Godzilla is one of those franchise properties that Hollywood has never really been able to get a handle on. The Japanese monster classic, the towering lizard able to reduce cities (if not always the most convincing model cities) to rubble has been a mainstay of eastern action cinema, but the two modern Hollywood outings have generally been slammed with critics delivering damning or decidedly neutral reviews of the 1998 and 2014 efforts).
However that most recent attempt was successful enough to greenlight a sequel and there’s still hope that Warners will have a monster-mash franchise connecting some of the cinematic dots and cross-pollinating a series of same-universe movies – a ‘Godzilla vs King Kong‘ feature still looks set for 2020.
So a second trailer for the latest Godzilla movie – the ‘King of Monsters‘ feature is due 31st May – makes it a little easier to see what we will be getting this time around. Wisely, front and centre is Stranger Things breakout star Millie Bobbie Brown with Kyle Chandler (Bloodline, Friday Night Lights),Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel, The Conjuring movies), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing). We’ll also see the return of Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins. According to the official publicity blurb: … the new story follows the heroic efforts of the crypto-zoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god-sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient super-species—thought to be mere myths—rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance…
The film is directed by Michael Dougherty, best known for directing the likes of Trick r Treat, Krampus and co-writing the screenplay for Superman Returns and X-Men: Apocalypse.
