The best Godzilla Monsterverse movie of the franchise

Now that Godzilla vs. Kong has been out for a while and we've had time to process everything I think we can not objectively look at the Monsterverse as a whole and decide which Godzilla movie so far stands out as the best one.

Now, picking the best Godzilla flick isn't easy since everyone's opinion differs but I've listed off what makes each one the best in their own respective right.

For Realism - Godzilla (2014)

It's difficult to make any "realistic" sense of a giant, radioactive monster existing in our world. But of all the Monsterverse flicks, Gareth Edwards' perspective driven approach to Godzilla gave the film as realistic feel as one could expect from such a storyline. Not to mention, I feel like the most care was put into the film's finer details, including special effects and the marketing campaign. To me, Godzilla '14 felt like a more refined film, geared to a more mature audience.

For fan service - Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters (2019)

Without a doubt, Mike Dougherty went all in for the fan service in Godzilla 2 KOTM. Everything from the sheer number of classic Monsters, to using Godzilla's iconic theme song to introducing audiences to Burning Godzilla. KOTM dug deep into Godzilla lore and delivered abundantly. You couldn't help but geek out at every subtle nod and homage to the Toho originals. Godzilla 2 felt like a true Godzilla movie, from start to finish.

For mindless fun - Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Godzilla vs. Kong is just plain fun. There was no sense of realism, in fact I would say of all the Monsterverse films, GvK is the most unrealistic with the most holiest of plots - but who cares - it was a fun ride! GvK is exactly what it was intended to be and using points referenced by GMan, the film in itself stems from a satirical representation of commercialism. Two giant monsters beating the hell out of each other for 2 hours - what's not to love! Sadly, there was no original Godzilla score, nor was there any jaw rips by Kong. The film misses a lot of homages and could have included more nods to original Toho material. But, it was its own movie and for what it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

To boil it down to 1 single best is difficult but if I had to pick, I would say Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters stands out to me as being the best Godzilla movie of the Monsterverse. Although I was very tempted to place Godzilla 2014 as my pick, but it's hard to beat the abundance of pure fan boy fun KOTM provides.

Do you agree? Let me know which Godzilla film is YOUR pick for best of the Monsterverse so far!