by Jake Hjort, contributing writer
Before I begin to review Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, I first want to briefly go over my history with Legendary’s MonsterVerse and Toho’s repertoire of kaiju. Although I’ve seen far from every Godzilla film ever made, I did watch quite a few of them growing up, perhaps not fully understanding the stories or nuclear metaphors, but always enjoying watching the monsters fight. I am also a huge fan of both the 1933 and 2005 renditions of King Kong, so I was ecstatic when Legendary Pictures had the two collide in the MonsterVerse films. So far, I’ve liked every entry into the MonsterVerse series to various degrees, and would even go so far as to say that, despite its flaws, I loved Godzilla vs. Kong.
Thus brings us to Legacy of Monsters, the newest entry into the MonsterVerse, and their first foray into television. The series is split across two different timelines: one in the 1950s, highlighting the origins of Monarch, and the other in 2015, set in the aftermath of Godzilla’s rampage through San Francisco. The two storylines see some interplay throughout the season, primarily connecting through the character of Lee Shaw (played by father/son duo Kurt and Wyatt Russell), during the two different stages of his life. Shaw is joined in the past by scientists and Monarch co-founders Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) and Bill (Anders Holm), and in the modern day by half-siblings Cate (Anna Sawai) and Kentaro (Ren Watabe), and their friend May (Kiersey Clemons).
Across the MonsterVerse and the greater Godzilla franchise, there’s a lot of criticism of the human-driven storylines, which can often feel poorly thought-out and included only to achieve feature length, giving the film something to do when transitioning between kaiju fights. Although Monarch isn’t going to be winning any awards for its writing, I do think that it has some of the best, most intriguing human characters we’ve had so far in the MonsterVerse. The modern storyline has an interesting mystery about the disappearance of Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira), the father of Cate and Kentaro and son of Keiko and Bill, following the Godzilla attack, but I found myself particularly drawn into the storyline in the past, in large part due to strong performances from Yamamoto, Holm, and Wyatt Russell. The King of Monsters himself makes several appearances in both timelines, and although he doesn’t get as much character development as he has in some of the films (an absurd thing to say about a giant, radioactive lizard, but we are in a world in which Godzilla has slowly become a protector of nature and force for good), he looks great in every instance.
Without a doubt, the biggest praise that I can bestow upon Monarch is that it is one of the most visually appealing shows that I have ever seen. The monsters all look beautifully lifelike and would fit right in with the special effects and CGI in the films. Although the show is definitely focused on the humans first and the monsters second, there’s at least one appearance of a kaiju in every episode, each of which is a visual spectacle. The cinematography is gorgeous as well, much more impressive than anything else I can remember seeing on television.
Unfortunately for Monarch, the biggest knock against it may be that it was released at the same time as Godzilla Minus One, one of the best Godzilla stories ever told. Although I really did enjoy the stories and characters in Monarch, especially how they intersected across time, they pale in comparison to those in Minus One. In a world where I hadn’t seen that film only a month and a half ago, I may say that I loved Monarch, but to no fault of the show, my standards have been raised for what a Godzilla story can be.
Rating: Liked It
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is currently streaming on Apple TV+
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