with praise for the visual effects, action sequences, cinematography, and musical score but criticism aimed at the pacing, tone, plot, and characters. The film was a box office disappointment, grossing $386 million worldwide against a production budget between $170–200 million and additional marketing costs between $100–150 million. A sequel, *Godzilla vs. Kong*, is scheduled to be released on November 20, 2020.

## **Plot.**

Five years after the existence of giant monsters, now called "Titans", was exposed to the world, Dr. Emma Russell, a paleobiologist who works for the Titan-studying organization Monarch and her daughter Madison witness the birth of a larva dubbed Mothra. Emma calms the agitated Mothra down using the "Orca", a device that can emit frequencies to attract or alter Titan behavior. A group of eco-terrorists, led by Alan Jonah, suddenly attacks the base, killing everyone before kidnapping Emma and Madison, while Mothra flees and pupates under a nearby waterfall.

Monarch scientists Dr. Ishirō Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham approach former employee Dr. Mark Russell, Emma's ex-husband and Madison's father, to help track them down. Mark is reluctant at first due to his hatred toward Godzilla (whom he blames for the death of his son, Andrew) but he eventually agrees. The Monarch team follows Godzilla to Antarctica, where Jonah intends to free a three-headed Titan codenamed "Monster Zero". Emma frees and awakens Monster Zero, who battles Godzilla, devours Graham and escapes. The team then learns that Emma is secretly working with the terrorists. From a Monarch bunker in Boston, Emma contacts Monarch and argues that the Titans must be awakened in order to heal the Earth from the damages that humans have caused.

Emma then awakens Rodan in Mexico. Monarch lures Rodan into fighting the approaching Monster Zero, but Monster Zero swiftly defeats Rodan before being ambushed by Godzilla, who severs his left head. During the fight, the Navy launches a prototype missile called the "Oxygen Destroyer", seemingly killing Godzilla. Unaffected, Monster Zero regrows his lost head and awakens all the other dormant Titans around the world, with Rodan submitting to his rule. Madison disowns Emma for her actions.

Through mythological texts, Dr. Ilene Chen discovers that Monster Zero is King Ghidorah, an ancient alien seeking to terraform the Earth to his liking. Mothra emerges from her cocoon and flies to "Castle Bravo", Monarch's Bermuda base, to communicate with Godzilla, who survived the detonation and is recuperating in an ancient underwater city. Via submarine, the team locates Godzilla's lair, which is highly radioactive. They deduce it will take far too long for Godzilla to heal on his own and decide to detonate a nuclear warhead to speed up the process. Serizawa sacrifices himself by manually detonating the weapon, reviving Godzilla and increasing his power.

Emma realizes the destruction Ghidorah and the other Titans will bring to the world is much worse than anything that humans could inflict, but Jonah ignores her pleas to stop. Unknown to them, Madison overhears this and steals the Orca. Arriving at Fenway Park, Madison broadcasts a frequency that calms the Titans and unwittingly attracts all of them to her location. Ghidorah lands in Boston to destroy the Orca, with Godzilla arriving with Monarch's assistance to engage him in battle. Mark leads a team to rescue Madison and escape the city after learning Godzilla's radiation levels are increasing and will lead to a thermonuclear explosion. Mothra arrives to help Godzilla but is intercepted by Rodan; she defeats him but is heavily injured in the process.

Ghidorah overpowers Godzilla and prepares to kill him, but Mothra sacrifices herself and transfers her energy to Godzilla, rapidly healing him. Mark, Emma, and Madison are reunited and reactivate the Orca to lure Ghidorah away from Godzilla. Emma sacrifices herself to lead Ghidorah away, giving Mark, Madison, and Monarch time to escape. Godzilla temporarily enters a newly-empowered state, and defeats Ghidorah with nuclear pulses. Rodan and the other Titans converge on Godzilla and bow to him.

During the end credits, news clippings and Monarch files show that the Titans are helping to heal the planet, a suspected second Mothra egg has been discovered, some of the Titans are converging on Skull Island and ancient cave paintings of Godzilla and Kong in battle. In a post-credits scene, Jonah and his forces purchase Ghidorah's severed left head in Mexico.

## **Rating**

M:12+ Monster violence and coarse language