Review Destroy All Monsters film review by The King of the Monsters

Destroy All Monsters Movie

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Destroy All Monsters is probably the most iconic and popular Godzilla movie aside from the original. It features a cast of eleven monsters and culminates in an epic battle atop Mt. Fuji. This monster total was unsurpassed in any film until 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars broke that record. For all of its accolades and popularity, Destroy All Monsters is ultimately an overrated film that features very poor plot development and extremely boring human characters that is reddemed only by its epic final battle. As radical as it may sound, in my opinion Destroy All Monsters does not live up to the quality of the previous two Godzilla films, Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla. Destroy All Monsters is still an enjoyable and deservingly beloved film, but not one of the better entries in the series.

*SPOILERS* In the year 1999, the United Nations has established a base on the moon, while the spacecraft Moonlight SY-3 makes frequent trips to and from the moon to gather more scientific knowledge. On Earth, all of the planet's monsters have been captured and relocated to an island in the Ogasawara chain dubbed "Monsterland." The monsters are given plenty of room to live comfortably and are contained by special barriers tailored to each monster's instincts. The monsters inhabiting the island are Godzilla, Minilla, Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, Baragon, Varan, Manda, Kumonga, and Gorosaurus. A group of scientists monitors the monsters from an underground base on the island to ensure that they remain under control. Suddenly, communication with the Monsterland base is lost. The crew of the SY-3 is sent to investigate, where they discover the personnel seemingly brainwashed along with a mysterious robed woman claiming to come from the planet Kilaak. The Kilaakian explains that her kind wish to cooperate with the people of Earth to establish a new world order. When the crew refuses to cooperate with the alien's plans, they are attacked by the brainwashed scientists and barely escape with their lives. It is soon discovered that the monsters have broken out of Monsterland and are laying waste to cities all over the world. Further investigation into recent events leads U.N. officials to the realization that the Kilaakian have used mind control technology to send Earth's monsters on rampages across the globe and decimate human civilization. The destruction reaches its pinnacle when Godzilla, Rodan, Manda, and Mothra all appear in Tokyo and reduce the city to rubble in one night. The military deploys Maser tanks to subdue the monsters, but their ranks are decimated by Godzilla and Anguirus. Further investigation into the Kilaakian's plans reveals that they are using transmitting device hidden in discreet locations across the globe to control the monsters. The SY-3 is sent to the moon with the hope of finding more Kilaakian activity. There, the crew discovers a base under the lunar surface. The crew leaves the SY-3 in an attack vehicle and quickly demolishes the Kilaakian base with the vehicle's Maser cannon. They discover a strange control device in the aftermath, which they deduce must be the source of all mind control over the monsters. The device is promptly destroyed and the SY-3 returns to Earth to prepare an assault on the Kilaakian's Earth base at Mount Fuji. Scientists have developed their own mind control capabilities in order to lure Earth's monsters to the base and destroy it. Godzilla arrives at Mt. Fuji, leading the other monsters into battle. Suddenly, the Kilaakian's ultimate weapon reveals itself in the sky: King Ghidorah, the infamous three-headed space dragon. Godzilla and his fellow Earth monsters battle Ghidorah in a grueling fight to the death, but gain the upper hand when Ghidorah is pinned to the ground. The Earth monsters waste no time in stomping Ghidorah's necks into the dust, leaving the king of terror motionless on the ground, presumably dead once and for all. Following Ghidorah's defeat, Godzilla finds and destroys the Kilaakian's base, ending the invasion once and for all. Some time later, the monsters are all seen living happily on Monsterland once more. *END SPOILERS*

Destroy All Monsters's biggest flaw is its plot. It is mostly recycled from Invasion of the Astro-Monster and is handled in a much less interesting and enjoyable way. None of the human characters are interesting enough to care about, yet the viewer is forced to spend the majority of the film following their exploits. The movie attempts to create a near-futuristic setting, but ultimately this ends up making it look cheap and cheesy.

