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‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ loses its human touch in sprawling second season [The Japan Times review] (www.japantimes.co.jp)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/monsterverse@startrek.website
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Ouch!

The first season of the Apple TV series paired its kaijū (monster) action with deft character work, making its globe-spanning mystery feel grounded and emotionally engaging. Season Two, which aired its finale on May 1, picks up directly after the first season’s cliffhanger ending, but much of that balance is lost beneath the weight of a sprawling story and the introduction of more characters from the Monsterverse — a franchise that now encompasses six films and two other spinoff series, all based on Toho Studios’ Godzilla IP.

As the world of “Monarch” expands, the series becomes increasingly bogged down by explanations. Two years after the first season premiered, exposition that was once neatly folded into believable dialogue has been replaced with clunky reminders of previous plot points and characters.

I didn't read past this point for fear of spoilers, as I haven't watched S2 yet... but the review isn't off to a good start, is it?

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[–] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

I’d say that it’s fairly clear that the writers had an endpoint for the season, a few key narrative, Kaiju and character milestones that they mapped out, as well as some narrative pipe that they wanted to lay down towards the third season.

The season mostly succeeds from that perspective but there’s validity in some of the criticisms.

One thing to keep in mind is that the show is serving different international audiences, including a core of American fans who only want to see big Kaiju fight.

My sense is that they got the balance a bit different for the second season such that those who liked the first season may not be as happy with the second and vice versa.

In particular, this season seems to be the natural conclusion to many unresolved issues from the movie Kong: Skull Island — one of the most divisive movies in the Monsterverse. So, if that movie is one that someone liked or found intriguing, they are likely to find this season particularly satisfying.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I also wonder if there's a lingering cultural disregard in Japan for Hollywood versions of Godzilla and related kaiju. Like the downgrading of the 1998 Tristar movie version to "Zilla" in later Toho outings ;)

    This is after all a pillar of Japanese pop culture. Can't blame them for being protective of Godzilla and co. ...

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    You have a point generally but underestimate how loathed the 1998 film is.

    The 1998 movie sufficiently disrespected the values around Gojira that Toho has been incredibly cautious about licensing since. There are many contractual limits on how the Toho Kaiju can be used, especially Godzilla.

    American interpretations have leaned too much to the younger male audiences who are just interested in big monsters fighting and threatening humans. Not so much interested in morality stories about humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

    Legendary Entertainment has tried to bring a more character driven human centric version to US and international audiences. However, the films after Kong: Skull Island had a different creative team and became more focused on spectacular fights than storytelling or messaging.

    M:LOM is helmed by the original creatives. They seem to be successful overall in balancing more character driven storytelling but whichever way they lean, there will be some dissatisfaction.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Thanks for elaborating. I did not consider the change in creative staff post Skull island. That's an interesting element to the way the Monsterverse has developed, particularly on the big screen.

    I don't think the recent Godzilla (and Kong) cycle has been as terrible as the 1998 movie, but IMO they're gradually getting worse for each sequel... Whereas Skull island was messy, but at least interestingly so.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    It will be interesting to see whether the film part of the franchise can ground things more again.

    The cinematic release scheduled for 2027 Godzilla v Kong: Supernova, reported to feature Spacegodzilla, sound like it will continue to go in a different direction than the new television franchise with Apple that aligns more closely to the first two movies.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I'm not optimistic about how grounded a film can be if it's called Supernova and has Spacegodzilla in it... but if they let go of all the Hollow Earth and tinfoil hat theory, maybe there will be a few minutes for human scale drama? 🤔

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