Reviews
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Review – An Uneven Adventure Exploring MonsterVerse Origins
It’s not Godzilla or King Kong that serves as the connective tissue in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, but the secret government agency tasked with studying them: Monarch.
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” the second MonsterVerse series (after the animated “Skull Island”), seeks to dig further into the mysterious organization’s origins, dating back much further than the MonsterVerse’s beginnings with 2014’s Godzilla. Using Godzilla as a launchpad, “Monarch” aims to expand the mythology through a globe-trotting mystery, making for a Titan-filled adventure that’s uneven in energy and execution.
“Monarch” primarily takes place in 2015, in the wake of Godzilla’s epic battle with the MUTOs and the devastation that left San Francisco in ruins. That’s not the only event that’s destroyed G-Day survivor Cate Randa’s (Anna Sawai) sense of normality; she’s just lost her father (Takehiro Hira). Cate pushes past the PTSD from G-Day and travels to Japan to sort out her father’s affairs, only to find an unexpected sibling in Kentaro Randa (Ren Watabe). Determined to find answers and closure about their father’s secret life, Cat and Kentaro follow clues that lead them down a dangerous path filled with Titans and Monarch secrets dating back three generations.
Episode 1. Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons and Ren Watabe in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” premiering November 17, 2023 on Apple TV+.
While the series spends the bulk of its time with Cate, Kentaro, and Kentaro’s hacker ex May (Kiersey Clemons) in 2015, “Monarch” also frequently jumps back to the 1950s to introduce key members from the Randa family and their relation to the secret agency tracking the Titans. Both timelines are connected through Army Officer Lee Shaw, played by Wyatt Russell in the past and Kurt Russell in 2015. Both Russells steal the early half of the series with their natural charisma and screen presence, threatening to overshadow the central trio.
There’s a lot of expositional ground to cover in service of the overarching mystery and how it all fits into the MonsterVerse at large, which makes for an uneven adventure that toggles between methodical plotting, character building, and Kaiju spectacle. The latter is most frequently sidelined. That the ’50s timeline offers most of the Godzilla-sized thrills in the earlier episodes doesn’t help as viewers get slowly acclimated to the newcomers, nor that Cate and Kentaro must overcome their initial shock and mistrust of each other.
Episode 4. Kurt Russell in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” premiering November 17, 2023 on Apple TV+.
Showrunner Chris Black, who co-developed the series with executive producer Matt Fraction, smartly structures the series in such a way that every episode ends on a noteworthy hook, revelation, or cliffhanger that keeps you invested regardless. The answers don’t come easy, further inspiring investment. Save for a lackluster opening sequence effect involving a digitally enhanced John Goodman, Black ensures the kaiju carnage more than satisfies patient viewers. Most critical to the series’ success is how that slow development of Cate, Kentaro, and May pays off once the season finds its groove and pieces to the central mystery begin coming together.
It’s here in series form that the MonsterVerse finally figures out how to organically make the humans more compelling to match the Titans. Sawai, in particular, comes into her own and quickly emerges as the season’s soulful, determined heroine. “Monarch” bides its time getting there, and the competing timelines can make for an uneven experience, but the highs often outweigh the lows. The action picks up in the back half, making for a more thrilling ride, and the new details and monster reveals ensure that it’s not just Monarch’s story getting expanded here.
Episode 1. Mantleclaw in “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” premiering November 17, 2023 on Apple TV+.
Of the eight episodes screened for critics, season one finds new ways to expand the MonsterVerse lore and connections to the films to varying degrees of success. More importantly, it seems destined for a thrilling finale and potential continuation after a careful, uneven buildup; there’s no shortage of monsters and conspiratorial villains to be discovered across time. But the journey so far is also so dense with lore, mysteries, and details that it may not be as welcoming to newcomers.
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” premieres globally with the first two episodes on Friday, November 17 on Apple TV+, followed by one episode every Friday through January 12.
Rebooting and expanding upon Bryan Bertino’s chilling 2008 horror film in a brand new trilogy, all installments already shot as part of one continuous, overarching story, makes for one of the more ambitious horror endeavors as of late. It also means that The Strangers: Chapter 1 is only the opening act of a three-part saga. Considering it’s the entry most committed to recreating the familiar beats of Bertino’s film, Chapter 1 makes for a tricky-to-gauge, overly familiar introduction to this new expansion.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 introduces happy couple Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) on their way to starting a new life together in the Pacific Northwest. Car troubles leave them stranded in the quirky small town of Venus, Oregon, where they’re forced to stay the night in a cozy but remote cabin in the woods.
Naturally, the deeply in love couple soon find themselves in a desperate bid to survive the night when three masked strangers come knocking.
Madelaine Petsch as Maya in The Strangers. Photo Credit: John Armour
Director Renny Harlin, working from a 289-page screenplay by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland that was broken into three movies, keeps Chapter 1 mostly self-contained to recapture the spirit of the original film. The core remains the same in that it’s reliant on the eerie stalking and escalating violence that builds toward a familiar conclusion, but Harlin mixes it up a bit through details and set pieces that hint toward the larger story around Venus itself. The early introductory scenes establishing both the protagonists and their setting offer the biggest clues toward the subsequent chapters, with the bustling diner giving glimpses of potential allies or foes yet to come- like the silent, lurking Sheriff Rotter (Richard Brake).
One downside to announcing this as a trilogy is that we already know that the successive chapters will continue Maya’s story, robbing more suspense from a film that liberally leans into its predecessor for scares. The good news is that Madelaine Petsch brings enough layers to Maya to pique curiosity and instill rooting interest to carry into Chapter 2. Maya begins as the gentler, more polite half of the young couple in love, but there’s a defiance that creeps through the more she’s terrorized. On that front, Petsch makes Maya’s visceral fear tangible, visibly quaking and quivering through her abject terror as she attempts to evade her relentless attackers.
The Strangers – Chapter 1. Photo Credit: John Armour
It’s her subtle emotional arc and quiet visual hints toward the bigger picture that tantalize most in an introductory chapter meant to entice younger audiences unfamiliar with the 2008 originator. The jolts will have a harder time landing for fans of Bertino’s film, however, even when Harlin stretches beyond the cabin for stunt-heavy chase sequences or gory bursts of violence. It’s worth noting that Harlin’s tenured experience and cinematographer José David Montero ensure we can grasp every intricate stunt or chase sequence with clarity; there’s no worry of squinting through the dark, hazy woods to make out what’s happening on screen. A more vibrant color palette also lends personality to Venus and its residents.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 exists in a unique place in that it’s the first 90 minutes of what will amount to a roughly 4.5-hour movie yet doesn’t give much away at all about what’s ahead, presenting only part of the whole picture. Chapter 1 does a sufficient job laying the groundwork and delivering horror thrills but with a caveat: the less familiar you are with The Strangers, the better. Harlin and crew get a bit too faithful in their bid to recreate Bertino’s effective scares, even when remixing them, and it dampens what works. The more significant departures from the source material won’t come until later, but look to a mid-credit tease that sets this up.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 doesn’t establish enough of its own identity to make it memorable or set it apart, but it’s just functional enough to raise curiosity for where we’re headed next.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 releases in theaters on May 17, 2024.
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