At 40% on the Tomatometer, Godzilla: King of the Monsters didn’t fare so well with critics, who largely felt the kaiju action in the film was spectacular but was too frequently sidelined in favor of a half-baked human story. Fans, on the other hand, felt quite differently, rewarding the giant monster battle royale with an 86% Audience Score. That’s a far more impressive number than the 2014 reboot (66%), the Monsterverse follow-up Kong: Skull Island (69%), and even the recent Japan-produced Shin Godzilla (74%) — all three of which, we might add, were also Certified Fresh according to the critics.
In the wake of its box office-topping opening weekend, we decided to take a look through the user reviews for King of the Monsters to see if we could discover what the cause of this rift was, and the results were somewhat surprising. Generally speaking, while RT users tend to agree with critics about the film’s shortcomings, the former are far more forgiving. At the end of the day, fans came to the movie to see Godzilla face off against — or team up with — some of the franchise’s most iconic characters, and they got exactly what they wanted. Check out the user reviews and let us know what you thought of the film, and these reviews, in the comments. (Note, some of the reviews have been slightly edited for length and grammar/spelling.)
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Hard-to-follow CGI overload.
– Ro, 2 stars
Good action, but under a blue Snapchat filter. Bad plot.
– Buckshot, 2 stars
Excessively silly, but the imagery is often jaw-dropping and honestly, what more do you need from a monster movie?
– Alec B., 3 stars
This movie is awesome. Truly one of the greatest and most epic kaiju movies ever made. The battle scenes were beautifully shot and gave a large sense of scale. A must-see.
– Colton H., 4 Stars
King of the Monsters goes full Avengers in introducing King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan for a full-on monster mash. It’s by no means a good film, but it’s dumb fun watching the titans clash.
– Zak, 4 stars
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Garbage. Pacific Rim was onto something; these guys didn’t take notes. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE STUPID HUMAN STORIES, FFS.
– Michael D., 0.5 stars
No plot, no point… Just a lot of noise!
– Mary R., 0.5 stars
Poor writing, average acting, cliched characters, terrible dialog. Felt like it was four hours long.
– Todd, 1 star
Wanted to love it as a Godzilla fan for almost 50 years, but it lacked drama, had laughable and unlikable human characters. The color palette was dark and generally monochromatic. The attempts at one-liners fell terribly flat. The kaijus deserve much better.
– Brandon M., 2 stars
It’s not one of those films that you go to for the writing, that’s for sure! But all in all, the kaiju battles were glorious fun to watch and the performances were decent. A good summer popcorn flick!
– M00vieCritic W., 3.5 stars
The only thing that would have made the movie any better is if they took out all the human actors. For a longtime Godzilla fan, this film had me smiling ear to ear. I cant stress enough how much i loved this movie!
– Michael, 5 stars
Ready for a nerdgasm??? KOTM brings the heat. For all the dyed-in-the-wool fans, this scratched the itch left festering since 2014’s good but underwhelming outing. The plot was cohesive, the human elements tied into what was happening with the monsters, and I was searching for some bad CGI, but couldn’t really find any. Go see it. I’ll be going back for IMAX.
– Eric, 5 stars
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Classic Godzilla. Loved it! Wish we saw more of the other titans in action, though. A couple slow spots, but very entertaining. Childhood memories came rushing back.
– JLW, 3.5 stars
As a fan of Godzilla: Final Wars, I am pretty satisfied. It’s a film that is meant to be watched with little seriousness. And I very much enjoyed the callbacks to the original soundtrack.
– Hansen W., 4 stars
Movie antagonist didn’t make a lot of sense, but at the same time, their ridiculousness echoed that of the Heisei era Toho movies. The monster battles are thrilling, though sometimes I wish they didn’t cut away so often. Would be nice if there were some day fights but that’s okay. This movie is stuck between whether it wants to take itself seriously or not. This problem rests with the characters — some are fun and relevant while others are cheesy and trope-riddled. The score is top notch and the resurgence of the original theme is breathtaking. Overall, if you are looking for classic monster action and are a Godzilla fan through and through, you will have a good time. And if you don’t like classic monster tropes then idk why you would go watch this movie in the first place.
– Seth S., 4 stars
It truly did feel like the Godzilla movies I remember watching as a youngster, except with better visual effects and better acting. The monster action was intense and the visuals were breathtaking. A must-see for every fan of the franchise or anyone wanting to see a good sci-fi/monster movie!
– Levi, 5 stars
Absolute love letter to the Toho films, full of easter eggs, fan service, and giant monster fights. Easily in my top 5 Godzilla movies (from the U.S. or Japan).
– Mike S., 5 stars
(Photo by Warner Bros. Pictures)
It takes a very accomplished pen to walk this improbability-act of a tightrope balance. This ain’t it.
– Gerald H., 2 stars
Exactly what Godzilla fans want. Some really cheesy dialogue aside, I couldn’t ask for anything better. Critics are just flat out wrong about this movie. GO SEE IT!
– Adam H., 4.5 stars
AMAZIIIIIING!!! Godzilla 2014 was a better Hollywood film, but this was a better GODZILLA movie!! Great job! Looking forward to Godzilla vs. Kong!!!
– Khris C., 5 stars
Check out all of the user reviews for Godzilla: King of the Monsters so far.
