Well, let's see,
The humans are ultimately pretty helpless during the whole situation
Famous monster from previous iterations has to face a new, horrific threat
Giant monster fight at the end of the movie, good monster wins and retreats
Said battle also happens at night and climaxes in water
People fleeing and panicking, ends with big reunion at emergency relief center
Just to reiterate, I didn't dislike this movie. I was just making an observation.