Let’s put the bottom line at the top. If you go to movies to watch skyscraper-sized (albeit faithfully redesigned) Toho classic creatures (including Mothra, Rodan and the three-headed King Ghidorah) slug it out while wreaking infrastructure mayhem and killing millions of people, this delivers what’s required. If on the other hand, you prefer in your popcorn movies some sort of narrative cohesion, a modicum of suspense, or a reason care about any of it, perhaps you should give it a pass. Okay, kaiju was never intended to be fine cinema. But this pummeling, overstuffed, and very loud battling-beastie smackdown seems closer to Transformers than any traditional Tokyo-crushing monster mash. It does get points, though, for its spectacularly overqualified cast, which includes Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Ziyi Zhang, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins and Charles Dance. But there’s little these mere humans can do when faced with a pointlessly convoluted afterthought of a plot, a thunderingly tedious score, editing that looks like it was done with a flame-thrower, and a near-total lack of excitement. I got bored. (131 min)
Don Morton
Don Morton has viewed some 6,000 movies, frequently awake. A bachelor and avid cyclist, he currently divides his time between Tokyo and a high-tech 4WD super-camper somewhere in North America.You may also like
Tokyo’s Top Haunted Spots for Ghost Hunting in Summer 2025
11 of Tokyo’s Most Paranormal Spots
Tokyo Train Guide: Asakusa Line
A Tradition of Change: Design Tourism
Tokyo International Beauty Salon for Everyone
All services- from braids to massages
Ramadan in Tokyo 2026: Dates, Iftar Spots and Prayer Spaces
How Ramadan is observed across the city
The Fukushima Diamond Route
A cut above the rest
Tokyo Trends: Spring 2025
A grunge, romantic twist on spring
A Beginner’s Guide to Cycling in Tokyo
From buying and registering a bike to key rules of the road