01 Apr Godzilla vs Kong Review

GODZILLA vs KONG

dir. Adam Wingard, starring Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, et al

BLUF: Legendary’s Monsterverse delivers its best entry because it focuses on delivering on its promise. And hell yeah, it delivers. Big time.

The history of Godzilla and King Kong movies spans the spectrum of quality. I suspect that, outside of their classic original films (from 1954 and 1933, respectively) most people point to the newest movies as the best simply because the progression of special effects makes the movies more believably realistic. I agree, but it’s also obvious that the balance between the monsters and the human characters is the key to enjoyability.

2014’s Godzilla kicked off the Monsterverse with a Jaws-like approach, trying to feature strong character work with a slow reveal of the biggest and most incredible reveal of the new iteration of Japan’s Bane; it’s portrayal of Godzilla was sparse, but powerful, while the human story petered out when Bryan Cranston died. 2017’s Kong: Skull Island was superior in almost every way, with terrific characters, including Kong. In 2019, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, my guilty favorite of the first three films, went way overboard with a ridiculous human story, but certainly featured some awesome Godzilla action.

And now, Godzilla vs. Kong, the entry that finally puts the monsters front and center, sidelining the perfunctory human stories.

GvK has numerous encounters between the titular titans, as well as a fair number of other giant monster fights, and THEY. ARE. AWESOME. The fights are filmed and edited with enough skill that it’s easy to follow the action, and both titans have enough character instilled in them that the audience develops the empathy to care about the outcome. The key to great action scenes is context and character, and in this case, the balance is perfect. Unlike the previous Godzilla entries, he is presented as a possible villain, while Kong is clearly featured as the more empathetic character. It is skillfully done, and full credit to director Adam Wingard for making sure the focus at all times remains on the promised titan confrontations.

The weak part of the movie is, as usual, the human stories, of which there are two running in parallel: one for each monster’s human-team counterpart. Team Kong is actually pretty good, with interesting, new characters who either have an arc or are integral to the story. Team Godzilla is interminable, which contributes to the Godzilla-as-villain narrative implication but harbor no illusions: it fully explores the depth and breadth of the word ‘interminable’. I really didn’t care about the returning characters from GKotM and could not have cared less about them again.

Luckily, focus always shifts back to the monsters and their encounters quickly enough that the human stuff fades. The movie is very well-paced, WETA Digital’s visuals are incredible (a highlight unto themselves), and Tom Holkenborg’s score is fine, though some of the previous films’ musical cues were missed.

I saw the movie in IMAX; my first time in a theater this year, and there is something viscerally enjoyable about watching a big, fun action movie that knows exactly what it is, and has a laser focus on the promise of Big Monster Fights. It also makes me look forward to a bunch of upcoming movies I hope to see in the theater this year. Check it out in IMAX if you can…or enjoy it on HBO Max…just check it out and enjoy the spectacle!

Pros:

• Godzilla and Kong look great, fight better, and actually have some personality
• Action scenes are well-staged, well-choreographed, and as photorealistic as humanly possible
• Solid culmination of the story lore of the previous films
• Team Kong is passably interesting and integral to the story

Cons:

• Team Godzilla is devoid of interesting anything
• Might be the last in the current Monsterverse

Rating: 4/5
In the great pantheon of Godzilla and/or Kong movies, this is probably the best in and outside the Monsterverse.

Review by Jim Washburn