WARNING: There will be spoilers. If you don't want the movie spoiled then I recommend you turn back now.
As of right now, the IMAX trailer has leaked online and have watched the trailer probably twenty times already. I knew that it was going to be leaked online and I could have waited, but if I want to watch an IMAX exlcusive trailer I may as well see it as intended. Yes, I paid for a ticket for Shazam on IMAX just to watch the trailer. You know what? Totally worth it. First time I viewed the trailer, my mouth was just wide open the whole time. Watching the trailer on the big screen really makes the experience a whole lot of difference compared to watching a video on the computer.
I watched the leaked video of the trailer when I got home and ever since last night, I could not stop watching it. The level of excitement that I have for Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is beyond orbit. NASA would have needed to invent a whole new metric system just to measure it. The sheer excitement made me feel like I was going to emotionally break and I did. When I played the leaked trailer on my phone this morning I would start to break down and cry. The trailer is that powerful. It reminded me of last year when the first trailer appeared on YouTube I had that same emotional break down. Ever since that first trailer I did not expect another trailer to be that overwhelming, but I was proven wrong.
The trailer starts off with Admiral Stenz (David Strathairn) giving a monologue that monsters are starting to wake up around the world and that most of them don't have names yet and that the military is running out of solutions and time to stop them all. During his monologue, we see battleships that are lining up like they're about to go into war with jets flying over. Then, it cuts to the nations capital being totally destroyed, civilians in Mexico rushing to evacuate, and Rodan waking up and crawling out of the volcano.
Next part of the trailer is like a 2 1/2 - 3 minute clip of waking up Ghidorah in Antarctica. It starts off where Ghidorah is still frozen in ice and we see Madison Russell (Millie Bobby Brown) being curious and touching the ice and we see her mother, Emma (Vera Farmiga), arming the bombs to get ready and wake up Ghidorah. In the next shot, there is a stand off between Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) and the terrorists on a cat walk where we see Ghidorah's foot in the ice. Suddenly, Emma holds up a detonator and tells Mark to run and detonates the bombs. The ice that kept Ghidorah in suspended animation starts falling apart, there is a helicopter taking off with Emma, Maddison, and the terrorists on board, soldiers running for their lives as the containment facility crumbles beneath the ice. It's chaotic, but nothing get more bone chilling when Emma activates her invention called the Orca, which is a sound system used to communicate with the monsters, and awakens Ghidorah.
There are disturbances at first with lightning flashing until one of Ghidorah's tails slowly rises as the spikes on the end of the retracts and detracts making this rattling sound like a rattle snake. Suddenly, all three heads majestically rise out of the ice, hissing and snarling at the soldiers beneath him. As he uses his wings to push the rest of his body out, there is all of this ice and rubble being tossed all over the place sending some guys flying into the air and soldiers shooting at the monsters. Ghidorah is not happy about this and all three necks begin to glow and all three of the heads shoots out beams of lightning from their mouths vaporizing the soldiers. Maddison freaks out wanting to save her dad and Emma holding her back to keep her from falling out of the helicopter.
Meanwhile, the helicopter that Mark is on is now being toyed with and Maddison could only watch thinking that this could be the end for her father. However, Ghidorah's attention suddenly moves toward something out in the distance. The radar on the helicopter detects something big heading their way. A blue light shines beneath the ice and the ice explodes revealing Godzilla. Mark's life was saved by Godzilla's interference and the scene recreates the airport scene from Godzilla (2014) where the camera pans up from the feet to Godzilla's face. Except this time instead of roaring at the monster, Godzilla snarls at Ghidorah and giving him this look like he recognizes him. This scene really conveys a lot of emotion like you know what Godzilla and Ghidorah are telling each other off as they size each other up.
Now for this next part of the trailer, a cinematic version of a song from Turandot (yeah, the opera) begins to play (this is where I began to cry). While Turandot is playing in the background, Mothra is shown in the waterfall spreading out her wings, Dr. Chen (Ziyi Zhang) looking up towards Godzilla, Maddison looking at a photograph of when their family was together being happy, Emma starts explaining her excuse for releasing these monsters saying she is saving the world, the volcano where Rodan sleeps explodes and one of Rodan's claws slams down on a truck, and Chief Barns (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) commenting about something being messed up like he is disgusted.
Then, Rodan flys over a town in Mexico with a gust of wind trailing behind sending people flying into the air. There is an air fight between the military and Rodan and as Rodan is about to take a big chomp out of a jet the pilot ejects and gets eaten by Rodan! This is the first time we see any TOHO monster eating a person and TOHO is usually strict about showing one of their monsters devouring a person. So I can imagine Godzilla: King Of The Monsters getting a rating similar to an "R" rating in Japan for showing somebody being devoured.
Afterwards, there is one of the new monsters rising from the ground, more civilians in Mexico running away from Rodan, and Godzilla looking down at a submarine with Mark Russell and the rest of the crew with curiosity. Right at the scene where Godzilla looks down on the submarine, Mark begins to explain that these monsters are acting like a pack and that Ghidorah is the leader and if Ghidorah is stopped then they stop the whole pack. Godzilla and Ghidorah roar into the air and the next shot shows Mothra being slammed into a building by Rodan.
In the last stretch of the trailer, there is a military assault on Ghidorah while pinned to the ground. Then, it cuts to Godzilla firing his atomic breath at Ghidorah and Ghidorah just dodges it and retaliates back by firing his beams at Godzilla, Rodan does a barrel roll to take down a couple more jets, Emma pulling a gun on the leader of the terrorist group (Charles Dance), Godzilla shoving Ghidorah into some buildings, Ghidorah displaying a lightning show by shooting them from his wings, and ends with Godzilla on fire roaring at Ghidorah.
If you made it this far, then congrats. This was a very lengthy description for a 5 minute trailer, but there was a lot to cover. I did read on Twitter that the trailer is not placed in front of every IMAX screening of Shazam so if you do go see the movie in IMAX, just be aware that there is a chance that you might not get to see this trailer. However, if you do see it appear and then be prepared to be blown away. If it is how I am expecting this movie to be at this point, then this could be one of the top movies of 2019. We are only 55 days away until Godzilla: King Of The Monsters is released and counting down the days just feels like Christmas all over again.
What was your reaction to the trailer? Did you watch it online or did you see it on IMAX? Share your experience in the comments section. Make sure to follow me on my Facebook page and Twitter to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.