Review: Godzilla Vs. Kong
Roll up, roll up ladies and gentlemen for Kaiju Beatdown IV! We have the defending champion Godzilla taking on the number one contender ‘King’ Kong in what is shaping up to be the most epic battle in cinema history.
Hailing from Skull Island but now residing in a top secret underground bunker, Kong weighs in at the weight of a giant gorilla and brings a arsenal of deadly punches, kicks and reigns lord supreme of the jungle.
Godzilla, hailing from somewhere under the sea, with the blue hue nuclear dragon breath and the current reigning champion having previously beaten the last contenders Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three-headed King Ghidorah to take the title King of the Monsters, has recently been woken from his slumber to mysteriously attack a genetics lab, thus setting the wheels in motion for Kong to be brought out as the next contender. Kong seeking the mysterious hollow earth with his human corner men via boat, where Kong and ‘Zilla have an early sparring session on the open seas.
Following this early battle we head to Hong Kong for the big fight which is the one everyone is waiting for. But as the battle is seemingly coming to it’s epic conclusion, special guest referee Mecha-Godzilla arrives to really up the ante! Get your tickets now as you do not want to miss this one! Or something like that.
Godzilla Vs. Kong is everything that the previous films have promised. Warner Bros. finally have a ‘verse’ that is absolutely worth the price of admission as you get exactly what you’ve paid for. Godzilla Vs. Kong really deserves to be seen on the biggest IMAX screen you can find, however due to the pandemic it’s been released on the various streaming services and in the US, HBO Max.
The human cast Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle and Julian Dennison keep the storyline moving well enough but in reality are simply there for the exposition while the audience awaits the titan on titan badassery beatdowns. And beatdowns they get as the monsters get it on, destroying everything in their path with reckless abandon in a Fast and Furious style of carefree attitude to the human death toll as buildings, cars, cities and industrial sites get completely decimated. But thats all part of the fun you have signed up to. Some of the beatdown sequences are so loud and so visually intense you may need to take a break if you are watching on a larger screen such is the pummelling your sense will take throughout the run time. Director Adam Wingard has pulled out all the stops here to make sure that fans of the genre and people just looking for a great couple of hours watching a huge popcorn action monster movie are all catered for.
A few absolutely ridiculous plot moments aside (Skarsgård outrunning a nuclear level explosion while skipping off Kong and jogging down the street for example) this is a big, bold, brash neon lit popcorn smash hit. The battles themselves sway from hard hitting glorious CGI carnage to feeling like you’re watching an episode of Power Rangers, especially in the finale, but it is still worthy of your time.
Where they go from here is anyone guess (No post credits scene) but they’ve not delved into Ebirah Horror Of The Deep, Son Of Godzilla or Destroy All Monsters yet. The official line is it could be a Japanese led sequel or an American one. Either way by the standard set here for a creature feature, monster mash it’s one that will be eagerly anticipated.
