(No Spoilers)

Five years after the release of original Warner Bros. and Legendary Studios Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters opens up in a world that’s trying to prevent another San Francisco-level event, when Godzillla destroyed the city in the process of defeating his first foe. The studio fulfills its promise to increase the total screen time of monster action, but lacks some of the depth that its predecessor had. Let’s be honest, no one goes to a computer-generated mega monster clash for the human side of the story.

King of the Monsters wastes no time in the beginning and gets right into giving us a look at one of the newest Kaiju, Mothra. The movie moves fast, getting from Point A to Point B and tries its hardest to get us to the monster smackdown. With a few scattered and smaller-scaled throwdowns sprinkled throughout the movie, each one seemingly gets bigger and bigger, adding a new adversary to every altercation. All of these fights lead up to the final showdown in Boston; so much for preventing another San Francisco.

My biggest problems are some of the character decisions, as some just felt unjustified and used to push the plot forward. Most of the plot is charging forward with an item used to awaken the beast so it wouldn’t really be considered a plot device.

On the bright side: this movie looks and sounds awesome. Visually,  it’s crack that’s been pumped full of steroids with a generous helping of neon lighting that really makes the Kaiju pop. Seriously, watching this movie felt like almost every frame could be printed out and placed on display in a museum. With each jaw-dropping sequence comes beautifully composed music that’ll give you goosebumps. The music is inspired by, and respects, the original themes used when TOHO Studios made the classic films.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is an enjoyable film that had me on the edge of my seat through every Behemoth-sized smackdown that shook the theater. The film is beautifully made and has a fantastic soundtrack that really brought the scene to life. It’s the perfect movie to kickoff the summer with, even if you aren’t a Godzilla fan. This third installment into Warner Bros. and Legendary Studios “Monsterverse” fits well and does a reasonable job at setting up future installments into the franchise, like 2020’s “Godzilla Vs Kong.”