Watch this first.
In a word? MAGNIFICENT. Easily the highlight (at least for me) of this year’s SDCC, Godzilla: King of the Monster‘s first footage reveals that the Michael Dougherty directed sequel is NOT fucking around in the slightest.
Vera Farmiga’s bold-faced laying out of the movie’s plot is a bit of a bummer. The footage and Bear McCreary’s INCREDIBLE score more than makeup for it. Set to a haunting, Pixies-like cover of Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” the trailer drops us in the middle of a post-Godzilla world. Monarch’s race to awaken the “Titans,” AKA All Your Kaiju Faves.
Rodan (looking a kind of badass I think he’s never really achieved), a jaw-droppingly gorgeous Mothra, and KING GODDAMN GHIDORAH all make appearances here. Every single one of them are stunners. We also get quick, evocative check-ins with the human cast, which includes an appropriately handsome and haggard Kyle Chandler, Eleven herself Millie Bobby Brown, and our favorite poltergeist buster Vera Farmiga. The family dynamic here looks a lot stronger than 2014’s franchise starter. It also seems to be leaning into the monsters’ connection with humanity, which Gareth Evans’ entry did really well.
Cards on the table, the first time I watched this I cried big, giant tears just from the sheer majesty of the score in conjunction with the footage. This sequel seems to be capitalizing on the scale and tone of the first movie and just turning it all the way up to eleven (I’m so sorry), keeping pace with the giddy creature feature fun of Kong: Skull Island. I sincerely cannot WAIT.
I leave you now with an exclusive con poster which shows the Clash of Kings that we truly deserve. Long may he reign.
