Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 1 Review – The characters are awful, but Godzilla makes everything better

Season 1

 

 

Episode Guide

Episode 1 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 2 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 3 – | Review Score – 3/5
Episode 4 – | Review Score – 2/5
Episode 5 – | Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 6 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 7 – | Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 8 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 9 – | Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 10 – | Review Score – 3/5

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is the latest instalment in the Monsterverse. It focuses on the organization Monarch, which investigates Titans like Godzilla, and its creation. We also follow Cate and Kentaro searching for their father with the help of their uncle Shaw and May.

The show has a portion of its episodes on the past, following the creation of Monarch and another following Cate and her friends. Many shows that rely too much on flashbacks make people tired of seeing the past. Monarch’s issue is the contrary: the present is so dull that you only want to see the flashbacks. Almost nothing happens; the characters have meaningless dialogue or just keep running in circles.

Episode 4 is one of the best examples. Cate and the others have to find civilization while lost in a snowy mountain, so they spend the whole time walking around while not doing anything relevant. The only good thing is seeing her and May getting to be friends.

Even so, Monarch hits a pretty good balance with its structures sometimes, proving it can work well. When they follow a similar plot and make parallels between the two periods, it makes you more immersed and better explore the world.

At the end of episode 6, you see the cast in the past and present encountering Godzilla. It’s electrifying; he feels like a force of nature, and, like the characters, you can’t stop looking.

The Titans are definitely the best thing about the show. We see various types and even get to know the habits of some. Obviously, Godzilla is way more impactful, but each of them feels powerful and different.

Also, we can’t talk about the monsters and not mention the special effects. Seriously, the team can be very proud of their work. You know that everyone gave their all to make that happen. The Titans are beautiful and everything you could hope for.

There are a few times you can see they are using strategies to cut some costs, but it still doesn’t feel cheap. In a scene, Godzilla is shown from very far away, which demonstrates how incomprehensible he is to the people seeing him for the first time.

The only disappointing thing about them is Axis Mundi, their world. We don’t get to see many Titans, and the environment is almost always the same. After a while, it becomes uninteresting. However, in the end, we see Godzilla fighting there, which counterweighs that a little.

Unfortunately, the other pillar of the story isn’t so well-written. The characters are dull and shallow, even when an episode focuses on them.

May, Cate, and Kentaro each receive a special episode following them and discussing who they are. At the same time, these episodes manage to be some of the worst of the series and not develop them properly.

During the first episodes, Cate’s personality is just being angry, while her brother Kentaro wants to find his father and only sees the good things about him. By the end, they swap their personalities. That wouldn’t be bad by itself; the problem is that it happens like the flip of a switch.

The last episode tries to cancel that out. It won’t change the lack of development and how boring the characters were at times, but it gives us many emotional scenes, making us like them more.

In the first episode review, the following is said: “When all the pieces start falling into place, Monarch will most likely get even more interesting.” That never quite happens, but the show proves to have the potential for that. It can be entertaining, and it’ll be a great show if it makes better use of its structure and characters.


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  • Verdict - 7/10
    7/10
7/10

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