Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (TV Series) Aftermath (2023) User Reviews

didn't know what to expect

[nerrdrage · 8/10 · 27 December 2023]

I'm not a Godzilla fan, I haven't kept up with the movies, and I'm a bit surprised that franchise-eschewing, prestige-series-producing Apple is the one that decided to make a series based on a bunch of old movie monsters, but so far it just might work.

I'm not very invested in (had to look up her name) Cate's search for her father and all the associated soap opera. I was more interested in the flashback sequences to the scientists trying to figure out where the "Titans" (see I'm picking up the lingo here) came from.

And there will always be Jurassic-Park style thrills when you have various oversized critters that can appear and threaten Our Heroes at any moment and maybe gobble up a few. I'll keep watching and see where this goes.

Kurt & kid on a crazy monster hunt

[dfloro · 7/10 · 18 November 2023]

What if we take all the giant monster (called "Titans" here) tropes and instead of pure stupid silliness, we made a high-concept and high-buck movie to help explain Godzilla, King Kong and the other critters of Skull Island? Wouldn't that be cool? Well, yes and no. This miniseries gives the father/son acting duo of Kurt and Wyatt Russell a chance to play the older and younger versions of the same character: military officer Lee Ward. So that's kind of fun. But to quote the legendary drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs: there may be too much plot getting in the way of the story. To reiterate something I often say myself: If I'm interested in a movie's characters, then I care what happens to and around them only to the extent of how those affect the characters and their interrelationships. In this movie, the most interesting characters are the Japanese ones (e.g., in Tokyo), including the gorgeous New Zealand born actress Anna Sawai and handsome young Ren Watabe, playing her half brother from a different mother. Mari Yamamoto as a Ph. D scientist named Keiko is another standout among the Asian cast. The film frequently jumps between two timelines: one with the young Russell, Yamamoto and Anders Holm being chased by giant monsters; one with Sawai, Watabe, Kiersey Clemons and the old Russell-also being chased by giant creatures. I'm looking forward to seeing if the series can maintain the momentum of the first couple of episodes, and as always, I reserve the right to revisit this early rating: 7/10 stars.

A perfect start !!!

[vansharya-35337 · 9/10 · 17 November 2023]

First episode of Monsterverse's most awaited series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is premereired and here's my thoughts on this episode i.e. "Aftermath":-

Positives :-

1. Storyline and writing of this episode is superb.

2. CGI and visuals are great.

3. Cinematography are very good.

4. Production budget looks very high, and you could feel it in cinematography, color grading, visuals etc.

5. Casting performance is also great.

6. Despite being less action sequences, you don't get bored in this episode due to it's mysteries and thrilling elements.

Final Thoughts and Review :-

Overall, "Aftermath" is a almost perfect episode and comprises a fantastic start to a great series, but if you are expecting a massive titan action, then this series isn't for you.

Surprisingly Very Good

[nightringer-76840 · 9/10 · 27 November 2023]

At first, this pilot episode explored the main characters past and how they were related to Godzilla. Slowly by mid episode, they revealed the event of 2014's Godzilla's appearance in San Francisco and the exploration they grand parents did around giant monsters and a company mentioned in 2014: Monarch.

Kurt Russell's son played Young Lee Shaw, which is a very good decision considering he could played Kurt's demeanor when he played Lee Shaw.

Bill Randa's character played by 2 actors and the older version opened the mystery, played by John Goodman.

Bill Randa's son, Hiroshi, continued their exploration and ledt 2 wives, 1 in Japan and 1 in USA. The children finally met and tried to dig Hiroshi's uncovered past and his disappearance.

Meanwhile, a spark of decripted data was detected by Monarch and triggered their safety protocol.

A very thick drama with suspence and scifi touches, very strong signature of Godzilla's stories. A good beginning.

PS: I don't know how Monarch will be related to Godzilla Minus One, considering there's an ongoing saga of theatrical Godzilla movies in Japan.

PS: This is series is not related to, that I know of, Kings of Monsters series.

LONG LIVE THE KING

[vishalmellark · 9/10 · 17 November 2023]

The season opener is a banger. Cate visits her father's place who is no more and she opens the door to find out that her father has been cheating and there is another mom and son who claim to be his family .Cate doesnt care much but a godzilla evacuation drill makes her go into the apartment and finds a secret locker that their father has been hiding.

In the opening scene we see john goodman throw a kind of bag into the sea while battling monster. This bag is found in Cate's dad's secret locker. They find out its about some agency or government kind of thing called " monarch " .

In another timeline , Cate's grandmother is in search of some isolated place , that government has kept top secret. Cate's grandmother finds Dino eggs and She's obsessed with it to take some samples and she gets down from the top by rope.

The episode ends on a note that eggs eventually crack , little monsters pop open and she couldn't make it back to the top.

The episode ends on this scene. The Major highlight of the episode 1 was Cate played by Anna sawai. I have not seen her anywhere , she's so good. Kurt Russell's son Wyatt , he is good too. So the story is setup perfectly, the glimpse of big kaiju in the flashback scene is perfect. Kaiju kind of kills a bus full of school students (not purposefully tho) . I hope they keep it this dark lol. I hope they show the impact of what happens when the monster is let loose.

