Monarch Legacy Of Monsters Season 1 Review

We have watched the movies now we get to watch Monarch Legacy Of Monsters a series exclusive on Apple+.

The interconnected Cinematic Universe. A device that most big-name studios use these days to try and start a franchise in this oversaturated and bland state of cinema. It’s a risky device that can either guarantee the user a big success, like the ‘Marvel MCU’, or complete and utter failure like the disastrous Dark Universe’ which failed to even begin after ‘The Mummy’ reboot bombed at the box office.

When you think of an interconnected cinematic universe these days you immediately think of superheroes.

But aren’t we sick of superheroes by now?

In my opinion, the “MCU” ended after ‘Endgame’. What remains is a poorly written mess of projects that no one wants. Just look at the box office returns for their most recent films.

But it’s not just “Marvel’. ‘DC’ attempted (and in my opinion succeeded) a cinematic universe with the ‘Zack Snyder’ films but with the studio that hell-bent on catching up to ‘Marvel’ and hiring a pair of CEOs who don’t want to listen to what the fans want and instead are pushing their own agendas, it’s like watching a dumpster fire in slow motion or the Titanic sinking.

So who would have thought that the most interesting and entertaining cinematic universe to contend with the ‘House of Mouse’s’ ‘Marvel’ is about big massive monsters fighting each other?

Yep, ‘Godzilla’ ladies and gentlemen.

It all started way back in 2014 with ‘Gareth Edwards’ outstanding Solo film that put (Western) ‘Godzilla’ on the map. Gone were the camp 90s days of the giant mutant lizard from ‘Ronald Emmerich’ in 1998 and in its place was a film that I could only compare to ‘Jaws’.

‘Godzilla’ was this big looming presence that was the titular antagonist of the film but we rarely got to see him in full. That’s what made him this mysterious entity to fear, very much like the shark in ‘Jaws’ or the Xenomorph in ‘Alien’.

The film ultimately spun off an interconnected cinematic universe (or Monsterverse) with ‘Kong: Skull Island’, ‘Godzilla: King Of The Monsters’ and most recently ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’.

Now, the films that followed ‘Godzilla’ aren’t the best films in the world. The scripts are a bit ropey in places and the suspension of disbelief is bent in places being too fantastical at times, but they are just damn good at making your mind shut off for 2 and a bit hours to watch some cool action sequences and monsters beating the hell out of each other.

Now, rarely has a cinematic universe survived with branching off into Television. ‘Star Wars’ succeeds as it tries to distance itself from the train wreck of the ‘Disney’ trilogy, however ‘Marvel’ started off strong but has been rapidly declining in its TV shows with poor scripts, forced agendas and truly awful CGI.

So it was a welcomed breath of fresh air when I first watched the trailer for ‘Monarch Legacy Of Monsters’, a television spin-off of the ‘Monsterverse’ produced by ‘Lionsgate’ and made for ‘Apple TV’. It’s a series that involves ‘Godzilla’ but allows the exploration of other monsters within this shared universe and also dives into the human aspect by exploring the origins of the mysterious company ‘Monarch’ that features in all of the films.

So let’s dive right in.

The show is a continuation of the 2014 ‘Godzilla’ film, (set in between ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Godzilla King of the Monsters’) and shows the outcome and effects that the battle in San Francisco had on the world. And the show does this in such a better way than the subsequent films in the franchise have done. It’s the little things like ‘Godzilla’ caution signs in the airports or the early warning sirens and underground shelters for if there is a ‘Godzilla’ sighting. It makes the world more believable and draws you into it by showing what life is like after (what the characters call) ‘G-Day’.

The series takes place in both the past and the present. It does this to help explore the creation of ‘Monarch’ and then show the aftermath of ‘G-Day’.

We open up the series during the events of ‘Kong: Skull Island’ with Bill Randa (John Goodman) shooting a ‘last message’ on his Super 8 camera before being chased by a massive spider-like creature. What happens next (to quote Star Wars The Phantom Menace, “There’s always a bigger fish”), is another monster comes in and starts attacking the spider monster.

Whilst this is going on, Randa takes off his bag full of important documents and chucks it into the ocean (presumably thinking he’s going to die) and then high-tails it out of there. This very act sets up the entire arc for the show, with that bag of documents being the central crux or plot device that drives the story forward. We then cut forward in time to that bag being retrieved by a fishing ship and then begin titles. And the title sequence is one of the better ones out there.

Sticking to the theme of the ‘Godzilla’ film showing archive footage/Monarch files and with a killer opening theme it sets up each episode for a riveting time of suspense and action.

The great part of having the show split in two halves for past and present is that it allows you to follow a cohesive story without the now overplayed ‘Flashbacks’ made famous by ‘Lost’.

It cuts and weaves both timelines together to complement each other making it more coherent with the pacing. It also allows you to follow the story better with each episode establishing when the past sections are taking place at the start to cement to the viewer that this is when this takes place and the rest of the episode takes place in the present. A great example of this is the flawless transitions between time periods with the action happening in the same location but years apart.

