User reviews

The series is generally OK and worth watching.

It doesn't blow you away, but it can entertain you and as someone who follows the Warner Bros. MonsterVerse there was no way around it.

I would rate the series 7 out of 10 stars.

It is solid and can entertain.

It also answers one or two questions and, as with big franchises, it also raises many new ones.

The story is OK and the characters are run-of-the-mill to "OK".

What I consider to be a big problem is that this series is absolutely irrelevant in the canon and basically they didn't even need to create it in the first place.

You can tell that the series only exists to further develop the franchise and, even worse, that it basically has no impact on the story as a whole.

But at least it has Kurt Russell. ^^

I've been looking forward to Monarch: Legacy of Monsters ever since I first heard about it. Then I saw the trailer and my excitement grew even more. I can say without a doubt that this series did not disappoint. First of all, Kurt Russell is in this. That's reason enough to watch it alone. His son Wyatt also stars. But throw in Godzilla and other monsters and you have a hit. This series digs into the Monarch agency and their role in keeping these monsters under control. It also shows how everyday people are affected by these monsters being let loose on the world and the role it takes. It takes place in two different time frames, the 50's and today. It's gotten great reviews by both critics and fans as it currently has a 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is every bit as good as I was hoping for. It takes place after the Godzilla movie that became out a few years ago. Monarch is the agency that researches and tracks other titan monsters such as Godzilla. The series follows several of those Monarch agents. It covers when monarch was originally formed in the 1950's and also after the last Godzilla movie in the 2010's. A-list actor Kurt Russell plays a monarch agent in tr my oday's world and his real life son Wyatt Russell plays a younger version of his character in the 1950's. Both Russell's are terrific. In fact, the entire cast is great. This series does exactly what it set out to do and that is expand this monster universe and make people excited for what comes next. I hope they do several seasons of this.

I was super excited for this show but it has been a super disappointment (at 8th episode so far). Only the first episode was good, it all becomes downhill after that. Only Apple TV was still producing big budget sci-fi like Foundation and Silo. Now they are also going to invest less in big world building saga citing the failure of Monarch.

The characters in the present time are so immature especially the teacher from San Francisco who seems to be a teenager living in an adult body. She is such a turnoff with her attitude similar to teenagers. May is useless and the brother from Japan, while not annoying, is so weak and useless.

I really don't care about their family drama or each of their backstory. This is a show about MONSTERS !! Why are we spending 90% of an episode with character backstory and their feelings, especially when none of them are likeable ?? Where are the MONSTERS? Where is the story about their habitats, their backstory, how they have been hidden for thousands of years, what is common between them, where do they come from? These are the elements that make a fantasy sci-fi interesting, not the annoying, unlikeable teenager mindset adults and their story.

They could have just kept this story in the 1940-50s and gone full on Monsters backstory, some WWII and Cold War drama about how many world powers were vying for the power of the Monsters and culminates in how this set off an underground Cold War that was hidden from the rest of the world with Monarch. Subsequent seasons could be what happened in the 70s-80s and so on culminating in D-day. Then once they catch up to current time, new seasons could be in between storylines between blockbuster Godzilla and Kong movies. This Monster universe could be the Marvel universe of this decade. Why are these Hollywood companies these days ruining entertainment ? People just want to be entertained, why is that so hard to understand? And the ironic part is that they could make a ton of money doing that.

I was really looking forward to this show from the get-go, and I decided to give it a fair shot by watching four episodes before jotting down my thoughts. The first couple of episodes? Pretty much what I was hoping for, but after that, it's been kind of a letdown.

The choice to cast Kurt and Wyatt Russel, an actual father-son duo, was a brilliant move. These two are knocking it out of the park! But, they're pretty much the only ones keeping things interesting. The other characters? They're just filling in the usual slots - the hacker/sleuth, the love interest, and the usual daddy issues.

With the big names behind this show, the folks who've brought us hits like 'Mad Men' and 'Severance', and penned blockbusters like 'Thor' and 'Iron Man', I was expecting something special. But, this show is just forgettable. It's not about the CGI or how the show looks - that stuff's all good. It's the way things play out on screen that just doesn't add up at times.

That said, what's keeping me interested is the story set in the 1950s. I hope the show brings more of that.

Even though I really liked the show, the good parts of the show was really good and deserved to be part of a much better show. Kurt and Wyatt Russel playing past and future versions of a character was really charming. But it was Mari Yamamoto who stole the show every time she appeared on screen, so much so that her appearance was what I was looking forward more like the occasional appearance of the monsters. But for all those good parts and the monster mayhem, there's so much things that are handled very badly. The human drama might not have been that bad when it was conceived but a lot of the situations were very forced and a lot of the dialogues were utter trash. The first three episodes were consistently of great quality and it was after that the quality dropped suddenly. Even though in totality, I thought it was good, it's a show that had great potential that ruined itself.

