When it comes to Hollywood's most bankable genres of films, the one in particular that always appears to be reliable with bringing audiences to the Cinema, as well as being timeless is that of monster films. Films such as the original 1933 King Kong and 1954 Godzilla continue to entertain and dazzle audiences while spawning numerous sequels and remakes. With the birth of the monsterVerse which got off the ground in 2014 with the second attempt at introducing Godzilla to American audiences, the series has continued to get bigger and bolder with solidly entertaining follow-ups such as Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. Fast-forward seven years after the launch of the monsterVerse, audiences finally are treated to the years most ambitious and thrilling matchup with Godzilla vs. Kong. Originally was positioned to be released in Spring 2020, the film experienced several delays due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic before finally landing a simultaneous release on both theater/HBO Max. With Godzilla vs. Kong finally receiving its moment to shine on the big screen, the question arises of whether the film manages to live up to the hype placed upon it. For fans of both monsters as well as those who eagerly waited in anticipation for the films release, the answer is both an enthusiastic and resounding yes. Although Godzilla vs. Kong isn't perfect by any means and still finds itself tilting towards the human side of its story moreso than the monster one, it packs more than enough of a powerful punch to make for thrilling popcorn entertainment along with living up to both franchises legacies as being a exciting and potent thrill ride that screams blockbuster.
A modern remake of the classic 1962 film that focused on the battle between the two titans, the plot for Godzilla vs. Kong revolves around the real Godzilla being provoked by the creation of Mechagodzilla, an AI version of the fire-breathing lizard. Alarmed at the latter's robotic presence, he finds himself rampaging through numerous city blocks and ships in the ocean with him engaging in extensive MMA fights with Skull Island titan Kong. As expected for this type of monster flick, the plot for Godzilla vs. Kong is designed specifically to bring these two iconic figures together in a way that feels serviceable while making their matchup appear believable. With a film like this, audiences aren't looking for elaborative character development and story. The most common criticism that each film in the monsterVerse has received up until this point (With Godzilla vs. Kong included), is that even though the stories present their monsters in a larger-than-life form, the films often rely too much on the establishing of both plot and characters rather than just letting the monsters dominate the story. Although the newest entry makes the strongest effort to balance out its amazing fight scenes with human interaction, the film can't escape the feeling that it still falls into the same trap that the other films within the monsterVerse ended up in despite Godzilla vs. Kong being made purely for grand popcorn entertainment. Although it carries this same common issue that has plagued the monsterVerse thus far, there's still a significant amount of monster mayhem to behold with the films visual effects being purely groundbreaking to watch along with the story being powered by Tom Holkenborg's electrifying score. In a time where audiences are craving for a film that will lure them back to the theaters after a long absence due to the emergence of Covid-19, Godzilla vs. Kong firmly establishes itself as being the years main event to bring audiences back with the film representing everything that they go to the movies for. The film takes its two main titans and presents them in a form that feels larger-than-life while celebrating both of their respective franchise legacies. As a film that aims to deliver on its promise of providing audiences with epic destruction sequences and visual galore, Godzilla vs. Kong lives up to its promise while being the most confident film out of the monsterVerse in terms of what it desires to show and ultimately aspires to be without swatting away plot and character development
Despite the filmmakers being aware that audiences will unquestionably be more focused on the main titans themselves rather than their human counterparts, they still manage to assemble both an appealing and talented cast of actors to help sell the believability of the plot. The performances from the cast are solid with everyone showing genuine enthusiasm as well as excitement for the story. In helping to maintain continuity with the other previous Godzilla films in the monsterVerse, the filmmakers bring back a few key characters from the previous film to build upon their arcs while introducing newer ones with just enough development for audiences to find them appealing enough to not be bored while waiting for the next giant destruction or fight sequence. Some of the films returning faces from Godzilla: King Of The Monsters include Millie Bobbie Brown as Madison Russell, daughter of scientist Mark and his late wife Emma Russell Played by Vera Farmiga in the previous film. Brown once again delivers a likable performance as a more older and independent Madison in comparison to King Of The Monsters with her advocating for Godzilla in this film, along with trying to discover his reasonings for being aggressive. Kyle Chandler continues to do well as Madison's father Dr. Mark