Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a 2019 American giant monster film directed and co-written by Michael Dougherty and was released to American theaters on May 31, 2019. It is the third installment of the MonsterVerse series, a sequel to Godzilla (2014), the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise, the third Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio and stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, O'Shea Jackson Jr. and Zhang Ziyi, with Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins reprising their roles from the 2014 film. It is also the third film to feature Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Rodan since Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster in 1964 and Destroy All Monsters in 1968.

In the film, Monarch must rely on Godzilla to fight his ancient nemesis King Ghidorah, who was unleashed by a group of eco-terrorists and has not only stolen the role as the new alpha Titan, but is also using Rodan and many of the other dormant Titans he had awakened worldwide as his pawns to destroy Earth. Now, it is up to Monarch to work alongside Godzilla and his mystical ally Mothra to stop Ghidorah so that Godzilla can secure his position as the "King of the Monsters" before the entire global ecosystem is destroyed.

Plot
Five years after the existence of the "Titans" was revealed to the world, Dr. Emma Russell, a paleobiologist working for the Titan-studying organization Monarch, and her daughter Madison witness the birth of a larva called Mothra. Emma calms Mothra using the "Orca," a device that can emit frequencies to attract or alter Titan behavior. A group of eco-terrorists, led by former British Army Colonel Alan Jonah, attacks the base and abducts 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 during the events in San Francisco, but 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 later realizes that Emma is 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 awakens Rodan in Mexico, and the Monarch team lure it towards Monster Zero. After Rodan is defeated, Godzilla ambushes Monster Zero and severs his left head. During the fight, the U.S. Navy launches a prototype weapon 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. As a result, Madison disowns Emma.

Through mythological texts, Dr. Ilene Chen discovers that Monster Zero is King Ghidorah, a prehistoric alien seeking to transform the Earth. Mothra emerges from her cocoon and flies to Monarch's Bermuda base to communicate with Godzilla, who is recuperating in an ancient underwater city. Via submarine, the team locates Godzilla's lair, which is highly radioactive. They deduce it will take 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 warhead, 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. Madison overhears this and steals the Orca. Arriving at Fenway Park, Madison broadcasts a frequency that calms the Titans but unwittingly attracts all of them to her location. Ghidorah lands in Boston to destroy the Orca. Godzilla arrives with Monarch personnel'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 injured in the process.

Ghidorah overpowers Godzilla and prepares to kill him, but Mothra sacrifices herself and transfers her energy to Godzilla. 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 the Monarch team time to escape. Godzilla enters a newly empowered state and defeats Ghidorah. Rodan and the other Titans converge on Godzilla and bow to him.

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

As the film ends, it is revealed that Monarch has divulged its information on the Titans to the public. News clippings show a newly discovered Mothra egg, Titans beginning to converge on Skull Island, a mysterious forest blooming at the Sahara Desert, 14 animals have been removed from the endangered species list, Titan waste is believed to be viable energy source, and ancient paintings displaying Godzilla battling Kong.

In a post-credits scene, a fisherman reveals one of Ghidorah's decapitated heads to Jonah, restarting his eco-terrorism plot.

Cast

 * Vera Farmiga as Dr. Emma Russell
 * Kyle Chandler as Mark Russell
 * Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell
 * Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
 * Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham
 * Bradley Whitford as Dr. Rick Stanton
 * Thomas Middleditch as Sam Coleman
 * O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Jackson Barnes
 * Charles Dance as Alan Jonah
 * Zhang Ziyi as Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling Chen

Monsters

 * Godzilla
 * Rodan
 * Mothra
 * King Ghidorah
 * Scylla
 * Behemoth
 * Anguirus (Skeleton)
 * Leaf Wings
 * King Kong (footage, cave painting)
 * Methuselah
 * MUTO (Male, Female, Queen)

Development
Godzilla director Gareth Edwards stated that he wanted the film to stand on its own with a definitive ending, with no teaser for a sequel. Nonetheless, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures greenlit a sequel on May 18, 2014, after Godzilla's successful opening weekend. Edwards was announced as the director, but no cast members were confirmed to return.

On July 26, 2014, a teaser for the untitled sequel screened at San Diego Comic-Con, revealing that Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah would all be appearing. A month later, the release date was set for June 8, 2018. The four-year gap between Godzilla and Godzilla 2 was due to Gareth Edwards signing on to direct Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and as a result being unavailable to begin work on Godzilla 2 until 2016. In an interview with Collider conducted in early August 2015, writer Max Borenstein revealed that he was writing the script for the film, promising that the sequel would do "bigger and even better things" than the first film.

On October 14, 2015, Legendary Pictures announced a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla titled Godzilla vs. Kong, set for release in 2020 and serving as a sequel to both Godzilla 2 and Legendary's Kong: Skull Island. On May 10, 2016, the release dates of both Godzilla 2 and Godzilla vs. Kong shifted from March 22, 2019 and May 29, 2020 respectively. Three days later, Deadline reported that Gareth Edwards had left the film in order to pursue other projects. On October 20, 2016, Variety reported that Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields, who had recently co-wrote Legendary's Christmas horror-comedy Krampus, would be stepping in as the new writers for Godzilla 2. The sequel's official title was revealed on December 14, 2016: Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

On January 23rd, 2017, Variety reported that writer Michael Dougherty would also direct the film. Four days later, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Millie Bobby Brown of Stranger Things would star in the film. Other principal cast members were announced from February 21 to July 10, including Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins reprising their roles as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham, respectively.

Following production, TheWrap reported that Jason Liles, who had recently portrayed the albino gorilla George through motion capture in the film Rampage, would be acting as one of King Ghidorah's motion capture actors in the film. The same day, Empire explained that Liles would specifically be portraying King Ghidorah's middle head, with Alan Maxson and Richard Dorton playing the other two heads and additional motion capture actors performing as the monster's body.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters was delayed once more on May 23, 2018, pushed back to May 31, 2019.

Production
Principal photography on Godzilla: King of the Monsters began on June 19, 2017, at Blackhall Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Locations as diverse as Antarctica and Fenway Park were recreated as indoor sets. For many members of the cast, the first days of shooting were ironically for the climax of the film in Boston. To aid the actors in reacting to the off-camera monsters, Dougherty used a iPad-controlled speaker system called "The Behemoth" to play their roars. Crowd scenes in the fictious Mexican town of Isla de Mara were shot in the historic center of Mexico City from August 19 to 22. Production wrapped on September 27.