Directed by Adam Wingard
This movie couldn’t have come at a better time. People are flocking to the partially reopened movie theatres just to get a taste of normal life, and this is what they are seeing. I don’t think nearly as many people would have seen this if it wasn’t for COVID, but I am really happy people are watching it because we all just need to have some fun.
All plot and characters aside, it is just an absolute throw-down smash and bash between the two heavyweight champions, Godzilla and Kong. There can only be one, and they absolutely tear each other up. How could that not be awesome? Well, it is awesome and I had a lot of fun watching it.
The puny human characters and their storylines got in the way of my fun a couple of times. Brian Tyree Henry’s character, the conspiracy theorist and podcaster was a lost opportunity. I have seen him in Atlanta and he is seriously funny, but his jokes in the movie mostly fell flat. He was really just an annoying stereotype that kept popping up on the screen. The journey to Middle-Earth was interesting, and I enjoyed how Kong was actually vital to the whole operation. It gave him something to do, something I could get behind, rather than just having him fight Godzilla.
The fight scenes, what I really came to see, were great. The first encounter between the two in the ocean was intense. Kong is jumping between battleships blowing everything up and Godzilla is jumping up out of the water after him like a great white shark on shark week. Then the last 45 minutes or so of the movie are just Kong and Godzilla ripping it up in downtown Hong Kong. That was all I ever wanted. The CGI is really well done and I loved how Kong fought like a human. He even takes the stance of a boxer a couple of times and lands a perfectly executed superman punch right to Godzilla’s dome piece.
The movie isn’t fantastic, but it isn’t trying to be. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. I get the sense that the filmmakers realized that this isn’t some artsy or story-driven film and just went all out to make it as enjoyable and fun to watch as possible. They did a great job of just making an action-packed entertaining movie and nothing more.
Godzilla vs. Kong might be available at your local theater with limited seating, or it is available to rent on HBO.
Rating: B