God Awful Dialogue and Mediocre Acting

[mishael53 · 4/10 · 2 December 2023]

I really wanted to like this show but dear goodness, the script and dialogue are awful. It comes across like it was written for some terrible 1988 cheesy B movie. And while I love the Asian actor representation, Anna Sawai and Ren Watabe need some major acting coaching cause ooof - they are cringe to watch with stale wooden performances while also overacting all at the same time - show your horror so overly strain your eyes to act like you're stressed! I really hope their acting gets better as the show progresses. But perhaps it's not even their fault since the dialogue itself is so horrendous and maybe it's just terrible direction (ie: George Lucas is a brilliant concept creator but abominable director - how do you make Liam Neeson and Natalie Portman bad performers??). Everything is predictable but also so forced, again like some 1980s after school special about not doing drugs.

The special effects aren't bad (at least for this episode). I'll probably stick it out through episode 2 and hopefully it'll get better.

More teen girl angst

[thia1234 · 3/10 · 17 January 2024]

Said nobody EVER! I'm going to watch a few more episodes because I had such high hopes for this show but so far I'm not impressed. Why does EVERY sci-fi or fantasy show now have to be dominated by angst ridden smart mouthed teen drama queens. Please stop it. I'm begging you. If we're going to do the teen girl thing, can't it just be a smart ingenious well adjusted girl having adventures? Are Hollywood writers and producers kids all monsters and emotional messes so they just think this is how all kids are? Cause they're not... and the whining! So far the main character is so incredibly unlikable I don't wonder why her dad abandoned her. She's dreadful. So many shows seem to need to make us HATE all the characters before we even get started... but WHY?

Boring, slow and infuriating

[fallen_azael · 1/10 · 24 November 2023]

I had high hopes for this. Omg what a boring , meandering pile of c**p. The time jumping is boring and annoying. It just shows that poor writing has to stretch out the meager story to fit one episode.

The characters are mind-numbingly boring, shallow, petty and unlikable. Any one of them could be killed at any moment and you feel nothing for them.

How can a story set in a world of monsters be this pathetic?!

The story takes too long to get anywhere, instead focusing on characters you don't care about. Pacing is everything in storytelling and this feels like they have a story that would barely cover 4 episodes and are desperate to stretch it out.

Coincidental nonsense

[thales-63045 · 1/10 · 20 November 2023]

Ok. It's only the first episode but sometimes you get a good feeling for a series based on the first episode. I'll add I'm not into monster movies. Too fanciful. However I thought I'd have a look seeing Apple bombards me with adverts and I thought by checking it out I'd get a reprieve. The special effects (old skool not cgi) are fairly decent. The cinematography is very good. The rest ie the script, the acting, the dialogue, is awful. There's not a lot to keep you interested. Every second scene is a tremendous coincidence. Yeh just like in life. Oh wait this is the movies so belief in realty has to be suspended. I guess monster flik aficionados will love it. The rest of us? Naaaaaaaaaa! No thanks.

This is the difference between films and television

[floppylobster-86-283328 · 2/10 · 21 November 2023]

I don't watch a lot of TV so disregard my opinion if you want. But I don't watch a lot because TV is so audience-focused. I.e. It's just there to please the audience, unlike film where you get given the vision of a director and have to engage with it on different levels - TV just lets you 'turn off your brain'.

TV and streaming is now very popular in modern society because it makes you feel like you're the centre of the universe. You choose, what and when you want to watch, and then some good-looking actors will run around for your entertainment. All in a non-threatening, nothing-too-heavy sort of way. That's TV. And it's great and it has its place as a distraction and place to unwind.

But most TV is just disposable. And I'm sad to see this as just another disposable TV show.

By the way, I really hated the opening. Ripped straight from the admittedly not very good 'Kong: Skull Island', they took the one good idea from that film - a spider that lurks in bamboo and uses it's camouflaged legs to skewer prey - and they play it for a cold opening action scene. Who cares if it makes sense (like the detached still running jet engine in the opening of Lost), it's just for entertainment. So this quite stealthy spider is now chasing someone out of the forest and toward the ocean and battling a giant crab. Must be really, really hungry. Anyway, the whole scene just reminds you that this show is just serving up entertainment for an audience who doesn't want to think. They don't care that this is not how the spider hunts. They don't care that it's all so conveniantly set up. They don't care that the spider and crab would rather fight to the death and jump in the water than back away from each other. None of these questions bother them because they are here just to be entertained.

And that's the difference. In movies they at least try a little harder. They try to reach the head or heart. TV just doesn't want you to think about anything other than the twists of the plot. Which is why it's so disposable. Which is why it's often so forgettable. And not very rewatchable.

So that's what's most disappointing about Monarch - It's just bog-standard TV. Which is disappointing because (a) it's from Apple, who are pretty much the opposite of Netflix (i.e. Not a lot of content but it's all high quality), and (b) a total waste of a franchise that has endured across nearly 40 films. They've taken that and turned it into just another TV show that will be forgotten as soon and it finishes. And possibly even before.