Legacy of monsters, in the wild land of kaiju. Review of the new MonsterVerse series

For fans of fictional creature movies, Christmas came early this year. on AppleTV+ starting November 17, 2023 The first episodes of the series have arrived Monarch: Legacy of Monstersthe first live-action work aimed at expanding the so-called MonsterVerse Of which they are also a part Godzilla and King Kongwaiting to see the two giants with a very long cinematic history together again in the new film that will be released in 2024 thanks to The New Empire.

The idea of ​​the series was written by Chris Black And developed by himself along with Fracture diedis to explore the secret organization he has been studying for decades Kaiju, giant, inherited creatures Who inhabited the Hollow Earth long before the arrival of the human race. The story takes place in two different timelines, linked nicely by the fact that a character… What? It is interpreted in the past by Wyatt Russell In the present era, by his father Kurt Russell. The father-son duo lead a family journey to uncover buried secrets and the legacy of Monarch herself, who has been investigating the existence of giants on Earth since the 1950s.

The motivation behind the event can be found in other MonsterVerse films: the prologue takes us right up to the top Skull IslandThe movie theater about Kong was released in 2017 and with Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson And John Goodman In the cast. The latter’s character returns to throw films filmed on the island into the sea, which will then be recovered by Kentaro’s father (Rin Watabe). The young man with the protagonist Kate (Anna Sawai, who plays one of the survivors Destruction of San Francisco During it Conflict between Godzilla and the MUTOs In the 2014 film) he attempts to reconstruct the truth about the mysterious father figure and at the same time show us what Earth became after the appearance of the Kaiju. Tokyo is now a city accustomed to warnings about the possible appearance of Godzilla, whose titanic presence is now a part of everyday life.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters And In every way a product of the MonsterVerseespecially because Western cut of the story: Compared to the long Japanese tradition of films dedicated to Godzilla – which we remember as having Guinness World Records to Longest cinematic franchise History thanks to more than 50 films and ready to return in a few days with the new Godzilla Minus One – the films that produced Warner Bros. and Legendary They focus a lot on the human element, and are framed in a very classic narrative structure that needs a hero to follow, a classic family man trying to survive the destruction of the giants. approach Toho movies It’s different, in films like Shin Gojira The collective response to Godzilla’s threat is narrated The embodiment of violence and hatred of humanity resulting from the atomic bomb.

However, less conceptual and more brutal, the MonsterVerse can give unique emotions to fans of creature cinema, which are also found in episodes of the AppleTV+ series. What is particularly surprising is the visual sector: being a product intended for the small screen (and Marvel Cinematic Universe Recent years have reminded us that the difference can be enormous) The level of special effects is excellent, especially regarding the creation of the monsters themselves, which is central not only to the narrative but also a metaphorical fulcrum for the series. However, the background display is less successful, annoying and not credible at all.

However, the chosen format allows you to balance plot twists and budgets in a more than satisfactory way: monsters are present, intertwined in the development of human events that maintain their prevailing centrality, but the idea of ​​exploration History of the monarch He manages to make the coexistence of different narrative lines and more adventurous and action sequences where different types of Titans make their appearance more homogeneous than ever before, representing pure joy for MonsterVerse fans, who in a few months will find them on the big screen twice The king of the kaiju. What then?

Image: Apple TV+

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