The MonsterVerse has made its small-screen debut with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, a series that hones in on one family’s secret-filled legacy following the newly uncovered existence of Titans such as Godzilla.
Besides the presence of Godzilla and other Titans, the big draw of this series involved a dual narrative taking place in both 2015 and the 1950s, where Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell would play old and young versions of the same character. The casting of this father-son duo is incredible, but the balancing of the past and present narratives is handled in entirely the wrong way. Without a doubt, everything that is happening in the 50s portion of the series is more exciting, intense, dramatic and well-written than anything going down in 2015. The characters are more interesting, the chemistry is off the charts and the performances are just better. Despite this, theres a 70:30 split favouring modern day content over the 50s storytelling. Honestly, I would have loved it if this entire series took place in the 50s, however for the sake of including Godzilla and connecting to the existing films, there needs to be a modern day element. The perfect mix would have been 60:40, or even 70:30, with the 50s narrative being the more prominent portion. With this, the modern day content could move along faster and eliminate the issue of dragging that it currently suffers from. Also, you could cut series leads Cate, Kentaro and May out of the story and just focus on it being Kurt Russell’s Lee embarking on the same journey. The narrative would hit the same beats, and do so without that dull and uninteresting trio. But alas, this is what we got.
Things start off on a great note in the first two episodes, concerning both the modern day and 50s arcs. The scope and scale is enormous from the get-go, much larger than I thought it would be considering this is a more human-centred story. There’s a strong mystery thriller vibe with plenty of intriguing questions being asked. The mysterious tone had me immediately hooked in everything regarding the links to the past, but not so much the smaller character-centric stuff in the modern day. With each episode, the mystery element vanishes. The modern day narrative continues to drag down the pace as it meanders through uninteresting subplots involving our trio of young characters. Their family dramas and repetitive story beats aren’t engaging enough to sustain entire episodes of focus. There’s even a few episodes where there’s no 50s tie-ins, opting in favour of delving into the trio’s backstories. When this happens, it feels like the story makes no progress and dishes out nothing remotely entertaining. The modern narrative is stretched so thin that all of the meaningful action is packed into the final two episodes, which are fantastic. The payoff of what’s set up in the beginning is great, it just comes after so much messing around that it diminishes the series’ overlall impact.
In contrast to the slow, repetitive and at times boring modern day content, every single scene set in and around the 50s is fantastic. From beginning to end, the pockets of flashbacks to this era remain the series’ best and most interesting moments. The writing is clever and subversive, while the characters are full of life and charisma, something that’s almost entirely absent from the modern day portion. Getting to see the origins of Monarch is what the entire series should have been about – these scenes are genuinely suspenseful and fun to watch, adding rewarding context to elements introduced in the films. The character dynamics and chemistry in the 50s story are so strong, they make the lack of character chemistry in the present day so much more obvious. Every time they cut away from the flashbacks, I was instantly awaiting the next time they’d cut back, which sometimes never came. Not only is the strength of the flashbacks effective in its own storytelling, but it also works to heighten the impact of one key modern day scene that comes later on. The contrast in quality between these two stories is unbelievable – it’s almost as if they’re written by two separate crews.
The best thing to come out of the past-present split is the dual casting of Kurt and Wyatt Russell. Having this father-son duo play the same character enhances the immersion and believability of the story. Not only do they look like each other, but they’re both fantastic actors, using their talents to ensure their performances feel like they’re portraying same person at different ages. They’re both prominently featured, though somehow neither one is a lead, which seems like a crime in contrast to what we got. Additionally, the 50s arc introduces Anders Holm as Bill Randa (taking over for John Goodman) and Mari Yamamoto as Dr. Keiko Miura, two also stellar performances. Along with Wyatt Russell, these three flaunt so much chemistry that it’s impossible not to fall in love with all three of them. They really do feel like three friends just hanging out and discovering cool monster shit – it makes for some fun and entertaining moments. Mari Yamamoto needs to be specifically highlighted as she is a standout in what could be her breakout role. She has one scene fairly late in the season that is so absolutely gut-wrenching that I shed a tear. The heart and passion she puts into her performance does not go unnoticed.
Once again, we’re talking polar opposites here as we get to the leading performances of Anna Sawai (Cate), Ren Watabe (Kentaro) and Kiersey Clemons (May). I’ll kick off by saying that I really like Kiersey Clemons – she’s a talented actor and is fine in this series. The issue isn’t with her performance, it’s more to do with the fact that her character isn’t really integral to the plot. She has one lingering mystery and a short subplot that ties her in to the MonsterVerse, but other than that she just hangs around while the other characters do stuff. By “other characters” I mean Cate and Kentaro, the brother-sister duo that share absolutely zero chemistry. These two are not a good fit – not for the roles, not for each other and in one case not for acting. Outside of a 2020 Japanese film, this is Ren Watabe’s first acting role… and it shows. His dialogue delivery is wooden and one-note through every one of his scenes. Whether his character is experiencing something sad, traumatic, exciting or terrifying, it’s always just the same monotonous delivery that sucks the life out of the scene. Anna Sawai has a bit more experience, but is also somewhat fresh on the scene. She has a bit more range than Watabe, but still her dialogue delivery is mostly flat and uninspiring. As you may have guessed, the scenes in which these two have to interact are embarrassingly tough to watch.
While being a human-centred narrative, it’s still set in the MonsterVerse, so there’s no shortage of large-scale monster action. Whether it’s Godzilla himself or one of the new monsters that make an appearance, it’s just as epic as you’d hope. Quite possibly the biggest praise I can give these action sequences is that it doesn’t feel like cheaply-budgeted TV. They’ve put some big money into the visual effects as the monsters themselves look equal to the quality we’ve gotten in the MonsterVerse films. Not every episode is lined with big monster action, but that’s good, it keeps the focus on the human characters while rewarding us with some kaiju battles on occasion. The presence of certain monsters and elements from the films helps expand the universe beyond the lore seen in the films. The story gives more context to certain events from the films and touches more on the human impacts of such large-scale fights, adding extra value for fans of the films.
In the end, despite plenty of wasted potential in its narrative focus, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is still a very entertaining human-scale MonsterVerse adventure. Everything concerning the 50s narrative is a blast – the writing is exceptional, performances are fantastic, mystery elements are strong and it’s deeply chilling. The modern day narrative is where all of the flaws lie. It opens in a way that’s very intriguing before becoming a lifeless grind in the middle of the season. Thankfully it finishes very strong, tying the dual narratives together in a way that has me wishing we get more of Monarch going forward.
7.2/10
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