‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ First Reactions Hail It as Best American Take to Date

Audiences who saw early screening say the film melds kaiju tradition with American blockbuster explosiveness

godzilla King of the monsters
Warner Bros.

It has been five years since Godzilla last stomped across American screens and left fans of the legendary kaiju wanting more, but audiences who saw early screenings of “Godzilla: King of Monsters” say it has all the gigantic creature fights you can handle.

The upcoming film is the third installment in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s MonsterVerse, following 2014’s “Godzilla” and 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island.” The film will see Godzilla return to take on many of his most famous monster rivals from the Toho canon, led by his greatest nemesis, King Ghidorah.

“‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ is the modern day Godzilla movie you’ve been waiting for,” tweeted JoBlo’s Paul Shirey. “It’s everything the 2014 ‘Godzilla’ isn’t, while still retaining the best elements of that film and elevating them x 100. Monstrous action that rattles the theater.”

Den of Geek’s David Crow called it “the craziest, most entertaining American kaiju movie in existence,” and said that fans of the other Toho monsters like Mothra won’t be disappointed.

“This movie is a weird hybrid of worshipful adoration for Godzilla, Ghidorah, et al., and the camp and glee of fight night on the WWE,” he tweeted.

Early tracking for “King of the Monsters” projects an opening weekend (May 31) of $50 million. That’s notably lower than the $93 million opening earned by “Godzilla,” but this sequel will be facing much tougher competition from films like “John Wick: Chapter 3,” “Aladdin,” and the Elton John biopic “Rocketman,” which will be hitting theaters on the same weekend.

If buzz continues to build, however, “King of the Monsters” could get closer to the $61 million opening earned by “Kong: Skull Island” in March 2017. Godzilla is set to take on King Kong in a MonsterVerse crossover film that will hit theaters next year.

See more early screening reactions in the tweets below.

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