Released in 2021. Written by Eric Pearson & Max Borenstein. Directed by Adam Wingard. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall, and Millie Bobby Brown. Running time 1 hour 53 minutes.
Godzilla is being called to the city by an ancient power being exploited by a wealthy businessman. Kong lives in a “protected” environment on Skull Island until the wealthy businessman convinces Kong’s caretakers to take him to a “safer place”. While in transport, Godzilla shows up and they battle on the ocean. Later, they battle in Hong Kong and then when a new Apex predator shows up, they all battle. Yay destruction!
What I liked
Being #TeamKong, I loved the focus on Kong. His environment and back story. The new interaction with the little girl, Jia (Kaylee Hottle) who is hearing impaired and communicates with Kong via sign language. Kong is a gentle protective creature to those he loves and this is expressed through his relationship with the girl.
The battle scenes were epic for sure. Godzilla and Kong were matched size for size, power for power, and strength for strength. Two heavyweights going at it leaving a lot of destruction. The pacing of the battles was well done giving both creatures time to recharge and rest for what was coming.
Visually, the film was quite beautiful to watch. The detail on Kong was fantastic. He looked fluffy and soft when dry, slick when wet, and then his fur caked with snow looked so real. He appeared aged at times and close ups of his face and eyes showed his expressiveness and heart. (Kong was my first love in the creature universe. King Kong ’76 is one of my top favorite love stories.)
Godzilla’s facial closeups were a treat to see his beady eyes and the reptilian detail of his scaly body. The way he moved through water with his back plates cutting through things and the strength of his tail was fluid and superb.
Hong Kong was gorgeous with neon lights and the perfect backdrop for the battles. So many skyscrapers and people to destroy! The ocean was an epic battleground for these two as Godzilla had the edge being able to swim and stuff while Kong had to hold his own on the ships and underwater.
What I wished was better
This film has some boring moments of exposition where I didn’t want it and lacked exposition where I did want it. It had subplots which I felt took away from the main story and some weird technical details I thought could’ve easily been done for consistency and logic but weren’t.
This film spent very little time, if any, to Godzilla. I don’t recall much focus, back story, or exposition on Godzilla’s behalf. Only that he was coming. He was once thought to be a hero but now he wants to destroy?
The opening credit sequence was chaotic and I turned away from most of it. Too many graphics, lights, and unnecessary quick edits. It was hard to follow or look to see if there was anything I needed to remember for later.
The underuse of Rebecca Hall. I know we see her a lot in her scenes related to Kong; however, her character is undermined quite often. For her character to have spent ten years studying Kong, she didn’t seem to know him very well as she was afraid of him in many scenes. Also, while she had an adoptive mothering type relationship with the young girl, she didn’t seem to know her either. After so many years, wouldn’t you have bonded with both of them a lot more? Wouldn’t Kong have bonded with her?
I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I think this one won’t hurt. At the facility located in Hong Kong, the overhead announcements were all in English. I mean, shouldn’t they have been in both Chinese and English? The evil businessman wasn’t Chinese but most of his workers would’ve been.
With a swipe of Godzilla’s tail or punch from Kong, skyscrapers go down like a house of cards. Aircraft carriers and other large ships; however, apparently can stand up to Kong punching his fists in anger or the weight of both Godzilla and Kong battling on top of them or Kong using them as stepping stones to reach Godzilla. Whatever steel or iron the government is using on their military equipment should be considered when rebuilding Hong Kong after the battles. Again, logic must be thrown out…
Final thoughts
This was my first film back in theaters and it was worth it despite the weird story bits. It was an epic film and I think whether you’re #TeamKong or #TeamGodzilla, you will walk away satisfied with the outcome. I give Godzilla vs Kong 4 out of 5 for the sheer fun of the battle scenes.