This was an old school summer popcorn movie. Lots of action. Lots of effects. Mix in some humor. Totally done to set up a sequel (or in this case the whole "Dark Universe"). I grew up loving movies like this so I was definitely able to enjoy this for what it is. Was it game changing for the monster genre? No. But it didn't have to be. It moved along well enough. It did a good job introducing the whole monsters thing that Universal is starting. I enjoyed it for what it was.
I would recommend people checking this out just because it's an enjoyable ride. If you have high hopes of being blown away or whatever though it will most likely disappoint you.