Destroy All Monsters has a few notable actors, but not very notable performances. Akira Kubo plays the male lead Katsuo Yamabe, the captain of the SY-3. Kubo is not nearly as convincing or likeable as he is in other roles, and this is not helped by the blandness of his character, though I must admit he has a few badass lines that are delivered well. Jun Tazaki plays the authoritarian (big surprise) Dr. Yoshido. Tazaki is well-suited to this kind of role, but he doesn't do anything remarkable in this particular one. There really aren't any performances worth mentioning in this film, as all of the other characters are completely one-dimensional and undeveloped.

The film's redemption is, plain and simply, the monsters. Destroy All Monsters features a whopping eleven kaiju, far surpassing Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster's four. Destroy All Monsters features the long-awaited return of Anguirus, Godzilla's first enemy and later his closest ally. The other members of Toho's at the time "Big Four," Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah, return as well. Also appearing are Varan from 1958's Varan, Manda from 1963's Atragon, Baragon from 1965's Frankenstein vs. Baragon, Gorosaurus from 1967's King Kong Escapes, and Minilla and Kumonga from Son of Godzilla, also released in 1967. As for how each monster is portrayed, it is for the most part excellent. The Godzilla suit is brand new, and is a major improvement over the suit from the previous film. It looks both fierce and noble at the same time, a perfect representation of Godzilla's character. The new Anguirus suit is incredible, and is by far the most lifelike suit in the entire film. The Rodan suit is as goofy-looking as the previous suit, while the new Mothra larva puppet is small but more convincing than the older puppets. The King Ghidorah suit is the same suit used since 1964, and is only barely beginning to show signs of wear. Gorosaurus, Kumonga, and Minilla all look just as good as they did the year before. The Manda puppet looks very cheap and bland compared to the detailed puppet used in Atragon. Baragon and Varan only appear in a few scenes, but the Baragon suit looks solid and the Varan prop, while stiff, is acceptable. Each monster, save for Baragon and Varan, is given a fair amount of screen time throughout the movie, but unfortunately due to the complex wire-work only a few could actually partake in the final battle. Godzilla, Anguirus, Minilla, and Gorosaurus take part in the final battle against King Ghidorah while Mothra and Kumonga cover the hydra in webbing with the other monsters looking on. The final battle is brutal, especially for poor King Ghidorah. Eiji Tsuburaya was never fond of using blood in his monster films, but there is a scene where Ghidorah coughs up blood while he is essentially curb-stomped to death by Godzilla and his allies. The moves in the fight are impressive, especially King Ghidorah and Anguirus' struggle in midair and Gorosaurus' famous kangaroo kick. Overall, the monster scenes are worth the price of admission alone.

Akira Ifukube delivers one of his more famous scores for this movie, and while it is not as refined as his previous work, it nonetheless introduces some excellent pieces, namely the main title. Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah's themes return, but don't sound nearly as pleasant as they did in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of the Astro-Monster.

Destroy All Monsters, while a good and enjoyable film, is undoubtedly the most overrated entry in the long-running series. As a monster flick, it is almost unmatched, while as an actual movie it is almost dismally bad. The human plot is underdeveloped, cheesy, and just incredibly boring. Destroy All Monsters is essentially an hour and a half of boring nonsense with a few monster scenes spliced in building up to an epic final battle that almost redeems the entire film. Destroy All Monsters is one film where one needs not be ashamed to skip ahead to the final battle when watching. As a movie, Destroy All Monsters is probably worthy of a 2.5 score, but the astounding monster scenes bump it up a point in my book. Most Godzilla fans will gush about this movie and cite it as one of their favorites, even Gareth Edwards has confessed to this movie being his favorite Godzilla film next to the original. Destroy All Monsters is sure to please any hardcore kaiju fan, but people looking for an engrossing, well-structured movie should look elsewhere.