It’s seamless and it works so much better than say ‘The Witcher’ season 1 which didn’t make it clear when each part was taking place. I get that they were trying to be clever and artistic with their approach, but ask anyone if they understood season 1 and I can guarantee you they would say that they got confused. It’s why ‘Netflix’ had to release a ‘previously on season 1’ fifteen-minute catch-up and why the showrunners decided to ditch this approach.

At the end of the day your making the show for an audience who needs to be able to understand and follow events in order to enjoy it. That’s why I love the way the showrunners and crew have approached ‘Monarch Legacy Of Monsters’.

The series has two central main characters. We follow Captain Leland Shaw (played by Wyatt Russel) in the past as he forms together ‘Monarch’ with a young Bill Randa (Anders Holm) and Dr. Keiko Miura (Mari Yamamoto). We then follow in the present Keiko’s granddaughter Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) as she flies to Japan to uncover the source of a mysterious set of keys left to her by her late father, only to find that she has a half-brother (by her father’s other family).

Cate and her brother Kentaro (Ren Watabe), along with his ex-girlfriend May (Kiersey Clemons) come into possession of Bill Randa’s lost files which their father had been in possession of. This then spurs on a hunt by ‘Monarch’ agent Tim (Joe Tippet) to recover the files which ultimately leads Cate, Kentaro and May to seek help from a much older Lee Shaw (this time played by Kurt Russel). And what a brilliant piece of casting. Father and Son, who literally look like an older and younger version of each other plays the same character.

One other thing to point out is the character developments that take place over the course of this first season. The most notable are those of Tim, May and Leland Shaw. There are also a few surprises in there, setting up certain things that are explored later in the films.

I won’t say any more as I don’t want to spoil the show for you.

I mentioned earlier that the show feels more grounded by showing the real-world aftermath of G-Day and how they explore this more than the films. Well, I just want to point out that in all these big-budget films, (I’m looking at you ‘Marvel’, ‘DC’ and the ‘Transformers films) where cities are completely levelled due to the fighting that takes place, doesn’t it all seem pointless and leaves you thinking why and what was the point?

Well like with ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ (Ultimate Edition) which explores ‘Superman’ being held accountable for the destruction of Metropolis, ‘Monarch Legacy Of Monsters’ addresses the destruction of San Francisco hands-on after the fighting on G-Day. I like this as the later films don’t really show the aftermath, they just follow the action, whereas a series like this has more time to explore.

And explore we do.

We actually get to see the displacement of refugees who fled for their lives during the attack. And we get to see the ruins themselves. It’s believable, and interesting and answers that question that’s in the back of your mind when watching these battles take place. Because of this, the series feels more grounded in realism whereas the later films like ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters and especially ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ have taken the fantastical approach.

However I would like to point out one element from ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ which I found a tad bit unbelievable and extreme (the Hollow earth theory) is better explained and set up in ‘Monarch Legacy Of Monsters’, making it feel more grounded by the theory rather than diving head first into the fantastical.

The production value of this series is also its biggest selling point. It is the best-looking spin-off series that I’ve ever seen. Now it’s not on the same level of budget as say Amazon’s ‘Rings of Power’ but visually it’s pretty damn close. It’s a globe-trotting adventure with family in the roots of its story, taking you to places like Japan, San Francisco, Alaska, Algeria and Kazakhstan. And the CGI of the MUTO’s themselves is better than most series (and films) nowadays, and definitely better than the stuff that Marvel has been churning out recently, I’m looking at you ‘She Hulk’ and ‘Ant-Man’.

Now even though the series is a continuation of what ‘Godzilla’ set up, it’s nice that he isn’t featured too heavily in the show. Of course, we get to see him but he’s used in PTSD flashbacks of the G-Day attack to help show Cate’s trauma of the event and in certain other scenes that I won’t spoil. We do get to see other MUTO’s too but don’t let the show’s title miss lead you. While it might be called ‘Legacy of Monsters’ the show follows ‘Monarch’ and the actions of the past and present.

Monarch in the films is this mysterious company and the series shows you how they came to be and also how they emerged from the shadows and into the public eye after the events of ‘G-day’. It’s about the human factor too and not just the MUTO element. That being said there is a good Monster to human ratio to keep you hooked. And some of them (monsters) look pretty damn cool.

So overall ‘Monarch Legacy Of Monsters’ has exceeded my expectations. I admit I had my doubts at first, you never know how spin-offs will turn out, but this is definitely one of the more successful film-to-TV spin-offs I’ve seen.

It’s intriguing and immersive with excellent pacing to keep you hooked every episode. With amazing production values and top-notch casting ‘Monarch Legacy Of Monsters’ is a series that I would recommend to any fan of science fiction, binge-able shows, fans of the films or anyone who just wants to watch a damn good series. I can’t wait to see where the story takes us next in later seasons.

Monarch Legacy Of Monsters Official Trailer

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The series will be available to stream on November 17th to Apple TV + Subscribers