TL;DR – This was a fascinating start, jumping between timelines and preparing us for the approaching mystery.  

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this series.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Review –

If you look out to the cinematic landscape, you can see a world full of cinematic universes, or at least the attempt to make cinematic universes that never get anywhere. But as my list of them keeps growing, there is one that has been intriguing me, the MonsterVerse. It always felt like it was holding on with the skin of its teeth, but when doing that, it provided some of the best entertainment that I have seen in a while. Today, we jump into its first attempt at episodic television exploring the aftermath of tragedy.  

So to set the scene, we open on Skull Island in 1973, where Bill Randa (John Goodman) gives a heartfelt goodbye before he thinks he will die from a giant spider. The spider met a crab, but still, his goodbye made it out, and in 2013, it was picked up in the Sea of Japan. In 2015, Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) is returning home to Tokyo to settle her late father’s affairs. She was in San Francisco when Godzilla attacked, and the memories run deep as she sees how Tokyo prepares for the next attack. But nothing equipped her for what she found when she entered her father’s Tokyo apartment. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

The one thing this episode needed to do well was set the tone, and I think they succeeded. I am unsure what you thought would be in your father’s secret apartment across the Pacific Ocean, but another family was probably not that. This interesting juxtaposition of a scandal is very human and almost mundane but is also the gateway to a more profound mystery. The story is intercut with us jumping around time with the trip to Kazakstan in the 1950s, or prelude on Skull Island in the 1970s, our flashback to the first Godzilla film in the franchise, and then everything that is happening in the present, which for the show is 2015. Thankfully, everything flowed in at least this first episode, so the different timelines all worked in tangent with each other.

When it comes to the cast, it was nice to see that they got John Goodman back for that opening cameo and to help clearly link this into the movie franchise. It also works in Kong: Skull Island’s timeline if you don’t think too hard. Also, as our point of view character Cate explored Tokyo, it was good to see how the world has shifted and changed in response to the potential threat that these Titans could cause. It shows a world shifting under everyone’s feet and people trying to make the most of it. It did feel a little safe in places, but we get just enough hints to make me want to see where it goes next.

In the end, do we recommend Monarch: Legacy of Monsters – Aftermath? I think we would. The monster quotient might not be as high as some people want, but their presence was always there. We also get to see the first hints about how dangerous this world just might be.     

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Monarch: Legacy of Monsters yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.   
 
Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Directed by – Matt Shakman
Written by – Chris Black
Created by – Chris Black & Matt Fraction
Based On – Godzilla by Toho Co., Ltd.
Production/Distribution Companies – Legendary Television, Safehouse Pictures, Toho, Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, Chris Black Broadcasting System, Warner Brothers Television, Legendary & Apple TV+
Starring – Anna Sawai, Kiersey Clemons, Ren Watabe, Mari Yamamoto, Anders Holm, Joe Tippett, Wyatt Russell & Kurt Russell with John Goodman, Takehiro Hira, Qyoko Kudo & Tamlyn Tomita and Anton Markelov & Camille Legg