Never has there been a film to live up to its name as literally as this one does, as a giant Gorilla fights an even bigger lizard.
The third film in the new MonsterVerse franchise, the follow up to the disappointing Godzilla: King of the Monsters is exactly what you thought it would be; nothing more, nothing less. After Godzilla is reawakened from his slumber (just let the poor lizard sleep), he begins to cause mayhem once again. Kong is enlisted – without having a choice in the matter – to subdue the scaly monster, forcing the two great titans to have the most epic 3 rounder of all time. Godzilla has a slight size advantage; he can swim extremely well and possesses that blue hyper beam, whereas Kong has the strength, the speed, and the agility. The only way to judge the winner is to view it as it happens – right in front of your eyes.
Director Adam Wingard, who is known for his work in the horror genre with intense thrillers such as You’re Next and The Guest, is entering unchartered territory with this blistering blockbuster. What assists him in this venture is a solid team of actors who move the film along as supporting acts to the two primary behemoths (even Jack Nicholson could not take the limelight off these two). Cinematographer Ben Seresin has worked on blockbusters such as: World War Z and one of the Transformers films (do not hold it against him), making him a steady pair of hands for this project. As expected, the special effects are very impressive; solid action scenes as well as the mindless destruction of cities, the representation of an unknown new land with a variety of monsters will also excite the nerd in you.
Godzilla vs. Kong begins 5 years after the previous installment with Godzilla in a deep slumber and Kong is being carefully monitored by a team of scientists, headed by Dr Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) on Skull Island. Ilene’s adoptive daughter Jia – a deaf orphan Iwi native – played brilliantly by Kaylee Hottle, develops a special bond with Kong that is central to the film. Godzilla suddenly awakens and rampages on an Apex Cybernetics facility in Florida, obviously irritated by something inside. Employee and conspiracy theorist Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) begins to dig into the company and enlists a small team of… kids, to assist him on his quest. The CEO of Apex, Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir) hires Dr Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård) to travel to “Hollow Earth” and retrieve a power source that he will use on his mysterious new invention.
Dr Lind decides to ask Dr Andrews if they can use Kong to lead them to his former home in Hollow Earth, after accepting, the journey to this mythical place begins, with some huge bumps along the road. In conjunction with this, Hayes and his young team are transported by the most powerful monorail system ever, sending them to Hong Kong – in minutes – where they discover what the “mysterious new invention” is, giving you a huge sense of nostalgia and an eagerness for a possible 3-way fighting spectacle. With Godzilla now moving towards Hong Kong to discover what upsets him so, and Kong now returning from the Hollow Earth at great speed; mystical axe in hand and with a sparkle in his eye, there is going to be a whole lot of destruction in Hong Kong, and we all have front row seats for what is in store.
Godzilla vs. Kong is what it is, and that is okay. The plot is a bit all over the place (there is 3 plots going on at once) and the lack of human characterization is very noticeable, but that is understandable due to the human characters playing second fiddle in this film – they are but pawns in this game of kings. If you are expecting a massive fight that will make your forefathers shake, then you have come to the right place, but if you are after a narrative masterpiece that is a blessing for the senses, then this is not it. Expect spectacular special effects and an effective score from musician JXL, thee JXL. Godzilla vs. Kong might not be an amazing piece of cinematic history, but it is a strong addition in this new MonsterVerse, erasing the memory of the previous film effectively.
Available to watch on HBO Max now.
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