Russell despite Chandler's role being minimal this time in comparison to his time in King Of The Monsters with Brown receiving a mini coming-of-age style subplot with her character in comparison. The new faces to the story all deliver performances that are top-notch despite the limitations of the screenplay in regards to character development. Alexander Skarsgard is solid as Monarch geologist and chief cartographer Dr. Nathan Lind, who works closely with Kong and charts a mission which follows him into Hollow Earth. Skarsgard plays his character as being a reluctant hero whose not equipped to handle the situation that arises involving the emergence of Godzilla and Kong's rivalry, but becomes a more likable figure as the story progresses. Rebecca Hall appeals as Monarch anthropological linguist Dr. Ilene Andrews, who also serves as being the adoptive mother of Jia's character. Kaylee Hottle is both charming and totally sympathetic as Jia, a young, deaf native Iwi orphan whose shown to form a special bond with Kong, along with serving as Ilene's adopted daughter. Damien Bichir is always reliable in delivering a strong performance regardless of the size of the part he plays. Here he proves to be no exception with his role as the films main antagonist Walter Simmons, CEO, and founder of Apex Cybernetics, a tech organization that's behind the creation of Godzilla Mechagodzilla. Bichir plays his character as being a visionary entrepreneur who wishes to help humanity by making it a safer place with him seeing Godzilla as being a direct threat to it. Brian Tyree Henry steals the show as socially awkward and conspiracy theorist Bernie Hayes, a former Cybernetics technician at Apex who turned conspiracy theorist with him aiding both Madison and Josh to expose Apex. Henry portrays his character as essentially being a crackpot, but also someone who possesses heart and loyalty with him aiding the young characters in exposing the sketchiness behind Apex. The rest of the cast give noteworthy performances with Julian Dennison as Madison's nerdy friend Josh, Shun Oguri as Mechagodzilla's telepathic pilot Ren, and Eiza Gonzalez as top-tier Apex Cybernetics executive and daughter of Walter Simmons Maia. The efforts that the cast for Godzilla vs. Kong put into making the story work along with balancing out the human aspect of the film with the monster side, are noble and ultimately prove to be effective in keeping audiences in suspense between each key sequence involving the creatures. Considering that human characters in monster flicks are generally viewed as only being useful in moving the plot along, the cast for Godzilla vs. Kong attempts to make the strongest effort in giving audiences characters that the audience can become connected to while waiting for the next major fight sequence.
As far as the films visual look and style goes, director Adam Wingard gives the story the appropriate tone and flare needed to make Godzilla's rivalry with Kong one that's both completely engaging and compelling to watch from start to finish. Wingard knows what audiences want and molds the film to have the look and feel of a popcorn style blockbuster. On a technical note, the film is stunning to watch with the cinematography capturing some really cool visual moments such as the ones involving Godzilla and Kong's main fights, as well as the latter visiting Hollow Earth. The cinematography makes those sequences breathtaking to watch with Tom Holkenborg's score adding to the suspense as well as the emotional core of the story. He gives the music an electronic feel to it that fuels the adrenaline of some of the films key action sequences, while managing to bring things down to a more human level when the film shifts back to the human characters. The films editing ends up being fairly decent with Godzilla vs. Kong spawning the shortest running time of the monsterVerse batch of movies with the story running a total amount of 113 minutes. With the editing, Wingard tries his hardest at balancing both the human and monster aspects of the story with the intent of making them feel nearly equal without one overwhelmingly dominating the other. In terms of the creatures design, the looks of both Godzilla and Kong remain true to the traditional style of their characters with both appearing significantly larger in size (Kong in particular) with the intent of making the fights between them feel more even grounded. The visual design of Mechagodzilla is also impressive with the other creatures on Hollow Earth adding to the films visual flavor. As far as the films directing goes, Adam Wingard proves himself to be the perfect man for the job with his visual look of the film being spot-on , along with his handling of the human character arcs. When it comes to the films scenes involving destruction during one of the titans main brawls, Wingard doesn't hesitate in giving audiences the goods. He makes both opponents appear as being equally strong and appearing as being the winner of their match up, only to have the other one come up with a surprise move or punch. With his work on the film overall, Wingard puts a powerful stamp on the film both in nostalgic terms for those who grew up watching the original 1962 version of Godzilla vs. Kong or the franchise as a whole, along with giving the story a rich and potent feel of being a blockbuster with its experience being best enjoyed to maximum effect on the biggest screen possible with the loudest speakers due to the films monstrous sound effects.
