Review of Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) by Adrianlim — 16 Apr 2021

The first meeting between Godzilla and King Kong was in 1962’s King Kong Vs. Godzilla. That movie was ground breaking stuff for that time. This time, exactly why they’re fighting -I Dunno!

Beyond some mumbo jumbo about “ancient rivalries”, it all feels rather a lame excuse to satisfy studios hungry for the next most ambitious crossover event ever.

The film really makes you work for the fun, you have to endure some boring storyline with humans before we get to the good stuff! For Godzilla vs Kong, over 40 minutes ….YES 40 mins of runtime pass until the two titans actually meet, and those minutes feel like a slog, as we’re introduced to lots of lousy story with what we can described as ‘characters’. ..I’m talking about the humans! Any time the monsters are not on screen, in fact, is draining. The plot is simple: Find Kong a new home, because there can't be two apex titans living on Earth's surface. But how to do that? The fabled Hidden World is the answer, bringing scientists played by Alexander Skarsgard and Rebecca Hall together to escort Kong to the hidden world entrance. Tagging along is deaf orphan Jia, played by a ridiculously adorable Kaylee Hottle, who can communicate with the giant gorilla. Jia is deaf—as Hottle is in real life—and she has learned to understand Kong’s thoughts via sign language. She is the only standout character from the humans here.

The scenes between the Jia and KONG, who’s about a kazillion times her size, are the movie’s best, at least as far as the ones involving humans go: It’s not just that she can communicate with Kong. She can feel the vibration of his heartbeat thrumming through the ground, cute.

But then it slows down with Millie Bobby Brown, who played daughter-of-scientists Maddison Russell in the previous movie; Julian Dennison of Deadpool; and Brian Tyree Henry as a podcast-running whistleblower. The plot? Evil Tech Company Apex Cybernetics, linked with making peaceful Godzilla angry. ---huh? Can you do better?

I feel that it’s just exposition plot points to move the story around. The writers should have come up with something, and the best they could come up is the hollow earth theory, with inner core hovercraft technology that transport monsters to another part of earth and the much anticipated Mecha- Godzilla? Its interesting but it seems so out of place in the film.

However when the titans meet, its grade A action stuff! Both really have it out and the CGI is awesome! Even though -SPOILER HERE! Kong loses a few rounds, Godzilla and Kong finally redeem one another in the final act!

Updated adult Kong, with a grizzly beard, has developed a personality. He's kind and gentle to the orphan Jia and observes a morning routine involving yawning comically and scratching his butt. Kong's view is the closeness to the human species, but still -- weirdly -- Godzilla seems underserved. Godzilla is portrayed as the villain here. Sad.

Thankfully, the final battle confuses your senses so much you forget where you are. While the action here is occasionally disjointed and hard to follow, particularly in scenes involving water, it's mostly comprehensible, and especially spectacular in the yellow, green and purple lights of a vibrant Hong Kong. You know you’re really only here for the monsters, squaring off and staring one another down, first at sea and later in the streets of Hong Kong. The final fight in Hong Kong and the monsters towering over skyscrapers its just what dreams are made off. Hmmm I wonder if CHINA would be happy to see Hong Kong destroyed…(wink wink ).

You know…. sometimes you just want to switch off and watch a movie to have a fun time. This movie is neither fun or gave me a good time. Sure it had bits of fan service but that's about it. I left the theatre feeling …meh….

Trying to properly review this film is like trying to convince the world that Greedo shot Han Solo first.

To sum up the film and its plot holes,….. believe me there are more but I only have one life,... the film tries to create a piece of the monsterverse and well… it has.

Was it a head turner? A film that will be iconic as the original Star Wars? No…not in a million years. This film is this generation of monsters fighting monsters. And you know what? Its an ASIAN thing..the Kaiju films that Japan started way after WW2.

Those films were a commentary of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. I guess the west cannot really relate to those films as they were the ones that dropped those bombs.