For being the first TV series about Monster-Verse, it's not bad at all. The series features 10 episodes that personally speaking most of these are very smooth enough to even get to see 3-4 episodes in a row a day, these episodes tell the story with continuous flashbacks very well balanced and above all in the right timing and right. Nothing to say about the CGI that about the monsters is almost perfect while it was not quite well cared for on some faces but being a TV series you can not expect the same quality as a movie. The soundtracks are cute and above all the intro is majestic in my opinion so much to be impressed in my head for days. The story itself is very interesting and with very nice and some even unexpected plot fixes, I don't want to talk about it too much to avoid spoilers but I can assure you that it will keep you glued to the screen long enough to even realize it. I highly recommend the vision (especially to fans of the genre) as I didn't even expect to find myself faced with a similar surprise with a similar quality.

This is great.....BUT.

The show is divided in to 2 parts, the origins of Monarch and then what Monarch has become (or contemorary time). BUT WAIT...there is more. The third and final division. Every crappy, boring and irritating moment of the show belongs in the May division.

The May character is one of the most annoying on screen inclusions of all time, worse than Jar Jar Binks!

Everything I dislike about the show is connect to May.

This means if you feel the same as me you will mostly dislike the middle episodes of the series.

SO...perservere. The series starts and finishes strongly, it is totally worth it, just read a book for the middle section :)

Rather surprisingly, I liked this. I'm not really a television watcher but I had a free trial of Apple TV Plus and I've watched the MonsterVerse films so thought I'd give it a go.

I was pleasantly surprised. I found the story engaging, interesting and it didn't outstay it's welcome. Ten episodes felt the right length. I have seen other TV where storylines and characters just drag out for far too long a time and it becomes frustrating and annoying as a result - not here. I genuinely enjoyed the story and perhaps most importantly, the characters. They all felt developed and had interesting arcs.

My favourite episode was probably the series finale - I won't go into details due to spoilers but I was moved by a certain scene and felt it was a cathartic conclusion for these particular characters.

Other points of note - great CGI. This was high-end movie level CGI which really surprised me. I've seen recent blockbusters not look as good as this series. I also enjoyed how the series didn't shy away from using a great amount of subtitled Japanese - I think many series would have opted for badly accented English but here they embrace it and good on them.

I would look forward to a return and would possibly become a paying subscriber to Apple in order to watch the show's next season. I consider that very good praise.

Binge watched the show today and found it underwhelming compared to the movies that legendary has made since Godzilla(2014). The show has potential and I hope they utilize it better in the next season.

The scenes with Keiko, Shaw and Bill Randa are the ones that make the show worth watching . Everyone else just felt like dragging the show. The CGI wherever used is top notch and the screen presence of Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell made it 7 out of 10 else if would have been around 5.5.

Apple has confirmed that it has been renewed for another season atleast, hope they bring Kurt and Wyatt back for it.

This is a great series to watch if you're stuck on a plane with nothing else to do. It filmed better than most of the generic blockbusters but it has the writing of a CW show.

On the acting side, I am a diehard Kurt Russell fan, however, Wyatt steals every scene he's in and was the sole standout of the show. Joe Tippett, Anders Holm, Anna Sawai, and Mari Yamamoto are able to lift their thinly written characters, and Kiersey Clemons is serviceable in a role where her character sucks. However, Ren Watabe is a standout for all the wrong reasons. His wooden delivery behind a nonsense annoying character really took me out of any scene.

With all that said, it's worth watching if you like spinoff streamers that have more dialogue and less action than their movie counterparts, and it's worth watching Kurt and Wyatt Russell play the same character.

The characters are just so damn unlikable and annoying. The plot and script is very cringe.

The CGI monsters are badly comped, messy and uninspired.

But the worst part is that you just don't care about wth is going on because the characters are just so damn annoying and stupid.

Of course the usual rating brigade of bought shills already boosted this series so I'm afraid a lot of time has been lost on this countless piece of rubbish trying to capitalize on intellectual property of the past

I don't know what is going on with Hollywood and entertainment industry but they keep on pushing this reboot rubbish...

Not recommend.

I was expecting some sort of cheesy series, the main course being the monsters, and the side plate being some half naked woman. Nope. This is more in the vein of my childhood memories of Ray Harryhausen movies (e.g. First Men in the Moon, Mysterious Island). By the way there is also healthy dollop of the Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with Pat Boone and James Mason.

The monsters are the spice in this series. They add some zest or heat.

There is a good plot, with tensions and twists, and human insights and more than a pinch of conspiracy and jealousy.

I chanced the series because Kurt Russell starred in it. He is well used in the series, but he doesn't take over the move. If anything his son Wyatt Russell carries the load along with Mari Yamamoto.

This show is full of unlikeable characters that disengage their brain. The only likeable character was Du Ho.

Otherwise it's girl bosses and girls getting it done in true Mary Sue fashion while a bunch of guys are there for muscle when needed. This applies to both the good team and the bad team.

Is it possible to write female characters these days without making them girl bosses?

Probably not.

Cate is completely unlikeable and acts like this whole adventure was something unfairly inflicted on her. May the same.

The two guys trying their best to rescue the show... And the dynamic female duo... Are doing their best but they can't rescue either.

Jumping off this at episode 4. It won't get better. The ingredients are not here. There is nobody to root for. Except maybe Godzilla... If he ever makes more than a split second appearance.