Whereas Wingard nails the films visual appearance, the screenplay by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein based off a story by Terry Rossio, Michael Dougherty, and Zack Shields is serviceable in regards to establishing both plot and characters that are plausible enough in padding the film to where it feels like one giant rollercoaster ride. The story essentially feels like the ultimate cap off to the Hollywood Godzilla franchise, while building upon key events from those movies. It can be said that the writers try their hardest to develop the human characters in the story so that the audience becomes invested with them without losing sight of the films main focus, which is putting the two monsters against each other. The writers seize the opportunity to build upon the storylines of the previous two Godzilla films, along with further developing old characters such as Millie Bobbie Brown's character Madison with her being shown to be more stronger and independent since the events of the second film, which resulted in the loss of her mother. Although Kyle Chandler's character returns as Madison's father, his role is minimal in comparison to his presence in King Of The Monsters with his only purpose appearing to be bridging the two films together for continuity sake. The newer characters introduced are appealing ones that are given a fair amount of development and backstory, which proves to be reasonably effective in maintaining the audiences interest in the plot. The most interesting characters introduced with effective subplots are the arc between Jia and Kong with Jia being revealed as the one person who can communicate with Kong in a spirit similar to E.T. The character of Bernie is also entertaining to watch with him best representing the online group called Anonymous, who aspire to unmask the corruption occurring within the government. In Bernie's case, he strives to reveal the corruption behind Apex. The subplot involving both him, Madison, and Josh is fun to watch, along with giving the story an ounce of humor with a mystery/adventure feel that bears similarities to Indiana Jones. The script also plays with themes such as the advancement of technology, cybernetics, greed, the exploring of conspiracy theories, and the creation of doomsday machines that's evident with the creation of Mechagodzilla with the film preaching an underlining message, which says that some men's obsession with power can ultimately become more dangerous than giant creatures. What the script for Godzilla vs. Kong does well with is establishing a plot that's both digestible and easy for the audience to digest in bringing all these classic monsters together, while providing character development that's serviceable enough to keep the films momentum going. Despite the films efforts to balance out the human side of the story as well as the spectacle one, the film can't help but find itself still leaning towards the human characters dominating the story rather than the fire-breathing reptilian and the giant ape. While it's noble that both Wingard and the writers aim to give audiences characters that are just palatable enough to move the story along with keeping people engaged, they unintentionally take audiences away from the main attraction of the story which is to see both Godzilla and Kong in action. In the realm of all the pair up movies made, Godzilla vs. Kong possesses one of the stronger and more respectable efforts in the writing department.
Despite the films issues, the end result proves to be a largely satisfying and thrilling experience that delivers on its promise to give audiences solid popcorn entertainment with the overall film itself standing as being the strongest film in the monsterVerse yet. What could've easily been a forgettable rivalry monster flick surprises with how compelling it is in delivering its action, while keeping the audience in suspense with regards to whose the true winner/king of the monsters. Those looking for deep storytelling and character depth should avoid Godzilla vs. Kong as the film is designed to get right to the point with its plot with not an excessive amount of elaboration or thinking going into its themes. The film not only takes but combines the best elements of Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters to deliver an experience that's genuinely thrilling to watch, while honoring the legacy of both titans franchises. While Godzilla vs. Kong may not be groundbreaking in regards to storytelling, its devotion to giving audiences a rollercoaster thrill ride is undeniable with it ultimately getting more right than it does wrong, while leaving audiences craving for more films taking place within the monsterVerse. With no future monsterVerse movies announced yet along with the strong likelihood of this being the end of the line for the franchise, one can't think of a better cap off to the series as Godzilla vs. Kong takes all the elements that made the previous films work and weaves them together in a film that works best as being an enjoyable monster fest.
Final Verdict: For fans of both Godzilla and Kong Kong's film franchises, Godzilla vs. Kong lives up to expectations in delivering explosive entertainment, which raises the monsterVerse to newer heights while making a strong cause for its continuation.
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