Quark's

I really liked Monarch: Legacy of Monsters for its effort to go further with the characters and the world building.

The creators understood the mission was to do Monsterverse stories that cannot be told in the runtimes of big cinematic experiences and make it an accessible introduction for new audiences.

The character storylines are driving the narrative, and the first season does a great job, for the uninitiated, of unveiling the classic elements of the Monsterverse personas, tropes and history. King Kong, Godzilla and King Kong and the other Japanese classics really rely on emotion as much as overwhelmingly huge beasts, so it makes a good deal of sense to build the franchise out through streaming.

I hadn’t seen Wyatt Russell before but was positively impressed. His is a much more likeable role in this show, and an interesting one as his father Kurt Russell plays the same character in the current era. Anna Sakai is very strong also.

I can see why those who are just fans of big monsters battling may be disappointed. The visual effects are cinematic quality as you’d expect of Apple, but they naturally do not get the proportion of screen time that they would in a cinematic feature.

A valid criticism is that the first season took a bit to find its groove or voice. There is perhaps more youthful angst and resentment than older fans will welcome in the first episodes of season one, and it takes time for the storylines in two time periods to come together. As well, it’s clear that some of the directors had different ideas and style.

Season 1 is on Apple TV now.

It's worth a watch.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters does have smaller monsters, not all of which are juveniles.

It really does succeed in building out the lore in that way.

But they’re not at all the kind of typical European fantasy monsters you’re thinking of.