Some viewers have voiced their dissatisfaction regarding the series' focus on Monarch, family dynamics and the alleged scarcity of monsters' screen time. Well, the title was pretty clear to me: first, Monarch; second, Legacy (as in family's); and only third, Monsters.

More Monsters can be found among the critics bemoaning "too many women" and "too much diversity" in the show, though. It's actually the series' commitment to showcasing a diverse range of strong, influential women and its broad inclusivity that stand out as its most interesting attribute.

Not all characters are designed to be liked though, reflecting real human complexity. And in general the Randa's family can be really annoying sometimes.

On the other hand, some characters are strong and memorable, as Dr. Keiko Miura - an assertive, brilliant Japanese scientist navigating the complex socio-political landscapes of the 1950s. Another great character is Emiko (Kentaro's mother), portrayed by the talented Qyoko Kudo, who adds depth and emotions to the Tokyo's storyline.

Admittedly, not all subplots manage to hit their intended mark; however, this is a common challenge within the television format, which inherently aims to explore and experiment with varying story arcs and character developments over an extended period. I hope there will be a second season to find out more about the storylines which were just mentioned in the first 10 episodes.

I have completely rewritten what was a largely positive review after 3 episodes. I don't think I've ever seen such wild oscillations of quality in a TV show: minute-to-minute swings up and down. It's like watching the shadows on the wall of a fight between a good writer and the terrible one.

The quality is more consistent towards the front of Season 1, and hits a low point in Episode 5 from which the series never really recovers. The faults become glaring when the series stops looking at the 50s era and stares too long at the 21st century period. Until then, the shifts in attention provide a regular refreshment of the atmosphere. You already know it in those earlier, better episodes but when the show stops focussing on Mari Yamamoto it becomes impossible to ignore: her performance carries this project, and the writers only have anything of interest to say about her role in the 50s. When the spotlight moves away from that, the weaknesses of everything else are on full display. The signs at the end of Season 1 are that "Monarch: LOTM" is done with discussing the past and will now be entirely in the present day, and that doesn't bode well for the show's future.

So it's a weird show. I continue to watch because I love giant monsters, and the series provides just enough flashes of quality to keep me engaged but I can pretend they're not testing my patience.

It's supposed to be a show about monsters! If for some unfathomable reason it gets renewed for the second season, please remove all the boring stuff and add more monsters! Nobody watches a show about Kaijus for the personal drama. Unnecessary flashbacks into the unnecessary drama aspect. Monarch backstory might be interesting if not for the romantic line, please drop it.

Keep Kurt Russel, he's a cool grandpa.

I'm giving it 6 only for some glimpses of monsters here and there.

I like to hope the show continues, but improves over this boring and dragging piece it is now. The makers of the show can do much better, they made the trailer, way to go, folks!

Monarch is a series quite derived from the Monsterverse because the story focuses more on the human characters than on the titans. Being an installment of a franchise that revives the kaiju world created by Ishiro Honda, it was expected to see more about the titans. It must be admitted that in this aspect the series is not what one might expect by leaving the titans in the background in the first season. The story becomes a strong point of this series because it serves to connect the first 3 films of the franchise. The series plays an important role for that and also for taking into account Monarch's beginnings and its connection to Cate's lineage. Even though Godzilla and other titans have few appearances, they are still a good thing to see. Kurt Russell is even the best because he feels like he's back to being that action figure we used to see in his movies. It's been quite a while since we've seen Kurt have any level of relevance in a production. That the first season has two stories that take place in two timelines did not seem necessary, but the last episodes knew very well how to unite those two lines. What stands out in the end is that it seems that the kingdom of the titans is more than just an underground world. Godzilla Vs. Kong had already clarified that the titans are hiding underground, but it also gave signs that it was a world deeper than the human world and Monarch gives hints that there is still more to know about that world. In conclusion, Monarch is a chapter of the Monsteverse that serves to learn more about the organization and the world of the Titans before being able to witness more how the Battle of the Titans will affect humanity, as seen in the original franchise produced by Toho. My rating for this series is an 8/10.

"Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" attempts to weave an intricate tale of mythical creatures but falls short of its potential. The series suffers from a lackluster storyline, unrelatable characters, and a scarcity of the promised monsters, leaving viewers craving more. The script struggles to find depth, resulting in a confusing and shallow narrative. Unfortunately, the acting fails to elevate the material, making it challenging to invest in the story. Ultimately, with its telenovela-like feel and numerous shortcomings, the show currently falls short of delivering an engaging experience, warranting a 4/10 rating.

Bumped into this series by accident and started watching. I noticed an uncanny resemblance between Kurt Russell (who I knew) and the guy playing a young Kurt Russell. I thought at first, a brilliant casting direction and affiliated makeup. Finally got interested enough to look at cast to find it's Kurt Russell's son Wyatt. Still brilliant casting.

The show is well produced, the actors engaging. The time shifting provides two parallel stories to enjoy. However, the reason for noting all except Kurt Russel's son Wyatt is to meet their absurd minimal character review requirement. Overall a good series.