Godzilla Vs. Kong Review: Do The Monster Mash

Legendary Pictures

With promising news about vaccines, and the slow but steady reopening of the world during a global pandemic, Godzilla Vs. Kong was gifted the herculean task of bringing back the blockbuster genre and cinema at large single-handedly, raising the collective spirits of moviegoers worldwide, and restoring a sense of normalcy to our otherwise very depressing, very strange current lives.

Okay, maybe they weren’t tasked with that officially, but it certainly felt that way after theater shutdowns, studio mismanagement, and poor critical receptions made quick work of Tenet, Wonder Woman 1984, and Mulan. All three big budget titles going toe-to-toe with science, a crippled economy, and a generally apathetic audience. The results were predictable. 

With the Academy Awards inconceivably ramming through another Oscars ceremony this year with films most people haven’t even seen - the question became clear:

“Is there a semi-enjoyable blockbuster film out there that people can watch to temporarily escape the darkness we’re all living in?”

Well, I’m happy to report that Godzilla Vs. Kong is that film and then some. 

The title alone should attract anyone with an HBO Max account and two hours to spare. 

It’s cinema’s two greatest monsters slugging it out and fucking shit up - and on that front, it delivers.

While the previous films in Legendary’s MonsterVerse were occasionally brought down by the dull and outright confusing storylines involving the human characters - this isn’t the case here.

Suspension of disbelief is required, obviously - and some parts of the storyline are contrived - but if you’re watching a film titled Godzilla Vs. Kong, you’re not watching it for nuanced acting performances or a scientifically-sound plot. You’re there to watch two titans beat the shit out of each other. Director Adam Wingard realizes this very obvious fact, and gives the audience what it wants.

The cinematography of the fight scenes are spectacular, and unlike the hazy, blurry mess of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, you can actually see what’s going on clearly.

The fights themselves are surprisingly brutal at times, with both monsters showcasing their unique skill sets as they destroy anything and everything around them. 

Kong, the designated protagonist of the film, gets significantly more screen time, and the story itself largely centers around him, his past, and the connection he’s formed with one human being in particular, a young deaf girl named Jia (Kaylee Hottle). 

Still though, in terms of screen time - it’s quality over quantity. Godzilla is an absolute menace in this film, and is genuinely terrifying at times. Even though he was brawling with multiple monsters in his last outing, it’s not until this one where his sheer brute strength and chilling animosity is done justice. He’s Jaws-like in how his presence dominates the film. When he’s not on screen, you’re thinking about him, and, in some cases, he’s quite literally Jaws-like, in that they show him stalking the ocean with nothing but his scales ominously peeking through the still waters, much like the shark fin of a certain great white.

I won’t give anything away, but there are some surprises throughout the film, and overall, they make for a more entertaining story. 

All that to say this: If you need a film to quench your cinematic thirst, if you want a taste of what’s waiting for us when theaters fully reopen, if you want to be entertained by a brainless, action-packed CGI-fest again - look no further than Godzilla Vs. Kong. It’s the first film released during this most awful year that made me genuinely giddy about the prospect of going back to theaters. If ever there were a film to watch on a big screen, it’s this one.